Cross some stuff off the list. Now I need to add to it because I’d only come up with 34 Things.

35. Make a short, wide, hardwood bookshelf for the foot of the bed.

36. Finish planting the back yard.

37. Design a cool light fixture.

38. Run again.

39. Make loungers for the back yard.

40. Design and build a gas BBQ for the back yard.

We’re nearly rounding out 2009 and I realized I haven’t posted since January of this year. That’s pretty lame even for me. The funny thing is that I’m still experiencing the same feelings and yet have seemingly done nothing about them. I still feel like I accomplish nothing useful, that I have yet to find my “calling,” that I am someone who hasn’t lived up to her potential but does not know what that potential holds (or even what direction it goes in). I tried the Life Coach thing and ponied up 6 months worth of weekly, 30-minute coaching sessions. Apparently I didn’t choose the right coach because I found myself resenting the time I spent on the phone with her and found my mood sour in the minutes leading up to our sessions. Plus, I found some of the methodology hoakie. Here’s the thing, I know I actively self-sabotage. I don’t have to sit here and wonder why I don’t hit a goal or make something happen, I know I prevent myself from doing it. I just don’t fully understand why I do it or how to prevent myself from continuing on this path. Frankly, the thought of walking down any path is sort of appealing because of late I’ve stopped even exploring as I’m certain whatever I try to do I will fail miserably. If I say this to a shrink, the shrink will tell me I’m depressed and I need to engage in some talk therapy along with any number of a myriad of antidepressants. Why doesn’t anybody simply prescribe a swift kick in the ass? Seriously. Think about it. There’s a significant number of issues with people in this country that could be fixed with a little ass kicking. But while I’m here, let’s take a look at the 101 Things and see how I’ve done over the past year at accomplishing something.

31. install new porch light   Score! I managed to do this one! I’m pretty embarrassed to say this was very easy once I found a porch light I liked that I felt would go with the house. There is, however, kind of a funny story behind it. I took the old, ugly-ass porch light down and was standing on a step ladder getting ready to install the new light I’d purchased from Home Depot. I had to look through several boxes at Home Depot just to find the light that was supposed to be in the box. Sadly, I didn’t think to look to see whether or not it had all it’s necessary parts and this one was missing the crucial part that allows it to hang. And, I’d already taken the old one down. Pissed off, I took the light back to Home Depot and did not hang the old light back up. It took me another month to find another at a local lighting store. I got that one home and was super excited to install it. I pull that one out of the box and discover one of the glass panes is broken. Argh! I call the store and the guy on the other end of the phone says he’ll order a new pane for me. I say great, hang up and go on with my day. A month or so later I realize I’ve heard nothing from the store so I call again. They have no record of that conversation but get the idea that I’m not happy. They ask me to bring the old one back and they’ll send me a new one. Two weeks after that, the new one arrives, intact, and I go to install it. I’m at the final point when I’ve connected the wires and fitted the fixture flush to the stucco underbelly of the porch and I drip the little, threaded, nipple-thing that keeps it attached. I can’t see it anywhere. I search and search and search. I start to swear loudly–which catches the attention of my next-door neighbor. He comes over and helps look. For 20 minutes we look for a little bronze-colored, critical piece of threaded metal in a sea of gorilla hair surrounding my front porch. I swear more and he joins in. He offers to go look in his garage to see if he can find anything that might be a suitable replacement. A car drives by and the sunlight reflecting off the window makes me squint. In that moment, I see the threaded, bronze, nipple thing a good 15 feet from where we’d been fruitlessly searching. I finally get the damned light up.

