The scale read 175.6 this morning, meaning 176 got written on the calendar. That's less than what I weighed this time last year, but still ten pounds or so more than this slender frame wants to be carrying. I expect most of us go off-training over the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays. I try to eat reasonably and get at least some exercise, but there is no way I am going to keep to my usual regimen, and that is just fine. But now it's January 1 and time to begin again.

Exercise and diet are things I have to build into my daily routine in order to have any chance of keeping them in order. For better or for worse I am a creature of habit. And so, for 2016, there are a few habits I want to focus on, to keep going, start, or quit. Two days ago I wrote a quick list of goals and habit in my paper journal. Reading through them this evening, two themes, especially, stand out: simplify and focus. I have too much stuff; I have built the corresponding distractions and expenses into my daily routine. It's time to change that. I hope to retire when I hit sixty-seven, which is only a year and a half away. If I am to have enough time and money to be able to pull that off, I need to simplify and focus now. One of the things I will be focusing on and writing about is the question, "What would living more simply look like?" Simplicity is a marvelous idea in the abstract, but the devil is in the details. I've gotten rather used to all the extra stuff in my life and habits of spending to much. This is not going to be easy.

I want to continue to learn and grow. Corky got me a "Spanish for Dummies" CD set, so apparently she agrees. (Re)learning Spanish is moving along well; I want to keep at it.

I want to take my photography to the next level; I have some goals set for that.

Another theme is getting outside and walking and paddling, and combine those habits with my photography. Most of my best photography has happened when I took took the camera along somewhere interesting. I am note nearly as much of one for formal photoshoots. My best photography has generally happened in the midst of doing something else that mattered.

It's time to begin again.