The Big February Roundup

I've been slacking on posting, so here is the big roundup. Short information on all those goals.

1. I've been trying to use up supplies I already have, so I haven't started the afghan. I did source yarn and know how I can get 100% wool yarn that I can afford to use and give away.

2. Now that my current company is doing automatic 401k enrollment (no match!), I will have yet another account. I've talked a lot about moving my finances and taking control of everything in a way that makes me happy. Nothing has moved on this, since I'm still dealing with my decision on moving my normal banking and how to achieve it with the least amount of confusion.

3. No research done.

4. I have confirmed a couple addresses, but have quite a few to go. Deciding on whether I will delete some is surprisingly difficult. It's held me back from advancing.

5. I began my calls and stalled out. I had a phone tag game going with one person and momentum cooled. I will be picking it up soon.

6. I have sold no books and have added to the pile of books to sell. This may count as a backslide.

7. No new winter boots. I am wearing out shoes this winter that need to be thrown away, which should not be too long. This may need to wait until the appropriate shopping season occurs.

8. A new development in the "get a car" goal- a spontaneous offer to sell a car to me cheap. It isn't the car I dreamed of, but I wouldn't need a car loan and I can always get rid of it later if I hate it. We'll see how this one goes.

9. I watched The Tick DVD instead.

10. I made headway and hit my January goal weight, but with Tim leaving on an extended trip soon, we've been going out, eating and, of course, when we go to a microbrewery I need to try more than one, right? So, I'm dropping the February goal and forging ahead with the March goal.

11. After putting a hold on taekwondo due to my need for physical therapy (nothing serious, just painful), I finally went back tonight! I have a physical therapy appointment tomorrow, but I hope all looks good and I can resume my trip to the green stripe.

12. As regards high section roundhouse- not yet.

13. Obviously I wasn't going to class 3 times/week. I am hoping to make this easier by beginning a Sunday class once I can return to a full schedule.

14. I've been working on one book in particular, but distracted by other books, including powering through a couple Orson Scott Card books. 

15. No plans for this visit yet.

16. With Tim going away, no plans for this visit either.

17. Another visit with no current plans. *sigh*

18. Grave visitation goes along with some other trips that haven't happened yet. I'd also like to wait for the weather to be nice and bring along some flowers. I'm afraid I wouldn't use the visit time for really reflecting and communing if I can't sit or don't want to stand out in the cold too long.

19. Nope, no Christmas spreadsheet, but I have kept myself busy with other computer activities.

20. The current couch I have was bought when I was moving in with two male roommates. I bought something sturdy, not knowing what their friends were like or how much abuse it would get over the course of our time together. Now that couch has literally fallen apart. I have looked into a new piece of furniture, but may wait to replace it for a little until other purchases and plans have played out.

21. DONE.

22. After believing I had lost the amber ring, I found it. I need to figure out where I can take it. I don't know jewelers at all.

23. I have a few wii games to choose from. I made it 1/3 of the way through Super Mario Galaxy, which is very fun. I also thought I would get through Rayman Raving Rabbids (my favorite fact from that game). We'll see which one wins.

24. My ebay obsession with pikmin has been greater than my playing time. I am more than halfway through and know if I have a quiet weekend with my beanbag- I will be finishing this one.

25. Brain Age will be the DS game I finish first. I only have a couple of sudoku puzzles to go and then I can move onto the next one! (I have some great brains)

26. DONE

27. This month, I made a recipe that was a baked potato that was scooped out, the interior potato was then mixed with some other ingredients and then the potato was broiled. It wasn't bad, but the name had the word "spicy" in it and it wasn't hot. Perhaps "spiced" would have been better. In short, the date scones I made are fabulous and I will keep making those. That recipe can be found in The New Joy of Cooking. DONE but ongoing.

28. I haven't played this yet.

29. I am working through hard songs now and I mean I actually have to work at it. I've taken a break from it since my after work activities are leaning towards crafty stuff, but I'll be back in it soon.

30. Release date is in May- hooray!

31. DONE

32. Glasses have been ordered, but they are so cool, they are on backorder. They are Koali.

33. I bought the Hauschka mask. I need to use it!

34. The jeans are becoming more important as the current crop are really not staying up well. I know that in the end, I'll have to bite the bullet and pay big money for Ralph Lauren jeans- the only ones that have ever fit me right, but it is hard to do it when you know that you can get others easily for half the price.

