The song for today is, of course, “What Are You Doing New Year’s Eve?”

You can hear Johnny Mathis singing it at that link, but I prefer Ella Fitzgerald, myself. It has been recorded by lots and lots of people, and it is very nice to play on the piano and sing. I think we are going to be boring this year and not party at all.

I took the Real Age test and was pleased to see that I got younger this year. I am now 7 and a half years younger than my chronological age. Not that there isn’t room for improvement. I am to exercise more (they said that last year, actually, but I didn’t manage it), lose weight (ditto), drink half a glass of wine now and then, and take my vitamins more regularly. Since I am scheduled to become really really old this year, I am going to try to follow their recommendations. Except possibly the wine. I will have to ask my doctor about that, depending how my triglycerides are behaving at the time.

Seriously, I think that RealAge is a good source of New Year’s resolutions, if you want to do something practical about your health this year. My husband is a year older than his chronological age, according to the test, but that is not bad considering the fact that he is a smoker. They had a lot of suggestions for him, but he scoffed at them all.

Chanthaboune took the test, too, and turned up three years older than her chronological years, largely because she hasn’t been exercising. And maybe also subsisting on canned soup and fancy coffees. I’ve been exercising, but you will know (if you always read my blog and have total recall) that it’s been a minimalist kind of exercising. Sore muscles have been rare and days off from the gym have been frequent. I’ve done enough walking to keep my heart happy, but that’s not enough to stave off decrepitude. I need to increase my strength training without decreasing the cardio.

Actually, the ladies in my Sunday School class were talking recently about loose skin. Apparently, they have loose skin dripping off various parts of their bodies. I hope I didn’t look as though I were in a horror movie as they were describing this phenomenon, but I know that there was a point at which I realized my mouth was hanging open and I closed it, probably with a snap.

The memory of that conversation should help me to work those strength-training sessions into my schedule. And of course the schedule is the key for exercise resolutions.

12 I swatched yesterday for this cardigan from Lacy Little Knits. As you can see, it is a good one for old ladies. Seriously, I have some reservations. I am using Knitpicks Shadow, colorway “Redwood Forest.” This is what I added to the yarn for #2 son’s sweater to escape the dread shipping charges.

Shadow is a nice laceweight, and the color in question was half price, so it was a bargain.

It is also brown. I do not like brown as a color. It is nice for wood, of course, but I would never choose brown for any other purpose. I had thought that it would be more red than it was. I come from redwood forest country, and I thought they meant the wood, not the bark.

However, brown has been a big fashion color for a couple of seasons now, and I am getting more used to it. I might be ready to wear it, even. Sometimes I get to like a color after seeing it around for awhile. Sometimes right before it goes completely out of style.

I also have reservations about the stitch. Lacy Little Knits basically uses simple YO patterns (lacy, rather than lace) at large gauges to produce an open feeling without the bother of actual lace. But I had to go to #3 needles to get the requisite gauge, and the result is hard to work, and maybe not really suitable. I might have needed a sport weight rather than a laceweight yarn for this project.12

So, with all those reservations, I started a scarf for #1 son. His grandmother made him (and all of us, actually) a nice crocheted scarf for Christmas, and he decided that he likes it so much that he wants another, but longer and done in ribbing. I had a few skeins of gray Wool of the Andes, so I set to. This is precisely to his specifications, and much simpler than the cardigan.

I am thinking that I might do some sewing today, too, after I finish the computer stuff.

I intend to go around and read about all the exciting New Year’s Eve parties the rest of you are planning and attending. I am counting on having some vicarious adventures in that way. For myself, though, lolling around is thrilling enough.