Kim's Thoughts

Aahh – another year gone and a new one is born! The years fly by so quickly – it barely seems like we have time to enjoy them and they are gone! Here are some thoughts I have about 2007 and my hopes for 2008…..

MY RESOLUTION:
I’ll start with my New Year’s Resolution — since I was fairly successful in keeping the one I made last year, I thought I would make the same one again. I resolve to pay more attention to my health. I made this resolution last year because I had been neglecting and postponing my routine health care for some time and was beginning to feel the consequences. So, I took it more seriously in 2007 — but, still not seriously enough! I need to do even better – and will in 2008! I promise!

NEW YEAR’S EVE:
Mom is still here for her visit, so that was special enough! I just enjoyed being able to sit and visit with her! We stayed in and made a delicious Calypso Shrimp dinner and watched movies on TV. We went to bed about 11:00 cause we couldn’t keep our eyes open another minute!!! Then, right at midnight, the neighbors were out with their firecrackers and joyful celebrations! The girls went nuts barking at the noises and joining in with the other neighborhood dogs in celebration of the new year…….it was about 1:00 am before I fully got them settled back down so I could fall back to sleep. It was a nice New Year’s Eve — I’m glad I didn’t sleep through the midnight thing, but the real joy of the evening was earlier and the chance to spend it with my Mom!!!

2007 IN REVIEW:
2007 was a year of highs and lows — I’m not sure it was all that “special” when compared to other years, but it was basically a good year….. The lowest was in April, I had to put my precious Puddles to rest – she was a wonderful companion and friend for over 16 years, but she was old, getting confused, losing her sight and hearing, and it was the right thing to do and the right time to do it — but that didn’t make it any easier — I still miss her terribly!!!! Among the highs was the accomplishment of some home renovation goals – I replaced the carpet in the living room and down the hallway with beautiful wood flooring, I replaced all my living room furniture, and I upgraded all my kitchen appliances with stainless steel refrigerator, stove, and dishwasher. My work with Communities In Schools of Lee County has been extremely rewarding – I began a term as Board Chair in June and our annual fundraising Gala was a huge success, far surpassing the successful 2006 Gala. There were lots of busy, exciting things going on in my job, too — a wild year at work, to say the least!

So, without going into a lot of detail, that was 2007 in a nutshell….

HOPES FOR 2008:
In 2008, I am looking forward to exciting things in my career and want to continue my community involvement – without biting off more than I can chew! I’d like to accomplish a couple more home renovation goals – at least one major and one minor job from the list of things I’d like to get done over the next 2-3 years — I think that is enough………..for now!

So — to anyone reading this: I wish you a happy, healthy, prosperous New Year!!!!

Herald Reporter, Jonathan Owens, has started a series of posts on his blog (http://jonbowens.wordpress.com/) to track his luck (or lack there of, whatever the case may be) at the NC Lottery scratch off games. I got all excited when I saw his first post announcing his intentions! It will be fun to watch his progress and see how it all turns out after he has spent $100 over a 10 day stretch! Will he hit it big or lose it all?

Reading his blog has renewed my interest in the scratch offs — I really enjoy them — you know instantly if you won anything – even if it is just the price of the card back so you can buy another one!!! I never really got into buying the Lottery tickets – I don’t like having to wait to watch the news to find out if I won and the odds are way out there! But, I have bought a couple on occasion.

I like the $1 cards – I get more for my money, but I know they don’t bring the chance for the big winnings. But, it’s not the big winning potential that drives me. Not that I wouldn’t LOVE to find one that makes me rich, don’t get me wrong – I buy to win!!! But, knowing the chance of getting rich off them is about as remote as me becoming Miss America, my driver for these types of things is more the fun of scratching each section off to see if there is a match! I like to get several at a time, take them home, sit at the table with a penny and my stack, and slowly scratch off each one. I place the losers in the “trash” pile and any winners are celebrated with a little “woo hoo” and placed in the “take them back to get more” pile. I take back the winners to buy more and keep the “streak” going until I get down to the last losing card and don’t have any more to get new ones without adding money – I play with my winnings as long as the cards will let me! ha-ha It has been a long time since I’ve done that, but Jonathan’s blog has got me wanting to test my luck again……….maybe I’ll be a big winner in 2008!!!! If I do, I guess I’ll owe Jonathan a lunch for prompting my return to gambling!

When they first came out and I started to get them now and then, I tried to keep a log of my spending to keep myself in check. It is hard when you win now and then to see what your real loss rate is. So, I kept track of it for a while – at the end of a couple of months of buying them 2-3 times a month, I was ahead by $2.00!!!! Obviously not something that was going to fund my retirement, but it was fun and it wasn’t costing me a fortune! Soon, though, I got out of the habit of tracking it and then got out of the habit of buying them! I still do, occasionally, though.

Scratch offs aren’t the only instant gratification gambling that I have had fun with – although, I believe they are the only ones available here in NC! When I lived in Western NY, I used to enjoy going to the Indian Reservation near my home and play the pull cards — they were much like the scratch offs – inexpensive, quick, easy – you pull strips off the cards to reveal the results. They were fun, too!

Well – think I just might pop into a convenience store next time I’m out tooling around and see if I can’t scratch off enough cards to build a nice little nest egg for myself………………….or not!