35. No movement on the beatnik front.

36. I'm calling for an appointment in the next couple of weeks.

37. I am considering making one of those nice crochet needle holders that can wrap up and be tied. It would be nicer than the brown paper bag I currently use. In short, I haven't made anything yet

38. Going through jewelry is hard. I started with the easiest stuff and then even hit a little snag on that one. Now, I have a shoebox full of necklaces waiting for me and I just can't do it. I need the organizational part before I do the sorting. As it is now, I feel it is too much to deal with. Do you know how much jewelry boxes can cost? Let's say I was a bit surprised.

39. I haven't sold anything, but I gave away a couple things. My mom loved the roses I made for her from a kit I found in Chinatown. I just need to keep creating and trying things out. Eventually, the right thing will jump out.

40. I've worked on one, but haven't finished it yet.

41. I've been busy folding turtles instead of cranes lately. When I've drifted apart from someone, the last gift they give me is origami paper. Why? I don't know. OK- it has only happened twice, but that is because after the second time, I told my friends not to give me origami paper if they like me. So, I was cursed with 500 turtle specific origami papers. Forget the Korean stuff on the box that says it is good for my health and wisdom. This stupid paper has brought out whatever level of OCD I have and I feel compelled to complete them all in spite of not really knowing what to do with them when I am done. I've already given some away, but how many people can I really give paper turtles?

42. No advancement on a website product- wait... turtles?

43. Since I cleaned out the living room closet, I found all the candles I already own. Once I've gone through those, I will head in the beeswax direction.

44. No fairs yet.

45. This month, one of Tim's friends and his friend's wife came to visit. Due to some unforeseen vomiting, we ended up not going out as we had initially planned, but them's the breaks. We'll meet up again. I already have the March invite out and expect some people. I may finally learn how to play mahjong! DONE but ongoing.

46. No advancement in the front room closet cleaning. As a matter of fact, I think I threw a couple things into that closet. 

47. No change in the file cabinet, although I will be doing my income taxes soon, so that might follow naturally.

48. I need to get some fancy paper and ink to try to print my own photos. That can be pricey, so this will probably be on hold for a little while.

49. These files, like the front room closet, remain happily untouched.

50. Oh, the desk drawers. I forgot about this one.

51. DONE

52. The purchase that hinders beginning this one is the hard disk storage issue. Again- a pricey thing that may keep this one out for a while.

53. See, this is the one that has to be done before 52.

54. No work done on the Looney Tunes- please see reference to distraction by Tick DVD.

55. I have been listening to podcasts. Right now, I am listening through a J-Pop/J-Rock podcast that I like. Sure, some of the music isn't the best, but some makes me quite happy: for example finding Go!Go!7188.

56. The folders for iPod updating are halfway there. Once I've caught up on the podcasts, it will be easy.

57. Looks like I need to post tomorrow!

58. The guestbook on my website will need to come down. I'm getting a lot of spam comments, even though they don't show. I'll need to find another way to handle this.

59. The color scheme will work itself out in the next few months as I make a couple changes to the site. I have two colors on it that I like and I may just stick with that.

60. Nothing on my website looks nice now.

61.  Another website- let me fix the first one before moving on to the next one.

62. I haven't been translating lately. My goal is to devise a little schedule for myself regarding this translation. Goal date will be March 15 for devising that schedule.

63. Still figuring out that camera. I hate the red eye triple flash. I hate when people use it on me and so I don't want to use it on people. How do I get around that? That is the idea.

64. OH NO! The rat year has begun I am not wearing red daily. I must do this within the next month.

65. I am pretty sure the earrings I don't wear will become charms on a bracelet. 

66. Nope, haven't read Achim von Arnim yet.

67. The geek meeting. When will this happen? Will it happen? I don't know. I had a talk with the person who runs it who said it would start up again, so I wait.

68. Haven't tried Seashore yet. Since I plan on changing the picture page of my website, I think Seashore will get its try-out soon.

69. I have not created anything with my pictures this year.

70. The scanning of photos is tied to the incompletion of going through the files under the table here next to my desk. I don't have many left to do, but they are fairly time intensive. Let's hope we get a couple rainy days.

