The Start of a New Era?

I haven’t blogged in a while and to be honest, it’s nobody’s fault but mine. I have every intention of doing it, but work, life, etc., seems to get in the way. Today, I’ve decided to set aside some time and just do it. (Thanks, Nike, the phrase comes in handy every now and then!)

So, what has brought me out of my premature blogging retirement? Well, Google+, of course. I know that you’ve seen everyone talking about it and if you haven’t, you’re apparently not as entrenched in the social media landscape as I am. And don’t worry, most people aren’t. But since this is my career of choice, I’ve been on top of the story since the launch.

A Little Background
Launched on June 29, Google’s top-secret social media project Google+ hit the social media/tech world with a vengeance. Originally only open to press-types, the by-invitation-only platform spread through the Twitter/Facebook grapevine quickly. I was lucky enough to get an invite on Day 2. They are calling us ‘Early Adopters.’ I gotta say, being on a brand-new social media platform on the second day of launch was neat & I totally felt like the new kid at school. I hadn’t felt that kind of feeling since one of my best friends sent me her NYU-originated Facebook invite in 2005. I was giddy then, too.

Let’s Compare
This time, being in the social media world I’m in, getting a Google+ invite felt just a little better. Like a badge of some sort. Comparing the two time-periods may not be fair, but when Facebook was launched, everyone was MySpace-ing. That was the cool thing. When I hopped on Facebook, social media was in its infancy. It wasn’t a worldwide phenomenon. So, I went rogue and completely embraced this new thing called Facebook. No walls, no pictures, just a bio about me, what school I went to, whether I was in a relationship or not & a simple ‘What are you doing?’ question. The fact that it was uniform – no fancy HTML coding needed, nobody’s page was any better than anyone else’s – really appealed to me. It definitely didn’t to some who were busy adding new backgrounds to their MySpace profiles.

As I watched Facebook grow into this amazing thing, I sat back and watched naysayers flee MySpace for this new platform. It was fun to watch. I remember moving back to Odessa, TX from NYC in 2007 & people here didn’t even really know what the heck Facebook was. They had no concept. I was one of few people who’d jumped the MySpace ship. As with most things in West Texas, it just took a little more time. I remember finding a few of my high school friends on Facebook (because the ease of finding people was far superior to anything MySpace had done) & them telling me that I was like a journalist, keeping them informed about what was going on. My college broadcasting major was finally paying off! But I really was like a journalist. I passed along pertinent community information. If I found an article on CNN.com or The New York Times, I posted it. If I passed a wreck, I let people know to be careful in that area. Although my audience started small, it began to grow.

Let’s reminisce a little…
Remember when you could tell who the newbies were by the fact that they would take all those quizzes – What 80s Song Are You?, What Color Represents Who You Are?, etc? After we’d been on a few months, those got old, but we could always tell when someone new jumped on. It was almost like a rite of passage. Oh, those were the days…

Flash-Forward to 2011. Now, Facebook reaches over 750 million people in the whole world (and we’re not even counting China where Facebook is blocked by their government). We are spending more than 700 billion minutes a month on it. And most of us, thanks to our iPhones, Droids & Blackberrys are constantly connected to it.

During the first half of this year, Facebook was unstoppable. It’s growth was exploding. The next generation of users – older adults – were quickly realizing that Facebook was the place to be. Since the college kids from 5 years ago were now in their 20s, they passed the torch along to the high-schoolers/college students. The mid-20-30 crowd had jumped on reluctantly, followed by mom and dad so it was inevitable that Grandma & Grandpa would be next – because think about it, who’s left?

The big question at the beginning of this year was, “Where else can Facebook go? What else can Facebook do?’ The multi-billion dollar company began to debate taking the company public. Other online companies had or were thinking about it – LinkedIn, Zynga, Groupon. Should Facebook be next? Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s 20-something, billionaire CEO hinted at it, but never really made anything binding. In late May, early June, he said that he’d probably do it in early 2012 & analysts analyzed all day about what Facebook would be worth – $20 billion, $50 billion? Some estimated upwards of $100 billion!

We all figured that Facebook would remain king. The $2.2 billion they were raking in from advertising was historic. Not only were personal profiles still being created, but the speed at which businesses were flocking on the platform was outstanding.