32. create shelving in the kitchen for cookbooks    And it was so much easier than I’d made it out to be. The shelves themselves I’d actually built by this time last year, which makes it so lame they didn’t get installed until June or so. It was that fear of failure thing that kept me from getting it done. Finally, I just said, “Fuck it.” and embarked on that journey. I measured and re-measured. Marked and re-marked where the wall studs should be located. I installed the cleats about a quarter inch off. Stupid. I then had to use a RotoZip to shave the damned cleat off while still attached to the wall (because I attached it so well I couldn’t get it back off). I got the top shelve on so well I couldn’t get it back off even before I’d screwed it to the cleat. The bottom shelf didn’t want to stay stable even when it was screwed to the cleat. I swore. After asking around a little, I decided to use shims. I shimmed the holy crap out of that thing and before trimming them actually stood on a step stool and leaned my weight onto the shelf. I figured since we were putting cookbooks on it, it should be sturdy. That sucker didn’t budge. Success. After trimming the shims, I caulked and painted and now have custom shelves for our cookbooks.

25. Pick up an additional BODYFLOW class  Did it! Twice, actually. I picked one up at a new studio whose business model was based on drop-in use. This lasted from May to October. I fear the BodyCombat class I also picked up may also go away. Then in October I got another elsewhere. I don’t know that the format is right for the facility. We shall see.

26. Find a home for BODYVIVE…at least somewhere close enough that I can teach it  Accomplished this one, too! Unfortunately I should be careful what I wish for because the other instructors who trained for this program have not been very quick to complete their certifications and I’m still the only one that can launch a new release.

27. Paint the inside of the garage. One wall is done. I can’t do the rest of it unless I empty the thing out. That’s got to be done this year. The garage is driving me crazy.

21. organize the guest room so it could actually accommodate a guest   There’s a bed in there!!! My sewing machine is still in there and the closet is still full of other crap, so it’s about half way? My parents have actually stayed in there twice now, though. Some of that art that’s been languishing in closets is finding a home in there.

16. finish planting the front yard   Did it!!! Even a new tree! But since we actually re-landscaped the back yard, I moved a handful of plants from the front to the back. I also planted bulbs! Spring time will be really pretty.

I still have 67 things I need to come up with and several of my previous list I have yet to accomplish. Got to put the thinking cap on.

So, another few updates…  My two random acts of kindness this month center around work, again.  And, interestingly, they both center around fruit…  For our Thanksgiving celebration, we made a huge fruit salad and each child brought in a couple pieces of fruit to contribute to the salad.  One of the kids in the older class wasn’t going to be able to get the needed fruit for the next day.  His mom was worried that he would be excluded for not contributing by his teacher.  So I brought in 2 extra pieces of fruit in a bag, and slipped them to him when he got to school that next morning.  Mom felt good, kid felt good, and the other teacher was none the wiser.  =)  My kids in MY class also love the little cutie oranges.  Most of them don’t get them in their lunches, so I have been bringing in about 4 each day to split with all my munchkins.  That’s my second good deed.  Sharing fruit, who knew?

My “smile” I mailed this month was my christmas cards.  Can’t really get around anything mailed in December, and trying to call it “just because.”  But I did hand make the cards with some cute picture of my labs on them, and made sure to address the cards to the whole family, 4-legged members most always included, so I made it count.

I also watched Spread this weekend.  I’d never heard of it, but it came via Netflix.  It has Ashton Kutcher in it as a cute slacker who moves from one sugar mama to the next, his starring one of the movie being Anne Heche.  His plans go askew when he falls for a waitress, who turns out to be his female counterpart, trolling for sugar daddies.  Very weak plot, not much in the line of compelling characters, but lots of decently hot sex scenes, so it redeemed itself in one way, I guess…

I have also been working away on this whole “daily water habit” thing, and failing miserably.  My best streak was 10 days, but that’s because I would chug a 17oz bottle morning and night.  The weekends killed me, though, cuz I didn’t have my 20 oz bottle ritual that I drink at work.  I think I’m going about this the wrong way…  Anyways, tomorrow will be day 1 again.

I’ve kinda been frustrated at this process a bit lately, I think I wanted it to be a bit more engaging.  But really, I think I just need to engage myself more in some of the entertaining and fun things on my list.  Don’t always save the red skittles for last, if you know what I mean.  =)

2009 – what to say?