71. I looked into the crochet guild, because people actually meet near my house, but I am not crocheting right now. The decision must be made- do I wait until I crochet something, go to a meeting and join, or do I join a guild for what I've been doing lately?

72. Photo backup. What media? A separate hard drive? Burn them to disk? I haven't thought it through yet.

73. A new language? I've wanted to learn Korean (and NOT because of those turtles), but Tim is talking about maybe taking Arabic. That would be a totally different challenge and I think it would be cool as well, especially if we can take it together. This decision waits until the new school year.

74. I need to control my book buying. This one is a goal, but I already bought too many this past month. Once I get the book spending under control, I'll look into a Spanish one.

75. I've learned a few kanji, but I need to learn more.

76. Nope, reading everything but the stuff I have goals about.

77. I recently had to do a little work on a Vietnamese project and I was happy I remembered as much as I did, but sad that I forgot things, too. Before I begin another language, I want to achieve this goal if possible.

78. I haven't gone through with this one yet. I've seen one or two people I could compliment, but when I thought it, I thought of this list. I don't want to compliment someone just to scratch this off- and truthfully that wasn't the initial motivation, either, but I felt a little insincere when that was the thought that entered my mind. Honestly, I got a compliment from a total stranger on the ridiculous stocking cap I made for myself (and by ridiculous, I mean I love it) and it made me feel really good. So, I have to get over myself and not hold back a happy moment from someone else because I think of my to do list.

79. DONE

80. I am talking about going to NYC in the next two months. There is no urgency, so well see how it goes.

81. Avenue Q is coming to town!

82. I haven't bought anyone lunch. Lately, I've been eating mostly alone at work. I kind of like the solitude (mind you, I sometimes have people with me at lunch, but not all the time). I think when some of the appreciation of solitude passes, this will be easy to fulfill. I don't want to push it, though.

83. Too bad for this one, I've been grumpy at work. I believe this may truly be the hardest of all the tasks I set for myself. I'm not counting days where I am home on my own and don't really talk to anyone. That just doesn't seem fair. This will take training and time. So, I will begin to build up the ability of my heart to either see the positive or keep my mouth shut.

84. No resume translation yet.

85. I haven't even taken my downtown walk- it is cold.

86. No letter writing yet. I think one is coming soon- I feel it building inside me.

87. I need to investigate the selling of items on ebay. I feel like if I don't plan ahead and do a little research, then I'll just do something wrong.

88. I've creatively written something, but nowhere near done. I also came up with what is a brilliant idea that I have no possibility of bringing to fruition, but I'll try it.

89. I thought I paid off the Citibank card. Really. I paid the full amount due- and then I got a bill for $5 and change telling me it was interest that had accrued daily on the previous amount that I had paid off. I sent the check grumpily and feel about a thousand times reassured that this goal is a very good one.

90. Well, I've been buying too many books to have gone 4 days without spending money.

91. Since this restaurant only takes reservations at most 4 weeks in advance and basically they are gone almost as soon as they are available, I haven't gone yet.

92. I'll need to spread 91 and 92 apart in time since they'll be expensive.

93. Converting to digital tv will probably be a new tv. I am not a happy adapter for the most part, but I've done it before. I wanted a DVD player and found out the tv I had then was too old and didn't have the right connections for a DVD player. I upgraded the tv, but in my annoyance at the forced spending on the tv, I didn't buy a DVD player. I didn't get one until it was given to me as a present, as a matter of fact. This kind of technological upgrading happened when I bought a Palm Pilot and it turned out I didn't have a usb port on my computer (yes, it was quite old) and I obviously didn't know what I was doing at the time. 

94. Other crafty projects have not allowed me time to bind a book yet.

95. Those turtles are getting in the way of making boxes.

96. Those turtles keep me from making beautiful cherry blossoms (there aren't so many turtles left, at least).

97. I have requested two weeks off from work with the intention of using those two weeks to go to the Pacific Northwest. We'll see.

98. Since I haven't traveled lately, I haven't met Wendy's children yet. 

99. I was in a music store recently and didn't see any harmonicas! Honestly, I was a little distracted by dreams of a concertina and an electric drum kit, but still I didn't see any harmonicas.

