25 Things for 2014

Happy New Year!

2014 will be an exciting and challenging year, but I am up for it!

My biggest goal has to do with my new job. I have to take a big scary test and it means that I am going to have to study my ass off and have no social life for the first few months. But once I pass it, life should get a little easier. I expect my new job to be challenging and rewarding, but the test will be the worst part.

Some of these are from my 101 list, so that I actually complete them on time. 

1. Pass the Series 7 exam.
2. Housebreak our dog.
3. Finish the fence.
4. Plant a garden.
5. Finish at least one closet of the two unfinished ones.
6. Rearrange upstairs bedrooms.
7. Find pet-friendly accommodations.
8. Take a road trip with our dog.
9. Go on vacation somewhere new.
10. Do something that I'm afraid of.
11. Blog at least twice a week (or 104 posts for the year).
12. Spend more time around the water (sunning, diving, swimming, boating, or sailing)
13. Try paddleboarding.
14. Actually send out Christmas cards in 2014.
15. Get my wedding ring re-sized.
16. Come up with new savings goals & reallocate funds.
17. Spend a weekend in NYC.
18. Swim 1000 yards (I might finally accomplish this)
19. Frame and hang at least one of my photos.
20. Start foyer photo wall.
21. Spread some of Dad at Martinak. Maybe on his birthday.
22. Stay in better touch with relatives.
23. Log at least 365 miles, walking or running. One mile each day (totally doable!)
24. Complete an obedience class with our pup.
25. Throw an awesome dinner party.

What's on your list? 

How I did on my 25 Things in 2013

Oh, what a year it has been! And next year is shaping up much the same.

I have to say that 2013 has been one of the greatest years of my life. 

Here is how I did on my 23 things for 2013:

1. Be more positive
   At the beginning of the year, I was kind of a grump and I wasn't happy about it. So I made a concerted effort to be a little bit more positive. Sure I am still sarcastic and snarky, but I try to be less sarcastic and snarky around people who don't appreciate it. ;-)
2. Lose ~13% of body weight (or eat healthier and exercise at least 3x a week)
   I am much healthier now than I was at the beginning of the year. I started running again and have been eating much better. Although I haven't run in a few weeks, so I'd better get back to it.
3. Start a few plants from seed for the garden
   I never had a chance to do this because of my trip to Australia.
4. Come up with a new budget and stick to it
   We've been doing a good job with this and have started other savings accounts using Smarty Pig. We have been socking away about 10% of our net income into savings, which is a great habit to get into. Technically, we're putting away more than that because Jay and I also contribute part of our paychecks into our 401k plans.
5. Get rid of the red couch and chair that I freaking HATE
   Ugh. These are the bane of my existence. Since we have been trying to be better with money (pay no attention to our DR vacation or SCUBA certifications and equipment), I haven't had room in the budget for new furniture. No wait, I'll be honest. Experiences mean more to me than crap. I would rather spend money on a vacation (or scuba equipment to take on vacation) or other activities than I would on a new couch. Even if I hate aforementioned couch. There. I said it.
6. Purchase new furniture and decorate downstairs
   We are getting there. This goes along with number 5 really. I think what we'll end up doing is moving our existing couch and recliner in our chocolate room (aka TV room/den/family room) to where the hated red furniture lives. Then we'll get a sectional, something kinda like this, but not as ugly. Maybe this. Or this. Or this.
7. Put together a time capsule for our house
   I did this earlier this year, but now I'm thinking of adding some stuff. We have the jar and everything, but since we have two closets that aren't finished, I thought we would put it in there once we finish the closets.
8. Blog at least twice a week
   I've accomplished this goal... as of this posting, I think I have 105 posts. Over the weekend, I brought up to Jay that I've done a pretty good job accomplishing everything on my list. He was like, "You've blogged twice a week this year? Am I a bad husband for never reading your blog?" I thought it was pretty funny.
9. Get organized - important documents, books, seasonal items, etc.
   This is a work in progress. We are still trying to figure this out, but setting up our home office has been quite useful in getting closer to accomplishing this goal.
10. Be in good enough shape to hike the Tongariro Alpine Crossing (aka Mount Doom) in New Zealand
    We would have done this if it weren't for the crazy weather and snowstorm happening during our visit. Maybe on our next trip, we'll visit during the summer. Our NZ hosts Sally and Chris hiked it with their kids on six hours, so I'm pretty sure we could do the same.
11. Raise a small flock of chickens for meat (at least six)
    I'll check this off. We did eat one of our roosters finally, in Buffalo Chicken Dip. It was delicious. My girlfriends' dad has been raving about it since the party and wants the recipe.
12. Sell some eggs, otherwise we'll be overrun when the new chickens start laying
    Yup, did this.
13. Snorkel the Great Barrier Reef, even though I'm scared of being eaten by a shark
    Even better, we dove the GBR, and we saw a shark. It was one of the coolest things ever. I have an entirely different perspective of sharks, now that I'm a diver. However, I still wouldn't want to snorkel and hang out with sharks - I would much rather dive with them.
14. Snuggle a koala
    Oh Tiger Lily, you were one of the highlights of this year.
15. Install the heat pump downstairs
    Done! We also ended up having to buy a new pellet stove this year. And I'm not so sure about the heat pump that was installed... it keeps icing over. :(
16. Make room in the budget for a cleaning service
    We made room, but have decided that it's better to keep up with it ourselves. Maybe we'll decide to do it next year.
17. Get the crawl space insulated
    We ended up not doing this, opting for seeing how we do this winter with the new pellet stove and heat pump. The crawl space is insulated - it's just that some of it is coming out.
18. Have photos done and send Christmas cards out this year 
    Well I failed at this. We just never got our act together. :(
19. Fence in yard
    Still at 95% complete. When the ground thaws, we'll finish the fence... especially since we'll have our dog in a few weeks.
20. Hatch out some silkie and black/red star mixes 
    We did this, and then we ate one. Too bad all the ones we kept turned out to be roosters!
21. Say no and not feel guilty afterwards
    I am doing way better at this. A big relief was when I resigned from my Treasurer's position with VGIF. They're a great organization, but I just didn't have the time or energy to fully devote to doing a good job.
22. Have an awesome time at the Mardi Gras Ball
    It was fun, but I was happiest when it was all over! Next year, I'll have to do all of the work, but we have a wedding to attend on the same day... so I won't be able to enjoy my hard work. 
23. Can tomatoes from our garden
    Since there was no garden, I couldn't can them!
24. Print "before" collages to frame and hang in the house
    I finally printed the collages from Shutterfly. Now all I have to do is frame them and hang them. 
25. Use at least one week of our time share
    For all intents and purposes, I did this. Lots of fun was had in the Dominican Republic during our 3 year anniversary week.

Twenty five things for 2014 will be coming out soon!

Seasonal Bucket List Update

I'm pretty sure that I'm going to combine my fall and winter bucket lists, as time is quickly slipping away from me. I've been unusually busy, even for me, and with going on vacation next week I realized - holy crap, it's pretty much winter when I return from the DR. 

So anyway, here is how I am doing:

1. Make pumpkin pie crunch and post it on the blog
   
   Obviously I haven't done that yet. But I'm making it soon, for my #2 which was...
   
2. Host a fall party
   
   We are hosting our fall party on the Winter Equinox. And it's an ugly sweater party. Time got away from us with all of the diving stuff. So. Yeah. But my sister-in-law Colleen is coming to visit (YAY!!) so it was only appropriate that we throw a party while she's here.
   
3. Complete my PADI Open Water Certification
4. Run 1 mile without stopping
5. Swim 1000 yards
   
   I'm still working on this one. I'm trying to find a night that I can swim after work that I actually have enough time. I usually spend about 35-40 minutes swimming around 800 yards. So I need to devote at least 45 minutes to this task, plus the showering and changing before and after. The problem with swimming is that there is so much prep involved. I have to make sure that I have my bag and ample time. Basically I need an extra half hour to an hour for any swimming activities. Maybe I can get it done when I get back.
   
