Writing & Not Much More

Well, November has commenced, so had Nanowrimo. I have written 3 pages. I'm behind by 9. But I'm doing it! I broke through the first barrier of actually getting words on paper. I can do it! Also, I will be participating in Kauffman's FastTrac program. My business plan will be completed by the end of this year! Now, all I need is money to buy/rent land and buy equipment, etc. etc. etc. Sigh. It'll happen. I'm not worried. I'm burned out on AFI movies. I need crappy, horrible, comedy movies. We watched Paul Bart: Mall Cop. It was a good break from all the old movies I've been watching. Ok, I wouldn't say it was "good", but it was what my brain needed at the time. Oh! Yes, I can cross off one more. #92: Make bedroom a tranquil sanctuary. Well, for me it is as close as it's going to get to "tranquil" and "sanctuary". Last week we painted it and put up crown molding & new baseboards. We rearranged the furniture AND removed the TV from the bedroom. It's been a lot easier getting to sleep since then. So I'm going to say "Check!"

Argh! I'm so bad at this!

Good thing I'm only letting down 3 followers. And I believe they've stopped reading by now. I have been able to cross one more off my list, #89: Learn how to save seed. Thanks to my awesome job working on a farm I've definitely learned how to save seeds. And more importantly, which seeds are worth saving or rather which are more efficient & cost effective to buy. What I've been focusing on, mainly because I'm too exhausted when I get home, is knocking off the AFI list. I highly recommend watching most of the movies I've seen. Especially the noirs. It's my new favorite genre! Unfortunately, it took me 4 tries with Chinatown, 2 with Some Like It Hot and 2 with City Lights to watch them all the way through. I kept falling asleep. Not that they were bad movies. They were all pretty good! I just could not fight exhaustion. I'm looking forward to watching more of the older movies on the list. I have also signed up for nanowrimo (National Novel Writing Month). I was hoping my friend would be my writing buddy but due to the fact she's an awesome person and cares about others she does not have the time this year. I think I'll let it slide. There's always two more tries! There's a meeting on Sunday for the KC region, I think I'm going to go. I have no idea what I'm going to write about. Well, I believe that's it for now. Until later. Probably much later with the rate I'm going!

41. Have a garage sale. Check. Just closed shop on the first day of our 3-day garage sale. Almost nonstop traffic between 6:45am - 3:45pm. Sold A LOT. And of course hardly any of the junk that was outside that had to be moved back in. We got lucky, too. They had been forecasting storms for today during the week. We were blessed with beautiful sunny, 80-degree weather. Hopefully that'll continue.

I promised pictures of the chair I bought at a garage sale. I finally reupholstered it. It looks great. The fabric that was on the seat was this hideous mauve quilted fabric. Totally didn't go with the deco-ish style. While taking that crappy excuse for fabric off the seat I noticed the original fabric was still attached. And the colors and texture were an EXACT match to the fabric I picked out!!!! The pattern was different, but man, the resemblance was eery. I must have accurate taste. Below are pictures of 1) the chair and 2) an attempted close-up of the fabric.

Another One Bites the Dust

Yay! I get to cross off #70:No pop for a week!!!! It was a struggle, but once I got past the shakes and headaches it was smooth sailing. I didn't even have pop today. I was tempted but I wanted to see how long I can keep it going. Although I have consumed quite a bit of Kool-Aid lately... I have also decided to change #75: Learn to play the banjo. Do you know how hard it is to find a friggin banjo? And then someone to teach banjo? So I decided I should learn the guitar. I already have two, one acoustic and one electric. That'll save me at least $200 on buying an instrument. And there's a lot more people who can teach the guitar. I'm thinking on my next 1001 list I can add the banjo...or accordion. I really think the accordion is under estimated. Decisions, decisions. *sigh* Other than that, I'm slacking. Except for the returning of library books on time. I need to get crackin'!

