So American contractors are walking around with hollow Canadian coins that transmit information over radio frequencies. Who would have thought?

I mean:

1. Why are Americans carrying Canadian change anyway?
2. Is Canadian money easier to fabricate than American? Why not use the Sacagawea dollar?
3. Who’s to say that contractor won’t use the spy coin to buy her next daily newpaper?
4. Or leave behind as a tip at the local IHOP?
5. And won’t the coin metal interfere with the data transmission?
6. How did the U.S. Defense Department learn of this braniac plan anyway? Was Rumsfeld transmitting info from the change in his pocket?
7. Since the sensors have a range of only a few feet, wouldn’t the person carrying the coin notice the sketchy fella following close behind?
8. What if the person hates change as much as I do and gives the offending coin to a homeless person?

Someone needs to fire this criminal mastermind for devising the crappiest surveillance plan in history.

One week and counting. I’ve impressed myself.

I’m on a budget and sticking to it. I thought for sure I would have splurged on a little something extra by now – but I guess my desire to own property AND travel is beating out the instant gratification of shopping. This is my new mantra — “this time next year I could be moving into a home of my own.”

And while I’m not shopping or splurging on cabs, I’ve logged in almost 75,000 steps around my wonderful city. It’s amazing the things you notice while on foot. Now if I can only make time to get to my gym three + times a week, I’ll be on the way to fit and healthy in 2007.

As for my home, I managed to put away my suitcases, clean out my kitchen and – while I was working my way through five loads of laundry – noticed that my neighbor Jen was selling her comfy red reading chair for $25. The same chair I had been looking at online for $99. And since she is a meticulous person, the chair was in primo condition and the perfect update for my living area.

Television is turning out to be a little harder to give up cold turkey. I’m still watching the TODAY Show in the morning but rely on the internet for all my other news. It’s been a little weird not to have the background noise on at night, but I also find I’m able to get more done without the distraction.

Between blogging on my family’s site and here and projects for work, I have been writing about 25 pages per day. That’s lots and lots of typing – with the added bonus of my not looking down at the keyboard so much anymore. I’m beginning to feel like a pro-typist. Pretty cool!

I bought one of those Spanish word/phrase a day desk calendars and am listening to the Quick & Simple Spanish I Pimlseur CDs. By next month I hope to have graduated to the regular Pimsleur Spanish lessons and on my way to being conversational.

And while giving up meat and chicken has been no big deal so far – I still haven’t managed to kick the caffeine habit altogether. I’m down to one morning cup of Java but am fast working on replacing that with some soothing herbal tea. And this is Restaurant Week so it’ll be interesting to see what vegetarian fare is offered by The Caucus Room, Filomena, Neyla and Butterfield 9.

A wise friend once told me it takes 15 days to make a new habit, so I figure, I’m just about halfway there.

I wanted to wake up bright and early to kick off the new year but ended up sleeping in past noon. Some might say sleeping so late is a sign of depression, but I counter that with my 4:00 a.m. bedtime the night before.

The gray day outside didn’t encourage much frolicking about, so I curled up on my couch with a blank calendar and blank leather journal and sketched out my year. This is a ritual I perform every year – though I rarely stick with the plan or the budget I set down on paper.

I’m determined to make this year different.

Goals for 2007:

1. Save money
2. Get fit and healthy
3. Refresh my home
4. Turn off the television
5. Write everyday
6. Travel more
7. Learn a language
8. Improve communication and relationships with family
9. Look into returning to school for anthropology
10. Simplify

What are your resolutions or goals for this new year?

With the new year right around the corner, I’ve been doing a lot of thinking.  I feel as though the last few years have been a lot of the same…  same work, same friends, same  distractions, same goals.

And here’s the deal – I really have no obligations or responsibilities. No mortgage, no husband, no kids. I can be completely selfish and do whatever I want.

So what do I really want?

On the one hand I want to take some classes in archaeology or anthropology… maybe commit to a program and earn a graduate degree.  On the other hand I want to travel everywhere. Then there’s the nagging voice that insists I be practical and save all my pennies to buy property.

The real problem is limited funds.  I can’t afford to do everything.

So I can either : do nothing and next year complain again about how stagnant my life is; choose to make a significant financial commitment to an education or home; or figure out a way to make more money.

Scott McClellan resigned his position today as White House Press Secretary. Anyone the Bush administration appoints to the position will be better than poor Scott.

My friends and I often argued about whether McClellan was the worst press secretary in the history of communications or one of the best.

In the face of telling bald-faced lies to the White House press corps, he remained loyal to the party line. Never budging. Even when he looked completely ridiculous.

That he remained in the position for 2 1/2 years is a testament to his strategy of repeating the same line over and over and over again.

His performances during his press gaggles reminded me of one of my first jobs.

My boss told me in no uncertain terms that I needed to control the message during a controversial event. A bigname speaker was part of the conference and I knew the reporters would want to ask him about his latest research on a cancer drug… which had little to nothing to do with the event.

I was not suave. I was not coy. I did not throw the reporters a bone. I handled the press like Scott McClellan handled the White House press corps. Unyielding. Stubbornly repeating the same information… paraphrasing one line over and over and over again.

The reporters hated me. My boss hated me for being so obvious and appearing like I was hiding something. And I hated me for — in effect — sticking with “No comment.”

(I groan inwardly every time I remember that turning point.)

I learned some valuable lessons that day — learned to trust my judgment and to trust the journalists covering the story. I also gained a deeper understanding of my role as information gatekeeper and facilitator.

But that was nine years ago.

I’m not surprised that McClellan is leaving. I can only say it’s about time.