So about three weeks ago I got to leave work early (after having been there nearly 14 hours the day before, but I'm not going to go there), and I came out to find the alarm going off in a most pitiful way and the battery nearly dead. Now considering that I drive a Prius and pretty much everything in the car runs off the electrical system, the fact that the battery was dying is pretty significant. So after much difficulty and a whole lot of time, I finally got my car towed to the shop just in time for them to close for the day. The next morning I got a call saying that one of (yes, the car has not one, but two batteries!) batteries was dead and needed to be replaced. There were also several filters which needed to be replaced (I already knew about those), and the maintenance light was on indicating that I needed an oil change (I already knew about that, too). Oh, and they were running a special on the oil change, so did I want them to go ahead and take care of that in addition to the battery and the filters. Yes, *sigh*, that's fine. What's another twenty bucks at this point? And then it hit me about two hours later when the fog cleared from my sleep-deprived head... crap! I was supposed to be doing the oil change myself! For the list (#58)! *insert many expletives here* And because I drive a Prius, the oil only needs to be changed every six months! So the next time it's due will be after my project ends!! *bleep, bleep, bleep!*
So now I won't be able to cross this off the list. I haven't decided what to do about it yet. Whether I am going to replace it with something else or just let it go. Since it's so late in the game, I am inclined to let it go, but I'm just irritated with myself. Grrrr.
Sunday, June 23, 2013
Sunday, June 2, 2013
Reviews and stuff
Progress is being made, slowly but surely! Thursday night I went to see Of Monsters and Men perform (#3). It was an outdoor concert, and the forecast was calling for rain, but it turned out to be a beautiful evening! The opening act was a group called Half Moon Run. They are from Canada, and I really enjoyed their music. So much so that I even ended up buying their CD which hasn't even been released in the US yet. I listened to it the other night while I was doing stuff around the house and liked it a lot. Of Monsters and Men were great! They played all the songs off their CD plus a few new ones and one cover, and it was all great. Everyone stood through the whole concert and danced around and clapped a lot. The members in the group really seemed like they enjoyed performing and interacting with the audience which made it all the better.
I had thought I might feel self-conscious being there by myself, but I actually found myself feeling freer than if I had been with other people. It helped that I got there early to get a good seat (it was open lawn seating) and read for a while. And I ended up bonding with two women next to me over the rudeness of two other women and their children who came in late and plopped their chairs right in front of me, forcing me to move into these other women's space a little bit. But it was just a relaxing, enjoyable evening with some really great music. I had never been to this particular concert venue before, but they do offer a whole summer concert series, and I think I will probably be going back for more!
Last night I saw The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis over at Clowes (#95). I had gotten an e-mail earlier in the week offering discounted tickets (I've had a lot of that "perfect timing" stuff going on lately), so it seemed like the perfect opportunity to see another new show. It was very different, since it's essentially a one-man show plus this other demon character who makes a lot of noise but never actually speaks. The premise is that this character, Screwtape, is a demon who is corresponding with his nephew who is a demon trying to influence a man on earth so that when the man dies, his soul will go to hell. It was less in the spectrum of entertaining like a regular play, but more toward the side of interesting and thought-provoking. They were going to have a discussion afterward that I would have liked to attend, but it was late and I had to be at work this morning, so I didn't stay. I think this show would go in the category of "recommended with reservations".
I do want to mention quickly that I did buy a bicycle (#42)! It's blue and shiny and pretty with a basket that goes in the front and a bell that I can ding-ding to let people know I'm coming! Alas, it arrived with some assembly required, so it is spread out all over my living room and I haven't actually been able to ride it yet. It's mostly just attaching the handle bars and the seat, and I found a video by the company I ordered it from that shows how to put it all together, but I want to make sure I am alert and feeling mechanical when I sit down to do that!
Also, I am only two days away from finishing my first month of brushing my teeth both morning and night (#57). I think I only missed one night when I fell asleep downstairs, and then dragged myself up to bed and fell right back to sleep. This has actually been much easier than I anticipated, and I didn't even have to write myself a reminder note like I did when I started taking the multivitamins. Since I have to do this for two months (and it's a habit I should continue anyway), I'm planning on going straight on in to the second month.
And most surprisingly, I am almost through my first week of watching only one hour of TV per day (#14)! This is going much, much better than I ever expected. I am aware of the fact that I watch too much TV, and often as I watch, I am thinking "I should get up and do something". But I don't. So it's like this challenge is just the little push I needed to break the habit. Of course it helps that there's not a whole lot on right now, so I definitely made it easier on myself choosing to do it now (although it was a very snap decision... I decided one night that I would start it the next day). I did cover over all the TVs with towels so I couldn't flop down and turn them on without thinking, so my house looks a little like I'm sitting shiva or something. I also decided that I could watch the news for a few minutes in the mornings if I need to catch the weather report without having that count against my time. Also, I decided that I would not allow any unused time to roll over to the next day, so no saving up time for some big TV-watching marathon. Actually, this hasn't been an issue so far, because there have only been two days that I actually used my whole hour, and there was one day that I didn't watch any TV at all! Can you believe that?!? The only real quandry is that some nights when I really, really can't sleep, I will go watch TV for 30 minutes or an hour and then go back to bed. Thankfully, this has only happened once, so all my time for that day was pretty much gone before the day even started. Oh well. I hope the rest of the month goes as smoothly. I was dreading this task so much, and I am going to be very proud of myself when I cross this one off!
I should be able to cross a few more things off pretty soon, because I am working on several other items or have things set up to do them soon. I mentioned earlier in the post that good timing has been popping up a lot lately (some people might say this has something to do with the laws of attraction), and some of it has had to do with my bedroom (#16). I had a designer come out from Pottery Barn to my house for a free consultation, primarily for my bedroom and the living room. And now, less than a month later, the bed I have been lusting for for over a year is on sale!! And itnever very rarely goes on sale! Then two weekends ago I picked up some paint chips, and last weekend I narrowed down the choices to three and picked up some sample jars this past week. Friday I got an e-mail that the paint brand I was looking at is on sale! And there is a rebate available on top of that from the company!! It's all coming together...
I had thought I might feel self-conscious being there by myself, but I actually found myself feeling freer than if I had been with other people. It helped that I got there early to get a good seat (it was open lawn seating) and read for a while. And I ended up bonding with two women next to me over the rudeness of two other women and their children who came in late and plopped their chairs right in front of me, forcing me to move into these other women's space a little bit. But it was just a relaxing, enjoyable evening with some really great music. I had never been to this particular concert venue before, but they do offer a whole summer concert series, and I think I will probably be going back for more!