Enter Google+
Almost out of nowhere, Google launched it’s Google+ platform. For those of us on this side of the industry, we’d heard rumblings about it. We gossiped amongst ourselves about it. Would it be another Google Buzz? (Which failed miserably!) Or maybe it would be something like Google Wave. (Which failed just as miserably!) Google kept things hush-hush, but would, every now and then, drop us a bone. ‘It will be like nothing you’ve ever seen.’ Well, ok. I’m game.

Following our social media bible, Mashable, we learned it had been released. Only the really, really cool people got to be on it the first day. Then, we heard that invites would be given out by the people who were lucky enough to already be on it. We all scrambled to find ‘those people’ who had those invites. I found one. I got on.

So?
Starting any new platform is always a process. Remember setting up your Facebook profile? Or your Twitter page? It’s a process and since Google+ was so completely new, there really wasn’t anyone else to ask for help. It became a lot like Twitter was in its infancy. Lots of people asking, ‘How do you do this? How do you do that?’ The cool thing? ALL of the Google staff (it seems like) was also on. So, they were answering questions. That was pretty cool. How often do you get to talk to the actual programmers, coders, developers? Very rarely. On Twitter we used to be able to Tweet the big guys, but if they Tweeted back that was a good day. Today, I can ask a specific Googler a question about G+ & I can usually get an answer pretty quickly. Already, the way that they have listened to user feedback has been impressive.

What About the Platform?
Okay, okay, so you want me to talk about Google+ now. Is it the Facebook killer everyone is saying it is? Is it as great as everyone keeps saying it is? What’s so great about it? Fine, fine, here I go…

Look & Feel
When you log on, you’re immediately greeted with a very pretty, simple layout. Black header bar, grey sub-header bar, pops of red & lots and lots of white space. It is VERY much like Facebook, in that, you have a menu on the left-hand side, your stream of feeds in the middle, and other miscellaneous stuff on the right-hand side. But again, lots and lots of white.

One of the biggest comments I heard in those first few days was that G+ was ‘clean.’ And it is…for now. (I’ll tell you what I really think about all the white space later.)

You have a profile page that ties into your Google profile, so if you’re a Gmail user, that stuff will already be pulled from your public profile. If you’re a Droid user, you’re also in a good position, because all of your contacts and info will be pulled from that info, too.

You can still upload pictures and G+ has arranged them in a really cool gallery. It’s not uniformed, like Facebook’s, but it looks pretty cool. There’s also a great function for pics if you’re a Droidie. You phone will automatically upload any pics you take with your phone into a folder if you want it to. That folder is kept private, but you can opt to make some of those pictures available to the people in your circles or to the G+ public.

Circles?
In what has been touted as Google+’s biggest new feature, Circles is a way to group your friends into specific ‘circles’ which will then allow you to send posts to only those people…or to multiple circles of people.

Huh?

Yeah, I know. Think of it like Twitter Lists or Facebook Groups on speed. Google+ has made this feature mandatory in order to add anyone to your ‘circle.’ You go to add people and before you’re even able to add them, G+ makes you pick a circle or create one. They have a few already established for you – Friends, Acquaintances, Work – you can use those or expand and make your own. New circles I’ve added, for example, include ‘Tweeps’ (people I know from Twitter), ‘Facebook’ (people I only know from Facebook who are not ‘real,’ personal friends) & Mashable (people who work or write for Mashable.)

Now, let me back up just a minute and tell you about the way gaining friends on G+ is different, yet much the same, as Facebook or Twitter. On Facebook, you must be approved as someone’s friend. Once approved that friend will then show up in your feed and vice versa. On Twitter, anyone can follow anyone but one does not have to follow anyone back. So, if Danita decides to follow Abel, Abel’s posts will then show up in Danita’s feed, but unless Abel follows Danita back, he won’t see any of her posts. Got it?

Well, G+ is more like Twitter on this point, but only slightly. You can find anyone on the G+ network & you can opt to put them into your circle of choice. They don’t have to do the same to you. The difference with G+ is that even if that person doesn’t put you in their circle, your posts will be seen by them (since they are in your circles) and your feed will drop into a category called ‘incoming.’ You’ll also get a notice that says something like, “‘PersonA’ has started sharing with you. View their posts on ‘incoming.'” You can then read their stuff, but if you don’t want to add them, you don’t have to.

You also have the option to put people into more than one circle. Let’s say one of my social media peeps is also a freind of mine that I work with. I would put that person in all three of those circles – Social Media Peeps, Friends, Work.

