Winding Down 2011

I'm just going to start this post by coming right out and saying it: Christmas was awesome. After a less than spectacular 2011 (Ireland trip aside because that rocked!), it's ending on a high note and that's really all I can ask for at this point. I had a fabulous two nights up in Nanaimo with my stepmom and Baby Bro, and then I had a wonderful Christmas Day with the rest of my family here in Victoria.

First and foremost, I got a guitar for Christmas! Well, my stepdad gave/loaned me one of his guitars, but the important thing is that I now have a guitar so I can learn to play. I even played my first song today, a very slow, laborious and painful heartfelt and emotional rendition of On Raglan Road. 

My version sounded exactly like that except guitar-only, much slower, with a plethora of mistakes and a voice that sounds nothing like Luke Kelly. But other than those tiny differences, exactly like that. It's not that I honestly expected the song to be any good right away but I just wanted to fumble through one song I'd like to learn so I know exactly how far I have to go. Answer? Pretty freakin' far at this point! It's also helped me set a goal for what will constitute #24 on my 101 in 1001 list as completed: participate in my local coffee shop's Open Mic. So simple and yet so freaking terrifying right now.

I also got Doctor Who Series Six on Blu-Ray!! Except I don't have a Blu-Ray player. ::sad trombone:: I had to do something I've never done before: I went to the mall on Boxing Day. Did you know that most stories won't do returns or exchanges on Boxing Day? Again, this was my first time ever going to a mall on Boxing Day. Lesson learned! At any rate, I now have DVDs which I can watch so, yeah, don't be surprised if I disappear for the next week...

As the year wraps up, I've been debating about whether or not I'm actually going to set resolutions or goals for 2012. To be honest, I set them every year... and then forget about them by February. Perhaps if I made them and put them in a place where I actually see them, I'd have more success. I know me and I know that I will do resolutions (although I prefer to call them goals) because I like making lists, but I'm also thinking I might just make them ridiculously simple this year. E.G. Don't leave house with curlers in your hair. (True story.)

While I was debating this topic yet again this afternoon, a friend shared this on facebook:

It reminded of a post on The Great Fitness Experiment earlier this year about a to-be list vs. a to-do list. I thought a lot about what would be on my to-be list at that time but then I got distracted by, oh, probably by my to-do list to be honest, and I never did get around to actually writing a to-be list. The six habits of happiness list overlapped a lot of my ideas for my to-be list and got me thinking about it again. So while I don't know if I'll formally set resolutions or goals, I will be writing a to-be list for 2012.

Introductions and Resolutions

First, a very important announcement: I have named my Venetian Cat Marionette. Ladies and, well, probably just ladies, let me introduce Sir Mountcatten von Pussenberg GBE.

Part of me wishes I had been this creative when naming my actual cats instead of just naming them after hockey players, but how often am I going to have to shout at Sir Mountcatten von Pussenberg to get off the counters? Point taken, self.

I actually took the time to set a few resolutions this year. More importantly, I actually sat down and thought about how to achieve them. That's usually been my problem in the past, I come up with these goals but I don't actually think about what is needed to reach them. I assume I'll figure it out as I go about living life. Well, my German is only a smidgen better than it was this time last year so obviously the idea of just bumbling along and letting it sort itself out isn't working. Shocking, I know!

There are a couple of fitness goals but they're going on the other blog because that's where they belong, but for the non-fitness ones:

1. Get German back to a fluent level - I said at one point that if I wasn't done this by the end of last year, I'd walk away from this goal but I let this goal get pushed to the side for French (long story). Once the urgent need for French passed, I dropped them both. I will spend at least four hours a week on German, whether that be going over my old textbooks, reading, conversations in German, or watching German movies/TV shows. Using the CEFR guide, I am aiming to successfully pass a B2 German practice test before the end of the year.

2. Read 20 books for fun - Thanks to the Great Book Challenge, my goal for this year should actually be 24 (2 a month) and although that would be doable if I stuck to a normal sized book, there's one book I want to read which is 1979 pages and another one that's almost as long. Although I'm still going to aim for 24 overall, I'm setting the goal at 20 so I don't feel too much pressure to skip the big books.

3. Cross 20 items off my 101 in 1001 list

Anyone else have some resolutions/goals they've set for 2011 they'd like to share? No? How about a pint of ice cream you'd like to share?

A Sneak Peek

It's been a busy week and and even busier weekend. I even went to Wal-Mart again this weekend just to leave with nothing! I think I may be the first person to ever do that. This morning was the start of our Hallowe'en Unit Decorating Contest at work and everyone said that Wal-Mart had a great selection of decorations... Well, I heard decorations but I think my coworkers must have been saying 'crap'. I should get my hearing checked.

I'm minutes away from running out the door to watch the Victoria Symphony perform Beethoven Lives Upstairs. I loved that series when I was younger and so my stepdad, stepsister and I are taking my niece to see it. Afterwards, it's back to my mom's for our delayed Thanksgiving meal. Do Sunday's get any better?

I have a gazillion pictures to upload for the Project 365 which I hope to get around to this week and a handwritten post just waiting to be typed up now that I've upload all the photos (including the one below).

Can I get an 'amen' for indoor plumbing?

Milk River, Alberta

103: Stop People From Giving Me Cookbooks

That's right. Someone at work gave me a cookbook today. It's from her son's school--part of last year's fundraiser which they're now just giving away--and she knows that I like to cook.

