I love a new year. After all, a new year brings the chance to start fresh with new goals; to wipe the slate clean and let go of some of those old regrets and painful mistakes. Out with the old, in with the new, right?

Or is it? Because it seems that each year in December, I find myself contemplating the resolutions I made with steadfast determination 12 months earlier and saying to myself, “Rut roh, I’m still the same ol’ me!”

That never stops me from trying again, however, and this year, I promise, I’m really going to be more organized, take more time for myself, cut out chocolate (well, reduce my intake by half, anyway) and not yell at the kids, even if they do bring the car home on empty, again. I’m going to exercise at least four times a week. . . ok, let’s just say more often, stay in better touch with old friends and call my mother on a regular basis.

Worthy goals? Absolutely. Really gonna happen? Maybe. If I go by the statistics, I’ve got a 46 percent chance of still being in the game in June and a 20 percent chance of having my resolve in tact by next New Year’s Eve. Only this year, I’m not going to beat myself up in December when I take stock of how I did with my 2009 resolutions. When the clock strikes midnight on December 31, I’m going to kiss the old year goodbye and embrace the new year with the same enthusiasm as always, ready to make new memories as well as mistakes and to give those resolutions one more try. After all, there’s always 2010!

As we say goodbye to 2008 and welcome in 2009, the staff here at Lake Norman Woman would like to extend a heartfelt “thank you” to everyone who has supported the magazine—we appreciate your trust in us! To express our gratitude, we have made a contribution on behalf of all of our advertisers to one of our favorite organizations, The Barium Springs Home For Children. Thank you so much for all of your support—2008 was a great year for us, and we hope it was for you, also. Here’s to 2009!

Dana Jordan, Publisher