It wasn’t a super awesome year, but it certainly had it’s not so bad moments, good moments and even some awesome moments. I’ll save the icky parts for the post I plan on writing for the end of the year, but this seemed like a nice project to remember the good points. (And because clearly I need one more project to work on!)

As I think about everything that happened this year, I have to ask myself, “Was it really only 365 days?” So much happened…

Twenty-First thing! Best Project of the Year!

I have a lot of projects going on at any given time. Creative projects, fix-it-up projects, self-improvement projects, oh the list goes on!

I think perhaps the best project of this year would have to be the Day Zero Project (a.k.a  1,001 Things in 101 Days Project).

(You can see my progress here.)

I think this would have to be the “best project” (although all of my projects are near and dear to me…) because it encompasses so many aspects of my life: Family/Friends, Home/Heart, Financial, Fitness/Health, Professional, Mind Expanding, Just for Me, Creative Endeavors, Travel, Bloggers Assigned. I might not be making the super-duper progress that I’d like to, but one of the Other Projects that I’m working on is to be a little less hard on myself.

So what’s your Best Project of ‘09?

#bestof09

I have started the Day Zero project, also known as 101 things in 1001 days.  Here is some background and a link.  My own list of 101 things will be posted soon.  (I’m still working on it!!)

http://www.dayzeroproject.com/

About The Project

Welcome to Day Zero, the home of the 1001 Day Project. A unique challenge that inspires you to set and achieve your personal goals in life.

The Challenge:
Complete 101 preset tasks in a period of 1001 days.

The Criteria:
Tasks must be specific (ie. no ambiguity in the wording) with a result that is either measurable or clearly defined. Tasks must also be realistic and stretching (ie. represent some amount of work on your part).

Why 1001 Days?
Many people have created lists in the past – frequently simple challenges such as New Year’s resolutions or a ‘Bucket List’. The key to beating procrastination is to set a deadline that is realistic. 1001 Days (about 2.75 years) is a better period of time than a year, because it allows you several seasons to complete the tasks, which is better for organising and timing some tasks such as overseas trips, study semesters, or outdoor activities.

Goal setting tips

1. Be decisive.  Know exactly what you want, why you want it, and how you plan to achieve it.
2. Stay focused.  Any goal requires sustained focus from beginning to end. Constantly evaluate your progress.
3. Welcome Failure.  Frequently, very little is learned from a venture that did not experience failure in some form. Failure presents the opportunity to learn and makes the success more worthy.
4. Write down your goals.  It clarifies your thinking and reinforces your commitment.
5. Keep your goals in sight.  Review them frequently, and ensure that they are always at the forefront of your thinking.

So, my life at the gym has been sluggish, though on a good note I AM still going, even if not as often as I should.  This week has turned out a good showing, as I went Monday and today after work, completing 3 miles each time.  I am grudgingly coming to the realization that diet can play a factor into your workouts.  I mean, DUH, it factors into your weight loss, but I think I am truly recognizing that when I eat crappy and then go to the gym, my workouts suck more.  So I guess I’m gonna have to accept working on that.  Hey, maybe if I work on it for my workout’s sake, instead of my weight’s sake, I’ll actually stick to it?  Who knows…  =)

A few other things I forgot to update:  Later last week, I watched “Management”, a B movie with Jennifer Aniston and Steve Zahn in it.  It was pretty cute.  Definitely deserved it’s B-movie status, maybe even C-movie, but it was totally tolerable.  Kinda slow and quirky, I want to call it indie but I’m not truly sure what classifies a film as “indie.”   So I’ll just call it pretty cute, kinda slow, and quirky.

