#55–go to a New “Place to See”

One of the books that I think is really neat is 1,000 Places to See Before You Die.  I have the U.S. and Canada edition, and one of my goals was #55–go to ten new places on that list.  This week Jeremy and I went to go visit Shirley Plantation, one of the places on the list.   It was neat, although I was disappointed that we could only go on the first floor of the house.  The family that originally owned the plantation has passed it down through eleven generations, so they still use parts of the house today.

Kristen’s Bachelorette Party

In throwing my sister’s bachelorette party, I began progress on a new goal without even realizing it–#85, host people at my house ten times.  One of ten down!

We had a pretty good time, though we were relatively tame for a bachelorette party.  We went wine tasting at James River Cellars Winery and got some wine for later that evening.  We got a private tour of their winery which was interesting.

After that we had dinner at the Melting Pot.  Eating at the melting pot always proves that you can eat more than you ever thought you possibly could.  And I could drink their pomegranate martini all day!  We headed home after that to watch some Sex and the City, eat some penis cookies, and play games.

In progress updates…

Amazingly, I’m still working on things on my list.  This is definitely the longest a “new years resolution” has been on my mind, instead of disappearing into the background of life by February.

I’m working on some of the goals, but I’m really just beginning.  I think I have found a photography class I’m going to take this summer–I’m really excited!  It’s close enough to Jeremy’s to walk, its not too expensive, and I can use my basic digital camera.  So I’ll hopefully be signing up for that this week, thus getting started on my goal 9. learn more about photography and practice taking pictures.

I’m doing pretty well with keeping up with my net worth each month.  I can’t figure out when the best time of the month is to calculate it. I suppose it doesn’t really matter as long as its the same time each month–it seems silly to do it after I’m paid, as that money immediately disappears to rent and bills, so I tend to do it after rent money has been taken out but before I’m paid again.  I think it is a good way to keep track of when I need to keep a closer watch on my spending and when I’m doing okay.

Read a C.S. Lewis book–I haven’t completed one yet, but I have bought two that I’m choosing between.

In progress updates…

Well, besides the enormous amount of eating I seem to have done, I am making progress on a few other goals. And some are coming towards me whether I am ready for them or not.

Going to Rome–slowly sneaking up on me. I met with Kristen and Matt to get all the good hints this weekend. Hopefully Jeremy is spending his time in Canada plotting fabulous things for us to do. I still need to spend some time with some down and dirty planning, but I’m not quite there yet.

Learning Italian–not so much. Rosetta stone didn’t work out, and I have yet to listen to the cds I have. Some other ones are at the library but right now I’m avoiding dealing with fines I have at the library (and as a side note, from now on I’m really really not going to let kids/other teachers take my library books. I don’t keep up with it until its too late, and by then I owe them my firstborn child. Ugh)

See a play–well, I just saw Seussical the Musical, but because that was not a choice (since it was a field trip for school) I’m not counting it. (Do you hear that sound? That’s Jeremy groaning)

Throw my sister’s bridal shower–working on this one. I have designed the invites, but need to actually get them in the mail. I think the theme of “Rednecks Gone Wild” will go over well. (Just kidding Kristen)

The Nile–#67, go to new restaurants

Today we went to eat lunch at a new restaurant called The Nile. It serves Ethiopian food, and you eat with your hands and bread instead of utensils. It was fantastic, I would definitely go back. Erin, Jeremy, and I all got a combination plate, where you can try five different dishes. We got chicken, two beef dishes, lamb, and a potato stew and enjoyed them all. The food is spicy but more flavorful spicy than hot spicy. They give you pieces of spongy tortilla-ish bread called injera that you use to scoop up the food and eat it, which is fun.

95. watch 15 new movies from the AFI list

This weekend I watched two new movies from the AFI Top 100 list. I like this goal because it forces me to watch movies I probably otherwise wouldn’t watch, but that I end up enjoying when I do watch them.

The first movie I watched was The Graduate. It’s always interesting to watch the movie that you know you have seen references to, because then other things start to make sense. (Of course, Jeremy is always there to explain what episode of the Simpsons referenced each movie, which is always helpful. And if you don’t have your own personal Jeremy at home, you can check out the reference and the linked scene here.)