6. Send out holiday cards
   
   I'm still hoping to get this done. I really wanted to have photos taken and do all sorts of stuff. Then I wanted to take our koala photo and put a little Christmas hat on the koala. But none of that has worked yet. Ugh.
   
7. Narrow down new car choices to 2 vehicles
8. Make a batch of wine
   
   I've pretty much done this. I just have to bottle it, which I'm hoping to do before we leave for the DR.
   
9. Make mulled cider
   
   I'll be making this for our Ugly Sweater Party.
   
10. Complete my PADI Advanced Open Water Certification
11. Attend a Literary Supper
12. Make at least one clothing donation to Purple Heart
    
    I have the crap sorted, but I need to schedule a pickup. And sort more crap.
    
13. Mark all diving equipment
14. Start brushing the cats regularly
    
    I really need to do this.
    
15. Buy new litterboxes & find a new place for them
    
    We've decided that Jay is going to build some kind of chest contraption with a hinged lid and a circle cut out of it. If we don't do that, I'm thinking that we may buy these instead. Actually I just saw the price. No thanks. We'll make them out of a big plastic container with a hole cut out of it. I've actually thought of doing that before. This just definitely needs to be done before we get our dog. Since dogs love to eat cat poop. Yum?
    
16. Agree on weekly housecleaning list & laminate it for fridge
    
    I have the list, and we've been doing a decent job keeping up with everything lately. I just haven't laminated it.
    
17. Make photobook from OZ & NZ trip
    
    This is a work in progress. Maybe by the year anniversary, I'll have this done.
    
18. Peruse Black Friday ad and possibly purchase desktop computer
    
    We did this! We bought a desktop at Walmart that was $50 off, and we also bought a $29 printer. The only thing is that I'm not a huge fan of Windows 8. I'll get used to it, though.
    
19. Make brownies from scratch
    
    Still on my list. Maybe for our party?
    
20. Give away 3 hens
21. Shop at Bead Soup for Christmas gifts
    
    Time is quickly running out. I don't know when I'll get over there. :(
    
22. Actually start this oil pulling nonsense
23. Get a gait analysis done & buy new running shoes
    
    I'll probably push this off to the new year.
    
24. Make Jay a kick-ass birthday dinner
25. Attend Punkin Chunkin

So all in all, not too bad! 

Update on Fall Bucket List

I am making excellent progress on my fall bucket list.

Here is what I've been up to:

·  Mark all diving equipment

I did this on Tuesday night. We decided to take the big hit on diving equipment now instead of buying things in dribs and drabs. So since we’ll be diving with our own equipment for our Advanced Open Water checkouts this weekend, we’ll be saving a little money.

·  Make a batch of wine

Looks kinda gross, doesn't it? A month from now, this will hopefully resemble a beautiful and clear Sauvignon Blanc. Sure looks nasty right now. 

·  Agree on weekly housecleaning list & laminate it for fridge

I have a draft version of this, but I keep forgetting to laminate it.

·  Give away 3 hens

On their way to a new life

This was a little sad for me, but I know that they’ve gone to a good home. The way that this happened was a friend of mine on the arts council mentioned that she was thinking of getting chickens. I told her that she was welcome to try it out with some of mine. And now they have a new home. Sniff. I chose three girls who haven’t exactly been getting along with the rest of the flock… so hopefully they will be happier in their new home.

·  Actually start this oil pulling nonsense

I have been doing this and it's kind of gross. But I will continue for a while. My mouth does feel cleaner after I brush my teeth. The initial melting of the coconut oil is probably what grosses me out the most. It's a solid at room temperature, so you have to wait probably 30 seconds for it to melt.

·  Make Jay a kick-ass birthday dinner

Done! New York strip steak, loaded mashed potatoes and asparagus (cooked in bacon fat, of course)… with funfetti cupcakes for dessert.

