It’s an interesting time of year. Christmas is over. The new year has not yet arrived.

Some of us like to spend this week reviewing the year gone by, reminiscing over the successes and regretting the failures. Some of us spend this time getting rest, putting a nice series of naps on the year, like a bow. And still others look ahead to the coming year, making promises of change to better themselves in small and large ways.

Since I spent the better part of a day this week napping, it’s only fair to consider the other options for spending the week.

As for my failures, you all know the story. I’m pretty much the same struggling diabetic I was at the beginning of 2011, battling the three-headed beast of blood sugar, blood pressure, and weight gain. So, it’s probably best that I reminisce rather than regret.

• I saw and photographed a Massachusetts cow this year, lying in a pasture in all its splendor.
• I achieved flight for the first time in my life, with the help a bright yellow biplane at the Military Aviation Museum in Virginia Beach.
• I’ve pretty much kicked my French fry habit, with only minor relapses here and there.
• It looks like I will make it through another year with my niece Samantha without ripping her tongue out or killing myself during one of her many jags of pointless conversation.
• I’ve learned to appreciate the “good advice” I get in my Men’s Health newsletters. Fight it as I may, they’ve influenced me to avoid some pretty fatty foods this year.
• I’ve made sincere strides to become a more passionate and accomplished artist.
• I’ve accepted that my doctor may not have all the answers, but she certainly has mastered one in particular — No. Every awesome menu item or food fest I’ve proposed, she’s slashed down with unwavering — almost threatening — resolve.

So as for the coming year, the only promise I can think to make is that I will continue to work on the little dents in the armor. Because, while resolutions may succeed and fail, maintenance goes the furthest toward making us the people we want to be.

And now that I’ve considered all three routes to follow during this week between Christmas and New Year’s, I can tell it’s just easier to take a nap. So rest well, Suffolkians, it’s the best maintenance you can do to prepare for the year to come.