Shedding the wolf: She's Got Talent!

2012 - The Plan

1. Meet more people; Invite new guests into my house.

a. attempt #1: invited neighbors to come over after they indicated an interest in shelling and a curiosity about my shells. They declined, saying they hated to leave their house, and suggested I bring the shells over some time.

b. attempt #2: same neighbor came to door and invited me to take a walk. I invited her in, but she came only as far as the entry way. After our walk, I re-invited her in. She hesitated, and then said she'd like me to come into her house instead, so I went for coffee.

2. Make a plan to have some social contact on my non-family holidays.

3. Consider a pet, but try to resist! Remember that travel is more difficult if you have a critter to consider.

4. Try yoga, once a week.

a. attempt #1: looked into low-cost class offered through work, was warned that it's a talkative (not meditative) class. Not what I had in mind. Plan to look elsewhere. Found out there is an inside track where I can walk for free. Plan to look into that as an alternative.

5. Weight Watchers at least monthly.

a. Went in January. Sad face.

6. Fish a few times, go to the Fly Girls retreat, start tying flies again.

a. Went to a February FlyGirls retreat -- learned a couple of new knots and met some nice people.

b. Tying flies with a group every Tuesday.

7. Target shoot - try for twice a month; go at least monthly.

a. (January, went to shoot twice; February went once.)

8. Get a freezer. Fill it with dinners and soup.

9. Get the schedules for Crow and World Cafe. Go to at least one event at each.

10. Something memorable with the kids.

11. Take a vacation with my sister.

12. Go to New Orleans to visit.

13. Find one geocache.

14. Crafty stuff -- are there lampwork classes nearby? Knit at Barnes & Nobel? Any are better than none.

a.Learned to crochet, learned to quilt and learned to make lampwork beads! And it's only February!

15. Seriously. Clean the basement.

a. Found evidence of mice in basement. Cleaned off one counter and vacuumed one area.

16. Really seriously. Get rid of stuff I am not using.

17. Set up a potting table; reassess what to plant in this year's garden.

18. Learn to scan photos. Scan Rome photos, old family pictures.

19. Save more.

20. Follow a gift budget.

21. Snorkel with turtles. Or belugas. Or both.

22. See the northern lights.

23. Find more sharks' teeth.

24. Get a new profile picture to update the one from last year.

25. Be open to new ideas.

The 2011 LIST: 61 Things to Do Before I'm 62!