100. A big decision must be made. The guitar I have is very sentimental since it was a present to me from my parents. The action is so high, though, that it is really painful to learn on. I've played around a little at music stores with other guitars and they can be so much easier to get clean sound out of (especially since my fingers aren't crying out in pain after the first couple chords). Do I continue on the painful, yet sentimental guitar or try to find one that suits me better? I'm just not sure.

That is it. That's the hundred. I thought I got a little more done than I thought, but I'm surprised how many I've actually had some movement on. Here we go into March! 

A new restaurant

Number of things still to do: 95

Things completed: 31, 57 (ongoing), 79

Things worked on: 14, 20, 23, 25, 27, 32, 33, 38, 40, 45, 55, 56, 89, 97

If nothing else, writing down a list and feeling like I need to report on progress has definitely improved my likelihood of getting things done. I am more completion oriented than process oriented, so crossing things off the list is very satisfying. Good thing I figured out how to tap into that.

Completion of 79 was actually motivated by Tim. He had some gift certificates he wanted to use and two of these were for a restaurant in Boston. It's a well-known restaurant with a special table that was used by a certain president with connections to Massachusetts, but I'll leave it nameless only because I found the food to be fairly unremarkable. I had been to the bar about 6 or so years ago on Patriots' Day (perhaps better known for the running of the Boston Marathon than for the regional holiday it is) and had a drink, but had never gone into the restaurant or had any food there. I honestly don't even remember if I really had a drink or just met up with people there now that I think about it more. It might have even been a bar a couple doors down from this place. In short, I considered this a new restaurant. 

Due to its notoriety and location, it is a pretty good bet that at a minimum half the people there were tourists. That doesn't really bother me although I know that some stay away from tourist areas as if they were radioactive. Nonetheless, we had a bit of a wait since we didn't make reservations and I drank what may be a girly beer, Sam's Cherry Wheat, which I like in spite of my familiarity with German beers in their native homeland. 

My dinner with Tim was really nice and I enjoyed my time with him very much. We had oysters to start. I didn't eat raw oysters prior to meeting Tim. I think it took a couple years of him saying how great they were before I even tried them. It turns out I like them better than I thought- as long as they don't really taste like the bottom of the ocean. I've developed a certain fondness for Prince Edward Island oysters in particular and now dream of a vacation filled with the possibility of eating raw shellfish in spite of my periodic paranoia about food poisoning on this Canadian paradise of oysters. Well, the oysters at this restaurant were not from PEI. And they didn't taste like ocean floor because they really didn't taste like much of anything. I appreciate now the option of paying a little more per oyster and choosing where they are from.

Of course, living large on gift certificate money, we ordered lobster: lazyman's lobster. Lazyman's lobster eliminates the need to wrestle with the shell and wear a bib. I'll admit, there is another restaurant in Boston that draws a lot of tourists and I enjoy the periodic encounter with someone who has never eaten a lobster before and looks dumbfounded at the whole creature on the plate while holding a nutcracker in their hand. A friend and I once coached someone through the initial steps before turning back to our mussels (no nutcracker needed). I went out with someone once who had brought along instructions on how to eat lobsters. Before coming to Boston, I figured a decent amount of the population had eaten whole lobster, but the percentage is obviously smaller than I thought. So, we had the lazyman's lobster, which wasn't bad, except when it wasn't particularly good. I had two pieces that were not particularly tasty, but in the end, the experience just reaffirmed my own opinion of lobster, which is that it is an over-rated food and is best considered a vehicle to get butter to your mouth.

And so, my official completion of trying a new restaurant in Boston is not as exciting as I had hoped. I have a feeling I'll be trying other restaurants before the 100 is over and anticipate finding a good one in the bunch.

Things that seem harder than they are

Things still to do: 97

Things worked on: 1, 5, 10, 14, 38, 45, 33, 56, 57, 59, 62, 67

Things completed: 21, 51

Since my last post, work on my goals has been pretty action-packed. I wrote small amounts about all of them, but will those come out slowly. Now I can celebrate accomplishment of two things at once! Hooray!