We also watched Fargo. As I was trying to ease my way into movies that weren’t romantic comedies (figuring that The Graduate fits loosely in that category) I think I picked Fargo because my head was confusing it with the tv series Northern Exposure. Of course, the two are totally different things. Once I got over that, I really enjoyed the movie. But, I must be the most culturally illiterate person on the planet–I had NO idea that the wood chipper scene was in this movie, so I had a very girly-screechy reaction when I finally saw it. I could have gone my whole life though happily without seeing that, but overall I still liked the movie.

Joe’s Inn–#67, go to ten new restaurants

Tonight Jeremy and I went to Joe’s Inn. One new restaurant down, nine to go! It was a really nice place, and we would definitely go back there again. It’s so close to his place that we are able to walk there, which is nice. They have a variety of spaghetti, and some other Italian dishes, but not a full selection like some other Italian restaurants. We both had spaghetti and it was very good. They give you enough food to feed a small army, so we both took doggie boxes home and plan to hole up in the house tomorrow when it snows and eat the rest of our spaghetti.

We were also pleased because there was no wait for a table even though we went at prime time on a Friday night. So many of the Fan restaurants are so crowded that finding one that seems normal is exciting. All in all, this restaurant will definitely join the repetoire of the ones we rotate to.

#69 Use Joe’s Goals for two months

I’ve been using Joe’s Goals off and on for about a month and a half. As an elementary school teacher, I think the desire to earn smiley faces is ingrained in me, but like everything else, my attention span with this does not always last much longer than a week or two. So, I’m going to attempt to update Joe’s Goals every day to see if I can make it a habit. And by updating it, hopefully it will remind me about the various other things I’m working on that I’m using Joe’s Goals to track.

Here are some of the things that I like about Joe’s Goals:

• Simple interface
• Tracks your chain of how long you have done something (kind of like the site that tracks your Seinfeldian chain which I read about on Lifehacker)
• Allows you to “weigh” activities so some things get more points than others (this encourages me to do things I don’t like like laundry and cleaning my bathroom)
• Lets you subtract points for things you are trying not to do

I put my Joe’s Goals “badge” on the side of the page, so that everyone can see if I’m losing interest and sucking at stuff. (My new theory is public accountability is the way to go!) You can see that I’ve not been doing anything with it recently. My general goal is to get 4 points a day.

#20 learn some italian to get around Italy

After last weekend with my college girlfriends, I’m able to move forward on being able to say really odd things in Italian. Anna kindly brought me her Italy resources she acquired before her trip with Mike last summer. She brought me (drum roll!!!) the Rosetta Stone for Italian. I am super excited about this program, especially given the high recommendation from Sean, and the fact that I’m not the one shelling out the $200. Maybe there is something good about being one of the last people in my friend group to travel to Europe. We forgot one CD, so I haven’t been able to use it yet, but I’m looking forward to it.

Anna also had a CD with basic Italian phrases. Listening to this makes me understand how little kids can’t figure out when words end or when they are just one really long multisyllabic word. When I listen to it, its really hard to tell when one word ends and the other begins. It just sounds like one big mumbo jumbo.

Anna also brought me the sparknotes flashcards for Italian words. And, I will be driving to work learning the Italian words for all sorts of basic things most kids learn in preschool. If I can’t say “where is the bathroom?” in Italian by the end of this, then I’m too stupid to be traveling anyway.

#30–My first scrapbooked cards

Tonight I ignored all the grading I was supposed to do so that I could devote my time to cutting and pasting small patterned bits of paper. The result is simple, but I am still pretty happy with my first attempts. I made birthday cards for my mom and my grandpa.

This is the one I did for my mom:

(I’m still working on the best way to take a photo of it–but that’s a whole ‘nother goal)

This is the one I did for my grandpa:

They both have a little bit of cutesy-ness inside, but not enough to be worth an entire photo.

I wonder how many scrapbooking enthusiasts are also teachers and/or mothers. I think that there is something about being around small children that makes you want to be crafty. Or maybe crafty-ish people tend to flock to be around children…