Today is J.R.R. Tolkien's birthday. And to celebrate it I plan on watching the extendd edition of Return of the King.

Actually, I was planning on doing that anyways, it just so happened that I looked in my calendar and it gave his birthday.

So, day 3 of the New Year and I hadn't even gotten around to posting my resolutions, or posting anything about my Christmas trip to Lubbock Texas or my New Years.

I spent Christmas in Texas with Erik's wonderful family. His Grandfather was in town and so was his sister, who I will probably be keeping in better contact with than he generally does as she has a journal. Everyone was great, very hospitable. I got a lot of unexpected presents which was very nice (boardgames, books and DVDs), a question from Grandpa as to whether there were going to be any great grandchildren for him (I think all grandparents are required to ask that question at least once), and some inspiration to start learning how to knit. I think I even have a project to start on... I want to make a Tom Baker Dr. Who scarf. (BTW, I got the boxed set of Dr. Who with Tom Baker, which I'm really happy about)

New Years eve was cool. We experienced New Years Eve 1987, with boardgames and classic video games, 80's music, and lots of great food and drinks. We rang in 1988 with a marathon of Quantum Leap season 2, but I started to fall asleep around the 3rd episode.

Things to work on this year:

Health, both diet and exercise. I know that it's a cliche New Years resolution, but I think I've gained at least 15 pounds over the past year, definitely 20 over the past 2.

New resume, new job, more money. It is way past time to seriously consider these things.

Time management. Fitting in directig at least one play this year, complete draft of book, some art projects, lots of reading, and work stuff. Maybe not so much time devoted to LARP this year. I think storytelling took a lot of time last year that could have been used more productively.

A friend of mine just lost his grandfather. I got a reply letter from the Christmas card that I sent to my grandfather from his girlfriend. He has not been doing the greatest, took a couple of falls, eyes have been really bad, and has been in a lot of pain. I really need to visit him soon. I need to keep in beter touch with all family members. I have a lot of them, and hardly keep track of anyone these days.

I think that's about it on the resolution list. I was going to put in some minor ones, but I always forget about them and then break them anyways. We'll stick with the general goals.

Over all, I think I had a good year last year.