·  Attend Punkin Chunkin

Yesterday’s post was from Punkin Chunkin. It was a good time and we might even get on TV.

Moving right along!

Wordless Wednesdays

25 Things - Fall Bucket List

I have finally come up with 25 things that I would like to accomplish for the fall season... I will keep the list updated here. 

I've already accomplished #3, #4, #7, and #11. I am in the process of completing #8, #10, #12, #16, #17, and #20.

Fall 2013 Bucket List:

1. Make pumpkin pie crunch and post it on the blog
2. Host a fall party
3. Complete my PADI Open Water Certification
4. Run 1 mile without stopping
5. Swim 1000 yards 
6. Send out holiday cards
7. Narrow down new car choices to 2 vehicles
8. Make a batch of wine
9. Make mulled cider 
10. Complete my PADI Advanced Open Water Certification
11. Attend a Literary Supper
12. Make at least one clothing donation to Purple Heart
13. Mark all diving equipment
14. Start brushing the cats regularly
15. Buy new litterboxes & find a new place for them
16. Agree on weekly housecleaning list & laminate it for fridge
17. Make photobook from OZ & NZ trip
18. Peruse Black Friday ad and possibly purchase desktop computer
19. Make brownies from scratch
20. Give away 3 hens
21. Shop at Bead Soup for Christmas gifts
22. Actually start this oil pulling nonsense
23. Get a gait analysis done & buy new running shoes
24. Make Jay a kick-ass birthday dinner
25. Attend Punkin Chunkin

How I spent my Summer Vacation

Or rather, how I did with my summer bucket list. I’ll have to put up a fall list sometime soon. 

·  Go peach/apple/raspberry/blackberry picking

Never made it! Hoping to pick some apples this fall, but we’ll see.

·  Take an impromptu trip to the beach

Jay and I had a day at the beach in August that was more or less last minute.

·  Visit a farmers market

I picked up my book club noms last Friday at the Amish Farmers Market in Easton, so yeah, I can cross that one off.

·  Go crabbing

Never did go crabbing. If there was a free weekend, it was spent at home cleaning or vegging out.

·  Learn how to SCUBA dive

I learned! And this coming weekend we will be doing our checkout dives.

·  Send Aunt Nancy & Uncle Darryl a Thank You basket

I did this… they loved it!

·  Send Sally & Chris (our NZ people) a Thank You basket

We sent it, but I haven’t heard from them. I should probably send them an email.

·  Find frames for koala and lorikeet photos – then hang them

We have these framed and on display, but haven’t hung them yet. I would still call this a success.

·  Clean up front garden and plant perennials

The front garden has been cleaned up, but I never got around to planting. Hopefully I can do that in early spring.

·  Re-upholster dining room chairs

We still haven’t done this. At this point I think we’re going to need new padding for the chairs too.

·  Have a picnic at Martinak

Never got around to doing this.

·  Make marshmallows from scratch (stole this from TTG – been wanting to do this for awhile)

This was a fun project! If I didn’t have such a busy week planned, I would make another batch for next weekend.

·  Have rooster for dinner

We haven’t eaten our roos yet, but Jay and MacGuyver dealt with the messy part on Friday while I was at Book Club. Laura and I do Book Club, the boys do Fight Club. It was pretty traumatic for poor Jay. And me. And I wasn’t even there. Also, my darling husband killed one of the wrong roosters. So that was sad. We had too many and something needed to be done. Our hens were starting to get pretty banged up from having too many roos. There were missing and broken feathers, raw skin and even some wounds. 

We will probably take care of the last rooster at some point this winter and take an Easter Egger or Marans roo that someone is getting rid of.

·  Do the adult ropes challenge course at Tuckahoe

Did this!

·  Go kayaking

Did this before the ropes course.

·  Climb the rock wall at the Y

Never got a chance to do this.

