The Goat

Sunday, December 06, 2009

900

I've published 900 blog posts as of this one!

I've been blogging every day (with the exception of two or three misses) since the 29th of March 2008. In November of 2008 I joined the National Blog Posting Month big annual event and I have continued to join in every month ever since. I set a goal last November to post every day until the end of November 2009. I officially missed one day a few months back, which really bugged me. I wanted to have a perfect streak of 13 months in a row of blogging. Ah well.

This next year I will strive, once again, to blog every day because I enjoy the heck out it, but I'm not going to put as much pressure on myself like I did this last year. I hope to continue posting my Photo of the Day M-F and by golly, I'm going to upgrade this blog.

I'm going to start this more relaxed attitude after I get through the December NaBloPoMo. It just makes sense to ge through the end of the year. :)

I made some Kookie Brittle this afternoon and some potatoes au gratin both of which I photographed and will be writing up posts for them. My Secret Santa recipient received her gift yesterday and blogged about it today! I got my tree up and decorated and Tom and I finally finished off the last of the Thanskgiving turkey on Friday. It's been a very good day.

Happy 900 to me!

I hope your Sunday has been spectacular!
Kristin

Saturday, December 05, 2009

My first Christmas

Me.
December 1966
My very first Christmas. I was 2 months old.
I'm still pretty much that pale and washed out and I still love to stare at Christmas trees.
(you can click on the photos to enlarge them)

That's my Mom.
She was 21 years old in this photo.
If she were to put tinsel on a tree again, she would hold it exactly as she is in the photo.
Only one to three strands per branch and the tinsel must hang straight.
It was important to that the tinsel hung straight.
She no longer places tinsel on the tree.

This is the finished tree. My Father is holding a football... I mean me. I'm not sure what happened to the color in this photograph. I tried to fix it, but I don't have enough mad photoshop skills yet.

This was the base housing at K.I.Sawyer Air Force base in Marquette, MI.

I always have to laugh a little bit when I think that I was born in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. I'm a yooper. There is a yooper dialect, but I didn't take that with me. I was four when we left and moved down below to Lansing, MI.

I found this little Yooper creation story on the Finding refuge in you blog. It's a hoot!

In da beginning dere was nuttin, see

Den on da first day God created da U.P., eh?

On da second day He created da partridge, da deer, da bear, da fish, an da ducks ya know

On da third day He said, “Let dere be YOOPERS to roam da U.P.”

On da fourth day He created da udder world down below and on da fifth day He said,” Let dere be TROLLS to live in da world down below.”

On da sixth day He created ‘DA BRIDGE’ so da TROLLS would have a way to get to Heaven, see.

God saw it was good and on da seventh day He went huntin!!

Yoopers are those that live in the U.P.
Trolls are those that live below the bridge.
Fudgies are those that live or travel to Mackinac Island.

I didn't realize this would turn into Michigan trivia, but that happens whenever I talk about my early childhood.

Enjoy!
Kristin

Hi Ann in the U.P.!!!

Friday, December 04, 2009

POTD - Santa

Santa - by Kristin Corlett

This is a vintage Christmas Tree stand. I hadn't recalled ever seeing one of these before and there were three of them in this particular antique mall. I found this in Jacksonville, FL.

Enjoy!
Kristin

Friday Fragments

Mrs. 4444, from Half-Past Kissing Time, hosts Friday Fragments each week. It's a great excuse to get all those little snippets that gather in the brain and don't seem enough for one post but together they can make one fun blog post! I love to have you smile when you come over to visit. I hope I've done so! Please visit Mrs. 4444's Fragmented post so you can find even more severely fragmented posters like me.

We got a new button this week! Here's what the graphic will look like next week at the top of the FF post.

*•-:¦:-•:*''''*:•-:¦:-•*

Last week in my Friday Fragments I said that I had been married for 7 years. Ooops. That isn't right. I've been married for 8 years. Tom and I have been together since Dec 23rd, 1994, married June 23rd 2001 and by next year I will truly have forgotten (again) if he likes pumpkin pie. I'll probably still think we've been married just 7 years. That's OK. I'm not sure how old I am either.

*•-:¦:-•:*''''*:•-:¦:-•*

I found myself Googling how to spell the raspberry noise. It seems to be a fairly popular question! I finally spelled it pthhhhbt

*•-:¦:-•:*''''*:•-:¦:-•*

I cannot read blogs that have a black/dark background. If I really like that blog, then I read it only in my Google Reader. I usually don't leave a comment on their blogs because it is so hard for me to handle the dark background and the white/light colored text, even for the short time it takes to comment. I feel bad, but if I go to a new blog that has a very dark or black background I just close it without even investigating whether or not it was worth clicking to it.

*•-:¦:-•:*''''*:•-:¦:-•*

Spiders have taken residence in my car. I think it was a whole nest because all of the spiders that I've spied have been the exact same - they are these ivory colored (almost clear) spiders and I've killed half a dozen of them already in my car. Each time I get in my car there seems to be a new web from my steering wheel to the window. ewwwww! I thought I finally had them all because there hasn't been a new web in a few days, but there was one there today. Ugh.

