Happy New Year, Welcome 2021

 Greetings and Happy New Year to all. After I reviewed my November 2020 Read of the Month I made the executive decision to give myself some time off for the month of December to enjoy some time away from my computer screen. With most of my work time being on screen, the last thing I wanted to do was spend any additional time looking at a computer screen. So what did I do for the month of December then? Well besides going into work and setting up our remodeled library I:

• Finally read Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds. What a great book, written in free verse by Reynolds. It tells the story of Will (William Holloman) seeking revenge for his brother's violent murder. On his journey down the elevator from his 8th floor apartment Will is visited by a new person (that also died of gun violence) that enters the elevator at each floor. Each tells Will (and the reader) the story of their death. Give this one a read, powerful and you can finish it in a day or two. Consider this my mini December Read of the Month. I honestly read it for my own enjoyment, but since I am here I will give it a 5/5.
• Started watching Law and Order: Criminal Intent. As made clear in the blog, I am huge Law and Order fan, and I enjoy SVU, but I never really gave Criminal Intent a chance. I decided to watch it here and there lately and in late December I decided to just watch it from the beginning via the streaming service Peacock that comes with my Xfinity plan. I am not sure why I waited so long to watch. I really enjoy the character Detective Robert Goren (played by actor Vincent D'Onofrio); probably because his character loves libraries so much (I believe it was mentioned that his (the character's) mother was a librarian as well.
• Researching cameras: No, Santa did not bring me a new camera, yes I keep watching YouTube videos and reading reviews of various models and types. Maybe by my birthday in May I will finally make a decision.
• Changed the layout of this blog: I was done with the dark look. I really did not like how it failed to show when items were in bold. 
• Cleaning up/reorganizing my Apple Music Playlists: Out with the old in with the older and newer songs so I continue to write and enjoy my walks.
• Walking my dog daily. One positive to come from this pandemic was the start to my daily routine of walking my dog Ella. It rarely happened pre Covid and now I go nearly every day for at least two miles. I was worried once November and December hit it would be hard to squeeze walks in with Michigan weather. Thankfully, it has been a mild fall and I find that walking in 20's and 30's is not so bad. Ella and I missed only four days in December, and each of those were due to weather. Cold we can handle, rain not so much 

  

  We beat the winter storm early this morning
  
  
  

So what would any 1/1/20** post be without some resolutions? I normally am not a big resolution guy. I feel like if something is important it can be changed on March 15th, July 22nd, or any other date just as easily. I mean, I even tell my wife New Year's Eve is technically the night before your birthday, dork I know. However my doctor said something at my yearly check up that has stuck with me, "it just takes two weeks to build a habit, good or bad." To be honest I find this to be so true. I have no problem waking up early to walk the dog and feel like I am missing something if we skip a day. So using my doctor's advice and aiming to go strong for two weeks and build good habits here are my resolutions for the new year.

• Less screen time on my phone: Each morning I will read my normal news sites, check some social media, and my DTE Energy usage app (total dad move) and then set it aside unless people contact me or I am listening to music/podcasts which will lead to....
• Reading and writing more: Read more books instead of tweets. Create more meaningful content in 2021. Ok these two are my easy ones....now for the hard ones
•  Drink more water: Uggh. I am not a water guy. I did drop pop and have not had one in over two years (diet or regular). I just have such a hard time drinking as much water as I should. I enjoy black coffee, lemonade and Arnold Palmers and a few adult beverages here and there....I just wish I had the self control to drink water more often. 
• Do not let the actions/choices of others get to me: Honestly, I need to tell myself if it does not impact me or the people I love/care for, just let it go. Believe me I am not perfect, and I am sure I annoy people, but man....some people really go out of there way and make this one difficult. Being on my phone less should.....should help with this one.

There we go. Welcome to 2021. I hope everyone had a safe and enjoyable holiday season. I am already over halfway through my January Read of the Month which I will introduce in my next post.