Paul and I also went to see 2012 on Sunday.  Suspending your baseline for logic and believability, it was a super fun end-of-the-world movie.  I LOVE it when nature comes back to kick our ass, so I was totally in to this movie.  Were there many points where I could have said “oh, come ON!”?  Sure!  But I let them go and just went along for the ride.  Plus, John Cusack’s daughter is super adorable.  Anyways, for someone who loved Day After Tomorrow, Volcano, Armageddon, Deep Impact, etc, and who keeps Twister as one of her all time favorite movies, this was totally worth seeing in the theater for me.  (And I still want one of the Jeep Twister trucks…  Almost scrounged up the money to buy one that didn’t run, but I couldn’t do it right now…)

Anyways, 6 more miles down this week, “M” for Management marked off item 098, and movie #2 marked off of item 045.

Monday night, I officially crossed off an item on my Life List. Also known as 101 Things To Do Before I Croak.

Here’s part of it:

Ambitious*, no?

I’ll give you a hint: I did one of the things you can see in the above screenshot.

I think you could use another hint.

That’s right folks.

Monday night, I saw a ballet performance of The Nutcracker. And not just any performance – but a performance by the Moscow Ballet!

>Abbie takes a moment to compose herself.<

>Failing, Abbie keeps typing anyway.<

Here’s how you can tell I was completely, utterly, entirely and totally enthralled by the show: I didn’t take a single picture.

Well, it could have had something to do with the fact that my camera was in my purse with completely dead batteries, and the fresh batteries were 8 city blocks away, in the backseat of the car. But either way, no pictures would have been taken.

The tickets were an early Christmas/birthday gift from my favorite big sister. (She has now firmly ensconced herself in that title for eternity.)

To tell the truth, I felt like a size 13 heel when I found out she was giving me this as a gift.

A little back-story: months ago, she bought tickets at a hugely discounted price through her school. But she could only buy two. I was quite certain that she intended to take me. (I believe she initially agreed.) But then things started to look iffy. She mentioned a time or two that her pesky boyfriend – now fiance – wanted to go.

I was like, Whatever. He’s not going. I AM. (What kind of guy wants to go to a ballet, anyway?)

But as the time ticked down, Faye was growing ever more elusive, saying that Sam was being weird about just the two of us going, and being out late at night.

I’m pretty sure I ranted. I was mad, y’all. I mean really, that long-haired ex-rocker coming between me and my dream!? I think not!

But finally, I accepted it. Kind of. I mean, I at least determined that I wouldn’t verbally abuse Sam the next time I saw him. (Well, not any more than usual.)

To make a long story short, Faye gave my little sis and me the tickets last week. She’d paid FULL PRICE for the two extra tickets. I felt like flogging myself about the face and neck with wet noodles.

And that is how it came to be that I crossed off the very first of my things to do before I croak.

Thank you, Faye. (You rock, and you know that!)

*It took me 7 hours to think of the word “ambitious”. As I wrote this post last night, the word eluded me completely. Finally, I thought of it 10 seconds before I fell asleep. The end.

I can’t believe 2009 is quickly coming to a close, and WOW – I’m getting things accomplished on my List. Oddly, I still haven’t done some of the things you’d think would be easiest (Hello, Eat at McDonalds? I’m fighting that, as you can probably tell). I’ve read over 100 books (Yeah, that 250 goal seems a little more feasible now), I just wrapped up putting together the 12 Days of Christmas for Danielle at Extraordinary Mommy (what fun!), I have remembered to send notes to people, take my reusable mug to Starbucks and I even went to a movie by myself yesterday (I saw “Brothers” and cried almost nonstop. Tearjerker).

Little by little I’ll get things done – I’m probably due for a snowball fight with the next big heap of snow we get.

Getting there….

The concept behind 101 things is simple. All you need to do is make a list of things you would like to do during this time frame, and do them! My goal is to do as many things as I can, and hopefully take away something meaningful from my experiences. I started my list on December 4, 2009. My official end date is September 1, 2012!

the 101 things I’ll do in 1001 days!