*•-:¦:-•:*''''*:•-:¦:-•*

speaking of cars. I have a sunglasses holder in my car. It holds one pair of glasses. I just don't like to put the three pair that I usually have in the car in that space so I turned that space into something else. It now holds pens and sharpies. When I need a pen I reach up, click the magic door and down comes the pocket with pens! I always have one handy and if I drop the pen while trying to write and drive (I cannot lie) there is another within reach.

*•-:¦:-•:*''''*:•-:¦:-•*

I am going to be making Kookie Brittle this week. If I haven't done it already, please be on the lookout for an awesome recipe. (I made the dough tonight! I'll be baking it in the next day or so.)

*•-:¦:-•:*''''*:•-:¦:-•*

I sent off my Secret Santa package today and I even managed to send out the Everyday Food magazines that some Random Cool Chick offered to take off my hands. Although I sent the EF books off as media mail because they really were too expensive to send parcel post. (I'm a cheap skate sometimes) but I bet they will arrive much sooner than the 2-3 week time line I was given. I wrapped them in some attention getting paper. Nothing obscene mind you, just attention getting.

*•-:¦:-•:*''''*:•-:¦:-•*

I had to slip in a few printables and projects.

Kids Piggy Bank made out of a spice jar & some cool printable labels at Givers Log.

Hanukkah Round Up and a Kids Christmas Round Up at One Pretty Thing. It's a fantastic site for all things DIY, crafty, printable and tutorial. Love this place.

*•-:¦:-•:*''''*:•-:¦:-•*

I hope you have a fabulous weekend!
Kristin

Thursday, December 03, 2009

Bad Bunny

My neighbor parks this Monte Carlo in the spot next to mine in our garage. It's always so clean and shiny. I'm petrified that my drivers side door might someday swing too far and touch his car. It's just nerve wracking.

...but bunny wanted to sit on the top, so I let her :)

My friend Bob, who is waiting impatiently for Bunny to make her move to New Hampshire, really loves this particular coffee shop that we have here in Jacksonville. There used to be one next door to my place, but they sold it and moved to a new location. I found the new location the other day.

Bunny decided she wanted to go there.

Yep, that's its name...and there is a little donkey next to the name in case you thought it might be a bad word or something *snicker snicker

Bunny also wanted to go inside and see if it was as much fun as the old place. Ehhh, not so much, but she did enjoy getting her photo taken with the t-shirts and coffee mugs.

Bunny will indeed be making her way to New Hampshire.
She still has a few more stops to make.

Onward!
Kristin

POTD - On the River

On the River - by Kristin Corlett

I took a few dozen photos of this chair the other day. I really liked two of the photos - this one and the more abstract one I posted the other day called Loops. I still can't get over this frilly looking chair sitting out on a sea wall. This was taken on one of my walks through the Riverside neighborhood in Jacksonville, FL.

Enjoy!
Kristin

Wednesday, December 02, 2009

Goodbye NBU

This message may not mean anything to you all - but I have to post it. It's what I've been working on for the past two days and it's something that's near and dear to my heart.

I've been known as Kirby for many years now. It was my first username and in the organization that I talk about below, I was just known as Kirby. NBU stands for New Body University and it was created to help people lose weight according to the Michael Thurman Six Week Body Makeover Program. We created a virtual game where we had the University, dorms, Resident Advisors (RAs), students, a faculty that included a Provost, Dean of Student Activities, Stats, News, Food Services and a Quad to have fun. All of these things exist in a message forum, so it's very interactive. NBU is going to continue, but I gave my resignation to the faculty last night. This message below is what I'm telling the students tomorrow.

I think that's about all you need to know to understand the note below, but if you have any questions, please ask.

Have a great day.
Kristin

Hello NBU!

I'd like to thank you all for being a part of another successful NBU. We wouldn't be the incredible New Body University without the Students and the Volunteers that help run this program.

We've come a long way from our first NBU semester 5 years ago. We saw a need, created the University idea, wrote it all down, hashed it out, then proceeded to have several sleepless nights getting NBU started. We've now spent these 5 years tweaking the curriculum so that it was fun and educational. It's exciting being a part of something so unique.

Who had ever heard of a virtual university to help someone lose weight? Who would volunteer to lead a virtual dorm? Who would actually want to play games and take pretend vacations?

We Did!!

I've been a part of Provida & the 6WBMO since March of 2002. I've been voicing my opinions since the day I got to Provida and thankfully I found a place to put all of that hot air to good use. I was among many who helped create NBU and all of the people who have come through its doors has helped create me.

We've had hundreds of RAs, thousands of students, and a few million laughs and giggles. I've probably sent a few thousand PMs and received just as many. I've sent many messages of encouragement and a few to point out the rules of play. I remember one student telling me she was afraid to open the PM I sent to her because she thought she was in trouble! I hope for the most part my messages were received without pain.