Yes, it is ridiculous it took so long to order the component cables. Finally I did it and not just to get an easy win. You see, I had this receiver that doesn't receive. I used to use it to amplify a CD player back before I had an iPod. Then I used it for the iPod so I could listen to it while putting together a puzzle or doing something crafty in the living room. The problem was that the receiver had no radio function and so it sat in the corner pathetically, a half-ceiver. Recently, though,  I was handed down a receiver that receives. It looks about 20 years newer and has more fancy hook-ups. Brilliance struck and now the receiver is not only receiving and ready for iPod hook-up, it is also allowing me to enjoy my television in real stereo sound for the first time. I had no idea that audio from my tv could sound like that. With my new-found appreciation for the power of my television, I decided I could no longer wait for the video component cables. If the receiver had this power, then these cables might just be magic as well. Of course with the completion of this resolution, I am very excited to tackle that task of figuring out how to handle the digital tv conversion. I think a bigger tv just might handle that.

In the end, this very inconsequential and rather pointless story points out to me that sometimes things end up taking their own time. I put some things on my list that I've been meaning to do for a while. Why haven't I done them earlier? Even something as simple as ordering cables? Because sometimes one's mind just isn't there. Too many other things, and sometimes fictional things, get in the way. 

I recently read Stardust by Neil Gaiman and in it, a tree gives a leaf to the protagonist and tells him he will know when to use it. Inherently knowing when to use something is a convention used in other stories to varying success as well. I think this plot device is used because we all have moments of realizing, "Ah, now is the time. Now it makes sense. Now it falls into place." I believe this is the hope that fills attics and closets with birthday and Christmas gifts that we just don't need when they are given to us. We are waiting for the moment to say, "Just give me a second: I have the perfect thing."

Sometimes we need to help these moments happen and sometimes they happen on their own. My list of things to do may be a push to get circumstances to the right time for 100 activities. At least so far, it has helped for three. 

Things to do: 99
Things completed: 86, 24

Things worked on: 1, 2, 10, 11, 39, 85

Every time I look at my list, I find myself wanting to tweak it. Every time I look at someone else's list, I also find myself wanting to tweak mine. Apparently I have a bent toward shameless goal stealing! I think the problem is that I don't have a set philosophy on what my list should be. One day, I view it as a giant practical kind of To Do list with items that can be neatly crossed off. Other days, I see it more as a kind of ongoing quest for self-improvement. God knows I'm a fixer-upper, but those kinds of goals are more challenging to quantify, let alone cross off. "Paint my room" is easy. "Stop being such a weasel about social things" or "look people in the eye more" or "Do what makes you happy" or "Say yes!" require an actual plan with steps to be considered viable goals. And, then there are the kinds of ongoing "form a habit" goals, that can be crossed off monthly, but won't really be complete after just one cycle. Sheesh! Goals are hard!

So, for now, I am sticking with my original list, knowing that it is okay to be flexible later if parts of it aren't working out for me. The truth is that once you get past my core goals, the rest really are a lot of "it would be nice" kinds of things and I know there are at least a few on my list (like "learn about wines" that lack the kind of specificity required to be a true goal instead of just a wish. That said, I still think this is a fun project and I'm really glad Anne and I decided to collaborate a bit on it, because I really want 2008 to be all about creating fertile conditions for maximum happiness to bloom!

So, on to my progress...

86 - The Ring

So, I found a really lovely Black Hills gold ring. I have to admit that I have normally not been a big fan of that line of tri-colored gold jewelry (i'm more of a silver fan), but this one really is pretty and it has a little butterfly on it. Having bought it as a reminder of all of the improvements I want to make to myself and my life, it is just too perfect a symbol. As an added bonus, I was able to order it through a sister company and was able to save a lot of money on it, which doesn't exactly fill my budget goal, but is a nice little act of spending wisely.

The down side is that having ordered it, I didn't get to try it on first.
As it turns out, it is sized a little small compared to other rings I own of the same size. I can get it on, but it is more than a little snug. At first, I was going to exchange it, but after measuring it against some of my rings that are about the same size, but fit nicely a year or two ago, I have decided to keep it and make it part of the reward for my weight loss goal as I suspect it'll fit just fine in about 15 pounds or so.

24 - Try a new recipe each month (January)

It is pretty likely that this will not be the last recipe I will try before the month is over as I have one for Coq au vin that I have been dying to try. Technically, my recipe doesn't really fit my original intention with this goal, since I had really meant to try things out of different books and this is one that I made up. But, after thinking about it, why penalize myself for being creative? A recipe is a recipe!