Last night I saw The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis over at Clowes (#95). I had gotten an e-mail earlier in the week offering discounted tickets (I've had a lot of that "perfect timing" stuff going on lately), so it seemed like the perfect opportunity to see another new show. It was very different, since it's essentially a one-man show plus this other demon character who makes a lot of noise but never actually speaks. The premise is that this character, Screwtape, is a demon who is corresponding with his nephew who is a demon trying to influence a man on earth so that when the man dies, his soul will go to hell. It was less in the spectrum of entertaining like a regular play, but more toward the side of interesting and thought-provoking. They were going to have a discussion afterward that I would have liked to attend, but it was late and I had to be at work this morning, so I didn't stay. I think this show would go in the category of "recommended with reservations".
I do want to mention quickly that I did buy a bicycle (#42)! It's blue and shiny and pretty with a basket that goes in the front and a bell that I can ding-ding to let people know I'm coming! Alas, it arrived with some assembly required, so it is spread out all over my living room and I haven't actually been able to ride it yet. It's mostly just attaching the handle bars and the seat, and I found a video by the company I ordered it from that shows how to put it all together, but I want to make sure I am alert and feeling mechanical when I sit down to do that!
Also, I am only two days away from finishing my first month of brushing my teeth both morning and night (#57). I think I only missed one night when I fell asleep downstairs, and then dragged myself up to bed and fell right back to sleep. This has actually been much easier than I anticipated, and I didn't even have to write myself a reminder note like I did when I started taking the multivitamins. Since I have to do this for two months (and it's a habit I should continue anyway), I'm planning on going straight on in to the second month.
And most surprisingly, I am almost through my first week of watching only one hour of TV per day (#14)! This is going much, much better than I ever expected. I am aware of the fact that I watch too much TV, and often as I watch, I am thinking "I should get up and do something". But I don't. So it's like this challenge is just the little push I needed to break the habit. Of course it helps that there's not a whole lot on right now, so I definitely made it easier on myself choosing to do it now (although it was a very snap decision... I decided one night that I would start it the next day). I did cover over all the TVs with towels so I couldn't flop down and turn them on without thinking, so my house looks a little like I'm sitting shiva or something. I also decided that I could watch the news for a few minutes in the mornings if I need to catch the weather report without having that count against my time. Also, I decided that I would not allow any unused time to roll over to the next day, so no saving up time for some big TV-watching marathon. Actually, this hasn't been an issue so far, because there have only been two days that I actually used my whole hour, and there was one day that I didn't watch any TV at all! Can you believe that?!? The only real quandry is that some nights when I really, really can't sleep, I will go watch TV for 30 minutes or an hour and then go back to bed. Thankfully, this has only happened once, so all my time for that day was pretty much gone before the day even started. Oh well. I hope the rest of the month goes as smoothly. I was dreading this task so much, and I am going to be very proud of myself when I cross this one off!
I should be able to cross a few more things off pretty soon, because I am working on several other items or have things set up to do them soon. I mentioned earlier in the post that good timing has been popping up a lot lately (some people might say this has something to do with the laws of attraction), and some of it has had to do with my bedroom (#16). I had a designer come out from Pottery Barn to my house for a free consultation, primarily for my bedroom and the living room. And now, less than a month later, the bed I have been lusting for for over a year is on sale!! And it
Monday, May 27, 2013
This and That
I want to mention a few other random things that I have crossed off the list, although not all were recent.
Last summer I met with a financial advisor (#27) which turned out really, really well. For one thing, it forced me to get all my info together in one place. And it turns out I have more money than I thought I did (although the vast majority of it is scattered over several retirement funds)! I was pleased to find out that I'm not so far off track as I thought I might be, and the advisor was able to give me a lot of very good concrete advise (guess that's why he's called an advisor, ha-ha). We were also able to set some goals and decide where I need to focus my efforts over the next few years. He recommended that I come back every four or five years as sort of a check-up to make sure things were still moving in the right direction and to make any needed changes. I liked that idea and, most of all, was glad that I didn't feel pressured in any way whatsoever to sign up for any services or products. It turned out to be a great experience and one that made me feel like a real grown-up!
I did build a snowman this winter (#99). He was a pretty sad specimen, but I realized during the building process that I actually had no idea how to build a snowman! This is what happens when you grow up in a place that rarely gets more than two inches of snow on the ground at one time! Guess I should have Googled that before I got started, but in all fairness, when I put it on the list, I hadn't expected to be doing it by myself. Oh well.
I also left some notes in books for people to find (#2). I'm smiling even as I remember doing it, because it turned out to be pretty amusing! During my last Mondo Beyondo class, one of the projects we were supposed to do was cut out these little notes we had been given and leave them in random places for people to find. What a perfect way to kill two birds with one stone, right? Except that I kept forgetting to leave the notes, so I carried them around in my wallet for about three or four months! I had even colored on them to make them extra pretty and everything! But I finally thought about it one day when I was at Target, so I scattered them through lots of books... I think there were about twenty of those little notes! The funny part was because the book aisle is the same aisle the employees use to go to the storeroom, so there was a lot of foot traffic in addition to all the regular customers who were wandering through the area to look at magazines and get to the DVDs. I was trying to do it without being seen (because how do you explain leaving a bunch of notes in random books?), so it turned into this stealth thing where I would look around then open the chosen book and stuff the note in really fast before walking away a few steps and trying to look nonchalent. I'm sure there was some security guard watching a TV monitor somewhere in the store and wondering what in the world I was doing! But it was fun. And I had been in a bad mood that day, so this definitely managed to bring me out of my funk.
My cell phone has finally been set up so that I can use it at work (#70). I have a different phone from when I originally wrote this list, and having the android platform made this a cinch! I already get free access to an awesome drug library program that is otherwise quite expensive, so I downloaded that and got it working. Then I started searching for useful apps and found quite a few. I also downloaded some documents specific to my hospital, so if I'm out of my department, I can still pull up the information I need. They have our wi-fi working much much better here than it used to be, so I can also access a lot of other information if I need to. It's all very cool, and I feel very up to date now!
I saw not one, but two meteor showers last year (#20). The first was the Orionid shower in October. I got up in the wee hours of the morning and drove out in the country for this one, and let me tell you it was cold!! Plus I was on a random country road in the middle of the country surrounded by corn fields, so I admit that I was perhaps not quite in the right frame of mind for being patient and watching for random meteors. I was at least prepared for the fact that they weren't going to happen very quickly, and I did only see about five or six over the course of about 45 minutes. By then I was way freaked out by all the suspicious sounds I kept hearing and totally frozen besides, so I headed home. The second experience was much better. I happened to be visiting my family in Mississippi before Christmas when the Geminids were scheduled to appear. They were supposed to start showing up shortly after sunset, so we drove a little ways into the country after dinner, and settled in to watch. Wow! There were shooting stars all over the place!! Some of them were small and left short trails, but some were large and trailed across the whole sky. It was amazing! And they were coming almost one right after the other, so sometimes they were only a minute or so apart, and I think the longest we waited was maybe five minutes. We were out there for about an hour before we got too cold and headed home. I had been a little disappointed by the first experience, but after that second time, I can feel very confident about crossing this off the list!