In the early days I was the only one who wrote the challenges, but thankfully somewhere along the line I accepted help with them and our wonderful volunteer faculty started creating challenges, too. Since I had given away my challenge writing job, I started playing around with the NBU format. Through the years we came up with badges, Pirate week, structured DTD challenges, additional theme weeks and questions of the day. I started writing Kirby Mail and even had my turn at running a dorm or two for RAs who were on extended vacations. I learned quickly that I was not RA material. I'm MUCH better being behind the scenes, making my appearance every so often, but helping to keep the wheels spinning in the background.

Why am I getting all nostalgic?

I'm trying to let you all know how much I love NBU and how much it has profoundly affected my life. How the friendships I've made and the work that I've done has made me a much better person. I never thought I could do anything truly significant and now that I look back, NBU is very significant and I helped create it! Being the Dean of Student Activities in a virtual world has meant the real world to me.

I'm trying to say that I've decided to leave NBU.

It's a heartbreaking decision and one that I've struggled with, but one that needs to happen. There is a season for everything and I do believe that my season with NBU has ended. I can't imagine not having NBU in my life or having all of these fabulous women in my life (there's even been a few guys in NBU, so guys, too) but I need to stretch my legs in a different direction.

I made one of my dearest friends because of NBU. Rachel (NBU Provost brwright) has been one of the best mentors and friends I've ever known. She taught me how to lead, how to delegate, how to be firm and to keep going every day, no matter what. I taught her her a few things, too, I'm sure. She has been a friend to me like no other.

I've met so many wonderful people in NBU. Some of these folks will be friends long after NBU. I have seen the world through the eyes of the students and RAs. I've read about loves and loss, children and spouses, heartaches and successes. You've taken us on your vacations, attended weddings and enjoyed reunions. What a cool world we live in.

I thank you all for being a part of something that was so incredibly important. I also want to thank those of you who will never read this message because you left years ago, you were an important part of NBU and an important part of me.

Thank you, everyone.

Thank you.

I'm really going to miss being a part of this wonderful volunteer organization.

We always are looking for people who want to be a part of NBU, so if you'd like to volunteer to RA, ARA, write challenges, or have any other ideas, please contact your RA. You will not regret being a part of NBU. I will never regret it. Ever.

Kirby
Dean of Student Activities
...for the last week

POTD - Holly Snowman

Holly Snowman - by Kristin Corlett

I found this snowman near the exit of an antique mall. He was damaged and broken, but looked nice standing next to this tree. I was already in my car pulling out of the parking lot when I spotted him, backed up and reparked the car. I then got out and took a few dozen photos of him.

Enjoy!
Kristin

Tuesday, December 01, 2009

101 Things to do in 1001 days.

I've been wanting to recap/update this list for some time and today is that day. In some ways I have been burying my head in the sand not looking at the list because I knew some of the items on the list were goners or total failures. Now that I've gone through the list and crossed off those items that are the dead ones (or ones that no longer make sense for me to do) I find that I'm not doing too bad.

Below is the original post with the updates. My current commentary will be highlighted. Comment on my successes, my utter failures, my upcoming challenges or if you plan on doing something like this...or if I prompted you to get your laundry put away :) Enjoy!!

I may edit this a bit more tonight and tomorrow - but here it is so far.

101 Things to Do in 1001 Days

I found out about this from someones blog and traced it back to Day Zero - Home of the 101 Things to Do in 1001 Days.

There I found how to write my own list, what the criteria should be and also how to stay focused. Focus, boy do I need focus. You can add your own 101 things to do in 1001 days, if you have it posted on a blog and you can also use the handy dandy little calculator to figure out when your 1001 days are up. I have found that if I start my 1001 days on January 21st, 2008 that the end date is my birthday in 2010. What a great incentive to get my list completed. To see when my birthday is, go to Things to Do #101.

I may edit this to get things into categories, but for right now, I'm going to just list my 101 Things to Do in 1001 Days.

Green is "In Progress" - Like a traffic light - don't stop, just keep going.
Purple is completed! My favorite color.

1. Get MRJ online and visible
This is my www.medrestjax.com website that I use for my condo rentals. It needs an overhaul, but it is up and available and it gets used, so that's great!

~~2. Get the rest of the websites up by the end of April 2008 -- StomperNet Seminar is in April, so get going on this... get going...get going) I need to reevaluate this one.~~

~~3. Watch one Video or Tutorial on SN every week (Bonus points for multiple days in a row!) (143 weeks)~~

2 & 3 - Utter failure. That's all I'm going to say about that lol

4. Read MAC OSX Missing Manual guide
It's truly like reading an instruction manual. I learned a lot in the first chapter and didn't read any more of it. I should though because there is so much more I'd like to do with my MAC and it's all in that book.

~~5. Do one business action a day - write it in notebook or in blog~~
This was originally to go with #2 & #3 - I could probably pull this out of the utter failure status and put it toward the photography part of my life. I think I'll just leave it where it is and add in a whole new section to deal with the photography.

6. Read Dr. Oz books - I have 2 (I am in the process of reading the first one.)(11/08/08)I have read through most of both books, but not quite finished yet. Finished :)

~~7. Get to first goal weight - :) Written down in secret book, by December 2008~~
~~8. Get to second goal weight - :) Also written down in secret book, by February 2009~~
This is not utter failure, but I've had some struggles. I have decided to take this off the block because my goal now is to keep my diabetes in control and weight loss is a part of that.