1. Camp out for a night and star gaze
2. Learn French (and German) and actually become fluent in Italian
3. Learn the Vulcan Salute
4. Visit Florence again
5. Spend a full day in the American Natural History Museum in New York(12.15.2009)
6. Go on a cross continental road trip with my Dad
7. Study Carl Sagan’s scientific findings and read his books
8. Document a day in my life through photography
9. Study the star constellations
10. Take a linguistics course
11. Learn an instrument
12. Write a short story
13. Wander around in a new city
14. Plant a garden
15. Take a trip to a beach
16. Rent a cottage for the summer on the lake
17. Write an undergraduate thesis
18. Start a blog (12.14.2009)
19. Visit Portland, Oregon
20. Visit the Elliott Smith tribute wall in LA
21. Watch a live Orchestra performance
22. Visit a drive-in
23. Finish reading Through the Looking Glass
24. Swim in the Pacific Ocean
25.Botanical Garden
26. Record a short film
27. Move to New York
28. Apply to grad school
29. See City and Colour live
30. See Final Fantasy live
31. See Patrick Wolf in concert again
32. Sit out NBC with Alicia and get SNL tickets
33. MAURY!!!
34. Spend a month in Montreal and then in Toronto
35. Stay in contact with old friends and meet new people
36. Cook a delicious meal
37. Have a movie day with friends
38. Intern/Volunteer at a museum
39. Study abroad in Europe
40. See Iceland in person
41. Try something new each month (or whenever possible)
42. Food crawl in New Orleans
43. Make the perfect latte
44. Know true contentment
45. Explore my old neighborhood (What’s up, St. Paul Street?)
46. Visit the Planetarium
47. Have a heart-to-heart with someone
48. Compose and record an original piece of music
49. Watercolor painting series
50. Collect old books
51. Find a working VCR (haha hello 1996)
52. Update my goal wall
53. Finish my driving lessons
54. Use a real pine tree for Christmas
55. Visit family I haven’t seen in ages
56. Learn to Ice Skate
57. Build a snowman
58. Visit a National Park
59. Do Operation Beautiful
60. Improve my general diet
61. Knit a pair of socks
62. Learn how to say “I Love You” in 5 different languages
63. Play tourist in my home town
64. Send a postcard
65. Watch the entirety of Star Trek: The Original Series
66. Recite Shakespeare from memory
67. See the Northern Lights in person
68. Remain single (and happy for it!)
69. Complete my Botticelli puzzle
70. Scuba dive
71. Build a bookshelf(or a table, etc.)
72. Spend a whole day at the cinema
73. Make homemade cookies
74. Fall in love with someone
75. Practice meditation
76. Play all the games I loved to play as a child
77. Go through old family photos
78. Passably imitate another accent
79. Play the harmonica
80. Midnight grocery shopping
81. Take someone Trick-or-Treating
82. Apples to Apples marathon
83. Take time for other people
84. Witness a historical event
85. Vote
86. Fry doughnuts at home
87. Give someone an Eskimo kiss
88. Twilight Zone marathon
89. Memorize the Library of Congress system
90. Get an A+ in a history course
91. Shop at IKEA
92. Make homemade soap
93. Have a picnic
94. Go sailing
95. Relearn how to ride a bicycle
97. Sew a dress
98. Make someone laugh for a ridiculous amount of time
99. Smile every day
100. Laugh until my stomach hurts
101. Spend a lazy day snuggling with my cat and reading

#18 officially crossed off!