·  Swim 1000 yards

I came so close to completing this. I made it to 900 yards. One time I was at 800 yards when I ran out of time and would have been late to an appointment. The other time, I was unnerved by an overzealous lifeguard. I was the only person in the pool and the guy looked like he was going to jump in and save me at any moment. It was disconcerting and it made me nervous.

·  Host a dinner party

I had my girlfriend Tiffany over for dinner last Thursday… so yeah, it was a dinner party. Sure.

·  Come up with a date, menu & budget for yearly fall party

We’ve settled on a date. Except that it’s the same weekend as Punkin Chunkin. We’ll see, I guess. This year we’re going to scale it back a bit, including picking an ending time (hopefully people will be a little more responsible with an end time). Last year things got a little out of hand when one jackass brought fireworks and then another one decided that it would be fun to throw the fireworks into the fire. Ugh. We are also scaling back on the food this year… there is always too much and having such a large variety cuts into the budget.

·  Make a plan for the backyard

We have a tentative plan, but every time we go to Home Depot or Lowes, we’re hoping to run into Ahmed from Yard Crashers. Mainly, the plans include a deck off the back of the house, a shop/woodworking studio for Jay (with an attached entertaining area in the front), plus a patio surrounding a fire pit.

·  Build a new fire pit

We need to have a finalized plan on where it will go before we build it!

·  Finish fencing backyard

Pretty close to this. There are two more panels of privacy fence that need to go up and we need to attach one last section of picket fence.

·  Go fishing

I never got to do this.

·  Design egg cartons to sell/giveaway eggs

Completed! And I’ve even sold some eggs. 

·  Complete two weeks of Couch25K (I’m aiming low)  

Completed and ran my first 5k.

I would say that I was pretty successful overall. Now I need to plan my Fall Bucket List. I’m thinking that it should have fewer items on the list!

How did you do on your Summer Bucket List?

Deep thoughts

“You’ve been doing a lot of thinking,” said my massage therapist.

“You must be psychic. You should combine psychic services with massage therapy,” I said.

No psychic ability needed; people who suffer from migraines or do a lot of thinking tend to have a ton of tension in the muscle that goes into the base of their skull. She told me the name of the aforementioned muscle, but I was too busy enjoying my massage to recall the name. Although I suffer from migraines, I haven't had one since my last massage, so I agreed with her clinical impressions. I also had a terrible run later that evening. The next day I learned that you’re not supposed to take part in strenuous exercise after having a massage. Good to know! But I digress…

There’s been a lot to think about recently. I’ll start with the potentially less life-impacting thing first: purchasing another car. We’re going to keep Jay’s truck Charlene as well as sweet Roxie, who has nearly 300k miles on her. Roxie is a great commuter car and good for at least half a million miles. We also wouldn’t get much money for trading her in. There are so many decisions to be made. New or used? What should we buy? SUV or wagon? There are a lot of models in the running. Jay wants a new car and thinks that is where all the deals are. Although I would love a new car, I’m leaning towards used so that we can get more bells and whistles (heated leather seats are awesome).

Now on to the real thinking – about life. I’m not passionate about my job. I’m not making a difference. Although I’m sure that if you asked some of the physicians, I’m making a difference in their lives by giving them a terrible schedule. I also listen to them whine and gripe about each other (the inference I get is that I'm also supposed to do something about the offender). Sometimes the complaints are legitimate, others not so much. Apart from the occasional “Thanks for the great schedule!” emails, there isn’t much enjoyment I get from work apart from my paycheck. Of course, this is not to say that I don’t like my job.  I gain satisfaction from completing a project or compiling and presenting data in new and exciting ways. I’m happy when people tell me that I’m doing a good job. These are basic things, but it keeps me sane. I’ve made a few friends. The money is decent and I like my bosses. This will do for at least the next few years.

However, it’s time for me to start thinking about #26 on my 101 list. That is “Figure out what I want to be when I grow up or figure out my degree path.” This happens to coincide with #8 on my bucket list: Get my 4 year degree. 

