eight days in and my resolution has cracked...

I don’t make resolutions. In the New Year, Last Year or Next Year. For good reason, as in I’ve never been able to conform to the expectations attached to a resolution for more than a hot minute. Plus, NO ONE who knows me would believe I am going to start exercising. For years, when asked what my NYR was, i would say "I am going to start drinking and smoking."

For 2019, i quietly resolved to be on time. Everytime. It seems i have issues with consistent punctuality. I do understand time. I underestimate how long it takes me to do things.

It wasn’t always this way. When i was young, my dad {bless. his. heart.} would tell us we were leaving at 8. I knew it would take me EXACTLY 43 minutes ~ no more, no less ~ to get ready {"you aren't going to a fashion show" he would say.} Accordingly, i would set my alarm clock for 7:16, allowing one minute for any clothing emergency that may come up.

EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. the car horn would honk at 7:47, signaling it was time to go. It would seem logical that i would learn this cruel little trick and adjust my alarm for 7:03, but i never did. Instead, i rushed around, complaining to anyone who would listen that "he said 8:00 a.m.!" Reflecting on this, I'm guessing he was a) not using the same clocks as me; b) thinking how funny it was to see his teenage daughter leave the house with wet hair or c) trying to teach us all how to be on time. P.S. - this still goes on at the Harding house and makes my sister, brother and me giggle everytime. Only as adults, we like to see dad squirm, so we sometimes make him honk more than once.

Fast forward to 2019. In the first eight days of the year, i have been late for exactly nine meetings. I've only had fourteen. In four instances, i was only two~three minutes late, but late nonetheless. In two meetings, i was not the last to arrive LATE. For one conference call, i missed the mark by 48 minutes. Fortunately, the other party was on central standard time, so i was actually 12 minutes early.

I was early for a couple of meetings. Like my initial visit to the Mayo Clinic for my one year follow-up with my oncologist. My appointment was scheduled for 8:30 a.m. and i insisted that we leave an hour early so we weren't late. We arrived 22 minutes early. When i was called up, the scheduler let me know he appreciated my punctuality for the appointment that was scheduled for JANUARY 22. Did I mention we were there on JANUARY 4? In Jacksonville.

No good deed goes unpunished.

I have some work to do. Especially since I'm already twelve minutes late for something.