This is what is cool (or not, depending on how you look at it) about Google+. Let’s say that I want to share a new article about social media. Most of the people in most of  my circles could really care less, but my circle of social media peeps would definitely want to see it. I create my post and before it even lets me hit send, it forces me to choose which circle that post will go to. I will then choose ‘Social Media Peeps’ and hit send. Only those people, in that circle, will get that post. I can also opt to choose multiple groups. Let’s say I’m having a birthday party. People in my ‘Celebrities’ or ‘Mashable’ or ‘Google Employees’ circles would have no use for that info. I write my post and choose to send it to ‘Work,’ ‘Family’ & ‘Friends.’ When I hit send, only those people in those circles would get that info on their feed…or in their incoming if I haven’t been added to their circles.

So far, people love this feature, but there are a few that have already realized how out of control your number of circles can get. As of today, I have 22 circles. Some have a few people in them, some have one, some have tons. I’m already trying to figure out a game plan as I move forward collecting more people for particular circles.

So What Else is There?
In addition to the inclusions of ‘circles,’ Google+ has also introduced ‘Hangouts.’ This takes the videochat one step further by allowing you to videochat or ‘hangout’ with up to 10 people. You can keep your hangout private and send invites for people to hangout with you or you can join public Hangouts. While business pages haven’t been launched yet, it will be very interesting to see what ‘Hangouts’ will do for customer service. Let’s wait and see…

There is also a feature called ‘Sparks’ which, so far, is the most lackluster of the G+ features. Sparks is basically way to integrate Google search into the platform. So, if you are an avid runner, you can use Sparks to ‘find stuff you’re interested in…’ You would type in ‘running’ to the Google search bar on the Sparks page and you would be directed to all the articles online regarding ‘running.’ You can then add that search topic to your list. When you go back to your ‘Sparks’ you would just click on the topic & there will be online stories about that topic. Personally, I already have that feature, it’s called http://www.google.com.

There is also a chat feature. Same as Facebook. Woo.

+1
Something else that Google+ has prominently displayed on their new, spiffy platform is the +1 button. Much like Facebook’s LIKE button, the +1 button allows users to +1 comments, articles, pictures or whatever else might have a +1 button attached to it. When the +1 button was launched a couple months ago, we didn’t know what to do with it or what it meant. We already LIKE things on Facebook. Why did we need another one? Apparently, we needed it for Google+. People are +1ing all over the place. It’s basically like a LIKE. Actually, it’s exactly like a LIKE. Google is saying that it will start using the +1 results to help certain things place higher on search. So, I guess, eventually, it will come in handy. Right now, I’m quite happy with my LIKE button.

What About Mobile?
In a very unusual turn, Google+ was launched on the Android platform first. (I know, I just about fell out of my chair, too!) But don’t forget, Android is a Google product, it would only make sense that the mobile app would be available to Google-based phones first. I actually like the mobile app better than the desktop version – minus the hangouts, which aren’t optimized for use on mobile…yet. The mobile app is easy to use & a little easier to understand. IPhone-ers just received their app, and while they’re all screaming about all the bugs & quirks, I think they’re just making noise because for the first time in a long time, they weren’t the first to have a coveted app! Droidies Unite!!

What’s the Bad?
With the exception of a handful of friends who’ve requested an invite from me, the only people on are people from Google, Mashable & lots and lots of tech/social media/IT/programmer/developer/coder/gamer-types. I have been fortunate to meet a few authors, bloggers, and the like, but a majority of my nerdy-type circles are more full than others.

They also have not started to allow businesses to set up pages. They are currently about to launch a beta-testing group of businesses who will be allowed to create pages, but for the moment, those are a few months off for the rest of us.

I’m also starting to get a negative vibe from everyone slamming Facebook. Personally, Facebook is still a very big part of my life. It has to be. It’s still extremely vital to the clients that I manage. Facebook & it’s 750 million people will not ALL be jumping on the G+ bandwagon. I still have one foot out the door…just in case. Remember, I was there for both Buzz & Wave & I’m not very proud of that.

So…Now What?
Well, Google+ is still only available by invite only. It’s been rumored (read, ‘It’s been Tweeted’) that they will open it up to the masses on July 31st. It will be interesting to see what happens & whether or not Google will be able to handle the demand. Even in the early stages, they would periodically shut down the opportunity to join due to the high use of their servers.

