A New Year

Are you prepared for the New Year? Have you decided on a New Years Resolution (that you will actually follow through with)? Do you have someone to kiss at midnight? Do you have great people to party with? AND most importantly, do you have your champagne (or other alcohol of choice)?? 

For me, the answers are yes, yes, and yes! Plus more yes's for how ever many more questions I asked. I won this lovely bottle of champagne on Sunday at a Christmas party playing BINGO and I was very pleased as I did not have champagne yet for New Years Eve. 

I do have a New Year's Resolution that I think is very plausible for this 2014. Last year I gave up drinking soda. I did it because I started following a blog called "The Londoner". She talks about her "antidiet" and how diet soda is even worse than the regular stuff, and how giving up diet soda can make you lose 5lbs if you don't change anything else in your diet. I hardly ever drink soda now. Maybe one can a month and never diet soda. I have actually been trying to avoid anything with Aspartame in it. Aspartame is an ingredient in many low calorie or diet foods and drinks that is used for sweetening; it has also been identified as a carcinogenic agent. So I try to avoid it. Even some light yogurt contains it! So I also try to look at labels of anything light out there before I buy it. There are many light things that do not contain Aspartame too, but so far all of the sodas that I've come across that are light or diet contain it. But it's okay. I've been soda free for a year, and I've replaced it with water in my diet so it is a much healthier choice. And it has made me aware of the things that I put into my body. Maybe one day I will go organic or actually try to make healthier choices in all aspects of my diet (ya know like cutting out sweets and fats but they're SO good) , but right now I am happy with as far as I have come.

My New Year's Resolution this year can go one of two ways I told myself. One way is a more selfish reason and the other way if selfless. It is more so to get over a stupid fear that I have. I have a fear of veins. Yup, veins. My veins. Not needles, I have no problem with shots that go into my muscle, but I  hate veins. IVs, blood draws, men with wirey veins sticking out on their arms, my veins being touched over my skin. Creeps. Me. Out. So my New Year's resolution is to get over my fear of veins by either: giving plasma at Biolife in which I get compensated or donating blood at a blood drive. I chose this resolution this year because this past June I stuck myself with a dirty instrument at work and had to get bloodwork done to make sure that I hadn't contracted any blood borne disease. However, working at a hospital, they wanted to ensure my well being since many blood borne pathogens can have an incubation period where they don't show up in bloodwork, so I had to get tested for six months. It only ended up being four times, but each time I had to get my blood drawn (from a vein!) several vials were taken so it took more time than I would have liked. And along the way, I kind of got interested in doing lab work. If I were to change professions I think that I would like to try being a lab technician and drawing blood. So if I want to do that I need to get over my irrational fear. 

I gave myself a timeline for my resolution too. If I decide to give plasma, I need to do it by March. I have more reason to do this because I could use another job and you get paid pretty well for just sitting in a chair and having bodily fluids taken from you. However it takes around an hour I think. But if I decide to donate blood, I gave myself an entire year to do that, or I suppose the last blood drive of the year at work. Donating blood takes less time than giving plasma but it's usually volunteers doing it and that freaks me out more. I always hear horror stories of them not being able to find veins and having to try many different areas and that would so not help me. 

 Please wish me luck this new year in completing my New Year's Resolution and I will do the same for you! Have a great New Year's Eve! Stay safe but have fun! And most of all have a  HAPPY NEW YEAR!