Massacre of the Bunnies, Part II...This Time, It's Personal

It happened again. This past Sunday. Only this time it was Zoey. I guess a rabbit made its nest in one of my overgrown raised beds in the garden. In the carrots. (I always thought that was a myth.) Yep. My baby's a killer. Poor Sarah tried to get one but she's not as quick as Miss Zoey. She probably would've just played with it anyways. Zoey was swift with the kill, so they didn't have to suffer too much. She ate half of one. We were going to take the dogs for a walk, and like the dumbass I am I picked up Zoey and left Sarah near the bunnies. "Chomp. Chomp." She had a full one gone in two bites!!!! The half bunny was gone a second later. At least I didn't have to clean it up. It kind of freaked out Eric more than I thought it would. At least I know Zoey's instincts are in tact. There was another close call Tuesday. I guess one took refuge in my cucumber patch. All dogs were near it when Zoey flushed it out. Fortunately for the fluffball my dogs were the three stooges incarnate and kept running into each other. I swear I heard one of them go, "Nyit, nyit, nyit...soitenly." I finally purchased some fabric for the chair I bought at a garage sale. JoAnn's had their home/upholstery fabric on sale 60% off! It was a hard decision to make. I think I have a textile addiction. Yarn, fabric. It'd be like a gambler going into a casino. But I'm taking it one day at a time. Oh, and I have hardly any money. That helps keep me from spending any. But I couldn't pass up a sale that good. And I only bought what I needed. Yay, me! As for my list...I don't think I've accomplished anything else. I'm doing really well on my library book returns. Again, helps that I have no money to buy books. Hopefully next time I'll have something to cross off!!

Something Corny To Tell You

I GREW CORN!!!!! My neighbor said it wasn't going to happen. That the raccoons were going to get it. But I did it! It's not your average run-of-the-mill sweet corn. It's a dwarf heirloom variety...and blue. I haven't eaten any yet, and frankly I don't care if it's good or not. I GREW CORN! Now I just need to learn how to save the seed and then I can cross one more thing off my list. Also exciting (well, for me at least)...my tomatoes are starting to ripen!! I have over 30 plants. I'm hoping I have enough to do some canning and get a couple jars of sauce for the winter. I've been canning a lot of what I get from the farm. So far we have done 3 Qts of Strawberry Lemonade concentrate, 8 Strawberry Jams, 8 Strawberry/Raspberry Jams, 6 Dilly beans and today I'm planning on some pickles. I believe I might also pickle my carrots. For some reason my crisper doesn't like to do it's job. I've got limp carrots after a couple days. Not cool. In regards to items on my list...I am continuing to work in my artist's journal. I actually have a project I'm working on for someone! Yay! I don't expect any compensation since it's for fundraising but at least I'll have something to add to my portfolio. Also, I've been brainstorming on ideas for short stories and what I'm going to write in November for nanowrimo (http://www.nanowrimo.org/). I figure if I don't accomplish that this year I'll still have two more Novembers. I've also brought home some photo albums of my grandma's to scan in. I'm going to try to make books for my cousins and uncles. It's a big undertaking and it might take me the rest of my 1001 days to do it. She took A LOT of photos! I started asking her about her past when I started the 101 things project back in February. Unfortunately in a few short months she has gone from bad to the worst...she can no longer speak or do anything on her own. I don't know how much verbal history will be in this book, but it will be packed with photos. I am hoping my great aunts will be able to give me some stories of my grandma and her family growing up. It just goes to prove that life is short and time slips between our fingers. Growing up I always asked her about her life. Now I wish I would've written it down.

I'm on a roll

I'm crossing off #38. Go to Anthropology & art museums at KU...only there is no anthropology museum. It's the Natural History Museum. But it's pretty much anthropological exhibits. I highly recommend taking time to visit it. Only don't go when there's a group of 50 six & seven year olds. The noise can be deafening. My favorite part about the museum was the 3rd floor - paleontology and native species of Kansas. Did you know there used to be saber-tooth cats and mammoths in Kansas?!!!! Yeah, AWESOME! Really, you should go check out this place. We also went to the Spencer Museum of Art. Not as exciting as the history museum. Maybe I was just exhausted. Or maybe it was the dang docent following us around like we were going to jack a painting. It just wasn't as fun and exciting...that was until the power went out for a few seconds. Pitch black. Of course that guy was right behind us so it made it a bit creepy. We were just about to head up to the third floor but you could only get to it by elevator. We decided to say we'd seen enough. The last thing I wanted was to get stuck on an elevator. Especially if that creepy guy followed us onto it. Overall it was a good little day trip. Highly recommended. And if you go, stop in at Local Burger (9th & Vermont, East Lawrence exit, one/two blocks south of the river). This place is YUMMMMY!!! They use local and organic ingredients. And they have a list on the wall of all the farms that they buy their produce from... perhaps one day my farm will be on their wall! (Try the buffalo burger with cheddar and bacon.)