The fastest way to that four year degree is through either a business administration degree or a psychology degree. A psych degree is pretty much useless unless I’m planning to get a PhD (however I may do a double major just because I have so many psych courses already). The business administration field is just not my thing. A marketing approach might be fun so that I could be creative, but I don’t see myself as the business type. With a degree in social work, I could earn my master’s degree while working in the field. Ultimately, I’d like to either have my own private counseling practice or work in the schools. The benefit to working in the schools is that I would finally have that extended vacation time that I’ve been looking for. School counselor jobs are hard to come by around here, so I would have to be patient for an opening to come up.

Fortunately for me, Salisbury University offers a bachelors and masters of social work through the Higher Education Center at Chesapeake College. From the information I’ve been able to track down, there are four or five general ed classes that I’ll need to take before being able to enroll in the social work curriculum. I’ll find out which ones those are when I meet with an advisor, but I’m pretty sure they will be bio and history courses. 

As usual, this epiphany occurred a little too late for me to get my act together and sign up for fall classes. I will have the next few months to prepare my mind for the spring semester and make some tough decisions about how much time I can devote to the organizations that I love. 

Alton Brown's Homemade Marshmallows

Homemade Marshmallows on the Food Network

Remember my Summer Bucket List? I'm checking stuff off. This weekend I made marshmallows from scratch.

Water, Sugar, Gelatin, Corn Syrup, Kosher Salt and Vanilla

They were AWESOME. A bit messy, but delicious. It was my first time making candy. You make a syrup with the sugar, corn syrup & water, then pour it into the mixer with the gelatin. I was worried that I wouldn't be able to clean my saucepan afterwards, but it was fine.

Whip it good

Spread in pan (prepared with cooking spray & mixture of half cornstarch, half powdered sugar) with an oiled spatula

After three hours, up to overnight, you turn them onto a cutting board and slice them with a pizza cutter. It was messy and I forgot to take a photo. 

Make s'mores immediately.

We were going to have a fire to roast the marshmallows, but it was too windy

Gooey perfection.

Alton Brown has never led me astray. 

Now go make some candy.

An Adventurous Weekend

Tomorrow I'll be knocking out something on my 101 list... and a few things on my summer bucket list.

Summer Bucket List:

Do the adult ropes challenge course at Tuckahoe

Go kayaking

And this is on my 101 List:

Climb a rock wall

This is what I'll be doing tomorrow:

An Adults Only Adventure will be held at Tuckahoe State Park on Saturday, July 27 at 6 p.m. at Tuckahoe State Park. Don’t miss this chance for adults to enjoy Tuckahoe’s Challenge Course! Join park staff for an evening of fun on the course’s high elements: a 40-foot rock wall, 50-foot giant swing, 25-foot pamper pole and the zip line. 

Also possibly on the agenda for the weekend:

From the 101 list:

• Send Aunt Nancy thank you gift 
• Send Chris and Sally thank you gift
• Eat a rooster that wakes me up too early

From my seasonal bucket list:

Find frames for koala and lorikeet photos – then hang them

Clean up front garden and plant perennials

Make marshmallows from scratch

On the garden clean-up... I kind of cheated. It was such a nice and unseasonably cool day yesterday that Jay did a bunch of weeding while I was at work. So really all I need to do now is track down some perennials and plant them. 

In other news, we are beside ourselves about our puppy - we want it now now NOW!! 

We won't know for another month or two when we can expect to take our new friend home. Once Bilana or Leila have been bred, it will take a little over a month to confirm if there are puppies. 

Despite our impatience, Jay and I have come to the realization that we need to be fully prepared for this dog. We want to make sure that we have a solid plan for socialization and obedience training, as well as the shutzhund training that we're planning. I'm hoping to meet up with Bart and his owner in the next few months to see if he has any pointers. Apparently Bart gives hugs. That's the kind of dog I want. The kind that gives hugs on command and will also attack a threat on command. Maybe a dog who is a little too smart for his own good. Maybe we can even teach him to fetch a beer from the fridge. 

