At Carthage Elementary School, art time came in the form of an 11 X 14 sheet of off-white construction paper. I loved that paper. I would stare down at it and think of all the wonderful things I could draw. I saw castles with wild horses and knights. I saw a field of wildflowers with a log cabin on a ridge. I saw the circus complete with trapeze and big top. Oh, the things I would draw.

My artistic ability never matched my imagination and after I sketched a horse that looked like a hippo having a seizure and a castle that resembled a mobile home just before the repo dude arrived, I suffered the harsh realization that things had not turned out as I expected. But since I was eight, that never got me down, especially since I could flip the paper over and dream some more about what I might draw on the other side … the side that was clean, unlittered by my failed attempts to design and execute the perfect picture.

That is exactly how I feel at the beginning of each year. Life has given me a brand new sheet of construction paper. It is a nice weight and texture and I get to make it be what I want. What I now realize is that I don’t have to draw on it … I can write on it or paste pictures or fold it into Origami swans. What I do with that metaphoric paper, each year, each day, each hour, each minute, is mine for the choosing.

My plans for 2012 ….

I am getting married to the great love of my life, John. I am grateful everyday that God is a God of second chances and that we are together.

Riley will turn 17 and begin her last year of high school. She will choose a college and grow beyond the foundation that we have built together. She continues to be my great inspiration and teacher.

Ryann will turn 12, spiral head first into tweendom and bring me joy with the sound of her voice and the strength of her resolve.

I will buy the Dale Carnegie business and move to a new place in my career. In the words of my once toddler daughter, this is “Boo-Scary.”

Chicks will begin their 11th year. These eight women are my sisters, my family. They make me better.

Andy and I will talk about everything and nothing. We will go to Holden Beach. We will solve all the problems of our family and the world. We will hold each other close. I have never known a day without him and I am grateful to call him my brother and friend.

Diane and I will exercise. It is what we do … every damn year, every damn day.

I will be delighted by visits and conversations with old friends.

I will meet new people.

I will go travel to places new and old.

I will walk Fergie.

I will learn lessons … hopefully more new ones than the same old few that I seem to learn over and over.

I will laugh with Laura.

I will cry.

I will lose people I love, some to death, some to differences.

The only thing I plan to drink more of than coffee … is red wine.

Pam and I will scout for old things to restore.

Life will be a few big things and a million little ones. But here is the kicker, it is LIFE. Discard the picture that has you bound and unhappy. Divorce some relatives. Sing some praises. Dance through the rain.

Here is your 11 X 14 sheet … dream a little, then have at it, my friends. The slate is clean and you are free.