Two Down...98 More to Go

Well, I get to cross two more off my list! Yay! While driving home last week I passed a garage sale that had a lot of furniture. I found the cutest chair! I now have to find some awesome fabric for it to reupholster the seat. I'll post a picture once it's done. AND...I had my cousin dye my hair blonde. It's not all over blonde but more than not. Unfortunately my hair is always pulled back unless I'm going somewhere...and even then. BUT, it looks good! I might have to go all blonde. Once again, I'll post a photo. It's really unfortunate that my laptop monitor went out. I need to get that fixed. It's putting a damper on keeping up with blogging and emails.

Well poey!

I really hate that my laptop screen decided to stop working. It's putting a damper in me getting this blog accomplished. It's been over a month!! I might as well start making a list of charities I am going to donate to for items not completed.

This past weekend I drove out to Dodge City, KS to see my nomadic friend, Sarah. Had a great time. Saw some beautiful scenery. Learned some history about KS. And found out why people got the hell out of Dodge....

IT STINKS!!!!

Behind me are just a few of the feedlots. There are more cows than humans in Dodge thanks to these industrial feedlots. Actually, there are more cows in Dodge than humans in the whole state of Kansas! But, like I said, I had a great time. It helps that Sarah has a major travel addiction which has given her the ability to be a good tour guide. We went to the Boothill Museum, a replica of what Dodge would have looked like back when it was "the wickedest little town in the west". Watched a shootout. Found out thanks to an ignorant little shithead that "Indians" were the first drug addicts. Normally I'd say something to point out the stupidity of such a racist argument but there were a lot of Nascar shirts. And those people scare me. (I guess that was a bit of a racist comment in itself). I settled on giving the child's father one of my famous evil looks that quickly stopped him from egging on his child. Ah....Kansas!

We also got to see some ruts from the Santa Fe trail. Once I figured out what I was looking for it was pretty awesome. Whenever I drive through Kansas I always have to wonder how it must have been for the settlers. And how similar some of the landscape is to this day. Below is a picture of the ruts. Ok, well, you can't really see them. I guess you'll just have to go to Dodge to see it for yourself.

They're to the right in the picture towards the top of the prairie. They kind of look like waves.

Saturday night we trekked over to Greensburg. I have the utmost respect and admiration for the people of that town. It's been two years and it still looks devastated to a degree. We went to see a Celtic guitarist play at their new arts center. It is the only LEED certified building in Kansas. It looks out of place but it's awesome. And the people we talked to from there were all nice and open about their experience. Words really cannot express what it felt like being there.

Oh, and on my way to Dodge I stopped at Oz Winery in Wamego, KS. They have some gooooood wine. Well, the three I tried were good. They were out of a lot of their varieties. I guess I'll have to go back. Wendy, add it to your list. More and more wineries are popping up within an hour of the metro. So I think I'll be able to cross that one off soon.

Well, I guess that's it. Oh, I'm going to dye my hair blonde here soon thanks to my cousin Kelly. I'll be able to cross that one off my list. Yay!

Brain Fart

I got an artist's journal today. On clearance. I'm cheap. I thought of making one to make it even more "creative" but it would've cost more money. I think I have artist's block. More like artist's coma. My creativity is alive somewhere in the recesses of my mind and surface briefly here an there. A little movement to give hope. But when I go to interact with it, it lies still and motionless. I need to revisit my list. I'm starting to forget what I'm supposed to be doing...

When will the rain end?!

Getting closer to getting rid of all non-organic cleaning agents. Thanks to my boss at the farm I now know a recipe for an all purpose cleaner that will be waaay cheaper than buying any from the store. I've also been reading some books that have some recipes for other types of cleaners. Have nothing else to say. I have very little energy to put towards knocking a few off the list. Did have the desire to do a painting the other day. Unfortunately I was not home and by the time I got home I was pooped. And all this rain doesn't help. I just want to sleep or read. Tomorrow is First Friday. A friend from high school has an opening that we are going to. Perhaps we should have dinner at YJ's or another place that was listed on Diners, Drive Ins & Dives... That way I can feel I accomplished something.

