#35 Send 3 people who aren't related to me a surprise, just because.

Who doesn't love getting a package in the mail?  It is even more fun when you don't expect it.  That is the reasoning behind this goal. 

The first package that I sent was a secret Santa package.  I crocheted  a pink hat for a 7 year old girl that I know.  Her big sister had been stationed in Korea and was not going to be home for Christmas for the first time.  She also has 4 brothers.  I know that she is close to her older sister and was going to miss her.  So I anonymously sent her the package with a note saying that I knew her sister was going to be missing her too and that the hat was pink so that her brothers wouldn't steal it. I did hear through the grapevine that she really liked the hat and wore it often last year.

The second package was to a lady that I meet through Postcrossing.  She lives in Germany.  I sent her a bracelet that I had made.  We have been writing to each other since our first postcard and sending small things back and forth.  She makes Hummel  cards to sell at craft sales with the money going for underprivileged children.

The third package that I sent was to a friends daughter that is studying in England for a year.  I wasn't sure how people across the pond celebrate Halloween, so I got together some decorations and fun toys to send her.  The shipping cost as much as everything in the box did!  She greatly appreciated the thought and had fun with the things that I sent. 

It is so much fun to make someones day.  I will be sending out more packages, who knows maybe you will be the next to get one!  :)

#78 Make a crocheted rug with the material I bought.

My bathroom rug was in terrible shape, I had bought it years ago at a craft sale.  It was woven on a loom.  I bought material to cut into strips and then crochet into a rug like my friend Becky H does.  The rugs are thick and very comfortable for standing on. 

The center of the rug is from the old rug in the bathroom.  I took it apart and then reused the material in the new rug.  The blue is material I bought and then cut into strips.  The plain white ball that you see in the top two pictures is from a bedskirt that was falling apart.  The outer white is actually a polka dotted fabric that I bought.  I love how it turned out and how comfortable it is under my feet.  There is a lot of cush and absorption to it.  It is also very heavy!  I have started a second one made out of t-shirts and a jersey sheet that was wearing out.  It takes a considerable amount of time cutting the fabric into strips but I like the thickness of these rugs.  I will be making more!..

#47 Clean out Jason's Room

When Jason went to college I was going to re-do his room and never got around to it.  Now that he has had his own place in the cities for about 3 years I feel the room is mine to do what I want.  I cleaned it out and rearranged it.  It still has his bed in there which is used for company.  The closet is a disaster, but all of my closets are.  I still need to go through it.  Two thirds of what is in the closet is either Jason's or Jenni's.  Pete helped me repaint the ceiling and I need to do the walls.  It is being used as the daycare nap room now. When I get it painted I will have finished another of my Day Zero projects.  :)

# 21 Start Gardening-Plant or harvest 10 things

I actually had nine of the ten things planted last year.  So this year I tried planting something different altogether.  Here is the list of things I have gotten to grow on my deck.  Lettuce, Radishes, Onions, Jalapeno Peppers, Cilantro, Green Pepper, Mint, Tomato, Kolarobi, Banana Pepper.  The peppers did the best, I guess they like it a little drier.  I didn't much of anything, I have very limited space.

#17 Take 10 book suggestions from people and read them.

This is an easy one for me.  I love to read!  I also joined a book club this spring.  So with two sisters who are librarians and a new book club I have no shortage of suggestions.  I know I read more than these, but these are the ones that have stuck in my head for one reason or another.

Souless by Gail Carriger.  The first in a series that introduced me to the steampunk movement. I liked the mix of vampires, werewolves, and inventors.

50 Shades of Grey by E.L. James.  I read all three of the books.  They were interesting, the second and third seemed like they were more toward the romance genre. I hate romance novels.

The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein. I enjoyed this book although it was very sad.  Don't let that stop you though.  It gives you something to think about.  I like books that make you think.

Grave Matters by Mark Harris  I feel this is a must read for everyone!  It lets you know what goes on with a body after you die and what your options are.  I just wish I would've read it before I had to bury a loved one.

