Wednesday, February 02, 2011

Overdue Update II

Last year I set out to make all of my Christmas presents and ended up making 20 out of 24 which I declared a happy success. This year, that goal was not on the list, but it was on my mind. This year I got up to 22 out of 25 (my sister got engaged). Unfortunately, all that productivity left me with less time to focus on this project.

My attention has returned.


2. Try 12 new-to-me restaurants --I read about a Szechuan restaurant in Philly that hosted a monthly banquet of 20 courses for $25. We went--once for the banquet and once where we ate off the regular menu. Fabulous! I've got to take my dad here when he visits.
20. Watch Roger Ebert’s 102 Films to See before you die (list below) --the other day I got all my errands and chores finished early and decided to watch Duck Soup. You know what, there's a reason I haven't seen a lot of these movies! It was so tedious. Yes, yes, there's clever word play. But I'm much more a screwball than a slapstick kind of girl.
23. Trace my ancestry back to the old country (not Canada). I've been working on this slowly but surely. Here's the surprising thing--it looks like two of the three French Canadian branches on my family tree have been in Canada since the 1600s. I really didn't think I was going to have to go back so far! I'm down to one branch left--and it is replete with Josephs. During a certain period in Canada, French Catholics were all named Joseph and Mary (Marie), which wreaks havoc on the research!
71. Purge five things from every room in the house on (each) November 22, National Declutter Day (1/3) Sadly, I did not do this. I was reading Peter Walsh's book It's All Too Much and was gung-ho about decluttering and then I think it all got lost in holiday preparation. However, the dude and I have been discussing the state of our basement, and it looks like we will work on that soon. We are planning to participate in the neighborhood yard sale in late April, and this will give us an opportunity to purge.
77. Write a note to my grandmothers each month. I made Halloween cards, wrote birthday thank you notes in November (a little late), sent Christmas cards, and thank you notes in January. I've made them valentines too. So far, so good!
79. Go OUT on a date once a month with the dude. We have not been keeping up with this.
100. Talk to my mother on the phone—or in person—weekly. I've definitely spoken to her a time or two in the past months! :)
101. Post updates about this list once per month. When you fall down, you just have to keep getting up.