And remember that white space I was telling you about? That beautiful white space that everyone keeps talking about? Here’s my theory. There is absolutely no way that Google isn’t going to monetize the Google+ platform. No way! Facebook has done an amazing job of monetizing itself on the business side and even has Google beat on some profit forecasts. Do you really think Google is leaving all that white space white just because? NO! Not just no, but hell no!

So, while it looks very nice now, just wait…those spaces will soon be replaced by pay-per-click campaigns…or at least something like that.

I also think that things like games (which are hugely popular on Facebook) are not far off, either. They will just be designed for a different platform. I think we’ll eventually be fending off requests to join people’s mafias or to help with trees on farms.

So, is Google+ the Facebook killer? Not yet…no. Could it be? While it DOES have the potential…and a very credible Google name behind it (or, in this case, in front of it), I don’t see that happening any time soon. Facebook has a hold in just about every facet of our lives. It’s integrated on our phones. It’s the first thing we check in the morning before we even roll out of bed. It’s our homepage on our Internet browser. And to be honest, it’s taken a while for that to happen.

Think about how difficult it was to get people onto Facebook in the first place. And there are still people who are just jumping on…even now. You really think those people will say, well, forget that, let me go check this out? I doubt it.

Personally, I’ve never really completely embraced G+. Not yet, at least. I’ve been extremely hesitant to let myself fall in love with it. There are definitely some very cool features & the fact that Google is right there listening to feedback is a definite plus, but I just can’t let myself get too excited. As of the moment, I make my money due to Facebook. Don’t get me wrong, the minute that G+ launches the business pages, I’ll be all over them, but for the moment, my livelihood depends on Facebook. My businesses depend on Facebook.

I’m very curious to see where Google+ will go. I call myself very fortunate to have been invited on. Watching it grow since day two has been really, really fun & I’ve already met people who I hadn’t yet run into on Twitter or Facebook.

Are you interested in trying it out? Shoot me your email (gmail is preferred on the Google+ platform, naturally). I have a limited number of invites, but I’m willing to give those out to people who are truly interested. Email me at danitalicious@gmail.com.

And in closing, I want to thank Google+. If it wasn’t for them, this girl wouldn’t have started blogging again.

– Danita

Get Social With Me:

danitalicious@yahoo.com
danitalicious@gmail.com

www.facebook.com/danitalicious
www.facebook.com/danitamaldonado
www.twitter.com/danitalicious
www.linkedin.com/in/danitamaldonado
www.gplus.to/danitalicious
danitalicious.wordpress.com

Director of Social Media
SDB Creative Group / SDB SocialLink
Danita@sdbcreativegroup.com
www.SDBCreativeGroup.com
www.SDBSocialLink.com
www.facebook.com/sdbcreativegroup
www.facebook.com/sdbsociallink
www.twitter.com/sdbcreative
www.twitter.com/sdbsociallink

Where were you on 9/11/01?

For the past 10 years, I’ve posted this story or a variation of this story as a part of my grieving process. I remember that day more than any other day (with the exception of Bella’s birth). There were things like smells & sounds that I just can’t describe. The fear on our faces was genuine. The sadness was true. This is only one of many stories of people who were there that day.

I was fortunate enough to be in NYC last year to commemorate year 10. It was something I needed.

As we mark year eleven, my family is now on a different side of this war on terror, with my little brother, Lt. Daniel Maldonado, US NAVY, fighting for our freedoms in a Afghanistan. Please keep his family and our family in your thoughts and prayers. This is proof that the things that happened that day, aren’t forgotten. We love you, Daniel. Stay safe!

______________________________________________________________

Every year, this day rolls by and I think that it’ll get easier to handle. So far, I’ve been wrong.

I figured I’d start this blog as a way for me to deal with the pain and hurt and sadness that I’m feeling. Whether in NYC or in any other part of the world, those events on that day have completely changed our ways of life. And for me, have shown me just what it means to be American.

Feel free to repost and add your personal thoughts. Whether for those 3,000 souls who died that day, for those 3,000+ soldiers who have died defending this nation or for the first responders merely doing their jobs, let’s remember the fallen, as well as honor those who continue to serve, with memories of what that day held and what that day still holds.

WHERE WERE YOU ON 9/11/01?