I drove down to Louisville to see Million Dollar Quartet after I missed it here last season (#95). The music was great, although that was a pretty safe bet since I like that era of music anyway. It was sort of a fictionalized account of a true event when Carl Perkins, Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, and Jerry Lee Lewis were all at Sun Studio in Memphis on the same night. They played some great songs, but one of the best parts was when the showed an actual photo and played an actual recording from that session. The performers were amazing, and I was impressed that they all played their own instruments in addition to singing. It was a fun time, and the audience really got into it as well just added to the excitement. I would definitely see it again.
Wow, so I'm pretty close to being caught up on everything with the exception of a few posts that will have lots of pictures to go with them. I have misplaced one of the SD cards from my camera, and with all the computer issues I've had, I'm only just now getting pictures sorted out. So I'm hoping to get those last couple of things posted over the next few weeks. Can you believe that this whole project will be over in about four months???
Last summer I met with a financial advisor (#27) which turned out really, really well. For one thing, it forced me to get all my info together in one place. And it turns out I have more money than I thought I did (although the vast majority of it is scattered over several retirement funds)! I was pleased to find out that I'm not so far off track as I thought I might be, and the advisor was able to give me a lot of very good concrete advise (guess that's why he's called an advisor, ha-ha). We were also able to set some goals and decide where I need to focus my efforts over the next few years. He recommended that I come back every four or five years as sort of a check-up to make sure things were still moving in the right direction and to make any needed changes. I liked that idea and, most of all, was glad that I didn't feel pressured in any way whatsoever to sign up for any services or products. It turned out to be a great experience and one that made me feel like a real grown-up!
I did build a snowman this winter (#99). He was a pretty sad specimen, but I realized during the building process that I actually had no idea how to build a snowman! This is what happens when you grow up in a place that rarely gets more than two inches of snow on the ground at one time! Guess I should have Googled that before I got started, but in all fairness, when I put it on the list, I hadn't expected to be doing it by myself. Oh well.
I also left some notes in books for people to find (#2). I'm smiling even as I remember doing it, because it turned out to be pretty amusing! During my last Mondo Beyondo class, one of the projects we were supposed to do was cut out these little notes we had been given and leave them in random places for people to find. What a perfect way to kill two birds with one stone, right? Except that I kept forgetting to leave the notes, so I carried them around in my wallet for about three or four months! I had even colored on them to make them extra pretty and everything! But I finally thought about it one day when I was at Target, so I scattered them through lots of books... I think there were about twenty of those little notes! The funny part was because the book aisle is the same aisle the employees use to go to the storeroom, so there was a lot of foot traffic in addition to all the regular customers who were wandering through the area to look at magazines and get to the DVDs. I was trying to do it without being seen (because how do you explain leaving a bunch of notes in random books?), so it turned into this stealth thing where I would look around then open the chosen book and stuff the note in really fast before walking away a few steps and trying to look nonchalent. I'm sure there was some security guard watching a TV monitor somewhere in the store and wondering what in the world I was doing! But it was fun. And I had been in a bad mood that day, so this definitely managed to bring me out of my funk.
My cell phone has finally been set up so that I can use it at work (#70). I have a different phone from when I originally wrote this list, and having the android platform made this a cinch! I already get free access to an awesome drug library program that is otherwise quite expensive, so I downloaded that and got it working. Then I started searching for useful apps and found quite a few. I also downloaded some documents specific to my hospital, so if I'm out of my department, I can still pull up the information I need. They have our wi-fi working much much better here than it used to be, so I can also access a lot of other information if I need to. It's all very cool, and I feel very up to date now!
I saw not one, but two meteor showers last year (#20). The first was the Orionid shower in October. I got up in the wee hours of the morning and drove out in the country for this one, and let me tell you it was cold!! Plus I was on a random country road in the middle of the country surrounded by corn fields, so I admit that I was perhaps not quite in the right frame of mind for being patient and watching for random meteors. I was at least prepared for the fact that they weren't going to happen very quickly, and I did only see about five or six over the course of about 45 minutes. By then I was way freaked out by all the suspicious sounds I kept hearing and totally frozen besides, so I headed home. The second experience was much better. I happened to be visiting my family in Mississippi before Christmas when the Geminids were scheduled to appear. They were supposed to start showing up shortly after sunset, so we drove a little ways into the country after dinner, and settled in to watch. Wow! There were shooting stars all over the place!! Some of them were small and left short trails, but some were large and trailed across the whole sky. It was amazing! And they were coming almost one right after the other, so sometimes they were only a minute or so apart, and I think the longest we waited was maybe five minutes. We were out there for about an hour before we got too cold and headed home. I had been a little disappointed by the first experience, but after that second time, I can feel very confident about crossing this off the list!
I drove down to Louisville to see Million Dollar Quartet after I missed it here last season (#95). The music was great, although that was a pretty safe bet since I like that era of music anyway. It was sort of a fictionalized account of a true event when Carl Perkins, Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, and Jerry Lee Lewis were all at Sun Studio in Memphis on the same night. They played some great songs, but one of the best parts was when the showed an actual photo and played an actual recording from that session. The performers were amazing, and I was impressed that they all played their own instruments in addition to singing. It was a fun time, and the audience really got into it as well just added to the excitement. I would definitely see it again.
Wow, so I'm pretty close to being caught up on everything with the exception of a few posts that will have lots of pictures to go with them. I have misplaced one of the SD cards from my camera, and with all the computer issues I've had, I'm only just now getting pictures sorted out. So I'm hoping to get those last couple of things posted over the next few weeks. Can you believe that this whole project will be over in about four months???
Good Eats
I think I'm still a little behind in my monthly new recipe venture (#73), but I have still been doing some regular cooking over the past several months. My first attempt was barbecued pulled pork in the crockpot for a carry-in at work. I cooked the pork butt in the crock pot, then shredded the meat and put it back in with some barbecue sauce which I warmed up at work. I'm surprised I've never tried this before, because it was very easy and quite tasty. We had a pretty big turn-out at that particular lunch, and it was all gone before everyone even got to try it!