So we'll be keeping ourselves busy over the next few months puppy-proofing the house, fencing in the yard, and buying necessities. We're also going to have to take our cats in to get vaccinated. I'm hesitant to do it because they're indoor cats and they haven't been to the vet in years. The last time I took them to the vet was when I lived in Odenton. It required several return trips because they kept getting sick. They've been completely healthy for over 5 years now and I haven't had any problems. But since our dog might bring in some beasties from outside, we're going to have to start having them vaccinated each year. 

Oh, and Ideal Event Management was doing a special sale yesterday for their 2014 VIP passes. 2 for 1 plus a private investigation with Dustin Pari AND a private tour and lecture with John Zaffis at his Museum of the Paranormal? That's a no-brainer.

Jay doesn't want to do the Fort Mifflin event again next year, but I would love to meet Josh Gates and Erin Ryder. 

I hope to get out the camera this weekend and take some pictures. Since I've been back from vacation, I've been kind of slacking with the photography. I need to get back into it.

That's all for today. Hoping to get some things done this weekend!

Another week down

Well I can finally cross something off of my summer bucket list. Sunday I start on week 3 of couch25k. I planned to give it a shot, but not to push it if things started to hurt. The last thing I want is an injury that causes me to not be able to exercise at all.

I also signed up for my first 5k this week, on September 14th. I hope that I can get back into running. The truth is that I have a love/hate relationship with running. If I'm going through something, pissed off, need to think, whatever... I enjoy it. It's a good way to clear your mind.

Although I'm still trying to do a somewhat low-carb diet, it just isn't feasible for running. My body needs something it can easily convert into energy. So while I'm not carbo-loading, I'm trying to incorporate more natural and complex carbs into my diet (fruit, veggies and whole grain cereals like muesli). Now I just try to avoid bread and sweets whenever I can. However, I do have a stash of Sea Salt Soiree squares hidden for emergencies. Or Mondays. Or any day of the week ending in Y.

I haven't been keeping good track of my weight lately and obviously have missed weeks here and there. I'm up about 5 pounds from my pre-vacation weight, but I'll lose those 5 pounds eventually. Progress not perfection.

Jay and I took our second scuba class this week. We learned how to put the gear together and did some underwater skills. Mostly, we learned the ones that we already knew how to do from our trips with Cooly Dive and Poseidon. It's a lot easier mastering skills in a pool on your knees than when you're miles out to sea with an intense drill sergeant divemaster making you nervous! Not to mention possible large pelagic fish underneath the water waiting to have a nibble. Oh, and the somewhat rough seas we were diving in. Doing our certification dives in the quarry will be a piece of cake!

It really has me scratching my head over the girl in this photo:

This was on our dive to Cook Island to hang out with the sea turtles. This girl was supposed to be doing her first two open water certification dives. She had no clue what she was doing! The instructor had to ask her to set up her gear and then show her how to put it all together. Pretty much everyone in our class assembled their gear correctly the first time (after watching the instructor assemble his once). 

So I would hope that by the time we're ready for our check-out dives that we'll know how to assemble our equipment!

So here are a few things from my 101 list that I could do without much effort... I may even try to swim 1000 yards before book club. Which will be at Clay Bakers, where I am planning to make Jay a new mug. So yeah. I could totally knock out two things today!

• Complete the Couch 25K program
• Sign up for a 5K race - then do it
• Swim 1000 yards
• PADI Open Water SCUBA diver certification
• Send Aunt Nancy thank you gift
• Send Chris and Sally thank you gift
• Find a cool glass bottle to display my Whitehaven Beach sand
• Spread some of Dad at Martinak State Park
• Buy a brick for the FACES building
• Eat a rooster that wakes me up too early
• Make Jay a new mug
• Send Renee and Joanne souvenirs from vacation
• Make lemonade from scratch
• Spend an entire afternoon reading in the hammock

Make that I could knock out THREE things. I just bought a brick for the FACES building in memory of my dad.

