CHAPTER 1 PAGE 4 OF 2013

So today I was late for work...but I did catch this picture of the sun rising over the Maine Mall.This is the next to last light just before work and the light just happened to turn red as I approached and as a matter of fact stayed red long enough to get my camera out and snap this picture.So God was smiling upon me...at least early this morning.   

By the time I got to work things went a little south, as the coffee in my new shinny coffee cup came sloshing out as I unlocked the door!All day long I had that wiff of coffee with cream ever time I moved my right arm.    I'm beginning to think that I've gotten so old that even the coffee cups are able to outsmart me!!

Nothing really new at work...but I did walk at lunch today for the third time this week...I know it doesn't seem like much..but it does mean that for 3 days I've kept up with a New Years resolution.How long do you suppose the average American goes before giving up on a resolution?

I came home to find that the man needed some blood work.  Nothing serious..just normal check up blood work..but here's the thing..he can't have it taken at the doctors office (insurance won't pay).Instead we have to make the appointment at the lab, drive 58 miles to Portsmouth, NH to get a blood test that "possibly" could cost up to $200.00 (which is his total yearly deductable).If we don't go to this lab..then the tests are an out of pocket expense and won't count against the deductable. Health Insurance!  What a racket!  Just one more rant, I gained all this information from machines...either the internet or a telephone call where you didn't speak to anyone, but just pushed buttons.  I really want to go back to the days where you could talk to a real live person who spoke English!

So I ranted and the man ended up taking me to dinner at Mulligans in Biddeford. I'm always happy there.  Lots of people a little on the noisy side, but the food is cheap and good.  Not fancy restaurant food, but the kind of food you get at your mother's kitchen table!  So my belly is full ..and it's just about Dead Files time...I know I'm suppose to be cutting down on TV...But it's a guilty pleasure and it's Friday night!

Chapter 2013 page 2 of 365

I wanted to be able to post a picture of either today's sunrise or sunset.  Living this far north I was unable to make that happen as the sun was just peaking up over the horizon as I was getting to work, and when I left work the sun had already drifted off the horizon.  So I traveled both to work and home in shadows.  That's one of the problems with Maine in the Winter..you seem to be always living in the shadows and cold.  Maybe by next week I'll have the sun to look forward to either on the way to work or on the way home.

Going back to work after 4 days of rest and relation is always hard, but as work days go this was an easy one.  My friend and I walked twice around the shopping center next to our store at lunch.  It was cold and blustery but the fresh air and sunshine were great!  I need to remember that good feeling of entering the warm building from the cold outside, so that when I get so engrossed in work, I'll get up from my desk and walk at lunch.

Driving home in the gathering darkness, there were only three house left with Christmas lights.  I'm missing the multicolored lights twinkling...one house had those tiny white lights woven around greenery on a fence, the second was a red star on the front of a house, the third was a lone Christmas tree in a back yard...show's that the season is now over.

I did some dusting, (keeping things neat and tidy) and made a really healthy dinner of chicken and peppers, so I am trying to keep up with those resolutions. 

So I couldn't give up the idea of adding one of my images...This one was taken last year at just about this time, so its not a far throw to imagine this scene as being here and now. 

Chapter 2013 page 1 of 365

 I borrowed the title from a Facebook post ...but it's a good title for a blog on New Years day....I don't know if the cold and snow...the post Christmas let down or just the fact that New Years has become a time to reflect...I'm just getting old... The picture is new..just taken today Sebago Lake, from a frozen boat launch.  It will most likely be a couple weeks before the lake freezes solid..but you can feel the cold in the air, the ground and the lack of sound...

For the most part I'm really content in my life...great man...warm house good cat good relationship with my daughter...what more could one want...yeah there is that wonderful job that makes you feel satisfied that you just love then again there is the money...I'm worried that in being contented I'll stop searching for something more.  So maybe my 1st resolution needs to be to spend more time searching...I'm not sure for what..but I need to be extending my reach beyond the current confines of my life...

Weight, yes if I'm being honest I've added a few more pounds in my contentment than I should have..so second resolution is going to be to see if I can't loose a few pounds.  Step one walk everyday at lunch.  This should also work on reducing the work day stress.

One of my Christmas presents this year was an Colby MP3 player...to replace the expensive I pod that Trouble (the wonderful cat) helped me loose.  I'm really pleased with myself in that I've figured out how to get music on the player...now to figure out how to make play lists, which brings us to resolution 3...more music and less TV in my life...

So that's it my Three New Year resolutions:

1. Extend My Horizons
2. Loose those few extra pounds
3. Less TV and more Music.