New Year's Housekeeping

OK, time to clean up le blog and get ready for the new year. I am personally glad to put '08 behind us and move the hell on. On my very first to-do list of the year:

• Take better care of myself. This means exercising and eating healthy food. Simple, right? Yeah.
• Clean up this office! No wonder I can't seem to get any work done.
• Start making daily cards again - it's a great way to stay in the scrappy mood. I miss my favorite hobby!

I'm not calling those resolutions, because that word just has too much expectation attached. Words I do not want to hear this year:

• Economy. Everyone, everywhere is talking about the "new economy," the "state of our economy," the "bad economy" - e-freakin'-nuff already! This is not raising consumer confidence and is stressing me right out.
• Bail Out. If you need a refresher on where I stand here, check last week's post.
• Hope/Change. Let's not overuse these two very important words.
  
• Jigglypuff. My son has taken to chanting this lately. Over it.

Switching gears. I didn't quite make my goal of 50 books last year. For 2009 I'm going with a goal of 26 books, one for every two weeks. Making a new list over on the side bar but for record's sake, here is a recap of last year's reads, with my favorites in bold:

37. The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy (Douglas Adams)
36. Snow Flower And The Secret Fan (Lisa See)
35. The Broker (John Grisham)
34. The Motel Life (Willy Vlautin)
33. The Heretic's Daughter (Kathleen Kent)
32. Three Bags Full (Leonie Swann)
31. Fearless Fourteen (Janet Evanovich)
30. A Thousand Splendid Suns (Khaled Hosseini)
29. Stitch N Bitch Crochet (Debbie Stoller)
28. Worse Than Watergate - The Secret Presidency George W. Bush (John W. Dean)
27. I lock My Door Upon Myself (Joyce Carol Oates)
26. No Time For Goodbye (Linwood Barclay)
25. Boy Still Missing (John Searles)
24. The Handmaid's Tale (Margaret Atwater)
23. 84, Charing Cross Road (Helene Hanff)
22. Black Out (Lisa Unger)
21. The Tent (Margaret Atwater)
20. Dead Sleep (Greg Iles)
19. The Book Of Lost Things (John Connolly)
18. Sharp Objects (Gillian Flynn)
17. Zombie (Joyce Carol Oates)
16. The Fourth Hand (John Irving)
15. A Friend Of The Earth (T.C. Boyle)
14. The Courage Consort (Michel Faber)
13. Tallgrass (Sandra Dallas)
12. T Is For Trespass (Sue Grafton)
11. The Historian (Elizabeth Kostova)
10. Lean Mean Thirteen (Janet Evanovich)
9. The Forest Lover (Susan Vreeland)
8. The Rapture Of Canaan (Sheri Reynolds)
7. I Am The Messenger (Markus Zusak)
6. The Madonnas Of Leningrad (Debra Dean)
5. Blood Memory (Greg Iles)
4. True Evil (Greg Iles)
3. Extremely Close And Incredibly Loud (Jonathan Safron Foer)
2. Fierce Invalids Back From Hot Climates (Tom Robbins)
1. Mortal Fear (Greg Iles)

Happy New Year! Crossing fingers for a peaceful, prosperous 2009.

PS I wonder how many blogs are playing this song right now?