A forgotten draft

(Apparently, this has been sitting as a draft since January 5th.  Oops.)

All righty, then.  It's time to examine last year's resolutions.

Drink more milk.  I usually only drink milk when my parents are here (or I'm visiting them), and we drink milk at every dinner.  Specifically, I will drink milk with a meal once a week.

     Yeah.  Not so much.  I tried for a couple of weeks, then totally forgot.

Cook dinner.  And I mean really cook, not just reheat leftovers or zap a TV dinner.  Specifically, I will cook myself at least one meal a week.  

     Yes, I managed one meal a week.  And often that was the only cooked meal.  But I'm working on it - after this holiday season, I can't afford to eat out for a while!

Use 'so' less.  I use the word 'so' an awful lot on this blog.  So much, in fact, that it's started sticking out to me.  I will use it less.  But I have no specifics on how much less. ;)

     I think I managed to use it less... I hope.  

Be on time for work.  I am really bad about clocking in at 8:02.  All I have to do is wake up 2 minutes earlier (in theory).  Specifically, I will clock in to work at 8:00 or earlier at least 4 days a week (which is an improvement over my current one-day-a-week trend).

     Not a chance.  I did my best, but I can't do mornings.  Luckily, since I end up working 15-20 minutes late most days, the boss-ladies are forgiving.

Drink more water.  Over the last few weeks, I've been drinking a lot of pop.  A LOT.  Like, 3 or 4 cups of Dr. Pepper at work, then a Cherry Coke with dinner, and a Dr. Pepper later in the evening.  That can't be good for me.  But I got a fancy new plastic cup with my initials on it, and I find that I drink more water when I'm drinking out of that.  Specifically, I will have more water than pop while I'm at work (even if that means guzzling two glasses of water in the last ten minutes of my day!).

     I did it for a while.  And I'm still working at it.  Problem is, I tend to drink more caffeine when I'm stressed, and when I'm programming, and I've been stressed and programming lately.  I will keep trying with this one, I think.

Finish Partners.  I HAVE to finish this play.  I've run it through the critique group once, and I've made some major changes, but I need to finish this next draft and submit it to the theatre if I want to have a chance of having it produced next season.  Specifically, I will finish this draft by the end of January and I will have it to my crit partners by mid-February.

     Fail.  EPIC FAIL.  It's just not working for me.  I've put it away now, and it's just got to sit and stew for a while.  But I do have other projects on the go, including an outline for another play, so I'll concentrate on those.  If I've learned one thing from all of the author blogs I've been reading, it's that sometimes, you just have to let it go.  I'm not sure I'm totally ready to let it go yet, but I'm willing to let it take a very long nap.

Overall, last year's resolutions were not such a success.  Maybe this year will be better.

First Kisses

I've been watching Bones lately - just got Netflix, and I'm totally catching up on a pile of shows that I didn't manage to catch the first time around.

Anyways, I just saw the episode where Angela and Hodgins had their first kiss, and as I was watching it, I suddenly remembered just how a first kiss feels...

There's the tingle all the way to your fingertips, the anticipation.  Your heart speeds up, fluttering instead of beating in that moment where everything stops - the moment when you look at him, and he looks at you, and you just know that it's about to happen.

You can smell him in that moment.  His shampoo, his cologne, the gum he's been chewing in the hopes that this moment would arise.  He smells good, because if he didn't, the moment would pass and you would politely say goodnight and walk away.

You move closer together, slowly, and you can feel his breath on your face, and you're thankful that you had those two sticks of gum in your purse after dinner. There's a brief pause, and you can tell that he's watching for your reaction, needing to be certain that you want this as much as he does.  And then you're moving again, and you're looking at him, until he's too close for you to focus, so your eyes close, trusting your instincts to bring you together.

And finally!  His lips touch yours, just a soft brush at first, testing the waters.  And then, with both of you abandoning your doubts and insecurities, your lips touch again, more firmly, drawing on each other...  And your heart is still fluttering.