Happy New Year! I hope 2007 treats you well.

With it being the New Year, I’m sure many people have made New Year’s resolutions. I’m also sure that many of those resolutions have already been broken.

I have never been good at New Year’s resolutions. Whatever resolution I make, something always seems to go awry. Knowing my luck, I could resolve to try to be nice to people and end up screaming at everyone I see.

If my opposite resolutions are true, maybe I could resolve to not win the lottery this year. I’ll let you know if that works out.

Because my resolutions don’t go right, I now make them into more of a to-do list for the New Year. They are just more additions to my never-ceasing list of projects.

So, in the spirit of trying to be a better person, here are my “resolutions” for 2007:

I resolve to start picking up the dog poop in the backyard on a more regular basis. That way it looks more like a yard and less like a minefield.

I resolve to clean out the garage so my wife can park her car in there during the winter. Plus, if I do that, I’ll only have one car’s windows to scrape off each morning.

I resolve to buy towels specifically for dirty, outside jobs instead of retrieving good ones out of the hall closet.

I resolve to get the Christmas decorations back in the attic before Groundhog’s Day.

I resolve to wash the food off my plate when I put it in the sink. Then, I won’t need a side grinder to get the dried food off of it the next day.

I resolve to clean out my car at least once a month. When you find a beach towel in November, a good cleaning is long overdue.

I resolve to wipe the dog’s feet off when she comes in out of the rain. Either I do it then or I’ll clean the paw prints later.

I resolve to locate that nasty smell in my garage.

I resolve to teach my son to mow the lawn. That way I’ll have one less thing to do outside.

I resolve to repaint my daughter’s room in less time than the 10 months it took to do my son’s room.

I resolve to not get as upset when I find poop from my neighbors’ cats in my bark dust.

I resolve to get up a few minutes earlier in the morning so I’m not so rushed to get to work. I actually made this resolution before the New Year and I’m getting up later, not earlier. Can’t win them all, I guess.

I resolve to actually fold the clothes after I take them out of the dryer. (I’m not sure this one will work, but since most resolutions don’t, may as well put it on the list).

I resolve to fix the toilet that won’t stop running. Shutting the water off won’t work much longer.

I resolve to bring my garbage can in from the curb the same day the trash is picked up. One week I brought it up next to the house the day before I put it back at the curb.

I resolve to get the dog kennel built so my wife’s flowers won’t continue to be dug up.

I resolve to replace the bathroom fan that’s been broken for at least six months.

I have no idea if any of these resolutions will actually come to fruition, but I do know one thing — I really need to find that smell in the garage.