9. Walk once a day 5 times a week (143 weeks)(yep yep)

10. Stop drinking all carbonated beverages as of day one. (I've craved carbonation since the day I wrote this down. I used to go months, now it has been just days. Lets start again, Groundhog Day, 2008. 1st day - 5/3/08 nix that, I've had a ton of soda lately. Working on the flip house has me craving it. Two sodas a week is about my average. I'll keep it as an ongoing project.) (11/8/08) I haven't had any carbonation in weeks.

11. Stop drinking caffeine as of day one.(I keep buying something that has caffeine in it. I must stop, caffeine and my body hate each other - pay attention)(11/8/08) I haven't had any caffeine in two months at least.
I drink a soda every month or so. I consider this to be a done deal and nothing I will be going back to drinking on a daily or even weekly basis.

~~12. Swim once a week - Summer 2009 May - Sept~~
I was having a lot of trouble with my skin (and still am) and the chlorine in the pool made the condition worse - so this is an out. bummer

~~13. Plan 2 months of dinners~~
I've actually planned the dinners but a lot of them didn't get made. I guess making the dinners wasn't part of the "to do" so technically this could be a win! but I knew what I wanted and I also know that this isn't going to happen.

14. Try 2 new recipes in a 6 month period (6 - 6 month periods)

I did this last year. Most of the recipes I took to the potluck dinners :) and I've been trying new things much more often. This was a good challenge.

15. Pay It Forward at least once a year - I gave some gals in the grocery store line several dollars to pay for their food since they were short on cash.

~~16. Write in Gratitude Journal for 365 (purchased New Years Day and am current) 05/03/08 I am not current. ugh (11/08/08) still not current. I will have to just start again in the same book.~~
This was just making me feel bad that I wasn't writing in this book. I think writing my blog and writing in my journal is enough writing on daily basis.

17. Create 2 Challenges for NBU in 2008 - done done done :)

18. PM at least one person a day during each NBU session.

#17 I finished - #18 I did real well for the first year, but this year I didn't do as much. I will no longer be a part of NBU as of the end of the month, so this project is done and I'm pleased with the outcome.

19. Get dressed to shoes 5 days a week by 9am (30 days in a row - Bonus points for continuing the practice)
I'm pretty good about this. I did the 30 days in row. That was a very productive month! I should probably get back into the habit...I could also probably go to bed earlier, too and that would help get me up and dressed by 9:30!

20. Clean off coffeetable each Monday. ( I still haven't even started this one 2/2/08, I just have to keep remembering that this is a project lasting 1001 days and I am building a foundation)
I've been really working on this lately. I had forgotten it was on my list. I need to make this a daily event and not just once a week - my coffeetable can get totally out of hand in an hour.

21. Write to Zora twice a month (05/03/08 More like every three weeks - I need to get this into a habit.) I am pretty good at once a month. I need to step this up.

I did real well for about 6 months, but have failed miserably. I need to start back up again because Stella is going to be old enough soon to enjoy getting mail, too and I want to do this for her, too.

~~22. Send 5 care packages for absolutely no reason at all.~~
I've been overthinking this one. I can't quite figure out what makes a care package - who should get one - how much money should I spend on it - and on and on. I'm striking it out to take the pressure off, but I may reinstate it now that I don't have to worry about getting it finished :) I'm doing reverse psychology on myself!

23. Send Thank You cards (handwritten) to people for unexpected things. I sent Thank You cards to all of the people that met us at the Cafe in Maywood, NE.

24. Empty Storage Unit (Done!!!!!) Saving $190 a month!!!

~~25. Empty one garage and sell it by the end of 2009~~

26. Photograph household inventory.

27. Photograph condo inventory (all three units) done!

28. Take a daily self-portrait for a year (join the Flicker group that does this?)(2009, 2010) I have been thinking of doing this starting in January 2010
I thought this might be fun, then I thought I'd hate it. Then I thought that it was just a way to document my life and then I thought I was totally crazy for even thinking about doing this. Now I want a tripod so I can set up in the same spot each day. I think I want the tripod more than I want the self portrait every day, but this activity is still on table.

29. Learn to Meditate (begin in 2008)

30. Meditate every day for a month (start this in 2009)(Bonus points for continuing the practice after the month)
I still think I might like to do this...but I'm obviously moving the date to 2010.

31. Go to an art exhibit or gallery opening 5 different times

32. Put coins into an expired meter. I'm going to try to do this while we are in Denver this coming week. I'm just never around any place with parking meters (and I'm just assuming that Denver will have some!) I forgot when we were in Denver. I did this in Lansing when I was there in Oct 2009!

33. Have a dinner party (bonus points for having more than one!)

34. Do not purchase pens or sharpies for an entire year (this should start today :^)(1/21/08) 05/03/08 - I still have not purchased any sharpies. This is TOUGH! (9/14/08) I STILL have not purchased any sharpies. I've wanted to. A few of my sharpies have run out of ink, so my stash is getting low, but no Sharpies will be purchased this year. (Dec 2009) I'm actually going on two years, since I got so many for Christmas last year!

