So. It's the middle of January. Do you still have energy for your New Year's resolutions? Have they grown? Changed? Fallen by the wayside?
I love the idea of resolutions, even when they don't quite pan out. I guess I appreciate the essential optimism of wanting to be better - and taking small steps to get there.
Something I decided I wanted to do this year was keep a daily journal. Like most people, I guess, I've started lots of diaries over the years, but never kept at them very consistently. This time, I decided to try out a five-year diary. It's actually one of my favorite gifts to give people, I've just never bought one for myself. The commitment is small - just a line or two about the day's events - and I like that, because it spans five years, the journal gives you an opportunity to see how your daily activities and priorities change over time. (Several companies publish five-year diaries. I think the one from Chronicle Books is especially pretty).
So far so good.
And as I've been writing, I've started to think this little book could turn out to be sort of a keepsake for my kiddos when they're older. Pictures and videos and family stories will tell them all about the big events of their early childhoods. But the daily things - the little annoyances and small triumphs - so often get lost, even though they're precious too, in their own way.
I remember helping to clean out the garage at my parents house and finding a shoebox full of canceled checks - from 20 or more years earlier. For the most part, they reflected no more than the ordinary expenses of a young family. But it felt like a window into a life I was and wasn't a part of.
Anyway, perhaps this weekend will turn out to be one full of future memories. All the ingredients are there.
Neighbors in Health
Kaiser Permanente presents its annual community health fair from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday at the San Joaquin Fairgrounds. Free services for adults and children include blood pressure, cholesterol and dental health screenings. Immunizations also will be provided.
Lodi's Got Talent
Individuals, ages 7 to 54, are set to perform in this community talent showcase, starting at 7 p.m. Saturday at Hutchins Street Square. Tickets are $10 for children 12 and younger, $12 for seniors, and $15 for all others.
Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration
The civil rights icon will be honored over two days in Stockton. The celebration begins at 6 p.m. Sunday at the Stockton Memorial Civic Auditorium with "Reflections," a spoken-word performance by the acclaimed With Our Words youth poetry group. Students from the Cesar Chavez High School Choir will then present a gospel concert.
On Monday, a prayer breakfast begins at 7 a.m. at the Civic Auditorium (Tickets are $18 at the door), followed by a community march starting at MLK Plaza, (just across the street from the Chavez Central Library). Later, beginning at 11 a.m., a daylong youth program back at the Civic will feature workshops, a talent show, an essay contest and informational booths.
Every year, these are beautiful community events, and I hope you're able to check them out.
