For Auld Lang Syne, blah, blah, blah

January 1, 2014 2105, New Year’s Day, for auld lang syne, for old times sake.

This is the day when most bloggers reflect back on the past year, their successes and their failures. They list their blog’s top ten posts and show pictures of their food failures. They offer tips to get your “organizer” ready for the new year. Some suggest creating a calendar with blog topics penciled in for every day of the year. Crafters hit the flea markets looking for trash to turn into treasures over the next twelve months. Clearly, the gauntlet has been thrown.

So I sat down at the computer this morning, ready to do the same. After twenty minutes of this, I needed coffee.

 

Twenty minutes after my first cup of coffee, I needed breakfast. Then I needed to candle the eggs developing in the incubator.

Wow, just look at my eyebrows. Where’s are my tweezers?

Tucker, you want a bath, buddy? “No? Okay, and yes, I can leave you the hell alone.”

All I need now is a second cup of coffee and this 2014 wrap-up will be in the can.

Ok, I’m back. I noticed the Keurig needed de-scaling so I’ve been up to my elbows in white vinegar.

Shake it off. Stretch a bit. Crack the neck. Adjust the chair height. Dust the mousepad. Drink vinegar flavored coffee.

Ok, here goes.

The year 2014.  What can I say? I have published 990 posts over six years of blogging. That amounts to roughly one every other day.

Did I become rich? No.

Did I earn enough money to buy a fancy cup of coffee as Blogher promised? Yes, barely.

Did I write anything that went viral? No.

Did I create a recipe that changed the foodie world forever? No, but my Pecan Pie Pancakes did make BuzzFeed’s list of  29 Foods That Will Sexually Awaken You. That’s something.

Did I write a cookbook that was nominated for a James Beard award? No.

Did I write a cookbook? No.

Did I collect a lot of cute vintage plates in case I ever write a cookbook? Yes.

Did I publish a food photograph so stunning as to blow up Pinterest? No.

Did I get published on foodgawker and tastespotting nearly every time I submitted? Yes.

Did I get into chicken blogger Facebook cat fights? Yes, but my activity was limited to a couple of snarky comments, so that is really a “no.”

Did I finally make a good pizza? Yes.

Did I figure out what all the dials and buttons do my new $4,000.00 camera do? No, but I will by the time I write my cookbook with pictures of food on all those vintage plates.

Did I write and publish a single post without typos? No, despite BlogHer requiring that the “writing be tight, girls.” This is Michael’s fault. He is supposed to be proof reading for me.

Did I engage in social media? No, not really, except for the snarky comments on the chicken blog cat fight threads.

Did I stay relevant? No, I think to stay relevant you must have been relevant.

Do I care? No.

Do I enjoy what I do even if no one else does? Yes.

Will I keep going after everyone begs me to quit? Yes.

Why? Because I like blogging. I like cooking. I like taking photographs. I like farm animals. I like raising chickens. I like my life.

I am not very good at retrospective thinking. I tend to live very much in the present. My theory of the past is that it is the past. There is nothing that I can do to change it, so why dwell on it? Every once in a while Michael wants to sit down for a heart-to-heart discussion of our finances and review mistakes we’ve made along the way. Yawn. “Are you done? I was planning to go shopping for vintage kitchen ware today.”

My way is probably not the smart way, but I have managed to live an awfully lot of years this way. When I’m senile I’ll live in the past. Until then, I’ll live in the here and now.

No self-respecting blogger writes a year-end-wrap-up without including resolutions for the new year. So here goes.

The year 2015. What can I say? You’re here and we have to deal with you. I still vividly remember the year 2000 and the Y2K hysteria. The corporate office required administrators to stay up until midnight, drive to the clinics and check for fire, brimstone, and exploding PC’s. Nothing happened. I didn’t even get pulled over driving in my pajamas on New Years Eve.

Since Y2K I have learned to temper my expectations for the new year. I set my resolutions at a low-level so that failure is less likely. I leave world peace to others, and strive just to keep the peace within my own four walls. Here are a few of my goals for 2015.

Everybody wants to lose weight in the new year.  I’ll be happy just to not gain weight.

I would like to increase my daily exercise by shopping more.

I would like to know what that big dial on the back of my camera does.

I would like to understand why Michael thinks that having a light on in the kitchen uses more electricity than his four computers and six monitors.

I would like to find a dog food that doesn’t make Tucker fart. This should have been at the top of the list.

I would like to be a better blogger with fewer typos.

I would like to understand why spellcheck keeps changing the word stir to dirt in my recipes.

Oh, and what the hell. I would like world peace.

Happy New Year and big thanks to those who come here and read my blog. I know you are out there because Google Analytics says so, and Google is always right. Without your support I would have to drink vinegar-flavored coffee all the time instead of going to Starbucks occasionally. More so than that, thank you for giving me the opportunity to do something that keeps me busy and happy, and out of prison. Cheers!