It is that time of the year again. The time to start contemplating which New Year’s Resolutions I’ll be breaking in 2009. Last year it was exercise. But that’s only because my shoulder was bothering me, providing ample reason to forgo physical exertion for the better part of 2008. But now this lack of activity has stiffened my joints. I am creaking, like an old car riding over bumps or rounding turns. Creak.

I also find myself grunting and moaning and making the kind of sounds I’d expect from a centurion –  no wait, that doesn’t look right. I meant centenarian. (Gotta watch that spell check!)

Although, I suspect a centurion would make such sounds if he or she happened to also be a centenarian.

But I’m not quite there, yet. Truth be told, I’m just a tad past half-way down the road to centenarianism (which is not a word but as a wordsmith I can invent words – I have a license to do so).

Now that the new year is upon us, it is time for me to get physical. Or, at the very least, it is time for me to talk about getting physical.

The good news: my shoulder is better now. The bad news: I no longer have an excuse for being a couch potato. So, I decided to start my new fitness regime early - in December. I mean, why wait? I can just as easily begin my new good habits now as well as next month, or next year. Right?

But seriously, folks, I have never made much headway with resolutions. Why even make them? The only resolution I thought I could keep was the one not to eat pickles (because I do not like them). And I did well, until that fateful day when, unbeknownst to me, the dude at the burger joint slipped a pickle on my cheeseburger and I ate it. So much for resolutions.

Here is my solution to this resolution malfunction:

First, I will make a list. Lists are useful because I can have the pleasure of checking things off as I complete my tasks.

I’m good at making lists. I’ve made lots of them over the years. Lists I can compose with great rapidity and lose just as quickly.

Occasionally, I come upon them. Shocking, they always seem to have the same items, unchecked, unresolved.

Get organized.

Stop being lazy.

Clean garage.

Buy new socks.

Look for new job.

This is so familar that I feel like I’m trapped in that movie “Groundhog Day,” in which the day keeps repeating itself over and over and over. Except I don’t have to look for a new job. I rather like being a writer. And I got socks for Christmas.

But all joshing aside, over these many years, I have resolved, time and time again, to become less of a procrastinator, to become more organized, neater and better in general. These goals are somewhat nebulous, which I like because if I said something really concrete like, “I shall pressure wash the house on January 15 at 2:30 p.m., well, it probably won’t happen. By keeping my resolutions vague, I may actually acheive them. After all, it's not hard to become better organized and less of a procrastinator (until some point in time when the balance shifts and I become less organized and a better procrastinator).

But if I may be serious for another moment, I’ll mention the things I must do – I will do – in  2009.

I’ll finish my novel. I’ll ride bikes with the family. I’ll be more grateful. I’ll write more. I’ll eat more – I mean better. I’ll read more. And I’ll watch less TV.

I could go on and on. I could make a litany of resolutions that normally wouldn’t happen in the first week. Or the second. Possibly wouldn’t happen at all. So, this time I started fulfilling my resolutional (also not a word) obligations the day after Christmas by cleaning the garage. It took half the day – it would have taken all day but I didn’t get up until noon. I was dragging junk back into the garage well into the night.

“Dad, it doesn’t look much different,” announced my youngest.

Ah, from the mouth of babes…

But I felt good. I was on a roll!

So I fixed the hammock. I needed a break. Completing resolutions can take a lot out of a person.

And today, I continued my pre-resolution trend and began my exercise regime. I did a pull-up. Yep. I’m back.

2009 will be fine!