Alright, finally lots of stuff to report...

 

 

Goal 1 - Adopt 2nd child.  We're done with our homestudy and now we're raising money to proceed with the agency.  We're hoping to be done with this by the end of the year.

 

Goal 2. Pay off 1st adoption debt  Slowly but surely.  The plan is to have this gone with our next year's tax return.

 

Goal 15. Watch AFI's top 100 movies  Watched the following - The Deer Hunter (weird), Rocky (fell asleep half a dozen times but wanted to see the ending so I also rewound it half a dozen times),  American Grafitti (great music), City Lights (Did not know that I liked Charlie Chaplin), Dances with Wolves (different from when I remember seeing it as a kid), Gold Rush (sort of kinda fell asleep), and now working on Ben Hur - holy cow that movie is 5 hours long!  It may take me a week to get through that one!

 

Goal 17. Read 100 best novels  I've been doubling up, no, tripling up on these.  One in book form, one on the iPod, and one in the car.  Here's how I've done so far...  _Light in August_ (William Faukner) was okay.  I have to go back and read a summary b/c I think I missed some major plot point.  But it was interesting anyway.  _Beloved_ (Toni Morrison) was good but strange.  Not what I expected.  _The Fellowship of the Ring_ (Tolkein) - I'm 90% done with but I had to return it for the library.  I got a silly grin when I went to check it out - I love this series so much!  I can't wait to move on to the next one.  _The Hunchback of Notre Dame_ (Victor Hugo) I am listening to as I type.  I like the book, but whoever thought this would make a good kids movie I think was stretching it a bit (or a lot).  I haven't seen it but I think it's on Andrei's Netflix, so I'll have to see how in the world they made that work!  _The Handmaid's Tale_  (Margaret Atwood) was amazing.  I really loved it, but I also loved _1984_ and it reminded me of that.  I raced through that one in a week and a half.  Currently just started  _Persuasion_ (Jane Austin) and _Love in the Time of Cholera_ (Gabriel Garcia Marquez).  So that makes 10 finished, 2 almost finished, and 2 just starting. 

 

Goal 23. Take a picture every day for a year and post on Flickr   Well I know I said I was doing this in 2009, but I got very sick for a week and let it slip.  So we'll have to complete this goal in 2010

 

Goal 26. Make $1000 doing graphic design work  I made $50.  And I have more work on the way :)

 

Goal 37. Read Chronicles of Narnia to/with Andrei  We finished _Prince Caspian_ and we're about to start _The Voyage of the Dawn Treader_.  We're reading one per school term so we should be done in fall of 2010.

 

Goal 42. Take bellydancing class  - DONE! My workplace was offereing free classes at the gym this past week and one was a bellydance class.  I really enjoyed it, and when talking to the instructor, I found a regular evening class that works with my schedule.  So I will be attending that when I have the time :)

 

Goal 49. Go without soda for one month The attempt at doing this during Lent failed as my birthday fell right in the middle and Andrei bought me a soda for a present.  How could I turn down a generous gift like that!  He sure knows me!  But, a few weeks later, I was enjoying a Diet Coke and got a severe headache and was sick for 2 days.  So I've sworn off it totally.  I don't know exactly the last date I've had soda, but it surely has been a month, or at least I will have completed this by the end of May.

Oh yeah, and DH bought me a coffee on my birthday and I haven't completed the month-less-ness on that yet either. 

 

Goal 70. Eat 5 types of fruit that I have never had before The third was kumquats.  But we didn't really like them and I had bought a whole pint.  I couldn't let them go to waste, so I blended them up with a banana and some yogurt and Andrei and I enjoyed a nice smoothie. 

 

Goal 85. Make all of the 50 best cookie recipes on the internet   I stalled on this one for a while.  The next one on the list was checkerboard cookies and I didn't want to do the work so I just kept putting it off.  Finally I was home one Saturday all day so I tackled them. I started at noon and wasn't done baking until 6 PM.  Most of that was not active, but passive waiting for them to freeze, but still.  They were not good enough to justify the work.    Next was Lemon Crumb Bars which were so so good and they disappeared quickly in our house.  After that was Cranberry Decadent Cookies which were okay but Andrei loved them.  Next I have to make is Brown Eyed Susans.  They look easy but I have to get almond extract which I keep forgetting.  Maybe next week.  I've completed 8 from this list.

