Monday, April 26, 2010

101 in 1001 - Status Update 04/26/10

Wow, I haven't posted on here in a LONG time. That's a big fail on the blogging weekly. But I have completed SO many tasks, I am not even the slightest bit remorseful. Here's the tally:

I had a massive yard sale Saturday which allowed me to:

#8 Get rid of all necessary clothes - Sold 'em! As well as a ton of other stuff getting me about $125.
#11 Donate to every charity that asks - Everything that didn't sell was dropped off to the Salvation Army and the Carson City Library. Technically they didn't ask me personally, but close enough
#52 Create system to use reusable shopping bags - having finally cleaned out my garage and car, the bags are now organized in my lift gate cubby and ready to use.
#69 Use my garage for my car - Finally cleaning out about 8 boxes and bags of stuff and having the garage door repaired back in January allowed my car to enter the garage for the first time ever this Saturday! This was a great House Anniversary present to myself.
#73 Unpack - I only have 1 box left!!

I also hosted a dinner party while showing a screening of Casablanca which allowed me to knock these off the list:

#29 Host 12 Dinner parties - This was the first, and it was pretty nice. The weather warmed up enough to eat outside on the patio.
#41 Watch Classic Movies - Saw Casablanca after dinner at the party
#46 Cook 25 new recipes - I made 3. Stuffed Mushrooms, Pumpkin Risotto and Sangria. All of the other dishes were ones I had made before (Chicken 'Sausages', Strawberry Trifle, green salad)

There were also a few others knocked off the list:

#10 Volunteer 100 Hours - I worked my company's booth at the Earth Day Festival for 2 hours.
#11 Donate to every charity that asks - In addition to the items donated, I contributed $25 to Climb The Legacy to support my co-worker Tina.
#19 Send out Cards for b-days - I send my Bro-in-law his b-day card on the Friday before his b-day, but not sure it arrived on time since he is in Japan.
#30 Go to one local event a month - Before and after volunteering at the Earth Day Festival at Idlewild, I had a chance to walk around and enjoy the people (hippietastic), music (Did he just sing the Twitter song?) and food. And by food, I mean the New Belgium Beer tent. Mmmm...
#33 Go to 25 live sporting events - I wish I could have stayed at the Earth Day Festival a bit longer, but had tix to the Aces game at 1. And about 2 weeks earlier made it to the Aces Season Opener. So that's 2!
#51 Use fondant to decorate a cake AND have it look professional - I used fondant. Boy, did I use it! I kneaded it for hours, massaging butter and food coloring into it to get it the perfect color and consistency. The end product which wasn't that big by professional cake standards and weighed about 10lbs. Whoa. As for looking professional - I'm not sure it did, unless you are going to grade it against shitty professionals. In which case? Win! I'll post the What-the-cake-actually-looked-like against Inspiration-cake later and let all of you decide.
#79 Pull out shrubs. While at poker 2 Fridays ago, I jokingly said, "Hey, since it is free dump day for the next two weekends, I need one of you guys to come pull the 20-30' tall shrubs out of my front yard and take them to the dump! HAHAHA!" Awesome thing? Matt actually did it. I love that dude.
#86 Go on a Girl's Wine Weekend. This one deserves it's own post. But just know? Success!

See what I mean? So productive!!

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

I Have a Song Stuck Deep, Deep in My Cranium

It isn't the first time I heard it, but after hearing it this morning, it has just stuck.

Carry on my wayward son

It reminds me of my dad. The salt of the earth, smelly from working outside, rough-edged man. It is the kind of man that I will always respect over most other men. Something about a man, being just a man. Rough, hairy, smelly... these are not compliments in most of my girlfriends' eyes. They want their men to be smell pretty, and be hairless. I like my men with chest hair, and scruff. To smell like honest work when they come in from outside. Grit under their fingernails and calloused hands make me sit up straight and take notice.

There'll be peace when you are done

These are also the men who have knucklebusters and don't tell you. Kill spiders right next to you and don't tell you. Will kill anyone who hurts you, but won't tell you how they feel easily. You can only tell in the long hugs. The random texts asking when you will visit again. The sporatic phone calls asking for help in ideas about what to get your mom for her birthday. The tight grip on your hand as you get spun during a dance on New Year's.

Lay your weary head to rest

These men do the hard work. The dangerous work. The kind that will kill you, maim you, torment you. Whether fighting to bring food to our tables, fighting for our country, or fighting to uphold our laws, they will not give up easily.

Don't you cry no more

So as I sit with this song rolling through my head, I savor the salt of the earth men in my life. And give thanks at their continued good healthy.

Thursday, April 1, 2010

101 in 1001 - Status Update 4/1/10

Can I just start by saying, I totally would have peed on Tiger Woods for $10 million? Yes? Ok, good. I wanted my intentions known.


I know everyone is expecting this to be an April Fool's post, but nope. I'm lame this year. No pranks. No items in jello. No offices filled with balloons, no keyboards messed with, no aluminum foil, no cakes, no pregnancy scares. I did have a great idea but it was siderailed by circumstances beyond my control. I'll do it next year.


Anywhore.


Let's list out the progress:


1. Donate to every charity that asks - At a Build-A-Bear b-day party they asked if I would donate a dollar for their children's charity. So, of course, I said yes. Not much, but it will be adding up to alot by end of 2012. (Total: $26)


21. Have family dinner 6 times a month - I did better this last week. Except there was a night I had dinner with B and her friend, Maya. They were so gross, I had to leave the table. Makes me realize this is really important for my daughters to be polite, civilized children.


33. Go to 25 live sport events - I took B and Maya to the UNR Womens' Softball game. It was a pretty inexpensive fun outing, if a bit cold. Very small-town atmosphere. And, seriously, the ONLY time I don't bring my mit to the field? And a homer is hit RIGHT AT ME. More evidence of my suckage.


34. Read a new author - I FINALLY read The Golden Cord by Paul Genesse, my high school chum. It is a fantasy, and the world he created was fantastic. This series is very reminiscent of The Hobbit, but the world is so unique, you get that comparison only fleetingly. It is so very good. I have his second novel sitting on my shelf. I will be reading it soon.


48. Make a latte as good as Starbucks - I am not quite there, but it is pretty damn close. And it is at work. We are lucky to have a large, powerful espresso machine. That helps. Now, I just have to perfect it at home with my teeny, wussy espresso machine.


And that's what I have accomplished this last week.


Doesn't seem like much. I really need to apply myself more towards the one-item goals, so I can start really cleaning off this list. One I am hoping to check off is snowboarding this weekend. I have a feeling I will probably hate myself at about 10am on Saturday morning.


And to finish, I would like to leave you with this lovely piece of happiness.