So, it’s been a few days and I wanted to update with my decorated Christmas tree.  It’s our first official tree in 3 years (a broken tree stand that leaked water ALL over the carpet just after it was decorated 2 years ago ended that tree, and just didn’t last year…), and I love it.  Paul found it, and we got it for a GREAT price.  We watched Love Actually while decorating, my traditional tree-decorating movie.  So our tree is now up and beautiful, and our yellow lab HATEs it.  The tree is too close to “his” armchair, so he gets up in the chair, glares at the tree and then goes and pouts on his dog bed.  So cute.  =)

Went to the gym last night, first time since I last reported.  2 more miles down, but I am definitely feeling the effects of my slacker-ness.  I need to get back into my routine.  Hopefully I can kick it back, into, well, medium gear, as I never was in high.  =)

Am relishing the beauty of friendships tonight.  Just had a 4-hour dinner with my 5 best friends, exchanging our favorite things as gifts this year.  It was super wonderful, and I am now listening to the Glee soundtrack, with newly (though crappily) painted nails, eating milanos, smelling a great candle, and looking up new dip recipes– all a result of my wonderful friends.  You know they are great when you wish you could hang with them after you just spent 4 hours together.  I hope everyone gets the chance to have friends like these one day.  After a pretty crappy week personally, it was perfect to have a reminder of the wonderful things I have right in front of me.

On a similar note, I’m so proud of my hubby tonight.  He started a new job a week ago, working 10-12 hour days doing hard physical work.  He’s been so exhausted.  Yet, he still makes time to spend several hours Tuesday, Wednesday, and tonight helping to staff the volunteer fire engine at the station close to his house.  He even had a hand in saving someone’s life tonight.  I miss him not being home as much, especially this week with volunteering so much, but I wouldn’t trade having him do something he loves so much for anything.

Anyways, enough smush from me tonight.  Gotta go and try to get back into my next novel, which is proving much harder than the first.

So, I realized I never updated that Paul and I went to see New Moon on the 22nd.  I am a huge Twilight fan– of the books more than the movies (Even did a road trip to Forks, WA about the 4th of July before last, with one of my best friends…).  I thought the movie was good, but it’s one of those where you’ve gotta see it twice, I think.  That is true for all movies based on books you love, at least it is for me.  The first time, you compare it to the book the whole time, the second time you see it you can appreciate it for the movie it is.  So I look forward to seeing it for the second time.

I have also started working on item 001, drinking 48oz of water as a daily habit.  I did great on Tuesday, failed on Wednesday, and did well on Thursday and Friday.  So as of today, 2 days down, 19 to go.  (Based on my whole it-takes-21-repetitions-of-something-to-make-it-a-habit theory.)

Went to the gym last night, and worked my way through another 3 miles.  Felt pretty good about it, til I saw this week’s Biggest Loser, and watched them complete a marathon.  26.2 miles!  Yeesh.  Oh, and did I mention I was eating a McD’s sundae while watching?  Oops.  Oh, well.  Still, small victory.  =)

Going to get the christmas tree this weekend.  Been thinking about Christmas lately, (I mean, duh, right?) but because I had one of my parents (at the preschool) comment about how her son was ruining Santa for the other kids in his kindergarten class, because their family doesn’t believe in Santa.  He asked his mom “Why do they lie to their kids?”.  She was telling me this while a dad was talking nearby about having a picture of where Santa lives…  She even seemed a bit irritated about the whole Santa conspiracy.  I know they are a religious family, and I am certainly not, but what’s so wrong with Santa?  I mean, I think our world would be a sad place, if we eliminated all the make-believe…  I think we, as grown ups, would have a more awe-filled life, if we kept around some of the magical things we believed in as a kid.  Or at least the ability to believe in a little bit of magic out there.  I guess we do, in some ways, we just call it “fate”, or “karma”, or “the universe”, or some would even say “God.”  (Not opening a religious debate, but I personally find a correlation there, though I firmly remain “undecided” as far as that goes…)  Anyways, not sure where all that came from.  But still, going to get the Christmas tree this weekend.  Yep.