DANITA’S STORY

I was living in NYC at the time and working near Union Square. I started my workday @ 9am everyday and I remember walking out of my Bronx apartment around 8am and walking to the train on an absolutely gorgeous Tuesday. I remember what I was wearing and I remember the smell of the bagel shop as I walked past to board my train. It was just a day like any other. As we approached the Times Square station at about 5 minutes till 9, the speaker system announced that trains would be bypassing the World Trade Center station due to police activity. That was all that was said. Nobody was concerned, that’s what happened on New York subways on occasion.

As I got out of the subway, I looked into the sky and commented to myself about the weather. This was probably the most beautiful day I’d ever seen. The birds were literally chirping as I walked to my office. On my way, I noticed tons of people at a local restaurant looking up at a TV. I didn’t know what they were doing, but I figured it had to do with the election going on. Rudy Giuliani was the outgoing mayor and today was election primary day.

When I walked into work, the looks on my co-workers faces were ashen. They had been able to log online and there was a picture of one of the towers on fire. We all looked at the computer with disbelief and a moment later, we lost our connection. Little did we know, but the other tower had been hit. In the office, we didn’t have cable and the only thing we found was an old radio that ran on batteries. We listened with utter shock as we were told that our city was under attack. The subway system was completely shut down.

My best friend worked in Windows on the World on the 106th floor. I started calling her, but our cell phones were already out of commission to any outgoing calls. I could still receive sporadic incoming calls and my boyfriend at the time called me and told me to leave immediately. I did. I walked over to Union Square and saw hundreds, if not thousands of people standing on Broadway on the West side of the park looking up in horror. When I got there, I saw what they saw. The World Trade Center towers were completely engulfed in flames. I joined this mass of people as we could only watch, stare and cry. People were shouting and wailing and holding each other. It was chaos. I ran into a small deli and bought a throwaway camera. As I walked out, I heard a collective gasp and saw the first tower fall. The entire crowd of people reached out as if we were all holding each other. It fell and then…silence. Nobody said anything. People were sobbing and hugging, but no words were spoken. What was there to say? All we could do was listen to the screams of agony and join them. I remember holding onto a man who couldn’t hold himself up and we looked into each other’s eyes and hugged. I still don’t know who that man was.

As time went on, we all stood watching the second tower. I took out the camera and began taking pictures just as the second tower fell. As before, there was another collective gasp and more wailing. I think we all became dizzy. I was able to snap a couple pictures. One prior to the fall; another as it fell and the other where nothing was left in the sky. At that point we knew that life would never be the same. Papers from the towers were floating up the street – memos from jobs, pictures of loved ones, receipts. It was like confetti blowing up from the site. As people fled from downtown, the soot that covered them from head to toe made us all realize that we weren’t in some big-budget movie production. This was real. Very, very real.

Cell phones were completely out of order…all the cell phone towers were on top of the towers. Lines for payphones were blocks long. The subway wasn’t running, so we had nothing to do but to walk. I ran into some good Samaritans who offered their place to me to watch what we could of the news and to use the bathroom. I still don’t know who these people were, just that they invited many strangers like me into their home on 23rd Street and allowed us to grieve with them.

After a while, we heard that the Pentagon was hit as well as learning of another plane that went down in Pennsylvania. After leaving the stranger’s house, I made contact with my frantic family in Texas and assured them that I was okay. I was getting information from them as I made my way back onto the NYC streets. It was a mass exodus uptown as people got away from the downtown area.

As I walked the 80+ blocks to get to a running subway, I passed blood banks that just appeared on street corners and small delis that were giving water to those of us who needed it. People looked into my eyes for the first time and when they asked if I was okay, I know that they meant it. It was the first time that I’d ever seen New Yorkers come together like they did.

It took me hours to get home. Once I got on a working train, it took me to the Bronx, but it was still out of my way home. It took a while for my boyfriend to get through all of the roadblocks that had been erected. By the time I got in the car, I could do nothing but sob. We held each other for a long time and all I could say was “Cristina?” I’d still not heard from my friend and with cell phone service still out, I had no way of getting through to her.

Later in the day, I heard from her boyfriend and all we could do was cry with each other on the phone and pray for the best. Later, that night, she called and all we could do was cry. She called me by our pet name, “Bunnie.” Once I heard that, all we could do was sob. I was so thankful that she was okay. Traumatized? Yes. But she was okay. (I love you, Bunnie!)