My next project came out of buying a jar of Onion Garlic jam from The Fresh Market. I saw it advertised in their monthly flyer, and it really caught my eye. (guess that means their advertising works!) At any rate, I made a sandwich layering sliced French bread, ham, spinach, gruyere cheese, and the jam. Then I used my grill press on the stove to warm it up and kind of smash it all together. This was also the first time I'd used the whole grill press... previously I had just used the grill plate to cook meat but had never used the press on top of it. The general concept was quite tasty, although the jam was too sweet for my taste. I think I'm going to look for some fig jam or some other thing along the same line, but I definitely want to make the sandwich again. It tasted (and looked!) like a gourmet sandwich you would order in a nice restaurant! As for the onion jam, I also tried it with some goat cheese on a baguette and still felt it was too sweet. I like the flavor though, so I'm thinking maybe a glaze for some sort of meat? A pork loin maybe?
And then finally, last weekend, I made buffalo chicken tenders. I recently subscribed to and started receiving boxes from Food for Love. For $11 per month, you get a box filled with lots of small packages of foods to try. They also donate a meal through food pantries and kitchens all over the country for every box they send out, so in addition to trying out some new products, you're also doing something good! Anyway, in the April box I received a small jar of buffalo dip. Around the same time I found a recipe in the newspaper for the buffalo chicken tenders, which had you mixing up a buffalo sauce which you used to drench chicken tenders and then coat them in panko crumbs and bake. I decided to use the buffalo dip in place making their buffalo sauce. It sounded good in theory, but it just didn't have enough flavor. I tasted the dip before putting it on the chicken, and it had a nice spice to it, but it must have evaporated in the oven, because there was none of it when we at the cooked chicken! The panko coating and baking the chicken was good, though, so I'll definitely use the recipe again but make it with their sauce instead.
Just to finish things off, I did go to my last new restaurant back in September (yes, yes, I know that was like eight months ago!) (#98). Naked Tchopstix is a local chain with a location over in Broad Ripple. Now I'm not always a huge sushi eater, but it turns out they have tons of other options, too, so I was eager to try it out. We ended up ordering several different rolls for the table in addition to some sides and tempura-fried shrimp and veggies. First, I realized I need to read the ingredients for the rolls very carefully. I don't like cucumber, but since it seemed to be in nearly every roll they make, I learned to watch for where it fell in the roll. Some had much more than others, so I obviously tended to prefer the ones with less. Cucumber is such a distinct flavor, and for me it can totally overwhelm many of the other flavors of an otherwish good roll. I love, love, loved their seaweed salad! It had a great flavor, very fresh seaweed, and it wasn't drowning in the sauce. I first discovered seaweed salad when I got it as a snack at a museum in San Francisco and have since found that not all are created equal. The tempura was good, but tasted like most others I have had. I am intrigued by some of the lunch and dinner combinations which come as bento boxes, and I was excited to find out they do carry-out, so I expect I'll be going back there again. I hope they stick around!
I'm still working on my "great meal" (#96), although I think I'm pretty close, so stay tuned!
My next project came out of buying a jar of Onion Garlic jam from The Fresh Market. I saw it advertised in their monthly flyer, and it really caught my eye. (guess that means their advertising works!) At any rate, I made a sandwich layering sliced French bread, ham, spinach, gruyere cheese, and the jam. Then I used my grill press on the stove to warm it up and kind of smash it all together. This was also the first time I'd used the whole grill press... previously I had just used the grill plate to cook meat but had never used the press on top of it. The general concept was quite tasty, although the jam was too sweet for my taste. I think I'm going to look for some fig jam or some other thing along the same line, but I definitely want to make the sandwich again. It tasted (and looked!) like a gourmet sandwich you would order in a nice restaurant! As for the onion jam, I also tried it with some goat cheese on a baguette and still felt it was too sweet. I like the flavor though, so I'm thinking maybe a glaze for some sort of meat? A pork loin maybe?
And then finally, last weekend, I made buffalo chicken tenders. I recently subscribed to and started receiving boxes from Food for Love. For $11 per month, you get a box filled with lots of small packages of foods to try. They also donate a meal through food pantries and kitchens all over the country for every box they send out, so in addition to trying out some new products, you're also doing something good! Anyway, in the April box I received a small jar of buffalo dip. Around the same time I found a recipe in the newspaper for the buffalo chicken tenders, which had you mixing up a buffalo sauce which you used to drench chicken tenders and then coat them in panko crumbs and bake. I decided to use the buffalo dip in place making their buffalo sauce. It sounded good in theory, but it just didn't have enough flavor. I tasted the dip before putting it on the chicken, and it had a nice spice to it, but it must have evaporated in the oven, because there was none of it when we at the cooked chicken! The panko coating and baking the chicken was good, though, so I'll definitely use the recipe again but make it with their sauce instead.
Just to finish things off, I did go to my last new restaurant back in September (yes, yes, I know that was like eight months ago!) (#98). Naked Tchopstix is a local chain with a location over in Broad Ripple. Now I'm not always a huge sushi eater, but it turns out they have tons of other options, too, so I was eager to try it out. We ended up ordering several different rolls for the table in addition to some sides and tempura-fried shrimp and veggies. First, I realized I need to read the ingredients for the rolls very carefully. I don't like cucumber, but since it seemed to be in nearly every roll they make, I learned to watch for where it fell in the roll. Some had much more than others, so I obviously tended to prefer the ones with less. Cucumber is such a distinct flavor, and for me it can totally overwhelm many of the other flavors of an otherwish good roll. I love, love, loved their seaweed salad! It had a great flavor, very fresh seaweed, and it wasn't drowning in the sauce. I first discovered seaweed salad when I got it as a snack at a museum in San Francisco and have since found that not all are created equal. The tempura was good, but tasted like most others I have had. I am intrigued by some of the lunch and dinner combinations which come as bento boxes, and I was excited to find out they do carry-out, so I expect I'll be going back there again. I hope they stick around!
I'm still working on my "great meal" (#96), although I think I'm pretty close, so stay tuned!
Sunday, May 5, 2013
Changes
In looking over my list a while back, I realized that there were a few items that I either would not be able to do at all or that would be very difficult to do. So I decided to make a few changes.
First up, I have tried three times to donate blood (#1), and all three times they were unable to get a good stick meaning no donation. It finally came to a point that I would be unable to donate six times even if they could get a good stick, just because you have to wait a certain amount of time between donations. So after a talk with Mashelda, I have decided to mark this off. I made a good effort, but it just didn't happen. Now I do want to say that I had some blood drawn at work one day (they needed volunteer blood to calibrate some new lab machines, and I just happened to walk into the ICU at the wrong time!), and the phlebotomist had no trouble getting a good stick. She said she I had good veins, but that she used a vein that they don't commonly use. So I'm not going to give up on donating blood for good, but I am going to try to find some different locations where they might have a better group of nurses/phlebotomists.