My girlfriend JT is spending the night tonight. Maybe I can drag her to some antique stores to find a cool glass bottle for my Whitehaven Beach sand. And maybe one to throw my seashells in too?

Lots of Lists!

So I'm back into making lists... long-term and short term lists. A few years ago, I started doing the 101 in 1001. That list was started in 2007, which seems like an entire lifetime ago.

Well, I'm bringing it back. Go check it out. I've also created a link at the top of the blog for easy access so that you can shame me into doing things.

I'm working on my new 101 list that I hope to have up on Sunday. I arbitrarily chose Sunday July 7th as my start date. It seemed as good a time as any.

Here's how the Summer Bucket List is going:

• Send Aunt Nancy & Uncle Darryl a Thank You basket

I've bought all of the things for their basket... now I just need to assemble it and get to the post office. I also had a wonderful Skype with her tonight... it was so cool to see the background and know where she was in her house. I know that sounds weird. But seeing her sitting at the desk and thinking that I was sitting there less than two months ago is kind of cool. And sad. But cool. We are talking about meeting up in Europe next year, probably in September. Fingers crossed that it all works out!

• Send Sally & Chris (our NZ people) a Thank You basket

Ditto on this one... although I need to find my recipe for shrimp and grits. I'm sending them some grits as part of their thank you basket and thought it'd be cool to include my recipe.

• Find frames for koala and lorikeet photos – then hang them

Done! Well, kind of. They're now framed and on display, but I have to check with Jay on where he wants to hang them. I'm thinking of putting them in the hallway/up the stairs.

• Have rooster for dinner

We were supposed to do this on Sunday, but Jay had a rough day/night at work and slept for most of the day.

• Do the adult ropes challenge course at Tuckahoe

I need to sign up for this - it's on the 27th of this month I think.

• Go fishing

I was supposed to do this on Saturday, but apparently it created an uproar amongst other women and then all of the ladies wanted to go fishing with their men. So now I'm not going. C'est la vie. D'accord, pas vraiment. C'est le poisson! 

• Complete two weeks of Couch25K (I’m aiming low)

I was thinking of starting tonight. That has to count for something, right?

25 Things –Summer Bucket List Edition

Bucket lists have been on my mind lately. I haven’t been able to stop thinking about how much I want to experience in life and how little time there is to get it all done. The Trans Siberian Railroad, Antarctica, Machu Picchu, The Great Wall… those are all high up on my travel bucket list.

I’ve crossed a few things off by traveling to Australia (planning to get back there ASAP). However, I realized that I need to stop mooning over vacation and get on with enjoying life here.

Just this week, I’ve read two blog posts on creating a summer bucket list… one over on Trailer Trash Glam and one on Enjoying the Small Things, who also happens to be doing a swimsuit giveaway! 

Perfect timing for me to get my act together and come back to reality.

Since I’m on a list making rampage lately, I’ll offer my own Summer Bucket list:

• Go peach/apple/raspberry/blackberry picking
• Take an impromptu trip to the beach
• Visit a farmers market
• Go crabbing
• Learn how to SCUBA dive
• Send Aunt Nancy & Uncle Darryl a Thank You basket
• Send Sally & Chris (our NZ people) a Thank You basket
• Find frames for koala and lorikeet photos – then hang them
• Clean up front garden and plant perennials
• Re-upholster dining room chairs
• Have a picnic at Martinak
• Make marshmallows from scratch (stole this from TTG – been wanting to do this for awhile)
• Have rooster for dinner
• Do the adult ropes challenge course at Tuckahoe
• Go kayaking
• Climb the rock wall at the Y
• Swim 1000 yards
• Host a dinner party
• Come up with a date, menu & budget for yearly fall party
• Make a plan for the backyard
• Build a new fire pit
• Finish fencing backyard
• Go fishing
• Design egg cartons to sell/giveaway eggs
• Complete two weeks of Couch25K (I’m aiming low)

So that's my summer bucket list... what's on yours? Kelly, I'll be waiting to read your summer bucket list next. :)