35. Frame one thing every four months (3 times in 2008, 2009 & 2010) - (9/14/08) I still have NOT done this. I even needed to get a picture framed for Tom's birthday (5 days ago) but never though of it. So I gave Tom an unframed print. Another year later (2009) and the picture still isn't framed. sigh.

36. Get a Safe Deposit Box - not sure what to keep there at this point, but I should have one. Maybe keep copies of my digital files of photos.

37. Decorate patio
I'd like to just get the patio vacuumed now lol

38. Create a Paper Sack Journal and blog about it - do this for 30 days (30 sacks - 9 so far, need to blog about it take a photo) I like the idea, but haven't been doing anything right now.

~~39. Send 20 Postcards using postcrossing.com (9/14/08)~~ - Not sure if I want to do this.

40. Join 30 Day Challenge in August (or whenever it begins in 2009)

41. Write in my 10 year journal every day. http://www.journal10.com/ very very cool journal - Still on track. 05/03/08 I am still on track. I have one entry each day of this year. YES! (9/14/08) still writing in it every day. :) (11/08/08) Have not missed a day.
I have not missed a day in two years :)

42. Put away laundry the same day it is dried (6 weeks) (Bonus points for continuing the habit!) First post about it, Second post 05/03/08 DONE!! This is a done project. I have it as a habit now.

43. Vote in the 2008 November election

44. Donate or sell one box of "stuff" each month (Box in guest room) (I haven't done it each month but I have gotten rid of most of my clothing that I didn't like or didn't wear often.)

I donate at least a box once a month. I have to admit though, that sometimes the box has just one item in it, but I do drop off items at the very least, once a month.

45. Write 12 new Kirby Mail posts in 2008 (3 completed)(9/14/08) I now have 6 completed. All 12 done (April 09)

46. List the Plexiglas & the diamond tread on Craig’s list and get it gone by July 2008. (9/14/08)Oooh, we were flipping that house in July -- I forgot all about it. Lets move the date to March 2009.

It has been listed a few times but hasn't sold.

47. Travel to...Hawaii

48. ~~...France~~ I've changed this to Rome & I'm going in Feb 2010.

49. ...England, Ireland, Scotland (5/19/08 My father asked us last month if we'd like to all go to the Isle of Man next summer - so this trip is scheduled.) We went to Ireland and the Isle of Man - May 2009.

50. ...Maywood, Nebraska (5/19/08 My mother asked me a few weeks ago if I'd like to go to her class reunion with her & visit Maywood! - My answer was YES!)(9/14/08) we leave in a few days!!!!!!!!!

51. ...Chicago

52. ...Memphis with Bob (scheduled for 2010 - right Bob?)

53. ...LasVegas

All of the travel destinations were just "way out there" type of entries. I honestly didn't believe that I'd get to any of the places, with the exception of Las Vegas - Tom and I really like Vegas. The funny thing is that we've traveled a bunch and haven't had the opportunity to go to Vegas and probably won't. Last year for Christmas we went on a cruise to the Bahamas, so I can add in that and cross of another destination.

54. Sell the early editions of the MSL magazines by the end of 2008 (this doesn't look it'll happen. Maybe I can get them listed the first week in Dec.) I gave these away to someone.

55. Make a shadowbox or some kind of covered display for the BK items. (End of 2010)

I haven't quite figured out what I want to do with the BK items. I've since added to my collection so it's more than just a shadowbox, now.

56. Get China doll repaired - replace the string that held her together

57. Create a Home book - household inventory, floor plan, color chart, maintenance, etc. (end of 2009) I forgot I had this on my list -- I actually have all of this together in one place now. It's a file in my filing cabinet. Paint, Association meeting notes, phone numbers, inventory, etc.

58. Buy a new mattress for King bed (2009) This still hasn't happened.

59. ~~Buy a new mattress for Queen bed (2010)~~ I've decided now that I just want a new topper, not a whole new bed.

60. Memorize U. S. Presidents - Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, Adams....just 38 more to go.

61. Learn how to change a tire on both cars. I learned on my car. ~~I 've decided not to learn how to change the truck tires or Tom's Mercedes.~~

62. Send flowers to someone.

63. Send a Get Well package to someone that includes crayons and a coloring book.

With everyone being sick this fall, I should have been able to get this accomplished.

64. Hold the door open for people (10 minimum but continue the practice)(done done done!)

~~65. Have a Chick Flick sleep-over party~~

I don't have a place to sleep over. I'm hoping to just go to the movies with a few of my girl friends.

66. Replace all of my socks and chuck the old ones - all of them. 05/03/08 I did this the other day -- I totally forgot it was on my list. (Or maybe I didn't forget!)

67. Renew my passport - I HAVE to do this soon. we are going overseas next year.

DONE!

68. Add additional $2000 to my emergency fund.

69. Get a Museum Membership

70. Put together an Emergency Kit (post what's in it in a blog post)

71. One Random Act of Kindness (this can be repeated often) 05/03/08 the other day I did all sorts of nice stuff for people and places. It was fun.

