Resolutions are as much a part of the holiday season as gift cards and mall traffic, and I for one don't mind them at all.

In fact, I spend most my year resolving to do this or that.

Resolving is the easy part. Doing is the tough job.

However, if we execute on just a couple resolutions each year, we're bringing improvement to our lives, well, unless you resolve to become a heroin addict. That woud be called "heading in the wrong direction."

And to me, it doesn't matter whether you make that resolution on Jan. 1 or May 22, to resolve to improve yourself is always positive. I have a handful of resolutions for 2008.

My resolution for 2007, by the way, was to grow my blog, and traffic last year grew by 400 percent.

In 2008, I resolve to cook more. Believe it or not, I'm not too bad in the kitchen. In Dallas, I used to cook all the time, primarily hearty, Americana dishes. But when I moved to Norman, I just put all the cooking equipment and desire aside.

However, eating out can be expensive. Eating out is also generally bad on the waistline. Cooking is an outlet for creativity, and it's very mild exercise. Well, it's more exercise than sitting in your car at the Long John Silver's drive-thru.

How will I measure my success? By the end of the year, I will have three new main dishes mastered.

In 2008, I resolve to get fit. No, I'm not talking about a desired weight. And I don't aspire to be a triathlete. However, I plan to go to the gym 150 times this year, and I'll add a little tracker on the site so everyone can see my progress.

In 2008, I resolve to use less gel. I was blessed with great hair that, honestly, I just drown in gel. It's a control mechanism, I think, because ungelled hair can get a little wild. Alas, this is a pretty random resolution. It would be like resolving to wipe better. It's like, "Why would people want to know that?"

However, my big resolution for the year is something I resolve to everyday, sometimes with success and at others with miserable failure. And that's to channel the work ethic I have in my professional life to my personal life.

To not be lazy.

I despise the word "lazy." I don't like lazy days, lazy people, lazy anything. Even a relaxing night out with friends or family has a point to it, but for me, everything in 2008 pretty much needs to have a point to it, or I simply won't be doing it.

My gut hunch is that the cooking and exercise resolutions will be nip-tuck for the one with which I have the most success. However, like I alluded to before, resolving to improve yourself is really a 24x7 job.