So, have you every just kinda looked around and wondered, how the hell did I get here?  I mean, like, seriously wondered?  And I don’t mean physically, that’s a path easy enough to follow.  But the rest of it.  How did I turn out to be this kind of girl?  This kind of crazy?  Not clinical or anything.. but really.  And why the hell did I have to wake up now and realize all the crap that I’m sitting in.  Clearly, I’ve spent 32 years building up this sphere of mine, so why now?  Why do I now want to change that?  Well, because it’s about damn time.   That’s the short of it.  We all know the sayings.  ”Make the change!”  ”Change your thinking!”  ”Set a goal!”  ”Become the person you always dreamed you could be!”  ”Live your best life!”  All bullshit.  Why?  Because none of them really tell you how.  Like it’s some kind of damn club of people who have it “figured out”, and then won’t share.  (No disrespect to Oprah, I totally love her…)

Well, I wanna have it all figured out.  I don’t care if those other people don’t really have it, I want it.  I want to know how to stop thinking I have bad luck, and turn that into good luck.  I want to believe that I’m a good person, and not just have others say it.  I want to think  I’m worth it, heal myself from my past, blah, blah, blah.  But I’ve spent 32  years hiding from it all, squashing it all away.  So every time I try, my brain says “Whoa!  Why the hell you bringing that up??  We hid all that.  Remember all the brownies?  Yep, put all that stuff away.”  And it’s not like I have a past worthy of some Lifetime movie.  Just your basic ups and downs that cause you to be overly self-critical, have consistently horrid self-esteem, and gain 100 pounds since high school, where you were one of the largest girls on the team.  (Dance team, and I was a size 10-12 then, 144 pounds, in case you’re wondering.  Even the non-math majors can figure this one out.  Though I actually gained a total of 140 pounds, peaking in 2007, and have lost about 40 since then.  Leaving me at a lovely 245 right now, just to get all the laundry out there…)

Anyways, so really.  How do you break the evil spiral that plunged me to this point, and climb out to be a healthy, happy, normal-looking girl?  Besides from going on the Biggest Loser and having Jillian kick the shit out of me till it all falls out and the truth of it is left there, as free of the weight as I will be after all that time, how do you do it?  ’Cuz  you’ve GOTTA figure out the mind before the body will follow.  Or at least I do, ‘cuz I want to do it healthy, do it right, and for once in my life, do it for good.

Anyways, that’s where I’m at.  Trying to take the next 6 months to figure this out, and find a healthier version of myself before I think about starting a family.  I’m probably not gonna make my first goal of losing… how many pounds was it?  Anyways, of getting down to 230 by new years.  But I’m just gonna keep trying and see how close I can get.  Thank god for my husband, who keeps me accountable for getting to the gym when I said I wanted to go.  At least that way I can’t slip too far backward, even when I do hear another pan of brownies calling.  I promise, I’ll try to send it to voicemail.  For tonight, I’m gonna go read Jillian’s book… maybe I can get some insight from the pages, even if it’s not her screaming in my face.  I’ll keep you posted.

With the following haiku, I’ve completed my first month on item 035.  I modified it some, as I didn’t actually write 30 haikus about Thanksgiving, as I originally said.  But how boring is that?!  A lot of them were about the season and the holiday, but sometimes you just need to veer off topic, you know?  Anyways, it’ll be nice to have a break from endless haiku’s, and I can assure you December will not be another month of poetry for me, I’ll get to work on a new goal towards some other item on my list, though.  I’m thinking something more arbitrary, like getting that water habit thing down…  Who knows.  =)

(BTW, in spirit of keeping it updated, I went to the gym last night, first time in like a week.  We did squats, box jumps– I could kick Dina from BL’s ass at those!, medicine ball sit ups, and a mile on the treadmill. Woot!)

Anyways, the last one, Haiku the 30th:

Thanksgiving Passes

Thanksgiving passes

Leftovers gone, guests are home

Christmas Approaches!

So, I’m finally taking a moment to update on my first hosted holiday.  Thanksgiving!  It went really well.  I got up at 6:45am, soooo early!  Got ready first, and then headed down.  Prepped breakfast for the hubby, mother-in-law, and myself, then started in on the stuffing.  Had the turkey stuffed and in the oven by 8:30am.  Woohoo!  Then I spent the morning finishing last-minute touches on cleaning and such.  Then my family arrived and I worked on the rest of dinner.