The weeks that followed were a blur. I know that I took a little time to become fully functioning again, but with the help of friends and the great city of NYC, I pulled through. That’s one thing that I’ll never forget –the endurance of New Yorkers. In the worst of times, we stuck together and we made it through the darkness.

Now, being back in Texas, I continue to think about my NYC days and on this eleventh anniversary, I remember where I was and what I was doing and how my life has changed since then. I’m now a mother who will have to tell my child what happened there and why. I can only hope that the patriotism instilled in me by my father (a Vietnam vet himself) will be something that I can instill in my child. And I will never, ever let my baby forget the thousands of brave men and women who have died and who continue to fight every single day for the freedoms that we often take for granted.

To the victims of 9/11, to the heroes overseas in Iraq & Afghanistan, to those local first responders all over the country who continue to serve and protect and to all Americans…may we never forget this day. God bless you all.

So now I ask you, WHERE WERE YOU ON 9/11/01?

Out with the Old…

Originally written January 5, 2010 by danitalicious

One of the promises I’ve made to myself this year is to write more. (I don’t call them resolutions…promises are harder to break.) So, I figured there wouldn’t be a better way to begin my writing, than to reflect on the year that’s passed, while I look into the future.

Though this year was hard on the wallet following the complete economic meltdown, I am thankful for the things that I’ve done and the people that I’ve met.

My daughter has definitely been my biggest success to date. She continually amazes me with her wit and sense of humor. That little girl is funny! She’s at such a great stage where she’s a sponge and learning. I love sharing my nerdiness with her. It makes me feel good when she says something that I’ve taught her…even if it’s something as simple as learning the letter B, for Bella. As horrible as I think things may have gotten, she was always there with a smile and a hug for Mommy. I can’t believe she’s about to be TWO!  Holy crap! Like, for real…it’s flown by. I can’t wait to see what adventures she will take me on. (More than that, I’m still surprised at how much I love being her mom. It’s such an amazing feeling.)

Last year was also a year that I made a concerted effort to stay in touch with my girlfriends. I’ve reconnected with my oldest best friend in the world and it’s been so great to catch up. Dora has been in my life for more than 14 years and I’m so glad we had some great moments. It’s been too long.

I also made a great friend. Amanda has been beyond amazing as a friend this year. We always wonder why we didn’t hang out sooner. It’s been such a great time “making memories!”

I also got to see some of my NYC besties in Vegas! Woo hooooo! I still can’t believe that my little Kayla is now a bride with a little boy on the way. I also can’t believe that Karen is expanding her family with a baby due any day. These are the girls that I became a woman with and I’m so glad I got to see you guys. Vegas was beyond awesome and the wedding was perfect. You girls mean the world to me, I miss you so much!!!

And I can’t forget my girls who have been there when I needed a friend, or a drink, or a buck…Nadine, Susan, Raquel, Tracy, and anyone else who took the time…thank you all for being my friend. I’m so blessed!

Work was okay last year…we got hit pretty hard and I felt it. Kinda sucked, but I know that I can provide for Bella. Accomplishment…even if we weren’t rich. I would really like to pursue the business thing. There are ideas…now I need to act. I think I’m waiting for motivation when it’s not there. I have to make it happen. How wonderful would it be to truly provide for my daughter…while working for me? It’s in the future, I just gotta make it happen.

As for the love life…sigh. I didn’t meet the man of my dreams or fall in love, hell I didn’t even have much sex (pathetic, I know), but it was all good. The loneliness has only started to set in. There is a person of interest, but I don’t even know if I’d classify it as anything. I’m willing to find out this year, though. I’m ready to jump in…I miss having a man near me. Not necessarily in the sexual way, but just in general. To have that banter, to feel the butterflies, to laugh at the same things. A companion. I think I’m ready.

First, I have to get back to Smokin’ Hot Danita status! I am more focused than ever to get back into shape. I’m not looking to lose 50 pounds because I know I can still look good if I would just take the time to take care of me. I’d be happy with 20 pounds, but if it all falls off, then so be it! This year I promise to walk more, take more trips to the playground, park farther away and eat fewer burgers, pizzas and chips. (Notice I didn’t mention mom’s tacos.) I’ll throw in workouts, too. I have a few trips I want to take and I have to go looking fabulous. Again, not looking for any excessive weight loss, here. I just want to feel good about myself again.

I know that by next year, things will be different. I’m in control and it’s time to take it and run with it. Wish me luck and I hope you join me on my journey.