I really should sit down and figure out exactly how many meals this is going to be for goal #97. Then I can set that as the number and just ignore any new cookbooks which find their way into my possession.

First Goal Crossed Off My List

In a moment of gung-ho-why-the-heck-not feeling this evening, I became a member of the Board of Directors for Matoto. It's a two year volunteer post and my position within it (if I have one) will be decided at the next meeting of the board. Matoto uses the 'working board' model which means I will be expected to participates in committees/task forces as a member of Matoto. I think it's safe to say that #23 is crossed of my list even without have actually done the volunteer part yet.

Only 100 more items to go.

102: Stop Buy Cookbooks

I can't believe it is the weekend again already! It's been a busy past week and it's kept me away from the internet more than I was expecting. I never got to talk about my lamb Thanksgiving dinner. That's right, lamb. We're Irish and my dad didn't feel like cooking a turkey. I love lamb; it really has to be in the top three for my favourite meats (along with fresh salmon and Alberta beef). The only downside is that I missed out on the leftover stuffing and turkey sandwiches. Sigh. Christmas isn't too far away so I will get those sandwiches soon :)

Wandering around dad's property

Despite being away from internet, I've been doing a lot of writing via the ancient tradition of using a pen and paper. How quaint, I know! I have a blog post written but I'm waiting for my mom to come home from Nova Scotia so I can use a few of her photos. Even knowing that I was writing it for the blog, there really is something about the act of writing that I love. Computers, for all their ease and speed, will never replace that.

Here's a hint: the post has something to do with Grandpa's farm in Milk River, AB

Tonight is the AGM for Matoto, the non-profit connected to MoonDance. I'm going to go check that out and if it looks like something I want to get involved in then I can cross #23 off 101 in 1001. During morning coffee with a friend (during which we also played rummy... me and my cards!) there was a discussion about a possible cross-Canada road trip in the future. It feels good to know I'm working towards crossing things off the list!

Taking names and kicking ass in Rummy. It's what I do.

As much as I'm trying to cross things off my list, it would help if I stopped buying things that added to it. While in town this morning, I bought another cookbook. It was on sale for $7, how do I say no to that? So that's one more meal that I have to cook for #97. Two steps forward, one step back!

Hockey Season Is Here Ergo My Productivity Is Gone

Tonight was going to be a post-crazy night but instead it ended up being a scream-at-my-radio-during-the-hockey-game night. There was a lot of pacing in my apartment and I'm sure the people downstairs are probably writing up a letter of complaint to my building manager right now. Well, I hate to tell the people downstairs to shove it, but hockey season is officially here for Canucks fans so they better get used to it.

I've had a very productive week and the weekend is also proving to be productive but in a much more relaxing way. Despite the yelling tonight, I did manage to get my 101 in 1001 list up.. finally. Earlier this week, I attended my flamenco teacher's performance as part of the Romp Festival here in Victoria so I was able to put '1/4' beside #76.

After she danced, she did a Q&A. Her parents are Spanish. Every single picture I took of her had blurry hands.

Beauty and the Beast Isn't Going to Watch Itself!!

Remember how on Sunday I said it was going to be a busy week for me? Remember? That's why I still haven't gotten my blog up about the '101 in 1001' even though I did actually start it on Monday like I said I was going to.

Today, I was able to cross something off the list. Okay, I was able to say "1 out of 4". I didn't even realise until after it was done that I had completed a portion of one of my goals. I'll talk more about it when I have more than 10 minutes before bed.

PS. I tried to look for a funny picture dealing with 'lists' and Google gave me a Firefly picture of Summer Glau. I love the Internets so much right now.

Happy Sunday, Everyone!

I am spending a relaxing Sunday night listening to Vivaldi, drinking my last glass of white wine and updating my blogs. It is my calm before the storm. I have a busy week coming up, especially seeing as I'm finally feeling better so I've got a million jobs to catch up on, I've got something on every night this week and *drumroll, please* tomorrow is the official start of my "101 in 1001". Yes, I'm taking the plunge and tackling this slightly crazy idea. As I always like to say before I do something (usually) stupid in Rummy, in for a penny, in for a pound. I picked October 4, 2010 as my start date for two reasons: 1) I thought two weeks would be enough time to complete my list (it wasn't, I'm scrambling to complete it tonight) and 2) it makes the end date July 1, 2013. How patriotic of me!!

October 1st was supposed to be my second attempt at Project 365, however, thanks to a few dead batteries, I had to push it back to the 2nd. When I started the Project 365 the first time, I was a person who only took photos while on holidays. I failed miserably due to my own self-consciousness about taking photos of people and things. I gave myself a month to get used to taking photos and not feeling so uncomfortable with snapping every chance I got. I feel much better prepared this second time around. Like last time, you can click on my flikr account link on the right to take you the pictures. Not all of them will be posted in an actual blog.

I also spent a lot of time with my mom this weekend. She and my stepdad are off to Nova Scotia for the Cape Breton Celtic Music Festival and to visit some friends over there. I am just a wee bit jealous of them and it didn't really help that during dinner we listened to a CD of a guy they saw last time there were in Nova Scotia. He played song after song of Irish songs I remembered from my childhood. I hate my mom and stepdad right now and I don't care if they know it. "Oh, we might drive the Cabot Trail again." Yeah, well, I'd like to drive it once so bah-humbug. I hope you guys have a great time, I really do, I'm just going to be bitter about it until you're back.