In a few hours, 2019 will be gone. Over and past. The New Year and a New Decade will be here. With it comes an opportunity to reinvent, refresh and renew. It’s up to each of us to make plans for a better YOU.

Have you had a stressful year in 2019? You’re not alone. I had a very stressful year. I hope 2020 will be better. I am making plans to do just that. For starter, I need something to keep my mind off my problems. To be able to relax, I found out that music is a good therapy.

A year ago, I bought a retro Victrola record player which plays vinyl records. Yes, I still have my old vinyls from the ‘60s. I intend to play most of them in 2020. They always bring back happy memories of the past.

When I lost my Mom a few days before Thanksgiving, my life changed drastically. With both my parents gone and being the eldest, I’m now the head of the family and it carries a certain responsibility. I do miss calling Mom. There were days when I thought of calling home, only to realize she is gone forever and I can’t call her anymore like I used to do for the last 52 years since I left home. There is one thing Mom promised me when she was alive. If I move back to the Philippines, she would buy me a piano. That’s not going to happen now so I decided to treat myself on my birthday a few days ago and bought myself a piano. It’s as if I fulfilled her promise to me. I always want to learn how to play the piano and with a piano at home, I should be able to do that. Where do I begin? As Fraulein Maria a.k.a. Julie Andrews from the “Sounds of Music” said, you begin with Do-Re-Mi.

Last May, my husband’s health turned for the worst and he decided to stay on the second floor for the duration of his illness unless he had to go see his doctor. That meant I had to bring his food upstairs. Most days, I made the trip upstairs 20 times a day and with 17 steps each way, I logged in about 680 steps a day just attending to his needs alone. I lost 16 lbs so far this year. Not good for me. At the rate I’m going, I will be back to when I was single, – 90 lbs soaking wet. Funny! But then I look at it this way. That’s a very good cardio exercise for me. Who needs the gym? I get my exercise right here at home and it is free.

There are a few book projects I want to do but so little time. I want to finish one book this coming year. I meant to do a final edit on one of them in 2019 but never did anything. I just had no time. I’ll make time this year.

There are piles of books I want to read. I barely met my reading goals this year. Most of my time that I was reading in 2019 were doing research for my blog. Blogging will take a back burner from now on. I am considering of spending less time on blogsphere and also engaging less on social media and political news in 2020. I’m sure others will not agree with me but considering what is good for me, I’m staying with my goals this coming year.

My garden did not get much attention this year either and I lost a lot of roses. The crazy weather did not help at all. I’m redoing my garden to include more shrubs and perennials, easy care plants. I promise myself to buy only 2 roses this year. I’m looking at David Austin English Rose catalog. I have enough plants to cheer me up and give me the outdoor exercise I need. I also got a beautiful red mini rose plant a few days ago. The sender wished me a Happy New Year but did not sign his/her name. If you are the mystery sender, I thank you very much. That’s very sweet of you to think of me and it cheers me up.

I have done a lot of volunteer work in NY and now here in SC. At this point of my life, I’m cutting back on that and leaving that to the younger generation. I’m still on the HOA board which is a thankless job. I just happen to like working with our property manager and our developer and I can watch where our money is being spent. I’ll stay on that since I can do it without leaving home which is impossible these days because of my husband’s health issues.

Lastly and the most difficult task I want to tackle this year. I want to organize my paperwork and my house. After almost 50 years of marriage, we have accumulated a lot of stuff. We downsized when we moved south but I still have plenty of things. I hate to think what my kids will do when I go so I’ll start unloading some of my stuffs now.

So that’s my plan for this year. I feel great already. Hope 2020 is a wonderful year for you! What are your plans for 2020? Share and comment below.

Happy New Year! Wishing you all the best in the next decade!!