New year, new __________.

I'm always scared to announce my New Year's Resolutions in a public forum (or even out loud, for that matter). I feel like I'll jinx them. When you come from a family in which everyone goes out the same doors they came in, and when you grew up with your grandmother saying "hot bread and butter!" every time an obstacle came between the two of you, it's hard not to be superstitious about ANNOUNCING ALL THE WAYS YOU ARE GOING TO TRANSFORM YOUR LIFE. On the INTERNET, no less.

Anyway. I will say this much: I think 2011 is going to be a great year. Of course, I'm still awash in the early-new-year glow. I've flossed for three days straight. I re-started a food diary. I've cooked two new, healthy recipes. I ordered new skates. And I've added events to my calendar, hoping that writing them in ink will give me the motivation to go to a gallery opening instead of staying home to watch Arrested Development on DVD for the 1,007th time, or to go to a roller derby bout on a Tuesday instead of hunkering down on the couch after dinner. (At age 30, I still have the mentality that weeknights are "school nights" and rarely venture out to do anything more than go out to eat -- and I don't even do that unless it's a Thursday. So going out on a Tuesday night is momentous.)

I'm sure that soon I'll tire of the slushy roads, the dark mornings, and the bitter cold and not feel a lick of motivation to do much of anything this winter. But at least right now I have some hope. If I can make myself floss, I can make myself do anything.