 

Goal 89. Have a garden with 8 types of plants  The garden boxes are made and we're waiting for the rain to stop to order the dirt.  I forsee a planting frenzy on Memorial Day :)

 

 

Ok that's it for now - I'll be back sooner than 2 months - I promise. 

 

Goal 15 - Watch top 100 movies.  Lessie, how far have I gotten now....  Well, I watched The Wild Bunch - if by watch you mean surfed while it was on.  I sorta watched it.  I have The Deer Hunter now waiting for me to have an evening to myself - that's a long one!

Goal 76 - Make a successful pie crust.  Complete!   I have done it!  I used my Joy of Cooking book, and I think I figured out the perfect amount of kneeding and water and all that.  Yay!  

Hm, that's it.  I thought there was more.  Oh well.

Oh yeah, I made another cookie from the 50 best cookies list - this one - Hazelnut Ganache Cups  They were good but not awesome.  DH liked them though.  I had to keep them frozen to make them hard enough to eat, but even then they were pretty soft.  I think too much vanilla.  

I didn't take any pics :(  I think I will make the next cookie on Saturday and I'm looking forward to it!  

Just plodding along on my goals.  I think I'm doing okay, although I'm questioning some of my choices for goals.  Oh well - we'll see.

 

Goal #1 Adopt 2nd child - we are started with our homestudy and have a potential referral - it won't be for sure until we send our paperwork to Thailand and that is months away - but we're praying and hurrying as best we can

 

Goal 2 - Pay off Adoption debt - we have paid off the smaller of the two debts, and if everything works out correctly, we should be able to pay off the larger one with next year's tax return.  That will be such a huge weight off of us - I am putting every extra penny into that loan to get it over and done with (then we'll also be completely debt free!)

 

Goal 15 - Watch AFI's top 100 movies - I can't remember the last time I posted (I'm at work so I cant' check) but I've now  watched Mutiny on the Bounty (pretty good - interesting trivia), Duck Soup (DS loved this one), Fargo (not at all what I thought it was about), Platoon (made me cry), Giant (long, but interesting), Modern Times (I like these old timey silent films), and the Apartment (that girl has issues).  Frankenstein is coming with Netflix today.  With todays, that will be 20/100 movies.

 

Goal 17 - Read 100 best novels - I read Hitchikers Guide to the Galaxy last week (out of order) because we owned it and it's a favorite of mine - it will never get old!  I also just finished The Trial (Frank Kafka) on audio book.  Bo-ring.  I'm so glad that is done with.  It made no sense and the main character was annoying.  Sorry, K!   Next is Light in August (Faulkner).  So far I've done 7/100 - yikes, I have a ways to go!

 

Goals 48 & 49 - go without coffee/soda for one month - Well, it's Lent and I've decided to give them both up.  So in 40 days I'll come back and check those off.  :)

 

Goal 72 - Make Seitan - COMPLETE! I did this and I didn't like it at all.  I thought it tasted burnt and threw most of it away :(  Oh well.  Maybe I'll try again someday - it was pretty easy.

 

That's it for today.  A lot of the other goals are very slowly progressing and someday I'll post about them, but right now I should probably get back to work.   I'm already starting to make a list for next time, and have 12 ideas written down.  I should probably focus on finishing this list first though! 

 

Finally finished _For Whom the Bell Tolls_.  It was amazing and I loved it.  I'm so glad I didn't give up on it and got the audio book.  I already have _Atonement_ (Ian McEwan) in audiobook form downloading onto my iPod to start on later today.  I promise this one won't take me 2.5 months to get through!

Not much of an update, but I havn't written in a bit, so I thought I could put down *something*.

 

 

Goal 1 - Adopt 2nd child.  Well, we sent in our application for our homestudy, and the main goal for 2009 is to adopt.  Or at least be paper ready and waiting. 

 

Goal 17 - Read 100 best novels.  I'm still working on _For Whom the Bell Tolls_  but I did get the book on CD and I'm listening to it every day when I do my chores.  I should be done sometimes next week.  The book is pretty good but I'm ready to move on to the next one. 

 

Goal 23 - Take a picture every day of the year and post on Flickr.  Well I've been doing the every day thing so far in 2009, but I forgot about the Flickr thing.  I'll do that this week sometime.

 

Goal 28 - DONE - Digitize all of Andrei's paperwork.  Well I didn't actually do this - I changed my mind about that.  But I DID organize it all into one folder, instead of strewn about my office in various boxes and files.  So all of his adoption stuff, his records, and our information is all nicely in one (very fat) manila folder.

