The parties are over. The champagne is flat. The house is a mess.  A New Year has started.  Where did the old year go? Now it’s time for those resolutions that are supposed to make us feel better, eat smarter and exercise more.  The same resolutions that some of us have been making for years. All promise to make us better people, but if they really worked why are we taking the same route again?

Each month, our editorial assistant, Jessica Bricker, provides us with lengthy lists of events for the coming month. This list covers almost everything from A to Z during the year. Some subjects are very serious and deserve our attention —birth defects, cervical cancer screening, blood donors, thyroid awareness are some of the subjects for January.  All important topics.

Taking this entire list too seriously might drive you a little crazy. Instead, why don’t we celebrate some less serious things? We might even have a little fun during what can be the dreariest month of the year.

This is National Polka Month. Whether you’re a fan or not, the happy music is worth a listen. If that leads to dancing then all the better. The first week is “Someday we’ll laugh about this” week. I can get several laughs just thinking about doing the polka while I am trying to clean up the house. There’s a lot of emphasis on getting organized in January. That’s really just a polite way of urging us to clean up our living and work spaces. Give me a choice of listening to music and reading versus taking a duster and going through the house, the former is my choice, anytime, any day.

There’s a Cuckoo Dancing Week (Jan.11-17). Who knew cuckoos could dance? Or is that a new dance that never made it to my radar?  A few days later is Bald Eagle Appreciation Week (Jan. 15-21). I do appreciate the bald eagle, but if I owned a dancing cuckoo, I’d want to hide him from the eagle.

You can “Hunt for Happiness” the week of Jan.16-22. There is something seriously wrong if we have to designate a week for finding happiness. I’d like to think that’s something we do all 52 weeks.

From Jan. 24-29, cowboy poets will be gathering.  Where? When? Do I have to be a cowboy? Can I please come?

Some topics don’t rate a month or week but only a day. The hobbits among us will rejoice on J.R.R. Tolkien Day, Jan. 3. One day for Tolkien? It takes a day to get in the Tolkien groove, and, unfortunately some never get out of it.

International Programmers’ Day and “I’m not going to take it anymore” Day both occur Jan. 7. Hmmm, could there be a relationship there? The next day, the newly unemployed programmers can participate in “Fruitcake Toss Day.” (As one who both makes and enjoys fruit cake, I strongly object to any tossing thereof.)

Rubber duckies have Jan. 13 to float wherever they choose. Three days later you can “Appreciate a Dragon”.  Of the two, I think I’ll stick with the rubber duckies.

There is one day I love: Jan. 3 is Trivia Day.  Hope you’ve been paying attention to all this trivia, you never know when you might need to yell “appreciate a dragon” to the TV during Jeopardy.

Whatever you choose to do, may you enjoy 2012.

E-mail Robson at info@outreachnc.com.