NYE 2014

Well, this is certainly not how we planned to spend New Year’s Eve. I’m sitting at the computer, hammering out one last inane post while listening to the sounds of The Twilight Zone marathon on SyFy and of Debbie making chili in the kitchen. There’s nothing wrong with any of those things – in fact, there’s a lot right about them, on just about any other night – but we were supposed to be dancing in the new year, as we have for the past several years.

But weather happened. Mother Nature laid down a sheet of ice yesterday evening and continuing overnight, and getting out on the streets tonight, especially after midnight, is a game with odds I don’t like.  

So, here we are, and I hope you’re not reading this on New Year’s Eve, because that might mean that your social life is as bad as ours. Or maybe your weather is. Yeah, let’s go with that.

So, here are some things running through my mind on this final day of 2014.

Her: The Interview stars Seth Rogen and is a collection of juvenile trash.

Him: Really? I thought it was just a zany comedy.

Her: Which part of “Seth Rogen” did you not understand?

The preceding is not to say that juvenile trash can’t also be a zany comedy. Tropic Thunder was on TV today, and I hadn’t seen it since it was released in 2008. It has very little socially redeeming value, but it’s also funny as heck, and if you can catch it on a basic cable channel, the censors make it much less cringe-worthy.

New Year’s Day is my favorite holiday of the year, because it comes with absolutely no expectations or agenda (other than black eye peas). We can sleep late, we have no social responsibilities, and it’s perfectly acceptable – nay, expected – that the day will require nothing more strenuous than watching football or movies.

Having said that, we also indulge ourselves in the superstitious tradition that “whatever you do on New Year’s Day, you’ll do all year long,” and so we try to get in a bike ride or a run or another kind of workout. However, given that the forecast for tomorrow calls for continued icy conditions and a high temperature in the lower thirties, I doubt that a bike ride will happen. Strike that: a bike ride will definitely not happen.

We did get in a bike ride on January 1, 2014, according to the Historical Excel Spreadsheet of Physical Activities. In fact, we rode 22.2 miles in what I characterized as “very windy” conditions.

The HESPA also documents that I managed to average just over 31 minutes of aerobic workouts (running, bicycling, or elliptical trainer) throughout the year. My annual goal is to average at least 30 minutes a day, so I can count 2014 as a success in that regard.

The breakdown of that activity – just to demonstrate my Excel skills and/or OCD tendencies – is as follows: running – 150 miles (I don’t run very much, to be honest); cycling – 850 miles; elliptical – 94 hours (there’s a mileage figure to go along with that, but it’s probably not very accurate; I record it mainly to track relative intensity of workouts). And, finally, those statistics came from an average of 19 workouts per month. I’m hardly a workout addict, having learned that rest days are essential for maintaining a consistent level of fitness and activity.

My other accomplishment this year was another cover-to-cover reading of the Bible, which I believe was the 24th consecutive year I’ve done that. As important as staying physically active might be, I believe that staying in The Word is even more so. Every verse in the Bible is there for a reason, and we do ourselves a spiritual disservice by ignoring any of them.

In closing, my wish for you in 2015 is that it’s a year of peace, joy, and blessings, mixed with just enough challenges to make you fully appreciate the rest. Thanks for stopping by, and we’ll catch you next year.