Next is having the kids over to spend the night (#32). I'm not going to get into why that will never happen, but suffice it to say that it won't. So I decided to replace it with going to the roller derby! It's something I was considering putting on my next 101 list, so I used it as a replacement item here. And I ended up going back in February when a friend mentioned it completely out of the blue and asked if I wanted to go! Talk about fortuitous timing! We had a blast! I was really surprised at how many people attended (we ended up having to sit on the floor) and at the variety of people. There were all age groups, kids to grandparents, and everything from tattooed rockers to the couple in front of us in semi-dressy date-type clothes. They had a Star Wars theme going that night, so there were lots of people in costumes which made for some interesting people-watching. Even though we didn't fully understand the rules in the beginning, it was fun getting swept up by the cheering crowds, and it didn't hurt that the home team won! I definitely want to go back.
I was supposed to stop drinking pop for a month three times (#46), which I did actually accomplish once. I had no idea how difficult this would be. And I feel like a bit of a wuss for deciding to change this, but the idea was to help break an unhealthy habit. Unfortunately, every time I stop drinking pop, I start drinking a lot of other sugary drinks (lemonade, fruit juice, etc.) or start eating a bunch of candy! This was definitely not the goal. So, after starting and failing several times, I have decided to change this to limiting myself to two pops per week for a month. I will still need to do it two more months to make it to my original goal, but I think this will make it manageable without creating more problems than I was trying to solve.
I was also supposed to flossing my teeth every day for a total of three months (#57) (again, what was I thinking when I said I would do all these things so many times?!?). I actually did start on this several times, but I always stopped after no more than a week because it was just so painful. So I finally decided that this was ridiculous and I needed to stop. I wanted to change this to something else along the same lines, and after some thought I realized that I have gotten out of the habit of always brushing my teeth before I go to bed. I always brush in the morning, but not always (in fact lately it's pretty much never... I admit it) at night. So I have already started this one, but it will be to brush my teeth both morning and night every day for a month x3 (I am keeping the x3 since it was part of the original task.
Okay, the last task I am changing is riding a roller coaster (#85). I hadn't intentionally been putting this off, but I would have to travel to get to a roller coaster so it wasn't something I had gotten to yet. So this winter I started researching some of the theme parks that are within a decent driving distance, and I discovered that the weight restrictions for these roller coasters are much lower than I ever expected. I didn't look into it before I put it on my original list, but I had expected that it might mean a little weight loss or at least having a slightly limited choice in which coasters I could ride. Now I have lost some weight since I decided to change this item, but being able to ride any of the coasters anywhere near here would still require about a 50 pound weight loss, and I am just not in the right mental place to try to lose that much weight before the September deadline. I will probably put this on a future 101 list, but in the meantime I am replacing this task with having my hair professionally colored. It's another one that I had in mind to put on my next 101 list, so I just moved it up to this one. And I have now already completed this! It felt like a splurge, especially since I have been getting my hair done at an Aveda salon and having my hair colored also included an aromatherapy hand massage. The color was great, I have to admit, but really and truly, I don't think it looked that much better than when I do it myself, and it cost about $80 more! It was lovely to not have to worry about the color dripping all over the place and whether or not I had applied it evenly, but I've gotten pretty good at it over the years and I really don't think I can justify the extra expense. So it's back to the box for me!
I want to say that while I am still not caught up on my blog posts, I have kept all of the lists current. So you can check my progress on the 101 list, movies, and books by going to those pages. I will keep plowing ahead with the blog posts, and hopefully will get caught up on those before too long.
First up, I have tried three times to donate blood (#1), and all three times they were unable to get a good stick meaning no donation. It finally came to a point that I would be unable to donate six times even if they could get a good stick, just because you have to wait a certain amount of time between donations. So after a talk with Mashelda, I have decided to mark this off. I made a good effort, but it just didn't happen. Now I do want to say that I had some blood drawn at work one day (they needed volunteer blood to calibrate some new lab machines, and I just happened to walk into the ICU at the wrong time!), and the phlebotomist had no trouble getting a good stick. She said she I had good veins, but that she used a vein that they don't commonly use. So I'm not going to give up on donating blood for good, but I am going to try to find some different locations where they might have a better group of nurses/phlebotomists.
Next is having the kids over to spend the night (#32). I'm not going to get into why that will never happen, but suffice it to say that it won't. So I decided to replace it with going to the roller derby! It's something I was considering putting on my next 101 list, so I used it as a replacement item here. And I ended up going back in February when a friend mentioned it completely out of the blue and asked if I wanted to go! Talk about fortuitous timing! We had a blast! I was really surprised at how many people attended (we ended up having to sit on the floor) and at the variety of people. There were all age groups, kids to grandparents, and everything from tattooed rockers to the couple in front of us in semi-dressy date-type clothes. They had a Star Wars theme going that night, so there were lots of people in costumes which made for some interesting people-watching. Even though we didn't fully understand the rules in the beginning, it was fun getting swept up by the cheering crowds, and it didn't hurt that the home team won! I definitely want to go back.
I was supposed to stop drinking pop for a month three times (#46), which I did actually accomplish once. I had no idea how difficult this would be. And I feel like a bit of a wuss for deciding to change this, but the idea was to help break an unhealthy habit. Unfortunately, every time I stop drinking pop, I start drinking a lot of other sugary drinks (lemonade, fruit juice, etc.) or start eating a bunch of candy! This was definitely not the goal. So, after starting and failing several times, I have decided to change this to limiting myself to two pops per week for a month. I will still need to do it two more months to make it to my original goal, but I think this will make it manageable without creating more problems than I was trying to solve.
I was also supposed to flossing my teeth every day for a total of three months (#57) (again, what was I thinking when I said I would do all these things so many times?!?). I actually did start on this several times, but I always stopped after no more than a week because it was just so painful. So I finally decided that this was ridiculous and I needed to stop. I wanted to change this to something else along the same lines, and after some thought I realized that I have gotten out of the habit of always brushing my teeth before I go to bed. I always brush in the morning, but not always (in fact lately it's pretty much never... I admit it) at night. So I have already started this one, but it will be to brush my teeth both morning and night every day for a month x3 (I am keeping the x3 since it was part of the original task.