72. Purchase Photoshop (or other photo editing software) & blog about how I am using it each week for a month. (I'm mostly posting the photos that I've edited)

73. Make a list of 100 things that make me happy. (05/03/08 - I don't know why I haven't even thought of starting this...)

74. Go one month without using my Credit Card (Bonus points for Debit Card, too)

Hahahahahahaha

75. Go to grocery store only once a week for an entire month (Bonus points, big bonus points for continuing this habit)

Living next door to the grocery store makes this almost impossible. I'm not sure I'll ever get this one accomplished, but I should.

76. Go out to dinner once a month with a neighbor or friend. (12 months in a row)

77. Write a letter or card to someone other than family every week.

This is actually more difficult than it seems. I've sent out a few letters, but not nearly one a week. This is ongoing.

78. Call Tom's parents at least twice a month.

Since Tom's brother's liver transplant in June, we've spoken to his parents quite a bit. Twice a month these days is easy.

79. Flip a house in less than 4 months. This is absolutely being done right now. We are 3 weeks into it. (we did it in 4 months!!!!!)

80. Make a condo book listing the food, maps, suggestions, etc. Have my tenants write in it. Make it interactive if possible. (9/14/08) I just started working on this last week.
This is ongoing and is working out well for my tenants.

81. Make a calendar for the family with all of our bdays and anniversaries in it.

This may actually happen in the next few months. (Dec 2009)

~~82. Purchase a new rug for the bedroom and another for the computer room~~

I decided not to get new rugs - I don't like the ones we have, but they are just a few years old.

~~83. Go to a taping of the Oprah Show (could do it while I was visiting Chicago!)~~ This doesn't seem to be as likely anymore. I'm not as excited about this as I once was.

84. Acquire new bedding for the guest room (donate the current bedding)
The bedding has been donated, but no new bedding purchased. I consider this done. We'll reuse bedding that's around the house.

~~85. Wash all of the exterior parts of the windows.~~ This is so much more difficult than anticipated. I've decided not to risk my life doing this- The bottom part of the windows pulls out, but the top doesn't pull out or down. So the top part of the windows are not getting cleaned.

86. Recover the yellow couch.
When I first wrote this we weren't sure we really wanted to have all three of our furniture pieces in the livingroom yellow. I'm so used to it now, so this isn't urgent in any way. I might change this to getting the couch just cleaned :)

87. Sell Grandma's Treadle machine.
I've photographed it. I still can't bring myself to sell it. I go back and forth.

88. Finish up the State Quarters book - it ends in 2008.

I've tried a couple times to buy the remaining quarters and can't seem to get it accomplished. I need to get this finished.

89. Create a small prop closet - this has been started and it is just going to be a basket in the closet. I will blog about it when I have more items, but it is started.

90. Get out of town with Tom 2 weekends a year.
We've taken more vacations than usual, so this wasn't as necessary.

91. Buy a black velvet dress or one that seems just as cool and wear it to an event.

I have always wanted a black velvet dress.

92. Paint a picture and frame it. It doesn't have to be great - just do it!

Change this to Photograph something and frame it --- I've done that :)

93. Transfer Nebraska tape to DVD and give it to myself and family.

This is on my radar. I have now found a place that can do this for a good price. The trick is to take the tape to the place and drop it off :)

94. Toss out or give away all video tapes.

95. Make a Paper Crown - photograph it. (Bonus points for doing this again, if it was fun lol)

I was going to do this with Zora in October, but I totally spaced it when we were together. Typical lol

96. Start writing down the family funnies -- Big Gulp, W/D on the curb, Kitten on his shoulder, elusive noodles, etc. I do this with blogging, but I haven't been able to write about these funnies yet. I can't seem to write them to sound as funny as they were lol

97. Clean out a dresser drawer once a month.
I'm in drawer maintenance now. They are all quite clean.

98. Write down the crafty ideas so you don't have to try to remember them all. Create a book or gasp, a blog post, to put them in.
I do this - I post everything on my blog. Done.

99. Get rid of, recycle, gift, donate or otherwise move out of my possession every piece of electronic equipment or computer that hasn't been used in 2 years. Big strides came when we had our garage sale this summer (2009). Actually I was a part of two garage sales this summer.

100. Get a professional family portrait taken frame at least one of the photos with in a month. Tom and I had our picture taken on a cruise last year. It was professional looking and was nice. I don't want it framed though. I didn't like it well enough.

101. Plan my own birthday party for the 18th of October, 2010 - the very last day of the 1001 days and celebrate the successes in the 101 goals!!
This is now less than a year away!

POTD - Snowman Row

Snowman Row - by Kristin Corlett

It's the first day of December, so I thought I could finally post my cool snowmen! I found these little guys at the Sugar Bear Antique Mall in Mandarin, FL. They were all stuffed into a box, so I took them all out, lined them up and photographed them a few hundred times.

Enjoy!
Kristin

Monday, November 30, 2009

November links

Here is a list of all the posts I wrote for the month of November, 2009

Errand day

Today is errand day - not much running around outside of the house - but rather running around inside the house. Tom came home on Wednesday night with a cold. We hauled all of his stuff into the house that night and it has been sitting in the livingroom ever since. I do not believe in putting his stuff away :) so I waited until today and then I suggested, rather strongly, that he gather his belongings and get them stored away again.

