Anticipated Changes in 2024

I don’t make resolutions anymore – but I do think about what I anticipate being different in the coming year.

Some changes are anticipated by situations I already recognize:

My parents are now in an assisted living group home rather than their own home. I will still travel to the Dallas are visit them at least monthly as I have for the past few years, but the trips will take 2 days rather than 8.

There will be a flurry of activity to see the total eclipse on April 8th. It could be a day trip if the weather is good or a three-day trip to someplace where the skies are clear.

My husband and I are ready to start attending birding festivals again…secure enough in the mostly outdoor venues and able to mask for the short times in crowded/enclosed spaces. We’ve registered for one in February already (the one we registered for last December was overcome by my need to stay in Carrollton).

A flurry of appointments with various doctors since I put off appointments for the last months of 2023.

Memberships to the zoo and a big cat sanctuary we got as gifts….motivating us to visit those places more frequently.

Other changes are about intention…and have the closest relationship to annual ‘resolutions:’

I intend to get intensity minutes (as measured by my Garmin watch) from ‘power walking’ in my neighborhood during the times I am not mowing the yard (and getting intensity minutes that way).

My husband suggested some core strengthening exercises to help my back (which aches too often). Maybe it will help me ‘shape up’ in other ways too.

I will donate, recycle, or trash items that I don’t need. Moving my parents to assisted living has prompted me to downsize stuff more than ever before! I am thinking more about what I truly need and/or value rather than just letting items accumulate over time.