Okay, the last task I am changing is riding a roller coaster (#85). I hadn't intentionally been putting this off, but I would have to travel to get to a roller coaster so it wasn't something I had gotten to yet. So this winter I started researching some of the theme parks that are within a decent driving distance, and I discovered that the weight restrictions for these roller coasters are much lower than I ever expected. I didn't look into it before I put it on my original list, but I had expected that it might mean a little weight loss or at least having a slightly limited choice in which coasters I could ride. Now I have lost some weight since I decided to change this item, but being able to ride any of the coasters anywhere near here would still require about a 50 pound weight loss, and I am just not in the right mental place to try to lose that much weight before the September deadline. I will probably put this on a future 101 list, but in the meantime I am replacing this task with having my hair professionally colored. It's another one that I had in mind to put on my next 101 list, so I just moved it up to this one. And I have now already completed this! It felt like a splurge, especially since I have been getting my hair done at an Aveda salon and having my hair colored also included an aromatherapy hand massage. The color was great, I have to admit, but really and truly, I don't think it looked that much better than when I do it myself, and it cost about $80 more! It was lovely to not have to worry about the color dripping all over the place and whether or not I had applied it evenly, but I've gotten pretty good at it over the years and I really don't think I can justify the extra expense. So it's back to the box for me!
I want to say that while I am still not caught up on my blog posts, I have kept all of the lists current. So you can check my progress on the 101 list, movies, and books by going to those pages. I will keep plowing ahead with the blog posts, and hopefully will get caught up on those before too long.
Monday, February 18, 2013
Accepted and Denied
I meant to write this post on Friday while things were fresh in my mind, but I think I just wanted to ignore it for a while...
First, I had a volunteer shift at Dress for Success which reminded me to mention that I have actually volunteered more than five times, so I was able to cross that off a few months ago (#87)! I really enjoy my shifts there... working with the women who come in, puttering around the store, and visiting with the other volunteers and employees. Because it's so interactive with the women we're helping, I really get a sense of having accomplished something and that I'm doing something truly useful. More so than if I were just making phone calls or doing paperwork or something along that line. So I try to schedule one shift per month. Because of the times they have available and my rotating work schedule, that's usually all I can do. But the volunteer coordinator always makes it seem like she's thrilled for whatever I can sign up for, so I don't feel too bad that I can't go more often. Which is nice. I would like to keep doing this, so I hope it will continue to work out with my schedule.
After my volunteer shift, I sucked it up and drove to a gun shop/range (#76).
A few weeks ago, I had done some research online and found that the options are actually pretty limited around here if you don't have a membership to a private shooting range. But there are two gun stores that have practice ranges and will also rent you a gun if you don't have your own, which I obviously don't. Now I will say again that I most emphatically do not like guns. Even while I was reading about them online, I felt nauseous. But it was nothing like how I felt while I was actually driving to the store. I truly felt like I was going to throw up. As in I honestly thought that I was going to have to pull over and throw up in a parking lot somewhere. Then my hands started getting shaky. Which is probably not a good thing if you are about to go shoot again, even if it is on an indoor practice range surrounded by thick bulletproof glass.
I went in and was told that the wait would be 30-45 minutes. There were quite a few people standing around waiting with camo bags containing God only knows what kind of weapons. When I asked about renting a gun and not knowing what I needed, though, I was told that I would have to come back with someone who knew how to shoot. Apparently they don't allow you on the practice range unless you already know what you're doing. I hadn't called ahead and asked about this, because I had read some reviews online about people getting help from employees. But again, apparently this is only if you already have some knowledge and you're just trying out something new. So they gave me the business card for a man who can meet you there and instruct you on how to use a gun, and they politely asked me to leave.
I really wish I had been able to just get it over with then and there, even though I physically was feeling so wretched by this point. I didn't know this was going to turn into such an event. It's getting fairly expensive, too, with the range fee, gun rental fee, cost of purchasing ammunition, and now having to have a tutor along for the ride. I should have just had my step-father take me out in the woods with one of his rifles the last time I was down there visiting, but I didn't want to have to explain why I was asking him to do it. *sigh* So this is something I'll have to revisit at a later date. I'll keep you posted...
update: I was re-reading mypost, and the important thing that I forgot to mention is that while I dislike guns so much, I never expected to have such a physical reaction. In fact I can think of only a couple of times in my entire life that I have had this sort of experience, and only once or time that was this strong. If it hadn't felt so horrible, I would generally find it interesting in a clinical sort of way. Not to make light of the situation, but I have always had an irrational fear of being murdered. Maybe I was shot to death in a former life...
First, I had a volunteer shift at Dress for Success which reminded me to mention that I have actually volunteered more than five times, so I was able to cross that off a few months ago (#87)! I really enjoy my shifts there... working with the women who come in, puttering around the store, and visiting with the other volunteers and employees. Because it's so interactive with the women we're helping, I really get a sense of having accomplished something and that I'm doing something truly useful. More so than if I were just making phone calls or doing paperwork or something along that line. So I try to schedule one shift per month. Because of the times they have available and my rotating work schedule, that's usually all I can do. But the volunteer coordinator always makes it seem like she's thrilled for whatever I can sign up for, so I don't feel too bad that I can't go more often. Which is nice. I would like to keep doing this, so I hope it will continue to work out with my schedule.
After my volunteer shift, I sucked it up and drove to a gun shop/range (#76).
A few weeks ago, I had done some research online and found that the options are actually pretty limited around here if you don't have a membership to a private shooting range. But there are two gun stores that have practice ranges and will also rent you a gun if you don't have your own, which I obviously don't. Now I will say again that I most emphatically do not like guns. Even while I was reading about them online, I felt nauseous. But it was nothing like how I felt while I was actually driving to the store. I truly felt like I was going to throw up. As in I honestly thought that I was going to have to pull over and throw up in a parking lot somewhere. Then my hands started getting shaky. Which is probably not a good thing if you are about to go shoot again, even if it is on an indoor practice range surrounded by thick bulletproof glass.
I went in and was told that the wait would be 30-45 minutes. There were quite a few people standing around waiting with camo bags containing God only knows what kind of weapons. When I asked about renting a gun and not knowing what I needed, though, I was told that I would have to come back with someone who knew how to shoot. Apparently they don't allow you on the practice range unless you already know what you're doing. I hadn't called ahead and asked about this, because I had read some reviews online about people getting help from employees. But again, apparently this is only if you already have some knowledge and you're just trying out something new. So they gave me the business card for a man who can meet you there and instruct you on how to use a gun, and they politely asked me to leave.
I really wish I had been able to just get it over with then and there, even though I physically was feeling so wretched by this point. I didn't know this was going to turn into such an event. It's getting fairly expensive, too, with the range fee, gun rental fee, cost of purchasing ammunition, and now having to have a tutor along for the ride. I should have just had my step-father take me out in the woods with one of his rifles the last time I was down there visiting, but I didn't want to have to explain why I was asking him to do it. *sigh* So this is something I'll have to revisit at a later date. I'll keep you posted...
update: I was re-reading mypost, and the important thing that I forgot to mention is that while I dislike guns so much, I never expected to have such a physical reaction. In fact I can think of only a couple of times in my entire life that I have had this sort of experience, and only once or time that was this strong. If it hadn't felt so horrible, I would generally find it interesting in a clinical sort of way. Not to make light of the situation, but I have always had an irrational fear of being murdered. Maybe I was shot to death in a former life...