We had turkey, stuffing, gravy, mashed potatoes and sweet potatoes, broccoli gratin, corn salad, peas, olives, cranberry sauce, and lots of rolls.  One batch was  from a homemade recipe of mom-in-law’s which were quite good (though a bit dense due to my inexperienced bread-making skills) and shaped like apples due to my lack of round cookie cutter.  They were so cute!  Everyone loved the dinner, and we finished it off with a Tootie Apple pie, homemade chocolate cookies by mom, and mom-in-law’s homemade fudge.

All in all, it was a great day.  My only big mistake was not knowing the baggie of innards would be in the front part of the turkey, and not in the cavity where the neck was.  Who knew?  So I baked them, baggie and all.  My mom was giddy with my mistake, and took lots of pictures.  I was less than excited.  =)  So after 6 guests, 5 hours of cooking turkey, 4 people playing 3 hours of Scattergories (me, Paul, mom-in-law, and my sister), hearing every story mom-in-law had to tell 2 times, and 1 minor mistake, I had a successful and fun first Thanksgiving in my own home.  And I get to happily mark off item 054 off my list.  Yay!  Here’s some highlights from the day:

Here’s today’s haiku:

Starbucks Is The Best

Coffee beans are burnt

Prices high, Great place to chat

Starbucks- best with friends

I am feeling pretty joyous and excited about the changes in my life.  Maybe because the baby is giving me happy hormones, maybe because this is truly the path I’m meant for, or maybe, as one of my friends says, I’m basically an upbeat person.

But as we look to the end of the year, I’m looking back at January.  I look at where I thought I was going, and where I am now – and the difference is breath-taking.

I was grieving for some of the dreams that haven’t come to be.  My family has headed off to Africa without me.  Climbing has fallen by the wayside, as has my food blog stuff.  I’m not very sad about these things, I can always pick them up again later, but I was left with a niggling sense of guilt.

I felt like I hadn’t done very much this year.

I’d been avoiding looking at that ambitious List Tab at the top of my blog.  It seemed to belong to a less pregnant, less tired, more adventurous person.  It didn’t seem all that relevant.

Finally, yesterday, I revisited that list.  And while some of it is definitely outside my current focus (the roof of the climbing gym?  I can’t even fit in my harness!)  I’ve done more stuff than I thought.  Here are some of the things I can cross off:

• Go on a picnic.  (Maybe another one on Saturday, just for good measure)
• Try 10 new restaurants.
• Grow strawberries.  (They all died, but we DID try)
• Move into our house.
• Have a veggie patch.  This is mostly Ryan’s achievement, but I’m ticking it off anyway.
• Have an emergency fund.  It’s really a maternity leave fund, but I think the principle’s the same.
• Get a new computer.  I did this when I went back to study!  I’d completely forgotten it was on the list.
• Build a compost bin.  I have a compost heap – I think that counts.

So even when I’m not paying attention to the things I thought I wanted, I’m still getting them done.  If nothing else, my list of 101 things has made me celebrate the small wins alongside the big ones.

Who thought I’d be proud of my compost heap?

Wheeling

Whizzing snow and dirt

Wheels stuck, downed tree obstacles

Punch it, up and on.

So, I’m going wheeling tomorrow, and in a rush to get things ready.  Will report on that and Thanksgiving tomorrow evening, so I can do it proper- with pics!  Until then, here’s today’s haiku:

Black Friday Shopping

Black Friday shopping

crazy people, elbows, crowds

Why did I leave home?

I had company staying over for Thanksgiving, and had very limited computer access.  I’m back now, so here’s my Haiku from yesterday.  Update later on Thanksgiving day!

I Am Thankful For

I am thankful for

family, friends, dogs, my life

Happy Thanksgiving