OTTUMWA —
Resolutions rarely work.
People make the same promises every year. I’ll work out more. I’ll eat better. I’ll spend more time with family and friends.
Let’s give ourselves a fighting chance. Let’s make some realistic resolutions this time around. Here are my 10 resolutions for 2013:
• Have a Quentin Tarantino movie marathon. Pulp Fiction? In Love. Inglorious Basterds? On repeat. Django Unchained? Obsessed.
• Expand my repertoire of impersonations. I have Tom Brokaw, Cartman from South Park and Mary Katherine Gallagher down pat. Who’s next? Michelle Obama? I’m going to need to work on my arms.
• Hone my slow-cooker skills. My mom got me a slow-cooker cookbook for Christmas, and I am determined to successfully complete every one of those recipes. It’s going to be all types of “Julie & Julia” in my kitchen.
• Perfect the A.C. Slater dance. Gangnam Style, Dougie and The Carlton -- no problem. Now, Mario Lopez, it’s dance battle time.
• Go one day without giving myself whiplash while shifting gears in my little car, dubbed “Putt Putt.” I’ve had that silver devil for nearly two years, and while I’ve come a long way from stalling in high-speed Kansas City traffic and sobbing every time I see a steep hill, I still have my days.
• Puppies. That’s it. Just give me a big basket of puppies.
• Keep up with best-selling books more. Keep up with the Kardashians less.
• Buy a full-length mirror and give myself a once-over before leaving for work. I showed up at one event this year with a huge wad of price tags and stickers unbeknownst to me on the back of my shirt. Needless to say, I was the image of professionalism that day.
• Start watching all of the movies and TV shows in my Netflix queue. Despite putting “Mad Men,” “The Artist” and “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” in there, I return time after time to my favorite episodes of “The Office.” Dear coworkers, watch where you keep your office supplies. Someday they might end up in Jell-O.
• Finally, I think it’s time to part with my fear of the dark. Ever since a particularly frightening episode of “Are You Afraid of the Dark?” when I was little (obviously the answer was “Yes”), the nooks and crannies in my bedroom and the popping sound of my steam heat turning on in the winter make me nearly jump out of my skin every night.
What are your new year’s resolutions? If you make them, make them attainable. If you don’t, just keep on keeping on.
Happy New Year, everyone. I hope it’s a good one.
Wapello County
Let's make some realistic resolutions
- Wapello County
-
-
Agency couple has provided foster care for 38 kids in last decade
AGENCY — School pictures of 38 grinning children look out into Angie and Terry Hamm's living room, evidence of the years of work and love they've given to those who needed it most. Their house — currently filled with five children, ages 7, 10, 10, 11
-
Severe weather returns to forecast
OTTUMWA — The National Weather Service believes severe weather could return to Iowa this weekend. The storms are expected to arrive late in the weekend and could extend into the next work week. Meteorologist Kurt Kotenberg said Sunday and Monday have
-
Health clinic in Ottumwa joins Mercy Medical
OTTUMWA — Though their future was uncertain, two local health care practices will continue without any interruption in services to patients and will remain at their current locations in Ottumwa. Ottumwa Internal Medicine North and Ottumwa Family Prac
- 90th Street closed until 2014 OTTUMWA — Not only is 90th Street closed for this summer, it's also closed until the summer of 2014. Wapello County Engineer Brian Moore said Wednesday that the road will be closed for a year while Moore and his team work on the road's design. "There
-
Iowa Supreme Court rejects appeal
DES MOINES – The Iowa Supreme Court has rejected an appeal bid by a Wapello County man previously found to be a sexually violent predator. Cory Blake West was convicted of assault with intent to commit sexual abuse in 2008. He was sentenced to four y
- Board to discuss DHS contract and tourism letter OTTUMWA — Wapello County Supervisor Greg Kenning said a contract with Department of Human Services (DHS) will probably be the main event when the board meets at 5:30 p.m. today in the Wapello County Courthouse. He indicated the DHS contract will pro
-
SLIDESHOW: Race for the Cure
OTTUMWA -- This year's Race for the Cure faced unusually chilly weather, but that didn't deter people from turning out. The annual event brought in runners from across the region.
-
Race for the Cure endures chilly weekend
OTTUMWA -- Hundreds of people endured cold winds Saturday in Ottumwa Park. Why would they do this? Because the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure was there. They crowded into the Jimmy Jones Shelter House and waited for an event, whether it was the one-mile Family Run/Walk, the Co-Ed 5K Run/Walk or the Kids' Fun Run.
- Official emphasizes routine mammograms, self-exams OTTUMWA —The Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure starts at 7 a.m. Saturday in the Jimmy Jones Shelter in Ottumwa Park, and Lynelle Diers hopes everyone will "keep up mammograms." Diers, the executive director of Wapello County Public Health, said Thursd
-
Community health nurses treat and teach
OTTUMWA — Pick up somebody's gross germs from a doorknob, and there are plenty of nurses who will treat the resulting cold. But some nurses will add in a lesson on hand washing. "We're teaching things to avoid communicable illness," said Jacquelyn Po
- More Wapello County Headlines
-