Saturday, February 9, 2013
Book, book... opera?
I have been doing plenty of reading, although I feel like I have been just slogging through the books on my list (#69). It almost feels like there is the pace for when I read normally and then a much, much slower pace for when I get to the books on my list! I think maybe it's the type of books, but I can't quite put my finger on it. Anyway, I have finished two more books, which does tip me over the half-way point! woo-hoo!
The first one was Life of Pi. I really enjoyed this book. It was a good story in addition to being the kind of book that makes you think. One thought I kept having throughout the whole thing was, "wow, I would have been dead within the first 10 minutes of this whole disaster, and if I had survived to that point, I definitely wouldn't have made it past a few days". This guy had survival skills that I can't even fathom. Overall, this was a pretty quick read, and I would definitely recommend it to just about anyone.
My most recent accomplishment was finishing Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. This is one of those things that confuses me, because I generally reading this book but it just seemed to last forever. I think it took me over a year to finish this book! It was one that I would read for a while, then have to put it down and come back to it. It's an award-winning book, and I can see why, but it seemed that I would read for an hour and only have gotten through six pages. Granted, the print was small and it is an oversized trade paperback, but still! This is a love story that begins when the two main characters are in their teens/early twenties and lasts through into their eighties. My biggest pet peeve was that for almost all the characters, their full names are always used. Every time. Through the whole book. The book would probably be a full third shorter if they would just call the main characters Bob and Ann!
I am currently reading The Odyssey, and I have to say is miles and miles from The Iliad which I had to read in English class freshman year of high school. It's still a little slow-going, though, because I have gotten horribly behind on my magazines and have been making a concerted effort to get caught up with those. Consequently, my attention span for reading is down to only a few pages at a time. So, we'll see... I basically need to finish about a (list) book per month to finish in time.
Also thought I would throw in that I finally attended an opera (#30)! I have listened to opera music (in very tiny doses) and never cared for it, but I thought it might be different seeing one live. Mmmm.... nope. Still don't like opera. I went to see Amahl and the Night Visitors at Christmas time, specifically chosen because it is short and was originally written to be performed on television, so I thought it would be more interesting and easier to follow. Plus, it's in English. And it was all of those things. But I truly do not like all the vibrato that is involved with "proper" opera voices, and I have a hard time getting past that. So I am resigned to being one of those people who can appreciate opera but will never really love it (as Richard Gere's character explains it in Pretty Woman!).
The first one was Life of Pi. I really enjoyed this book. It was a good story in addition to being the kind of book that makes you think. One thought I kept having throughout the whole thing was, "wow, I would have been dead within the first 10 minutes of this whole disaster, and if I had survived to that point, I definitely wouldn't have made it past a few days". This guy had survival skills that I can't even fathom. Overall, this was a pretty quick read, and I would definitely recommend it to just about anyone.
My most recent accomplishment was finishing Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. This is one of those things that confuses me, because I generally reading this book but it just seemed to last forever. I think it took me over a year to finish this book! It was one that I would read for a while, then have to put it down and come back to it. It's an award-winning book, and I can see why, but it seemed that I would read for an hour and only have gotten through six pages. Granted, the print was small and it is an oversized trade paperback, but still! This is a love story that begins when the two main characters are in their teens/early twenties and lasts through into their eighties. My biggest pet peeve was that for almost all the characters, their full names are always used. Every time. Through the whole book. The book would probably be a full third shorter if they would just call the main characters Bob and Ann!
I am currently reading The Odyssey, and I have to say is miles and miles from The Iliad which I had to read in English class freshman year of high school. It's still a little slow-going, though, because I have gotten horribly behind on my magazines and have been making a concerted effort to get caught up with those. Consequently, my attention span for reading is down to only a few pages at a time. So, we'll see... I basically need to finish about a (list) book per month to finish in time.
Also thought I would throw in that I finally attended an opera (#30)! I have listened to opera music (in very tiny doses) and never cared for it, but I thought it might be different seeing one live. Mmmm.... nope. Still don't like opera. I went to see Amahl and the Night Visitors at Christmas time, specifically chosen because it is short and was originally written to be performed on television, so I thought it would be more interesting and easier to follow. Plus, it's in English. And it was all of those things. But I truly do not like all the vibrato that is involved with "proper" opera voices, and I have a hard time getting past that. So I am resigned to being one of those people who can appreciate opera but will never really love it (as Richard Gere's character explains it in Pretty Woman!).
Thursday, January 24, 2013
Movies, movies, movies!
I finished watching the last of my ten pre-chosen movies earlier this month (#67), so I thought I'd do a quick run-through of those.
Back in the Fall I watched The Godfather. Let me just say that this is the longest movie in the history of movies. Or at least it felt that way. I rented it on my Kindle, and it comes with a 48-hour time frame to view it. I had to rent it three times to make it through the whole movie! It was just painfully slow, and the story didn't have much flow. It felt more like lots of short vignettes just crammed together in an unending series. I think it didn't help that this movie is so quoted and I kept waiting for scenes that I already knew about to happen. Basically, I just didn't enjoy it, and I know some people would probably think I deserve to have a horse head show up in my bed for saying that, but could not wait for it to be over!
Next up was Million Dollar Baby. This one I watched right after finishing The Godfather, and it was a completely different story. (literally! ha-ha.) I actually found a Clint Eastwood movie that I enjoyed! It was well acted, and even though I have no interest in boxing and there were some very violent fight scenes and I don't even like Hillary Swank, I enjoyed the story. The movie kept me interested from beginning to end, and I can see why it won awards.
Vertigo was up next. I love Jimmy Stewart, but this was definitely not my favorite movie of his. The action felt a little tedious although the mystery-type storyline was interesting. The part leading up to the ending confused me a little, although the way the story wrapped up was very good.
I watched Citizen Kane in December, and this one was another pleasant surprise. Of course, knowing that Rosebud was the sled shown in the very first scene of the movie took away a little of the mystery, but this movie felt very modern in its acting and story even though it was released in 1941. I went into this expecting to slog through it like The Godfather but ended up enjoying it thoroughly. Yea!
And finally, there was Rocky. Let me start by saying that I am not a fan of Sylvester Stallone, although I developed a lot more respect for him after reading on IMDB.com that he actually wrote this movie. Again, I have no interest in boxing, but the overall storyline was decent and I mostly enjoyed the movie. I think I might even try watching the next movie in the series just to see how his relationship with Adrian (ADRIAAANNN!!) turns out.