Ichi, Ni...Perhaps 3?

Went to Stix in the Legends Friday for a friend's birthday. It's an Asian/ Hibachi style restaurant where they grill your food in front of you. Not a great place for someone with a shellfish allergy. The chef tosses a small piece of shrimp to each person and they try to catch it in their mouths. I got to sit out that round. Yay allergies! But I had a good time. One ethnic restaurant closer to completing # whatever that was. Debate: Jazz Cajun restaurant. Does that count as ethnic? Somebody (not you Eric) let me know what you think. I'd like to give a shout out to my Aunt Bea! Hollaaaa!

Massacre of the Bunnies

Dang it. I never keep up with anything. If I make two postings in a week and skip one week could that still count? I mean, what if nothing happens in a week? Like this week. I didn't accomplish jack. I was going to try to participate in an Easter egg hunt but my sister wouldn't let me wake up my niece. I didn't want to ruin the other kids' fun. Although one of my young cousins is taller than me now, at age 12. I hate being short. So, I have two more chances of doing an Easter egg hunt or else we're doing one on Thanksgiving 2011. Which is probably what will happen. Massacre of the bunnies, you ask? Do you really want to know? Job hazard. Big dog. Little bunny. Two cats. Yummy bunny. Squeak, squeak. Not the best day on the job. But I guess they won't be eating the cabbage. OH! Yes! I did get closer to crossing off #60: 5 ethnic restaurants... German. The Rhineland Restaurant in Independence. "Es war gut." (It was good). AND I'm still working on #71: Finish Pimsleur's German lesson. The food is really good there. Definitely try it out!

Finally...

I get to cross something off my list. #33: Plant a tree. I actually planted about 12. Pears & apples. Yay. I also planted some grapevines. Catawba. A grape that makes some great wine. Yum. I can't wait until I get to eat fresh fruits & veggies. I also decided how I am going to amend #88: Open Roth IRA... It will now be to detox the house and (almost all) toiletries. I say almost all because, unless you have used natural/ organic deodorant then you just don't know. Sorry Tom's. I'm not the only one. I might give Nature's Gate a chance, but definitely wait until after the farming job is over. I can just imagine trying to drive home in August after working 9 hours in the heat & humidity. It's a long drive home. I'd probably suffocate myself and cause a 10 car pile up on I-35. Once again, I am doing the world a favor by continuing to use Dove. I'll take that nomination for a noble prize, please & thank you.

Roth IRA

One of my "to do" is to open a Roth IRA and make 6 contributions per year. I spoke with someone at my bank yesterday. You have to have $1000 to open one. By the time I have $1000 it will be when the 1001 days are over. I need to ammend this number unfortunately. I don't know what to change it to. Any ideas?

Wednesday I went to Topeka with my aunt, cousin, her three boys and my husband. Met up with my sister and we went to the zoo. It was fun even though it was brisk and blah. I unfortunately had to yell (not really yell) at a bully kid that pushed my little cousin in the face. A few minutes later I heard the little shithead telling his friends "She told me not to put my hands on kids I don't know". I whipped around and told him "You're right I did because you need to learn you can't push people you don't know." Yeah, I'm going to be banned from zoos pretty soon. I better take Isabelle to the other two zoos before they send out a notice. Why can't parents watch their children? And raise them so they aren't douche bags in training? After we made it through the rest of the zoo without any more altercations we went to Bobo's Drive In, which was featured on Diners, Drive Ins & Dives. It was good. It's hamburgers like that that make you realize fast food restaurants use crap for their burgers. If you're ever in T-Town, I recommend you stop by.

I knew this would happen

Soooo...the screen on my laptop no longer works. I knew something like this would happen. At least I have a computer geek for a husband and he rigged up a monitor to my laptop. Now I'm just waiting for my car to break down. Watched #1 on AFI's list, Citizen Kane. It was good. I wouldn't consider it my favorite movie, but it was good. I also made bread and gave a loaf to my neighbors last week. I saw them yesterday so either it was edible or they gave it to their cats. Still, cannot cross off anything from my list. Getting close though, getting close.