One food I really love is Thai pizza. When Trader Joe's used to carry it, I would buy their frozen ones all the time, I still buy the California Pizza Kitchen ones from the freezer section from time to time, and recently also tried ordering one from Pizza Schmizza. All of them are good, but none really had the perfect sauce. So, I embarked on a quest to make my own and am very pleased with the results, having made it twice now. The best thing is that it's easy to do! None of this is very precise, since it was all done by taste, but what you need is:

pizza dough (Use your favorite recipe - I just used a Boboli thin crust from the store, because I am lazy, but a really good dough could only improve matters!)
1 pkg shredded mozzarella cheese (you probably won't need it all)
Trader Joe's peanut sauce (maybe a 1/4 cup?)
Chunky peanutbutter (two generous tablespoons)
Sesame oil (add gradually, you won't need much - I mainly added for consistency and also to help cut some of the saltiness/tanginess of the Trader Joe's sauce that the peanutbutter didn't quite eradicate)
whatever toppings you like (I used chicken, shredded carrot, bean sprouts, but I think some chopped peanuts would also be good)

The chicken I had was just leftover boiled chicken from making enchiladas (if you've never made them with mole sauce, you should!) the night before, but next time I want to try doing the chicken using the sate marinade and peanut sauce from Dhanit's Chicken Sate in Molly O'Neill's New York Cookbook. Thai pizza would be a great way to use the leftovers from that recipe, which I haven't made in years, but remember as tasting very good.

Apologies to a kitty cat

Things to do: 99

Things completed: 0

Things worked on: 4, 5, 38, 40, 65

I was getting ready to work on 24: finishing Pikmin 2. If you don't know what Pikmin are, then you can look here. I also have some very small (perhaps life-sized) figures of pikmin that I take pictures of in various locations. It started out as a way to learn how to use my camera and has turned into a full-blown hobby. As I write this, I have just learned that I have won more figures on ebay (Please cue Weird Al Yankovic to sing "I'm highest bidder!").

So, as I sat down at the couch to play and move further to my goal of completing Pikmin 2, I stepped on the cat. She is all black and was sittting under the coffee table and I just didn't see her. I have had her for almost a year, and this is the first time I stepped on her. I heard the pathetic "mrow" and felt her run out from under my foot. I felt terrible. I spent the next couple of hours intermittently asking Tim if she was going to hate me now. In the end, she was fine and we are friends. I am pretty sure I didn't fully step on her (since I was sitting at the time) and she is running around without a care or a limp.

It is possible to communicate some things to cats: most of which involve food, lack of permission to scratch things, and my desire for her to come over so I can pet her. One thing I cannot communicate is my apology for accidentally stepping on her. After she ran off, I wanted to find her and make her feel better. Of course, she wasn't really in the mood for that and hid under the bed. I was crushed. Although Tim assured me that she was fine and would be my friend again, I was frustrated by my inability to communicate.

As happens when riding the bus and trying to ignore everyone else there, I became reflective. On the morning after I had my accidental run-in with the cat, I was thinking on the bus about apologies that don't get heard or communicated. The hardest ones to deal with for me are the ones where I realize much later that I should apologize and now don't have the opportunity. So, Mr. Burkhardt, I'm sorry I was a jerk while sitting in the back of calculus. I wasn't embarassed by how obviously I was ignoring math class at that point, but now I feel bad. You were doing your job and you were nice and I didn't pay attention to those facts. Math has played more of a role in my working history than I ever anticipated. And I'm sorry, Christina, that in 5th or 6th grade I went along with my friend who claimed you were wearing a stuffed bra although I had no evidence. I am sure at this point that my behavior was not the greatest tragedy in either of these lives or the others that I think about periodically. I'm also sure if I had behaved the opposite way that it wouldn't have been the high-point of their lives either. At this point, I am not in contact with these two people, so my apologies now are like apologies to the kitty cat – unheard by those who probably should hear it.

