Lisa Carnley is managing editor of the Lampasas Dispatch Record. It seems like this is the time of year when everyone is making a list of resolutions they will take with them into the new year, only to have broken them by the middle of January.

I know. I do it every year. I decide I’m going to quit this or stop that, or either do something a different way or not at all. I’ve made and broken hundreds of promises with the best of them.

But here goes. These are my resolutions for 2010 -- at least for the first couple weeks of the year.

• I promise to cook a meal once in a while. It’s not that I can’t cook. I can. I just don’t like to. But it probably can’t hurt to make something every so often rather than eating whatever I find in the cabinet (yes, Jello, I’m talking about you).

• I vow to eat at my dining room table at least once a month. I have a new dining room set that I don’t use very often, except for storage. I pile my purse, keys, coat, mail and whatever else I have in my hands on it when I come in the front door because it is so convenient. Then they must all be scraped off the table top before anyone can sit down to a meal.

I’d rather eat in front of my television, sitting on my bed. I know, it’s not the neatest of habits. But I can’t seem to help myself. That’s just where I like to eat. And my dogs enjoy the crumbs. OK, my secret is out, and I feel better in the telling.

• I will try to take a walk at least once a week. There isn’t much time for that anymore. I like to put on my headphones and just walk until I get bored. That usually lasts about 30 minutes (I have a short attention span). I always carry a big stick with me. Not sure just what that’s supposed to do, but I carry it anyway. I doubt any dog would be afraid of a 5-foot-1-inch woman carrying a tree limb. I’m probably not much of a threat to them, but I feel like I’m actually protecting myself from the big, bad hounds.

• I promise to lay off the Diet Coke more than once a week. I used to routinely drink part of one every day. (Those Sonic drinks with lots of ice are the best, and sometimes I think I can hear them calling my name.) I am down to about twice a week now. And though that’s not too bad, I guess I really just need one.

It’s not that bad a habit, I suppose. I don’t drink alcohol because I never liked the taste of it, and I don’t smoke (I gave it up several years ago after a 30-plus-year habit). So I guess if that’s my only vice, I can certainly live with (and forgive) myself.

• I vow to try not to bring as much drama into things as I have in the past. Not everything is a stage for drama, and I guess I just think it makes life more interesting if I can embellish the few minor happenings of my mundane days. I’ve got to get my excitement somewhere, ‘cause it’s sure not a part of my usual 24-hour day.

• And finally, I promise to try to quit bugging my son and his (still) new bride to give me grandchildren. Though I’ve given up hope for my elder son to give me more than the one grandchild I have, I still hold out hope for Zach and Courtney.

As long as they give me a baby (or are expecting) by the end of the new year, I will stop mentioning it every time I talk to them. And I’ll try to keep my baby name ideas to myself, too.

As long as they know I’m still waiting for that granddaughter (like they promised me), I will leave them alone -- for at least the next couple of weeks.

Now that’s one promise I can keep.