David Copperfield by Charles Dickens  I made it through this book, it was one for my book club.  Very lengthy.  I was told after I was done that Mr. Dickens got paid by the word, so that is why there was so much.......stuff (?).  It was ok.

Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert.  As a general rule the book is better than the movie and this was no exception.  I enjoyed her journey to self discovery.  I just wish I had a job that would let me travel for a year to get myself together.

Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley.  Loved this book!  First the author started writing when he was 70 years old.  His characters are wonderful.  Flavia is delightful, I wish she was my friend growing up.

Dresden Files by Jim Butcher This is actually a series about a wizard in Chicago.  I have read the first 3 books.  Sci-Fi is my favorite genre.  I am delighted to find a new series to devour.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson  I really enjoyed this.  I got to read about Sweden, which at times was a little confusing but still good.  I like mysteries and strong female characters.  This had both.  I am now on the third of the series.

Murder by Peacocks by Donna Andrews.  This is a fun quick read. Mystery with quirky family mixed in.  It is also a series but I haven't had time to find any of the other books.

These are only a few of the books I have read this summer.  I would list more, but I have been on a cleaning spree and gave two large boxes of books away to a high school teacher so that she can use them for her class room.  I hope you get time to read some of these too.

Where have I been?

This summer was especially busy with both of my boys getting married in the month of August.  I had many things to do in preparation.  I made 3 cheesecakes for Jason's Groom's Dinner and 12 cheesecakes for Dan's wedding.  It was a wonderful time and I am very glad to have Michelle and Nicole as my daughter in laws.  Fun moments include...At Jason's Wedding:  The sand ceremony, parasols, the shoe game, cutting the cake with a sword.  At Dan's wedding:  Nicole walking barefoot down the aisle, very personalized vows, Cedric's cartwheel, painting the tree instead of a unity candle. 

Along with the weddings I have also started to date a wonderful man, Pete.  It has been an unbelievable summer with many great memories.  Unfortunately that has left very little time for my Day Zero project.  I have completed a measly 4 projects in the last 7 months.  I know at this point that I will not finish the entire 101 projects.  The experience has been enlightening and I want to continue it in some shape or form.  The things that I have enjoyed the most are Postcrossing  and Geocaching.  I love getting cards from all over the world and not getting just bills in the mailbox isn't so bad either.  Geocaching has been so much fun, I now have a group of friends hooked on it.  There has been talk of doing it as a competition, complete with trophies and everything.

# 93 Rewire/replace 5 outlets in my house 3/3/12

I hate working with electricity.  I also hate it when you plug something in and the plug falls out of the wall.  That is what inspired this goal.  Off I go to Menards to get new outlets.  Who knew that you had to know what amps and volts you need.  I guessed right on the kind I needed.  I guessed wrong on the color that would match the rest of my outlets.  I started with the outlet in Jason's room.  Being paranoid about the electricity thing I turned off the power to the whole house.  The first one went really good.  The people who put them together really cranked the screws on tight.  After the first one I turned the power back on and plugged a nightlight in to make sure it worked and didn't blow anything up.  I did really good until the last outlet.  This outlet is connected to two other outlets and is controlled by a switch.  The replacing went great, but I somehow screwed up the light switch thing.  The outlets work, but the switch does nothing at all. 
I googled what may be wrong with the outlet and discovered that there is a metal tab that needs to be broken off of the new outlet to make the switch work.  I will have to wait until another day to fix this because it is now dark out and I would rather wait to do it in the daylight.  Problem solved and another item crossed off the list.