Of course, I will not share with the world all my regrets and all the times I was a real pain in the butt. I will say that for many years I have made only one real New Year's resolution and that is to be a better person than I was the year before. I have tried to be more truthful and more considerate and I am hoping that with these incremental changes over time, I won't be needing to make a lot of apologies in the future for stupid behavior. And I have learned to look under the table before I stretch my feet out, which is already an improvement for this year.

Practicality vs. Sentimentality

Things still to do: 99

Things completed: 26

Things worked on: 4, 24, 29, 38, 40, 51

Number 26 completed! That one had to do with going through a closet. It looked much worse than it was. I thought it was jam packed with stuff I didn't remember, but it turns out that I was just too lazy to put things back where they belonged. I did take everything out and evaluate before putting it back in, using an organizationally much improved method of storage. Needless to say, things are often in closets because they aren't in use. The question I began to ask was whether I would ever use these things. 

It is easy enough to say, "Yes, I will probably need these light bulbs, even if not today." It is also easy enough to say, "This hammer is good." But I ran into a very interesting phenomenon I call "The Surprise Cache of Aprons." I'm not sure how widespread this is. 

There was the apron I made for myself about 8 years ago. I think I may have used it once. There is the apron that was a Christmas present for me this year. It is really nice and I should make a point of wearing that one. It has some French words relating to cuisine (I am guessing) on a small tag on the front, so I have a feeling it might make me speak with an accent. 

The next apron I found was one of many my mother made when I was a kid. I am pretty sure of the following facts, but I was probably in a lower single digit age when this was going on, so I reserve the right to claim that I am making this all up. My family used to help out with a Pulaski Day celebration held every October. This involved sending off a group of people to march in the Pulaski Day parade held in New York City and then having a dance when they returned. We would go to the Polish Church and help make food and participate in the party activities – although I'm not sure anyone in my immediate family ever marched. I believe at least one year, my mom decided to make aprons for people, many of which featured some cute little patch or some Polish words. The apron I have has the silhouette of a boy and girl holding hands and kissing with a little heart over their heads. I remember others had polka dancers on them or beer with "Na zdrowie" written above it. This is what I found in my closet and put back in with all the others. That one has some sentimental value that outweighs the fact that I have not to this point, found aprons particularly useful.

There was one more apron that I found that came to me in a bag with random things supposedly from home. I have no idea what the story is on this and have no memories attached to it at all. Unlike the others, this one is only a half apron, which means to me it is really for show and not as practical as a full-body apron – well, at least for the way that I cook. I don't know why I have it and don't think it is useful. There is some chatter in the family about a visit from my mom, so I decided to keep this one until she arrives and can explain its significance, if any. If there isn't any particular significance, then I believe that the cache will be down by one apron before the end of the year. 

Within the past year, I have also been evaluating objects in my house for whatever the negative version of sentimentality is. It is time to eliminate those things which remind me of times that I would rather forget. Why keep these reminders of unhappiness sitting around? Something as innocuous as a tupperware container makes me think of the lousy roommate I had. As powerful as objects are to remind us of fun and love and happiness, some others can be surprisingly dark, even if the cheery orange lid says otherwise. Happily, I found none of those types of things in this closet. I know there are a couple in the other closet on my list, so it might take a while for progress on that cleaning/organizing to begin.

Better Late than Never (Martina's Goals)

So, here I am, Slacky Slackerson, Would Be Mayor of Slackerville, if I weren't too much of a slacker to run! Since this blog was created, I really have meant to come share my list (maybe one of my goals should be to cut my procrastination down by 85%), but somehow I keep thinking that I need to tweak one more thing, read it one more time, etc. I think we can see now why I need a list to tell me what to do! Left to my own devices, it is quite possible that nothing would get done.

Like Anne's, my list is a combination of big stuff and little. I am fascinated by the areas where we have overlap, considering that we came up with the lists independently of each other. I will try to mark my items off by changing them to a color other than black and writing a bit about the experience as I complete, but I actually have already done #86 (a black hills gold ring with a little butterfly symbolizing metamorphosis!) and suppose that embarking on this blog with Anne would fulfill #6, but I'm going to wait a little to mark it off, since the project is by no means finished and I want to feel open to collaborating more!

