Good-Bye . . . Hello

 

Saying good-bye to 2010 is not a problem for me.

It was a year fraught with some challenges - more so than most.

But I'll have to say, I'm proud that Donald and I (and Harley, of course!)  were able to meet them head-on and get on about our business of living and enjoying our life together.

And looking forward to 2011.  Ready to face its challenges, and looking forward to its joys.

I'm still trying to decide whether or not to make any resolutions.  Some years I do, some years I don't.

How 'bout you - do you make resolutions?  Are you able to keep them?

Here's a few I have made over the years - and I'll bet some of them will look familiar to many of you.

• To lose weight.
• To eat healthier.
• To exercise.
• To have more patience with people who drive me nuts.
• To be a kinder, more considerate person.
• To clean up my potty mouth.
• To live each day to its fullest.

There are a couple of things on this list I'm proud to say I have actually gotten better about as I become a wiser (ie,  older) woman.  But, I have to admit - I still have a ways to go to become the woman I'd like to be.

One very important decision has been reached today.

One I'm happy to share.

It was the very tough choice about which book I want to start my year off with. 

Last year I started my year with an ARC of Linda Fairstein's HELL GATE.  Book 12 in the Alex Cooper series.  It was a great choice, and a book I enjoyed immensely.  And I can't wait to read #13 - SILENT MERCY, coming out in March.

This year, after much thought and consideration, I've decided to start the year in a whole 'nother way.   The book that is calling my name right now is Keith Richards' LIFE. 

He may not be a favorite of everyone, but he is one of mine.  Donald and I have been lucky enough to see The Rolling Stones in concert twice - The Steel Wheels Concert in 1989 at Georgia Tech, and The VooDoo Lounge Concert in 1994 at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta.

I've been a fan of Keith Richards, and of The Rolling Stones, since way way back.  Actually, preferring them to The Beatles when I was a teen.  That's not to say I don't adore The Beatles, I do.  But there's just something about bad boys . . . .

One of my favorite songs ever is one written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards.  It's Salt of the Earth - Enjoy!

And Happy New Year to you all -

Salt Of The Earth
written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards

Let's drink to the hard working people
Let's drink to the lowly of birth
Raise your glass to the good and the evil
Let's drink to the salt of the earth

Say a prayer for the common foot soldier
Spare a thought for his back breaking work
Say a prayer for his wife and his children
Who burn the fires and who still till the earth

And when I search a faceless crowd
A swirling mass of gray and
Black and white
They don't look real to me
In fact, they look so strange

Raise your glass to the hard working people
Let's drink to the uncounted heads
Let's think of the wavering millions
Who need leading but get gamblers instead

Spare a thought for the stay-at-home voter
Empty eyes gaze at strange beauty shows
And a parade of the gray suited grafters
A choice of cancer or polio

And when I look in the faceless crowd
A swirling mass of grays and
Black and white
They don't look real to me
Or don't they look so strange

Let's drink to the hard working people
Let's think of the lowly of birth
Spare a thought for the rag taggy people
Let's drink to the salt of the earth

Let's drink to the hard working people
Let's drink to the salt of the earth
Let's drink to the two thousand million
Let's think of the humble of birth