I'm glad I had this in my list. I finally watched some truly classic movies, and now I'll have a frame of reference when I hear people talking about them or see them quoted in other movies or books. I somehow feel more educated for having watched these ten movies (which sounds silly, I know). Of the ten I watched, I am shocked to say that I think Million Dollar Baby was probably my favorite, but less surprised that The Godfather was my least favorite.
Back in the Fall I watched The Godfather. Let me just say that this is the longest movie in the history of movies. Or at least it felt that way. I rented it on my Kindle, and it comes with a 48-hour time frame to view it. I had to rent it three times to make it through the whole movie! It was just painfully slow, and the story didn't have much flow. It felt more like lots of short vignettes just crammed together in an unending series. I think it didn't help that this movie is so quoted and I kept waiting for scenes that I already knew about to happen. Basically, I just didn't enjoy it, and I know some people would probably think I deserve to have a horse head show up in my bed for saying that, but could not wait for it to be over!
Next up was Million Dollar Baby. This one I watched right after finishing The Godfather, and it was a completely different story. (literally! ha-ha.) I actually found a Clint Eastwood movie that I enjoyed! It was well acted, and even though I have no interest in boxing and there were some very violent fight scenes and I don't even like Hillary Swank, I enjoyed the story. The movie kept me interested from beginning to end, and I can see why it won awards.
Vertigo was up next. I love Jimmy Stewart, but this was definitely not my favorite movie of his. The action felt a little tedious although the mystery-type storyline was interesting. The part leading up to the ending confused me a little, although the way the story wrapped up was very good.
I watched Citizen Kane in December, and this one was another pleasant surprise. Of course, knowing that Rosebud was the sled shown in the very first scene of the movie took away a little of the mystery, but this movie felt very modern in its acting and story even though it was released in 1941. I went into this expecting to slog through it like The Godfather but ended up enjoying it thoroughly. Yea!
And finally, there was Rocky. Let me start by saying that I am not a fan of Sylvester Stallone, although I developed a lot more respect for him after reading on IMDB.com that he actually wrote this movie. Again, I have no interest in boxing, but the overall storyline was decent and I mostly enjoyed the movie. I think I might even try watching the next movie in the series just to see how his relationship with Adrian (ADRIAAANNN!!) turns out.
I'm glad I had this in my list. I finally watched some truly classic movies, and now I'll have a frame of reference when I hear people talking about them or see them quoted in other movies or books. I somehow feel more educated for having watched these ten movies (which sounds silly, I know). Of the ten I watched, I am shocked to say that I think Million Dollar Baby was probably my favorite, but less surprised that The Godfather was my least favorite.
Thursday, January 17, 2013
Gone, but not forgotten
Okay, so I obviously have not posted in a really, really long time. It was, in part, due to a dying (and now dead) laptop, but then when I finally did get a new computer (not all that long ago, and that I haven't really developed an affinity for yet), I have had a hard time wanting to sit down and get caught up. It's been one of those things that becomes a huge brick wall in your mind, and then it only gets taller and wider the longer you avoid it, so it eventually feels completely impossible to get to the other side. So, this is me drawing a chalk door on the wall and pushing on through.
This will be the first of quite a few catch-up posts, and then I'll be all current and ready to move forward from a fresh place! I actually have kept my list, movie, and book pages current, and I really have been making progress on the list (albeit slower than I would have liked). In checking through things, I have realized that I am less than halfway through, and that includes all the items that are ongoing things that won't get crossed off until the end. This was an eye-opening moment, and I am going to have to come up with some sort of schedule so I'm not suddenly trying to finish 20 tasks in the last month! I have already decided that if I do this again, I am definitely not going to have so many items that read something like, "complete this activity for one month, five times"! Why did I make this so difficult for myself?!? I guess I thought I was pushing myself past my comfort level, which is supposed to be part of the purpose of this project. Hmph. Still not going to do that, or at least think long and hard about what that means about reaching the goal of actually crossing everything off the list, before I make those kinds of statements again.
Another thing I have noticed in going over my list (besides the number of times I thought, "did I actually put that on my list? I don't remember putting that on my list. do I have early-onset Alzheimer's? because I really don't remember putting that on my list.), is that things that seemed really fun or important at the time I wrote out the list over two years ago, don't necessarily rate as that great now. But they're on the list, so they will get done. My most recent accomplishment definitely qualifies in this category... sending a postcard to PostSecrets (#6). I used to hit that site every Sunday to read the new batch of postcards, but I haven't looked at it in over a year at least. It was such a voyeuristic pleasure! Now I can safely say that I don't much care. But I did send in a secret. And it was the kind of secret that you wouldn't say out loud to anyone. I have to say that it does kind of feel like a little bit of a release to let it go. Like I don't have to use all that energy to keep it inside. So maybe it really was a good thing to have on the list. I just didn't know how good at the time! As for the secret? I'll never tell...
This will be the first of quite a few catch-up posts, and then I'll be all current and ready to move forward from a fresh place! I actually have kept my list, movie, and book pages current, and I really have been making progress on the list (albeit slower than I would have liked). In checking through things, I have realized that I am less than halfway through, and that includes all the items that are ongoing things that won't get crossed off until the end. This was an eye-opening moment, and I am going to have to come up with some sort of schedule so I'm not suddenly trying to finish 20 tasks in the last month! I have already decided that if I do this again, I am definitely not going to have so many items that read something like, "complete this activity for one month, five times"! Why did I make this so difficult for myself?!? I guess I thought I was pushing myself past my comfort level, which is supposed to be part of the purpose of this project. Hmph. Still not going to do that, or at least think long and hard about what that means about reaching the goal of actually crossing everything off the list, before I make those kinds of statements again.
Another thing I have noticed in going over my list (besides the number of times I thought, "did I actually put that on my list? I don't remember putting that on my list. do I have early-onset Alzheimer's? because I really don't remember putting that on my list.), is that things that seemed really fun or important at the time I wrote out the list over two years ago, don't necessarily rate as that great now. But they're on the list, so they will get done. My most recent accomplishment definitely qualifies in this category... sending a postcard to PostSecrets (#6). I used to hit that site every Sunday to read the new batch of postcards, but I haven't looked at it in over a year at least. It was such a voyeuristic pleasure! Now I can safely say that I don't much care. But I did send in a secret. And it was the kind of secret that you wouldn't say out loud to anyone. I have to say that it does kind of feel like a little bit of a release to let it go. Like I don't have to use all that energy to keep it inside. So maybe it really was a good thing to have on the list. I just didn't know how good at the time! As for the secret? I'll never tell...
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