Mid-month update

#19 Thank you Sporcle. I decided to start with Africa, and now I can regularly name the capitals of Algeria, Angola, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Chad, Comoros, Cameroon, Djibouti, Egypt, Ethiopia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Liberia, Libya, Madagascar, Morocco, Nigeria, Namibia, Republic of the Congo, South Africa, Senegal, Seychelles, Somalia, Tanzania, Tunisia, and Zimbabwe. (Of course, I knew some of these starting out.) I get a bit confused by Uganda, Sudan, and Democratic Republic of the Congo. Still, I'm making progress.

#21 Bought the book. Now trying to decide which badges to earn. As it turns out, a number of the items on my list overlap with the book, and there are a bunch more I've already mastered. Still there's definitely five new ones. And the book will be useful to help me complete the other items on my list.

#23 I've joined ancestry.com and I've found an old book from when I started working on my family history as a teenager. As it turns out the idea of going back further than Canada (all the way to France) may be unreasonable. One branch was in Canada in the mid-1600s. How much do I need to know about these people? I also talked to one of my grandmothers, and during our conversation it became clear she'd like to know more about her mother's family. Unfortunately, her mother died in 1927 or so, when my grandmother was almost five. That's the line I have the least information about right now.

#68 I have stamped every stamp in one drawer of my stamp cabinet--about 40 stamps. If I do a drawer every now and again, I should finish before schedule.

#70 Yesterday, I cataloged one whole bookcase--a little under 200 books in librarything.

#77 Wrote to one grandmother for her birthday and called the other on the phone. Since the latter is going blind, this may be a better option.

#86 Yesterday was the two week mark and I have 14 entries in my journal. I had a hard time with last night's. But some days I could go on and on.

#93 Need to get going on this since I have an interview next week!

#98 Sissy and I are headed north this weekend.

#99 In that genealogy book, I also found a clean copy of the family cookbook. Unfortunately, I entered this onto a computer about 5 computers ago. We no longer use those cute little floppies. I figured I'd have to reenter it, but I had been using my other copy...not so clean. I have also researched book-making options.

#100 I'm two for two.

#2 New Restaurants

Last night the dude and I went out with another couple to Bistro Juliana in Fishtown. It was a small neighborhood BYOB and quite good. I started with the red and yellow beet salad which I really enjoyed. The dude had the grilled octopus started which was the best of all. Wallace had a starter special that I forget, and Gromit* had the calamari. The squid was good.

Gromit and the dude had orecchiette with shrimp for the entree; they both liked it thought they were disappointed that they didn't look more like ears. Wallace had the linguine special, which I can't remember, but I do remember that Gromit said she liked hers better. I had the ravioli special with shrimp and scallops in a vodka cream sauce. Wallace almost had that but Gromit reminded him that he didn't like ravioli or vodka cream sauce. Go ahead and laugh. Earlier, when the waiter was telling us the specials, I had to remind the dude he doesn't like gnocchi. (Gromit also orders gnocchi but doesn't like it.) I think they all want to like these dishes they keep ordering, but are always disappointed. Apparently I am the only person who orders food I like. That may go a long way in explaining why it takes me a million years to figure out what I want.

I didn't have dessert but the dude had the tiramisu, and Wallace had the chocolate mousse cake. Thumbs up all around.

I know I pretend to be misanthropic but I really enjoyed last night's dinner. I think we're going to do it again, but they want to try a restaurant we've already been to. No problem, I have two and a half years...

The dude hoped this counted for No. 79 but I told him it didn't. If Mr. Obama can make time for his Mrs. so can the dude.

*Not her real name.

65. Finish my purple felted bag

In an effort to do better than I did last time, I have started a notebook to help keep me focused. Okay, maybe I went over the top, but I needed to use up the purple scraps.

Just about each item on the list has its own page with ideas for getting the item done. So right now, #2 "try 12 new-to-me restaurants" has 12 lines numbered followed by a list of ideas including Everyday Good House (because you have to love that name), Kaffa Crossing, Bindi, Distrito, and Dim Sum Garden. To help complete #4 "attend a pow wow," I have researched events that take place in the northeast, so now I know that Schemitzun takes place in Connecticut the third week of August; the Baltimore Indian 35th Annual will be held in Timonium, MD July 17-19; and the 29th Annual Roasting Ears of Corn will take place mid-August in Allentown, PA. I know that I will have to postpone trips to the Isabella Stewart Gardner (#12) and Atwater Kent (#9) because some or all of their galleries are closed this summer. I know when the other museums are open, how much they cost, and which days free tours are offered. I have a list of CDs and books that are available at the public library to help me with my French (#17). I know I have to read 2 Pulitzer Prize (#18) winners a month (just about) to keep to the schedule, and I have the five we own resting on my nightstand. I've put Roger Ebert's 102 films (#20) on the Netflix list. I have a schedule of things I need to do this fall so we can landscape next spring (#30). I know that I need to finish an in-progress cross stitch project (#40-51) every 100 days; I know that these days are September 10, 2009; December 19, 2009; March 29, 2010; July 7, 2010; October 15, 2010; January 23, 2011; May 3, 2011; August 11, 2011; November 19, 2011; and the final day of this 1001. I know that I can attend an EGA meeting in July (#53) and relearn punchneedle (#69). I know the schedules at local U Pick farms (#84) near us and learned the exciting news that Linvilla is planting Seascape strawberries, my favorite. I know when the International Dragon Boat Festival is in Philadelphia and when the local women's boat practices (#88). I found stretching exercises to help me do a split (#90), and I've scheduled a time with my sister to help my mom clean out the attic (#98). I even talked to my mother on the phone yesterday (#100).

