At the end of 2018, as the old year died giving way to the new, I shared with you a special set of New Year’s resolutions – ones specific to Franklin County.

Although a lot of people avoid making New Year’s resolutions, I usually do make them. I guess people want to avoid the arbitrariness of Jan. 1, or maybe they don’t want to face the guilt they will feel if they don’t achieve their goals.

I can understand that. My personal resolutions aren’t going too well so far, and I haven’t made progress on my Franklin County resolutions either.

They say accountability is one of the best ways to meet your goals, so with the first third of 2019 gone, here I am with an update, and you will have to hold me accountable.

I haven’t eaten at Doe’s yet. I’m getting hungry just thinking about it.

I haven’t watched a show performed by the Bay Tree Council, but I’m looking forward to the opportunity this summer.

No. 3 on my list was to go boating on the Bear Creek Lakes. The summer season is approaching and with it my chance to accomplish this goal. All I need is a boat…

Support a nonprofit effort? Not yet. Hike through the Dismals and take the Dismalites tour? Not yet.

Visit our local libraries, go to a Rockin’ at the Roxy show, take a walk at City Lake Park?

Not yet, not yet, not yet.

Are you sensing a theme?

Yes, I’ve let four months go by without accomplishing any of my goals. Yikes. It’s an old cliché but still true – time flies.

The good news is, I still have plenty of time to enjoy most of “tasks” on my 2019 list. I’ve not yet missed my chance to watch the fireworks over Sloss Lake and enjoy a picnic there; attend our community festivals; tour the Red Bay Museum; or be a costumed attendee at Trunks of Treats. There is still time to have lunch at Fourth Street Grill, shop local, visit Cypress Cove and take advantage of our wonderful farmers’ markets.

The bad news is, two of my aspirations for this year have slipped through my grasp. I won’t be spending a night at Hotel Red Bay, and I won’t be getting my photo with the Easter Bunny at a Chamber of Commerce Easter egg hunt.

There’s that twinge of regret non-resolution-makers try to avoid.

Despite my lollygagging, there’s no reason I can’t use the remainder of the year to accomplish the rest of my goals. I want to be able to look back on 2019 and say, “Yes! That was the year I ____________.”

This can be the year you ____________, too. Let’s not let the next eight months pass us by.