I ding 30 this month, and I have a lot to work on in the coming year. My first priority is to lose weight. Yeah, I have the body of a goddess…unfortunately, at this point in my life, we're talking more Venus of Willendorf than Venus de Milo.

I promised this last year, but I really mean it this time: I'm going to stay on top of my commitments to other people. I have a bad habit of slipping into "poor me" mode when I'm not feeling well and blowing things off until the last possible minute. My personal and professional acquaintances deserve more than that of me.

Although speaking of not feeling well, I have a serious cold at the moment. I think I picked it up on the plane back from visiting my parents last week, and I'm feeling spectacularly crappy. Fever, mucus, cough, aches…the whole nine yards. Ugh. Ugh, ugh, ugh.

As part of my commitment to keep things moving — both physically and mentally — I've got an Events Calendar widget and the Hacker's Diet widget installed on this here blog. My lovely readers (um, when I actually have some) can help keep me on track by visiting these tools and giving me a gentle nudge (or a big thwap with a stick) when I start slacking. And I just know I'll slack, but I'm sending this out to the universe in the hopes that it will send something back.

1. A Few of My Favorite Things It's that time of year again, when we all look...