#5 Do yoga twice a week for four weeks 2/16/12

I have a yoga tape that I like to do.  I don't do it consistently, okay I rarely do it.  I did manage to spent 4 weeks doing the tape twice a week.  I quite doing the tape after the four weeks because I started to go to a fitness club.  I do miss it and wish I had time to do both.  When does it ever slow down? When the weather gets nicer and there is light in the evenings I would like to start walking in the evening.  That would be besides going to the fitness club.  I have two weddings this summer.  :) 

# 41 Make pie crust like my Mom's 2/12/12

I have been working on this for a month or more.  The first attempts tasted ok, but they were a little tough.  I talked to my mom about the recipe and found out that the measurements were a little off.  Once this was fixed the pie crust turned out fantastic. 

I made these pies for a meeting right before Valentines Day.  The people who ate them thought they were fantastic.  I can now say that they passed the test.  This is my last baking project and I am a little sad about that.  I have really enjoyed trying new recipes and perfecting foods that my Mom makes. The bright spot is that my oldest son has asked me to make 20 cheesecakes for his wedding in August.  I am going to try each recipe at least once so that I know the ins and outs of each one.  I will need more taste testers I guess.

#57 Go to an Art Museum 2/4/12

So, my good friend Janet and I planned a trip to the Walker Art Museum.  We managed to talk two of our guy friends (Steve and Glen) into going with us.  I haven't been to the Walker in years, I think the last time I was there was in college.  I met Janet and Glen at Ridgedale (they were coming from St. Cloud) and we drove together.  Janet drove since she grew up in the cities and she has the GPS.  Steve was going to meet us there, he is from Blaine.  We managed to get lost even with the GPS, we were only a couple of blocks off.  Thanks to a "Minnesota Nice" pedestrian we were soon at our destination.  Steve went in a different door than we did and we waited around for a while before we hooked up.
The Walker is larger than I remember it.  We walked around for about 3 hours and still didn't see all of the displays.  The Walker is filled with modern art unlike the Metropolitan Museum which has more traditional forms.  Some of the pieces were very different.  There was one of a box that was made of mirrors and had holes to look into.  That one was very interesting, depending on which wall was behind you and what pieces of art were on the wall, changed how the box looked inside. I was drawn more toward the black and white pieces for some reason.  Steve and Janet sat and watched a video of a McDonalds being flooded. 
After the Walker we went to a small coffee shop and talked for a while because our dinner reservations weren't for another hour.  Dinner was at a brewery and the food was really good.  We sat and discussed the art and other things in life.   It was a very successful outing and I hope that we can do it again sometime. What a great group of friends to go to a museum with. A variety of opinions and tastes.  Thanks Janet, Steve, and Glen for helping me cross this one off my list. 

# 24 Submit a photo to a photo contest 1/24/12

So I feel like I cheated a little on this item.  The photo contest that I submitted the photo to was one through Facebook.  My original idea was to submit one to National Geographic or something like that.  Those competitions cost money and money is in short supply lately.  The facebook contest was free.  The theme was winter.

I didn't win anything.  Which I wasn't surprised about.  It was one of those contests where you get your friends to vote for your picture.  I'm not one to bug my friends to do things like that. 

# 31 Go to a movie by myself 1/20/12

I have been divorced for 17 years now, longer than I was married. Despite that  I have always had trouble walking into certain places by myself; restaurants, bars, movie theaters, church, to name a few.  They seem to be "couple" places.  Or at least a place that someone my age should walk in with a significant other.  Even church, walking in alone bothers me.  I don't know why it should, I always went alone when I was married.  I don't know that I will ever get over the uncomfortable feeling.  To face my fears I decided while writing this list that I should go to the movies by myself.  There have been many movies over the years that I have wanted to go to, but didn't because I had no one to go with.  Some movies are so much better in the theater with surround sound. 
The movie that I chose was "Breaking Dawn, part 1".  I have the other three movies and two of the three I waited to see them until the DVD came out.  It was playing at the State Theater here in town.  The State Theater is commonly known around here as the 'cheap seats'.  The movies are older, but the price for a Friday night movie is only $3.50.  I decided to give myself the entire experience so I got a water and a small popcorn.  It was really weird sitting there by myself waiting for the movie to start.  It felt like everyone was looking at me....why is she alone?  All in my mind, right?
The movie was pretty good.  The book is always better in my experience.  Which to I prefer Jacob or Edward?  I am team Jacob all the way!  The books did a better job of describing the physical attributes of a vampire and a werewolf.  Edward is hard, cold, and can read minds.  Jacob is warm, fuzzy, and loyal.  My thoughts would not be intruded on or twisted out of context.  Besides I like hairy chests!
I think I will be less hesitant to go to a movie by myself next time.  It is fun to go out to a movie once in a while.  I do like to be able to pause when there is an interruption.  But there are less interruptions at a theater.

