What Are Your New Year's Resolutions?

In addition to the standard resolution to exercise more and lay off the sweets in the new year, I've got a unique resolution this year: I resolve not to adopt any cats.

It's a resolution that will be tough to keep. There are so many cute, cuddly kittens and cats out there who could use a new home — my home! But I promised my fiancé (who's allergic) that after my beloved cat, Aspen, died, that would be the end of cats for me.

As of last week, Aspen is no longer with me, after she died of cancer. It ended a 9.5-year relationship between us, one that began when I noticed a sign for free kittens at a yard sale in 2002. When I saw the little black kittens, I melted. But then I saw their mom, a beautiful gray cat with big yellow eyes that stared up at me. One look, and I was done. She was mine.

I named her after a few days of asking her what her name was. Aspen popped into my head. Ironically, I moved to Aspen two years later. Aspen (the cat) has been across the country and back with me, and even crossed international borders, into Canada, on our roadtrip when I moved to Boston in 2006. She didn't like many people, pretty much just me, and loved a good ear scratch and to sit on my lap whenever possible.

I will miss her, but my sadness has been allayed in part by my new dog, a seven-month old pup named Rudy. She doesn't purr quite like Aspen did, but she does fill that part of my heart reserved for creatures of the four-legged kind.

So this new year, I resolve to get over my desire to have cats (many cats!). My fiancé told me that if we ever have a barn, perhaps we can have a few barn cats. So in this new year, I also resolve to get a barn.

What are your new year's resolutions? The usual, or something different for 2012? Leave a comment below to share your thoughts. And happy new year!