Happy New Year! Today is the first day of 2004. I don't really make new year's resolutions--I hate to disappoint myself when I fail. But, I do have hopes for the coming year. I hope that we can finish our business in Iraq. I would love for that country to establish a new and stable government and for our military men and women to be able to come home.

I also hope that I can become a better parent. Not that I think I am a bad parent. It's just that I think that there is always room for improvement. I need to become a better listener. My oldest daughter is getting to an age where she needs me to listen more and lecture less (actually, I probably should have been doing that more all along!). So, I hope I can pay more attention to things like that.

I hope I can lose weight. I know, everyone wants to do that. But I really need to--not to conform to the world's weight standards, but so that I can feel better and have more energy. I'm not terribly overweight, but it sure wouldn't hurt to lose 15 pounds. The trick is to formulate a plan. It's hard to work exercise into my already busy schedule, but if I am going have any hope of achieving my goal, that is what it is going to take. I also need to cut out some things from my diet--like cookies, candy, etc. That is really hard 'cuz I have a real sweet tooth. So, maybe I won't cut it out entirely--if I can just cut back.

Those are some of my hopes. I have others, as well. It will be fun to look back on this blog this time next year and see if any of these hopes have come to pass. I will have little to nothing to do with my first hope, but the other two--well, both of those are within my power, if I choose to make them happen.