 

Goal 91 - Do NaNoWriMo.   Well, does this mean do it, or finish it?  Cuz I started and only got to about 4000 words.  It fell apart in a matter of days.  So I guess I did participate... but I'll still try in 2009 and 2010 to actually finish.

 

Goal 92  - Floss every day for a month.  I'm well on my way.  I would have made December but I fell apart during the holidays when I didn't have to work.  But I made up a new morning routine and now I am in the habit.  I just have to remember on the weekends.  But hopefully the end of January I will be able to mark this as done!

 

That's it for now.  I'm torn about goal 18 (move bed into basement) because Brent and I decided that we didn't want to do that anymore.  I guess the big part of that goal was to make the basement liveable, so maybe that will be the revised goal.  I'll have to figure out how to make it measureable and then update it.

 

:)

I may have been slacking writing on here, but I have not been slacking on my goals. 

Here are some updates:

 

Goal 15 - Watch AFI's top 100 movies

Well I've now seen My Fair Lady, The Jazz Singer (awesome), Patton (most of it - very sleepy that day), and Easy Rider (which solidfies my stance to never use illegal drugs).  I've taken a short sabbatical because I wanted to watch Christmas movies this month, but I'll continue in January - they're all lined up on my Netflix list.

 

Goal 18 - Read top 100 books

I'm having such a hard time with this one.  :(  I can't make myself sit down and read, escpecially since I have so many Christmas projects to work on.  And I'm not a big fiction reader - I can't follow who is who.  I think I may look for books on tape for the car or when I'm cleaning -that may make it bearable.  (still stuck on For Whom the Bell Tolls)

 

Goal 29 - FAIL  - Ride bike 100 miles in 2008

Well, I made it to 87.9 miles.  Next year I will have to try again (for 110 miles)

 

Goal 81 - DONE - get my crown done.

Close enough on this one.  I've done the drilling and have the temporary one on now.  It was not very fun, but at least it's over.  On the 22nd I have my appointment for my permanent crown.  Although the dentist said I'll need another one sometime so maybe this one will show up on my next list also....

 

Goal 94 - DONE - Complete Fallout III - December 1, 2008

Awesome game - I had a lot of fun  :)  I took the cowards way though, if you have played and know the ending.  I did save earlier so I can go back and play more side stuff, but I've not had the time lately.

 

Tis it for now.  Budget and time crunching has been hindering all my cooking exploits, but I expect to be back into that as the long boring winter slogs on.

 

 

 

I've been putting off writing because I have so many things to ad and pictures and what-not.  I don't particularly like adding pics so I keep procrastinating.  So now I'm just going to do a long post and too bad about the pics :P

Goal 15 - Watch top 100 movies.  I've watched The Searchers, Pulp Fiction, and Goodfellas.  I'm watching A Place in the Sun as I type this.   I've liked all of them so far.  Pulp Fiction I'd seen already but I didn't need an excuse to watch it again.  :)  It seems I've passed over The Apartment and it's not on Netflix so I'll have to see if the library has it.  

Goal 17 - Read top 100 novels.  I finished Doctor Zhivago and really liked it.  I think it helped that I had been in Russia - so I sort of had a picture reference in my head when I was reading.  I have just started the first few chapters of For Whom the Bell Tolls.  Not bad so far.

Goal 32 - Make meals from 30 different countries.  A week after we did Turkey, I was looking up recipes and realized I had everything we needed to make the next country; Zimbabwe.  I made Dovi (peanut butter stew) and sweet potato cookies.  I also tried to make cornmeal cake but it inedible.  I baked it for hours and it still was runny.  :/  Oh well.

Goal 80 - Go to the Jelly Belly Museum in Kenosha, WI.  Last Sunday I went there with my son, mom, sister, and niece.  It was great fun and I ate too much candy.  :)

Goal 86 - Make 50 best cookies.  I've made the Petit Lemon Curd Cookies, Chocolate Chip Cookies, and today the Heath Bar cookies.  It's not really helping my weight loss goals, but they taste so good.  I try to make them before going to a party or somewhere so I can bring them all along to share.  :)

I think that's about it for now.  NaNoWriMo is coming up soon but I'm not sure I'll be able to this month.  I suppose I'll try anyway tho.