And that's not all.

I went to the basement, found my purple bag, and put the last stitches in. It's been through a couple of washes. Here it is drying. This has only taken me four years--three and a half to do the kitchener stitches (all six of them) and felt it. Looking on the bright side (#86), it's done. And it's fabulous!

before and after

New List

Start: June 2, 2009
End: February 28, 2012

1. Go to one cultural event per month for three months (0/3)
2. Try 12 new-to-me restaurants
3. Find out about three interesting foods, seek them out and try them
4. Attend a pow wow
5. Take nieces to NYC at Christmas time for a play and to see the store windows
6. Visit Elfreth's Alley in the winter
7. Visit the Rosenbach Museum
8. Visit the Morris Arboretum
9. Visit the Atwater Kent
10. Visit the Cloisters (NYC)
11. Visit Fallingwater
12. Go to the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum
13. Visit Iceland
14. Visit three of the following states overnight: Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Idaho, Kansas, Kentucky, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota or Wisconsin (0/3)
15. Visit the Biltmore Estate
16. Go to Paris for 10th anniversary (07-14-11)
17. Study French so I'll be more fluent when we go to Paris
18. Read the Pulitzer Prize Winners for Fiction that I've never read (0/53)
19. Learn all the capitals of the 192 UN recognized countries, that includes you, Honduras
20. Watch Roger Ebert's 102 Films to See Before You Die that I have never seen (0/64)
21. Earn Five Merit Badges from "You Can Do It!" (0/5)
22. Take a cookbook out of the library every other month and make two dishes from each (0/16)
23. Trace my ancestry back to the old country (not Canada)
24. Paint downstairs bathroom, including trim
25. Install blinds in bedroom
26. Fix couch in guest room
27. Hem curtains in guest room
28. Create a household inventory
29. Cut down the black cherry tree in the back yard, grind stump
30. Landscape backyard
31. Create raised vegetable gardens in the backyard
32. Take antenna off roof
33. Organize the basement
34. Convert all videos we own to DVD; get rid of VCR
35. Fix or replace DVD player
36. Build a Habitat for Humanity House
37. Volunteer walking shelter dogs
38. Go on a volunteering vacation
39. Volunteer with Philadelphia Cares four times annually (0/12)
40. Sort scrapbook supplies and donate the things I don't use preferably to an organization that does therapeutic scrapbooking with MR kids
41. Finish current WIP--Elizabethan Rose
42. Finish current WIP--Spots II
    
43. Finish current WIP--Treasured Tulips
    
44. Finish current WIP--Scared Silly
    
45. Finish current WIP--Watercolor Geraniums
    
46. Finish current WIP--Majestic Rooster
    
47. Finish current WIP--Knot Garden
    
48. Finish current WIP--Apple Sampler
    
49. Finish current WIP--Folk Art Thread Keep
    
50. Finish current WIP--Tree of Life Window
51. Finish 5 FUFOs as wall hangings
52. Send four needlework items to be professionally finished
53. Go to EGA meeting at least once
54. Finish scrapbooks currently in progress: 1999
55. Finish scrapbooks currently in progress:niece 1
    
56. Finish scrapbooks currently in progress:niece 2
    
57. Finish scrapbooks currently in progress:1998 Poland trip
58. Make album of nephews 1 and 2
59. Make album of nephews 3 and 4
60. Make a happiness album, an 8x8 album of things that make me happy
61. Make short digital videos of the girls
62. Finish my pinwheel charm quilt top
63. Make a piece of jewelry with the beads I bought two years ago in OK
64. Make all my Christmas presents for Christmas '09 (0/24)
65. Finish my purple felted bad
66. Make the Amy Butler Overnight Case
67. Finish felted wool blanket
68. Use every stamp Sissy and I have
69. (Re)learn punchneedle and complete three projects
70. Complete catalog of books
71. Purge five things from every room in the house on (each) November 22, National Declutter Day (0/3)
72. Organize craft room
73. Host an open house
74. Host three cocktail parties (0/3)
75. Host three dinner parties (0/3)
76. Go to pub quiz five tiems (0/5)
77. Write a note to my grandmothers monthly (0/33)
78. Host five game nights (0/5)
79. Go out on a date once a month with the dude (0/33)
80. Meet three blogging friends--ones I haven't met before--IRL
81. Exercise three days a week for three months (0/36)
82. Stretch every day for one month (0/31)
83. Lose 50 pounds
84. Pick fruit at a UPick farm
85. Eat five fruits and veggies every day for three months (0/90)
86. Try to be more positive--at the end of each day, take five minutes to write down in a journal every good thing I did or experienced that day
87. Take a Pilates class
88. Learn to row a Dragon Boat
89. Get a message, annually (0/3)
90. Become flexible enough to do splits again
91. Write a will, including all the attendant documents
92. Write and send off a book proposal
93. Create and practice my 3 minute elevator pitch for myself
94. Write and send a fan letter
95. watch an Eagles game at Lincoln Field
96. Pay off second mortgage
97. Put things from NH attic on ebay
98. Help parents clear out NH house; take my things out of their house and find places for them in my house (or give them away)
99. Finish the family cookbook
100. Talk to my mother--on the phone or in person--weekly (0/143)
101. Post updates about this list at least once per month