Resolutions

I sat at my computer desk as usual, contemplating a piece for my portfolio. The subject was my New Years Resolutions, so I began by making the list.

Get a bigger house-- My boyfriend has been complaining since the second week after we moved in that the house was too small. There's not enough storage space. Indeed, there's never enough storage space when you have a four year old living in the place.

"Mommy!" My son had been watching a Thomas the Tank Engine DVD. It had decided to end at that particular point in time. "Mommy, I want to play the game!"

"Can we play the game later, Sweetie? Mommy's working." I picked up the remote. "Here, maybe you can sing along with the songs." He pouted, but was quickly drawn in by the music on the television. I returned to my work.

Finish my book--I've been working on this thing for months now and still haven't actually finished Chapter One. Time to get cracking.

"Hey, Scrumptious," my boyfriend called from the kitchen. "What did I do with the phone bill? It's due tomorrow and I want to get it paid."

"It's in the drawer where all the other bills are." I called, desperately trying to concentrate.

He made a face. "No, it's not, dear." he said through gritted teeth. I whirled off my chair and went into the kitchen. I tore open the drawer, fished the phone bill out of the pile of monthly notices and slapped it against his chest. He smiled sheepishly. "Thanks, Sweet Cheeks." he said. I returned to the computer desk.

Lose some weight--I'm not quite morbidly obese, but I do have a few extra pounds I could stand to lose. How cliche am I? Lose weight is on everybody's list evey year.

My cell phone rang. It was my mother. "Do you think you could leave a little early for work today and bring some beans out to Gram's house? She's making ham and bean soup with the leftover Christmas ham."

"Yeah, I have to leave early anyway. I have a few things to do."

"Thanks, sweetie. I'll see you then." she said, and hung up. I returned to my list. It looked pitiful.

"That's it." I said, frustrated. "I'm not going to keep any resolutions anyway." I saved my work, thinking I'd just return to it later. I went into the kitchen and poured myself a glass of Pomegranate juice. My boyfriend sat at the table writing out a check for the phone bill. "Do you think it's too big a dream to be famous?"

"Not at all." he replied. He stood up and brushed my cheek with his hand. "There's no such thing as too big a dream. If fame is what you want, Scrumptious, then you go for it."

I thought about it for a moment, then, with a frustrated sigh, I returned to the computer desk and reopened the document.

Become famous--May take more than one year.

Satisfied for the time being, I saved again and closed the document. Perhaps my list wasn't very long or involved, but I figured I'd cut myself some slack. What was there would take a while, and a lot of hard work. I picked up the remote and turned to my son, who sat patiently on his miniature sofa in front of the television, unhappily watching the last of the songs on his DVD.

"Okay, baby, how about that game?" I said. He jumped and cheered. I pushed the menu button on the remote and navigated to the games menu. My son was overjoyed. Perhaps my writing wasn't quite as important as I thought it was. "Just a minute, honey." I said, and turned back toward the computer. I opened the file and added one last item to the list.

Make more time for my son--He'll only be little for so long.

I saved and shut down the computer, turning my attention to my four year old. Watching his little eyes glitter with excitement when he got a right answer, I began to think about my dream. Maybe I'll never be famous, but in my little guy's eyes, I already am.