√ Make bread at least once a month during the cold weather. [October, check; November, check -- uh oh, cutting back on carbs now! But I made a LOT of bread, including some yummy potato rolls. I give myself a big fat √.]
√√√√√√Host at least 4 giveaways on my blog. [November 2010, check; February 2011, check; March 2011, check; April, check; May, check; August, check.]
√ Take my grandchildren shelling. [December 2010, check!]
√ Clean the garage. [Did it because I had to make room for my surprise Christmas present!]
√ Make business cards. [I get cards with my new job, so I'm off the hook!]
√ √ Give myself a birthday present (on at least one of the two birthdays) by doing something fun that feels a little extravagant. [Check -- bought myself an iPod! AND an iPHone!]
√√ Go to Sanibel at least twice. [Double Check, December 4 and December 26]
↓√:( Make something to give a few people for Christmas, probably something baked. [Total failure December 2010, but I made some gifts for coworkers in 2011!]
√√√√√ Take a Florida side trip to search for sharks' teeth. [This is a fabulous total MULTI CHECK!! Thanks, Kaybe!]
√ Write more letters - doing well, could do better.
√√√√ Master the first few levels of skill in target shooting. [October, "Pre-Marksman," check; November, "Marksman," check; December, "Marksman First Class," check; February, "Sharpshooter," check!]
+ Make dinner for the kids at least once a week. [October, check; November, check; December ↓ ; January, check; February, went on cruise instead ↓; March, check; April, check; May, NOLA trip ↓; June-July-August, uh uh↓; back on track in September. Half a check!]
Make them at least one freezable dinner a month during the school year. [October, check; November ↓ ; December ↓; January ↓; February ↓ - excuse, freezer is full!; March - August, no excuse!]
Go fly fishing several times, enough to gain some confidence. [Went once. ONCE! :(]
√ Fish at least once with my very competent brother without humiliating myself. [May, check!]
In that same vein, catch (and release) a decent-sized fish!
√ Find a wentletrap. [Multi-check!]
√ Catch up on the tedious routine medical tests I've been putting off. (November, check; January, check - did everything the doctor ordered.)
√ Arrange overnights with my grandkids more often. [February, check; March, check; June, check; September, check.]
Check out the local concerts.
√ Make soup at least once a month. [October, black bean; November, beef barley; December, lentil and beef barley; January, mulligatawney; February, minestrone; March, red beans & rice; April, taco soup; took the summer off, but got back to it in October.]
+ Clean out my closet. Donate what I'm not wearing. [Working on it, took my first car-load in. Half a check.]
√ Take a vacation with my sister [February, check].
√ Grow garlic. [October - planted it, check. August - harvested it. Cool!!]
Make a pair of earrings.
Invite someone who isn't family into my house.
√ Learn/do something I've never done before [tiaras; beaded tableware;].
√ Make a stuffed toy (or two) for the kids to play with when they're here. Better than the pitiful scrap doll I made! [Made a cute little felt doll, not what I had in mind, but cute nonetheless!]
√ Organize the toys and stickers that I have for the little ones so that they can find things more easily and I can clean up more quickly. [Finally put the storage cube together!]
Unpack the boxes in the basement. [Ha!]
Make a map-collage on the wall in the twin guestroom.
Hem at least one pair of curtains. [I hemmed SEVERAL pair for work, but none for home!]
Put up a potting table.
√ Get realistic about finances and either build a better budget or get a job. [part-time work starting in May.]
√ Hang something on the living room walls [poster, check].
√ Finish the larger guest bedroom. [December 2010, settled for good enough.]
√ Try an entirely new kind of food. [Made fresh paneer, a homemade cheese, in December. Fabulous!]
√ Go somewhere I haven't been before.[Cozumel, check.]
√ Attempt to make something arty/crafty. [October - seashell tree, check; January, tiaras and beaded silverware; August, suncatchers and pipe cleaner people; tying flies.]
√ Send my daughter a little care package every month. [October, check; November, check; December, check; January, check; February, check; March, check; April, check; May, visited; June, check; July, check; August, check; September, check; October, check; November, check! December boxes are already packed!]
√ Bake more cookies. [October, oatmeal; November, cinnamon sugar; December ↓; January ↓ - cutting back on carbs :( ; March, chocolate butter cookies; April, oatmeal crisps; September, chocolate butter.]
√ Paint the kitchen. [Check!]
Find my Rome photos and scan them into the computer. [Started to do it and realized that I have forgotten -- again -- how to scan! But the photos are out and ready to go. Gotta ask my son for help again!]
√ Plant something new on the side of the garage. [I planted some grasses and yucca, but I'm not sure any of them will 'take.']
√ Put up a bird feeder. [I put it up, the squirrels took it down!]
√ Take Dr. Cranky to the Ford Estate; do it soon and be patient and gracious about it. (November, check.)
√ Create a new garden plan. [Check. Planted the garden, harvested, and ate.]
√ Improve my diet. I am eating way too much sugar. [Doing much better - blood sugars were back down to normal at my last check-up!]
Increase my exercise.
√ Buy a car. (November, check.)
√ Fantasy item (what the heck): Buy an iPad or (more likely) iPod Touch so that I have more portable internet. [Check! Got an iPod Touch AND an iPhone this year!]
√ Get (or give myself) a pedicure whenever I need one. [December, check; February, check; April, check; June, check; September, check.]
Downsize my possessions, get rid of things I am not using.
√ Save my $5 bills for a vacation. [October, check; begin again in 2011 - still going strong in August -- $480 by the time I started shopping. Incredible.]
√ Create a rough schedule for myself. [My job is doing that for me -- now I just need to figure out how to fit in my hobbies!]
√ Visit my daughter in New Orleans or bring her here for a visit. [May, check; and she will likely be coming up here for a week in December.]
Clean and organize my freezer.
Look into piano lessons.
√ Leave the house at least six days a week. [December 2010, check - job solved that problem!]
√ Find more reasons to laugh. √ √ √
√ Be grateful that I am too old to die young. Be grateful. √ √ √
Add to the list as a bonus item -- SWIM WITH TURTLES!!

Monday, January 9, 2012

She's Got Talent!

I got such a lovely "pay it forward" gift today! Mrs. A -- in Australia! -- from Wish Upon A Star, was one of the people who signed up for a gift 'swap' waaaaay back on March 9, 2011! I had forgotten that I had a gift coming, so it was a lovely surprise to hear from her. She is a very talented lady, who does lovely quilt-work and beautiful photography of envy-inspiring travels. And she sent the most lovely gift -- a large quilted square, exquisitely done. Thank you, Mrs. A, I love it -- I wish I had that kind of talent, and I am amazed to have been given such a lovely gift!