2012 The beginning of a New Year

New beginnings are sometimes scary and some times a relief.  Or they can be both at the same time.  The beginning of this new year seems to have both of those qualities.  The year 2012 will hold some big changes for me.  I have made an effort to put old hurts and old habits behind me.  It is a relief to leave them in the past.  Both of my sons are getting married this year, I will be adding two new daughters.  At the end of the year my daughter will be graduating from college, all three of my kids will be college graduates and out on their own.  With all of this in mind I set out to make a list of New Year's Resolutions.  Most of them are things that I have been working on already, I just want to step them up a notch.  I realize that I am a work in progress and that I am not perfect.  I just want to make myself better. 

2012 New Years Resolutions

1.  Don't be "THAT" girl.  You know... the girl that every one hates or talks about.  This includes: not gossiping, not overly flirty, apologize when wrong, pretty much treat people the way I want to be treated.  I do this one most of the time, I just want to do it more.

2.  Go on a date.  It's okay you can laugh at this one.  It has been a year and a half since I was in a relationship.  I need to stop being so comfortable in my rut and get out there and talk to people.  I very much doubt that Mr. Right or even Mr. Right-Now  is going to show up on my doorstep.  I need to get outside of my comfort zone.

3.  Take care of my body, which means eating right and exercising.  I have many good years left in me.  I want to be able to enjoy them doing the things I love.  I can start feeling the limitations of an older body.  To be able to go and do when I am 70, I need to take care of what I have now before it is too late.

4.  Forgive and forget, that includes forgiving myself.

5.  Play less games on the computer.  I waste so much time playing games on facebook.  Just think of all the fun things I could be doing instead.

That is my list.  They are very achievable goals.  I hope to review them once a week to make sure that I am still on track.  Thanks for reading my blog in 2011.  And I wish you a very blessed and prosperous New Year!!

# 75 Read the King James Version of the Bible 12/29/2011

To start this goal I went on google search and found www.biblestudytools.com.  I knew that I would need a plan.  The plan is set up so that you will read the Bible in a year.  It has you read from three different books every day.  I have read the bible (Revised Standard Version) before, from Genesis to Revelation.  That was about 10 years ago and it took me 8 months. In comparing the two I like the RSV better.  It is the wording, "thou" and "thy" just sound like they should be there.  I do like that the KJV has everything that Jesus says in red lettering.  I don't know if I will read the entire Bible again, maybe in ten years I will feel the need.  I will definitely pick a different translation.  I feel that it is good to look at the same thing in a different light.

I have my favorite passages:  Deuteronomy 31:6  "Be strong and of good courage, do not fear or be in dread of them:  for it is the Lord your God who goes with you; he will not fail you or forsake you."  Joshua 1:9 and Hebrews 13:5 say the same thing.  These verses have gotten me through very tough times.  I could barely function after my divorce and some days repeating these verses was the only thing that kept me going.  Years have passed since then, but I still come back to these when I am feel like I am facing an impossible task.  It helps to know that I am not alone.

I hope that you have some sort of safe harbor to retreat to when problems seem to overwhelm you.  I am not one to push religious views on someone else.  I have had people try and make me believe or do things that they believe in but I don't...it is not a good feeling.  I would, however, be glad to share with you my church, my beliefs, and my thoughts on God  in a private discussion if you would like.