1-Pay off my car
2-Pay off the rest of my credit card debt
3-Create a budget
4-Lose weight (I'll keep the actual amount to myself for now)
5-Join a gym & set up an exercise program
6-Collaborate with someone on a creative project
7-Exercise at least 3x a week (will be considered complete after 3 months of steady commitment to this)
8-Make an appointment with a personal trainer
9-Make a quilt
10-Complete January blogstravaganza
11-Write 12 short stories, essays or poems in the next year (I.e. 1/month)
12-Finish the first draft of my mystery novel
13-Learn another language
14-Take a class
15-Join/start a writing group or take a writing class
16-Make something with my own hands once a month (craft project)
17-Join a choir or that music thingy from the "Keep PDX Weird" event
18-Learn 12 new songs on my violin in the next year (I.e. 1/month)
19-Get my bow rehaired
20-Clean out/organize my books
21-Make curtains for my bedroom
22-Go for a walk in a new park/trail at least once a month
23-Learn about wines
24-Try a new recipe once a month - Jan 08: Thai Pizza; Feb 08: West African Ground Nut Stew
25-Invite friends over for dinner at least once a month
26-Try a new restaurant once a month - Jan 08: Jim Dandy; Feb 08: Van Hanh
27-Make Stollen
28-Once a month, pick someone and buy them a gift/do something to make them happy for no reason at all: Jan 08 - no one; Feb 08 - sent flowers to my mom;
29-Moisturize every day
30-Organize my recipes
31-Study a new Tarot card each month
32-Go on a real vacation
33-Resume Wednesday activity schedule with Jen
34-Spend a month as a vegetarian (in progress Feb08)
35-Play my guitar more than once a year
36-Cut my diet coke consumption down to 1 a day (or better - none a day) and drink more water
37-Sign up for organic grocery delivery or foodshare
38-Study a new artist/composer each month
39-Go to a concert/play once a month
40-Go to the Shakespeare festival in Ashland
41-Host a summer barbeque
42-Plan a trip to Europe
43-Renew my passport
44-Go through and get rid of CD's that need to be released into the wild
45-Go on another retreat
46-Visit the Oregon Trail museums I haven't yet visited
47-Read a poem each week
48-Read something in another language each week
49-Visit the East Coast
50-Write a handwritten letter to someone once a month
51-Meet a friend for coffee/drinks/whatever once a month
52-Regularly deposit money into savings
53-Take control of my 401k investments by taking a class/reading a book on investing
54-Call or e-mail friends at least once a week
55-Finish the photo wall
56-Take (or procure) a flattering picture of each of my friends for the wall 57-Attend a pow-wow
58-Make a dress
59-Clean out my closet (clothes AND shoes)
60-Buy new underthings and get rid of the old
61-Clean out the garage
62-Attend a pagan festival (Beltaine and/or some other)
63-Update my birthday list
64-Take pictures at events, gatherings, etc.
65-Go to the beach once a month in the sunny months
66-Visit Leavenworth
67-Paint my bedroom
68-Pull up the carpet in my bedroom
69-Paint the deck
70-Paint the front porch
71-Go on a road trip during the summer
72-Use my Entertainment book regularly, keep track of the savings & put them in a fun money jar
73-Buy and TAKE a daily vitamin
74-Learn to knit
75-Go camping
76-Get and update a new address book
77-Learn enough about photography to make my good pictures more than happy accidents
78-Go to a reading or lecture at least once a month
79-Participate in NaNoWriMo for real and following their rules
80-Join Amnesty International
81-Join The Humane Society (or some other animal organization)
82-Learn to make an origami crane
83-Run the whole way around the track
84-Go on December pilgrimage with Jenny R. and her family
85-Write something (journal, blog, whatever) every day
86-Buy a ring to symbolize my year of change - wear it every day as a reminder
87-Get a manicure
88-Treat myself to a spa day
89-Create an enticing reward system for every 10 pounds I lose
90-Get tickets for my mom to be able to see Cirque du Soleil
91-Read the Bible, Koran, Baghavad Gita
92-Buy a pair of comfortable athletic shoes
93-Visit a Buddhist temple
94-Learn yoga/take an exercise class
95-Plant a vegetable/herb garden
96-Make preserves
97-Research and make a list of fun summer festival outings
98-Make stepping stones for the garden
99-Go berry picking on Sauvie Island
100-Buy fresh cherries from the fruit loop when they are in season
101-Plan something fabulous for my birthday this year