I didn't do dishes yesterday and goodness it showed! I didn't have a single glass left in the house. I thought about using the bunny, but instead she just helped wash up. Don't you love her soap bubble hat?

Dishes done.

Laundry. Lots and lots of laundry.

Vacuuming.

Breakfast, lunch, snack and later, dinner.

I have some sewing to do, too. One of my tenants told me that the seam had ripped on one of the fitted sheets and he asked me if I wanted him to throw it away. I about dropped the phone. Throw it away? Goodness, no. I told him, if he didn't mind, I'd come pick it up and sew it for them. The sheets are just two years old and still look and feel new, so they are not in need of replacing. The funny thing is that I know his wife wouldn't throw away sheets because of a small tear in the seam, so I know he didn't talk to her about it :)

The end of the month bills - done.

I did run over to my garage and brought out my tabletop Christmas tree and the three bins of decorations. I'll plug the tree in tonight. I'm excited about that - I love the lights. I often wonder if the magic of the Christmas lights on the tree ever goes away. So far it's been 43 years and I am still entranced by the lights on the tree.

I have a photo of me as a kid under the tree, I'll see if I can find it. It's cute.

Ah, the dryer has stopped. Better go fold and put away.

I hope you've had a wonderful day!
Kristin

POTD - Loops

Loops - by Kristin Corlett

On Saturday I talked about my walk through the Riverside neighborhood here in Jacksonville and the chair that I found chained to the seawall. This is one of the shots that I took of that chair.

Enjoy!
Kristin

Sunday, November 29, 2009

Real Names - Stage Names

My husband and I were watching movies last night while he was coughing and hacking away and I was playing online as usual. I found this fun wiki page "List of Stage Names" and just had to share a little list with you.

I had to laugh that several of these names are from some of my favorite old game shows like What's My Line, To Tell the Truth and Match Game.

Tim Allen — Timothy Alan Dick
Woody Allen — Allen Stewart Konigsberg
Jennifer Aniston - Jennifer Joanna Anastassakis
George Burns — Nathan Birnbaum
David Bowie — David Robert Jones
Ellen Burstyn — Edna Mae Gilhooley
Kitty Carlisle - Catherine Conn
Dyan Cannon — Samile Diane Friesen
Chevy Chase — Cornelius Crane Chase
Stockard Channing — Susan Antonia Williams Stockard
Rodney Dangerfield — Jacob Cohen
Doris Day — Doris Mary Anne von Kappelhoff
Richard Dawson — Colin Emm
"Mama" Cass Elliott — Ellen Naomi Cohen
Fannie Flagg - Patricia Neal
Cary Grant — Archibald Alexander Leach
Judy Garland — Frances Ethel Gumm
Gary Glitter - Paul Francis Gadd
Whoopi Goldberg — Caryn Elaine Johnson
Susan Hayward — Edythe Marrenner
Billy Idol — William Michael Albert Broad
Ted Knight — Tadeusz Władysław Konopka
Bruno Kirby - Bruno Giovanni Quidaciolu, Jr.
Queen Latifah - Dana Elaine Owens
Barry Manilow — Barry Alan Pinkus
Garry Marshall - Anthony Wallace Marsciarelli
Penny Marshall — Carole Penelope Marsciarelli
Lou Diamond Phillips — Louis Upchurch
Slim Pickens - Louis Bert Lindley, Jr.
Minnie Pearl - Sarah Ophelia Colley Cannon
Gene Rayburn - Eugene Rubessa
Donna Reed - Donna Belle Mullenger
Meg Ryan — Margaret Mary Emily Anne Hyra
Charlie Sheen — Carlos Irwin Estevez
Martin Sheen — Ramón Gerard Antonio Estévez
Christian Slater — Christian Michael Leonard Hawkins
Brett Somers - Audrey Johnston
Barbara Stanwyck — Ruby Katherine Stevens
Randy Travis - Randy Traywick
Steven Tyler — Stephen Victor Tallarico
Frankie Valli — Frank Castellucio
Jack Warden - John Lebzelter
Muddy Waters - McKinley Morganfield

I only knew a few of these - Cary Grant comes to mind. John Cleese's character in A Fish Called Wanda (1988) was named "Archie Leach" after Grant's real name. In the movie, The Holiday (2006), staring Kate Winslet, she says she comes from Surrey, England, which is where Cary Grant was born. However, Cary Grant was born in Bristol, England. Not sure why there was such a blatant error, but there ya go. He wasn't born in Surrey he was born in Bristol. Just a little movie trivia for ya!

I hope you've had a wonderful weekend. Onward to Christmas!
Kristin

Jazz Hands!

This is just 17 seconds of just tooo cute. You don't even need to turn on the sound :)

Saturday, November 28, 2009

Neighborhood walk

Today was once again the Riverside Arts Market (RAM) in Downtown Jacksonville. We've only got two or three of them left this year, so I'm making sure to attend. Farmers market, art fair, street fair and food. I love it. After going to RAM I usually end up driving a few miles down Riverside to investigate the neighborhoods there along the river. Today I struck gold :) I followed this little blue brick path...

