new year's eve

i don't have an image that properly portrays the goodness that was my new year's eve. we'll come back to that in a moment.

i usually spend new year's eve with my family. laure's family joins my family for an evening of games and food, culminating in sparklers at midnight. it sounds low key, probably. that's because it is. we have a relaxed evening and a lot of fun. this year, however, i had to work on new year's eve and new year's day. living 2.5 hours away, that made being with the family impossible. so, what to do? make an evening of fun in indy, of course.

back to the inadequate photos. i don't know what an adequate photo from last night would be. catching that errant piece of pizza mid flight on its way out of the oven and onto the floor? us laughing like school kids as we went into kroger for no reason other than to buy 20 grapes? weighing and counting the grapes because we only needed 20? (thankfully, we did get some extras since once we got home we realized that we actually needed 24.) watching brian's awesome new year's video? multiple times? sitting around for hours watching youtube videos and listening to snippets of random songs? realizing at 2am that we never opened the champagne at midnight? finally crashing about 90 minutes before i had to be up for work?

we had a great night. and i leave you with the video. i know i'm partial because i took some of the photos, i'm in some of the photos, and i happen to think brian's an amazing artist. but watch it, and try to tell me it's not amazing, okay? ;) may you take the time to reflect on where life has taken you this past year, and may your new year be filled with happiness, peace and joy.

day off wrap up

with the exception of cleaning the office and taking photos at goodwill, the list is done. yup. the laundry is done (i even threw in a third load just for kicks), the dishes are done (i even swapped the christmas dishes for the winter dishes - which are in the dishwasher now), the tree scarf is up (and the neighbor across the street loves it!), the pizza place verified they do indeed offer gluten free pizza every day (and cheddar cheese is definitely an option), my christmas cards are off the tv and i took a three hour nap. oh yeah, it was a good day.

i narrowed my focus for the birthday list. there's no way i can get every goal accomplished by my birthday. i've spent way to much time distracted this year to do that. note: that is not a complaint or even an attempt at an excuse. it's just true, and i'm quite okay with it. as erin said recently, i've done a whole lot that's NOT on the list, and this year has been great. so i've pulled twelve goals that i figure are my best bets. in fairness, most of them are related to cooking/baking. but i had to go with the most likely, ya know? :)

i left in the goal about posting items on etsy. it still scares me. and i'm not sure what i'd post. i've got a few crocheted rose rings sitting around ... sigh. maybe i just need to admit i don't have the focus? i haven't crocheted since before LA. the big secret project isn't even done, yet. meh.

day off to-do list

i'm off work tomorrow, and i've got plans to be productive. that's right. i plan to do more than sleep all day. go me! :)

- finish the laundry (two loads, i think)
- wash dishes/unload the dishwasher
- take photos at goodwill
- sew the tree scarf on
- formulate a plan to maximize success at the birthday list
- clean the office
- call the pizza place
- clear the christmas cards off the tv
- take a nap :)

christmas cards

i figure i have one week to get cards in the mail to be delivered before christmas. one week. so today, i had an idea on how to make them using this stack of black/white photos i've got sitting around. photos that have been sitting around for years. literally, years. how do i know? because the only reason i have the stack is because i got doubles printed when i got the film developed. that's right - they were on film. i haven't shot on film in - that's right - years. so as i'm searching for the HDMI cable that i'm convinced came with my laptop (which i didn't find because it didn't come with my laptop), i find the box that has all my negatives and prints in it. except ... no prints. apparently at some point (the move to here, perhaps?) i tossed them. sigh. one week and i need a new plan.

51 days ... what?!

ummm ... we may have a problem. my birthday is in 51 days. 51 days! and i haven't recapped this list even once. so, at marlana's request, here's a look at how scary this is going to be. :)

1. finish The One With 31 book: done!

2. create a book to track my 32 goals: it's pretty up to date. just a couple of things need to be added - maybe some photos - it's going well.

3. watch all netflix-available Vincent D'Onofrio movies: okay, he's got 41 movies available on netflix. i've seen 12. that means i need to see 39 more in the next 51 days. ummm ... wow.

4. watch half of marlana's movies: i need watch 14 of her movies. i've watched ... drum roll please ... three. yeah.

5. finish watching all netflix-available episodes of The Office: done! easy.

6. watch Law & Order: Trial by Jury: yeah, haven't even thought about this one. but in fairness, i've been watching a lot less tv the past few months.

7. post items on etsy: nope, still too scary. plus, i've not made anything to post except for a few crocheted rose rings.

8. plant vegetables: done! tomatoes, radishes, lettuce, cucumbers, spinach, green beans, squash and asparagus.

9. play every game in the house: HA! i actually made a list of the games in the house. there were 54 when i started the list. i've played nine. and i've added at least two games to the stash.

10. decorate my bedroom: nope. unless the two photos & the cocktail umbrella stuck on the wall count?

11. cut my fabric stash in half: right ...

12. finish a quilt front or back: done! i finished the front of the t-shirt quilt.

13. cut my yarn stash in half: nope. pretty sure i have more yarn now than i did when i started. BUT, i've still been super productive with my yarn arts. i just accumulate as i make new projects.

14. complete a pattern from ravelry: done! several, actually.

15. finish the tree scarf: done! and i'm thinking if it's not too cold tomorrow, i might go put it on.

16. make some jewelry: nope.

17. save money for a stand mixer: currently, no. i started saving money ... but it's all been used for other things.

18. try six recipes from Baked Explorations: halfway there: devil's food cake, angel frosting and grasshopper bars.

19. use my madeleine pan: no, but i do have several yummy looking recipes. :)

20. use my tart pan: done! the thanksgiving pumpkin custard was in my tart pan.

21. make injera: nope.

22. use my ice cream maker: done!

23. make pierogi: mmmm ... pierogi. but, no, i haven't made any.

24. succeed at meringues: HA!

25. eat pizza at Bazbeaux: done! marlana and i went for my birthday.

26. end the year weighing less than i do now: so far so good on this one. it would take more effort than i'm willing to put into it to tell you how much i've lost since my last birthday, but i know it's at least 25 pounds. i've lost about that much in the past 11 weeks.

27. regrow/replace Bill: yeah, bill's dead. and he's not been replaced. so ... yeah.

28. paint Bill's pot: nope.

29. read an autobiography/memoir: nope.

30. fast from the internet for three consecutive days, twice: hahahahahahahaha ... nope.

31. send mail to my nieces: i sent alicia a get well card a couple of months ago. so i'm halfway there.

32. make christmas cards AND send them: nope. but then, i never said they'd be out by christmas, right? :)

so ... yeah. 32 goals, and i've accomplished ... 12. awesome. it's gonna be a busy 51 days. :)

thanksgiving dessert

the oven went out on thanksgiving before i had a chance to finish baking the pumpkin custard tart. i had the tart shell baked, but not the custard. i was ready to toss the shell, but then decided i should at least try it first. i was nervous about it because i'd had to futz with it a lot to make it workable. but it was really tasty! so instead of tossing it, i took it for a drive to brian's today and used his oven to bake the custard. definitely a good choice. so good.

X is for Xylophone

blargh.

that is all.