Do-It-Yourself

I'm in a do-it-yourself mood lately. Maybe it's the list. I'm determined to build a base for our bed that has storage cubbies along with a headboard. I went to Schutte lumber on the Boulevard today. They have exotic woods. They aren't cheap but I figure it'd be cheaper to make something with it myself than buy something pre-made. I might be forced to perform another do-it-yourselfer...dying my hair blonde. Apparently my dear friend & stylist is against the idea. I'm trying to talk her into it. I've threatened to do it myself. I saw her quiver. I think I'm breaking her down. Still nothing I can completely cross off my list. Sigh...

Ammendment Numero Dos

I am ammending #55. I looked online at the places they've gone and there are several in KC alone. I'm going to up it to 10. Yes 10!! I do realize that making this change might, just might, affect my accomplishing #67, Hit Goal Weight. I'm willing to sacrifice this goal in order to stimulate the economy by buying food. We'll see. Maybe I can do both. It's possible. I'm sure some of those diners offer salads...

Progress, or Lack There Of

I'd like to say I've finished one thing off my list. But I haven't. I have worked towards completing some things. Watched another movie off the AFI list...One third of the way done (including movies I've already seen). Taught myself how to make a granny square so I'm getting closer to creating an afghan. Other than that, nada. Oh, I threw away some crap taking up space in my house. Hopefully I will have this place decluttered within a year. Hopefully. I have made one ammendment. It is to #87. I realized...I never have cash. How am I going to put 25cents a day into a piggy bank?! Instead I am going to donate $1 to charity for each item on my list not completed. I think it's a good ammendment. Unless I finish all items on my list, which I doubt will happen. Especially at the rate I'm going!

Falcons and Woolf and Slumdogs, Oh my!

This past Saturday we went through the AFI's 100 greatest movie list and added the movies I have not seen to our Netflix list. And there's this new fandangled technology where we can watch it through the Playstation through the internet. So we got to get started on watching movies! Yay! The Maltese Falcon and Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf. LOVED The Maltese Falcon. Why? Because there are some good one liners. And who knew that boinking your partner's wife was an okay subject in movies back then. Love Noir. I recommend it. Now, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf...that's another story. I didn't hate it, but, we didn't know what the hell was going on. We actually, the nerds we are, had to look up summaries on line. I will say, Elizabeth Taylor, wow, actresses could learn a lot from her role in that movie. Totally unrelated to my list...we saw Slumdog Millionaire Sunday. AMAZING! I know why it won so many awards. If you have not seen it you are missing one of the best movies I've seen in years. See it, see it, see it! Back to my to do list...Can't wait to watch more movies on the AFI list, especially the older ones. Hopefully they are as entertaining as the Maltese Falcon.

The Ultimate Oxymoron

Sooo...My first day was yesterday. Woke up early. Had energy. Looking forward to start on my list. After I spent some time with the lovely people at the DMV and made some copies I went home to start my list. I cleaned for 5 hours instead. I told myself it was a way to warm up and get the blood going. Maybe it was, but honestly, it was early procrastination. I can say I made small steps to finish a few items on my list. I went to my crochet class last night. That will help me crochet an afghan...eventually. I'm more likely to look up the origins of the words "afghan" & "crochet" before I finish the damn thing.

Dates set, list done

I spent several hours trying to come up with 50 to do items. It's harder than one might think. I looked at others lists on http://www.dayzeroproject.com/ which helped. There were some good ones out there. I hope no one minds I am going to use them for my own. I have decided on starting this Thursday, February 26th. That makes my end date Thursday, November 24th, 2011 - Thanksgiving!

Starting something new

Thanks to my friend, Wendy, I am inspired to take on the challenge of doing 101 things in 1001 days. I am still figuring out everything I am going to do and when I am going to start. So far, I have the following... milk a goat/cow/sheep go fishing 5xs w/in 5mos learn to crochet learn to spin yarn sew a purse sew a dress start a blog and make 1 entry a week for at least 6 months enter art into a judged show finish business plan paint purple room new color hit goal weight plant a tree take a road trip to the Rockies create a kid's coloring book compete in a scrabble tournament make curtains learn to make cheese pay off credit card debt start writing a book about my dad & family for Isabelle (my neice) Swim in the ocean Got to Portland, Oregon Ride the train to St. Louis Take Isabelle to 3 zoos Learn to make prime rib I am sending out a request for more ideas. I hope to have a final list in the next week along with my start/end dates.