...saw this beautiful red door with the pretty white Christmas wreath. Love the high gloss gold mailbox - and the bag of mulch on the porch :)

This was a fabulous spot. There were four or five trees all in a row with these lush ferns growing all around them. This would be a really nice spot in the heat of the summer as it was about 10º cooler in this spot than it was in the sunshine.

I walked to the end of one street and found this curiosity. It was a chair chained to the cement.

Not only that, it was a chair with duct tape as its fabric on the seat.

The old style ice cream shop chair was located right on the water!

...with a really cool view. I took a few dozen photos of this chair. It looks so fancy, but sitting there looking at the downtown on the far left (out of frame) and the boats going by and listening to the waves lapping...it was great. What a perfect place to sit.

I'll talk more about the RAM later, but I bought a few things for the person I'm Secret Santa-ing, so I don't want to spoil the surprise if they happen to be reading :) Oooh, I'm excited. I'm sending out the package on Monday or Tuesday!

Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving week and didn't wear yourself out shopping. I didn't shop at all until today and it was just at the market.

Kristin

POTD - Rocks and Weeds

Rocks and Weeds - by Kristin Corlett

This was taken at a little parking area on the Grand River in Lansing, MI. I think it is a part of Francis Park. I took a few dozen photos of the ducks and the geese but this was by far the most interesting photo. I love all of the colors.

Enjoy!
Kristin

Friday, November 27, 2009

Friday Fragments

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My husband got home Wednesday night. He arrived with a cold. Sneezing, coughing, blowing his nose. I was gone from October 2nd - 31. He left November 8th and got back on the 26th. I didn't bring home a cold or the flu, you'd think he could have disposed of that illness before he got home. sigh. Thankfully he's able to sleep.

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I slept on the couch last night. We have another bed but it wasn't made and the cat has been sleeping on the comforter in there for a month. The couch seemed like a better choice. I originally went into my bedroom to sleep, but I couldn't stand having the coughing man next to me. Why is it when I get sick I sleep on the couch or guest bed and when he gets sick I end up on the couch or guest bed? I'm going to get the guest bed cleaned up and de-furred today, before I'm ready to plunk into bed, that's for sure.

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Once a month we have a WWW group that meets and goes out to dinner. The WWW stands for Women's Wine and Whine. It consists of the women who are a part of the Liver Transplant group. We can be caregivers or patients, pre or post transplant. Most of these folks don't drink, but the person who started the group did, so the name stuck. :) This last time we met we wore name tags because we had a severa new folks & returning friends who hadn't met this group at all. The tiny restaurant was packed so we noticed everyone who was coming and going. At a table near us, two women got up to leave and one of them looked over and waved "Bye Kristin. Bye Brenda." Brenda and I both looked at each other as if to say - do you know her? When we both realized that the woman was reading our name tags. How funny.

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I found these cute Barcode designs online. I've always been fascinated with barcodes (I know, I'm weird) but how fun to have something functional and yet creative at the same time.

There are a few dozen different designs, go take a look!

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There is this beautiful magazine that I keep buying and it drives me crazy that I do it. The darned thing is $15! (OK, so I've only purchased three of them in the past year, but still) I think it comes out every two months, but that's a ton of money. Why am I upset that buy it? Because it's called "Artful Blogging" and it's about blogs. I'm buying something that is about something I can read online. All of it is online and it's free! and I'm paying $15 a pop to read it in a magazine format. I have to admit it's gorgeous and I have found a lot of lovely blogs through it and I've read them each a few dozen times. That's better than most magazines. I tend to flip through them once and only read about 1/3 of what's in it. Come to think of it - I wonder if my local library has copies of this magazine? hmmmm, that's an idea. :)

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I was standing in front of the pie case at my grocery store when I realized I coudn't for the life of me remember if my husband liked pumpkin pie or not. I was thinking it was a yes, but I was scratching my head, so I decided to pick up the phone and call him. He picked up and I said, "Do you like pumpkin pie?" He said, "yes, I love pumpkin pie." I told him OK thanks, that's all I needed to know and we hung up. The woman standing next to me said "How long have you been married?" and when I said 7 years she about fell over laughing. She was sure we we were newlyweds haha Nope. I'm sure I'll have to ask him again next year.

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Tis the season of giving!

Would anyone like to have 7 of the Martha Stewart Everyday Food little cookbook/magazines? (bunny not included) I just noticed that one of them is Issue #2. Shoot me off an email (Kirby3131(at)gmail.com) and I'll toss those in the mail for you. I just haven't used them even though I want to! I want to entertain. I want to make cookies and 5 easy pastas but I just can't seem to get that accomplished. Maybe you can? The first one to raise their hand (by sending an email) gets them! Shipping is on me.

(UPDATE: We have a taker! Thanks for playing along. )

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I hope that you had a wonderful Thanksgiving and that you will have lots of leftovers to eat through the weekend. I will not be going to any of the Black Friday events, as it is nearly noon, I've missed most of them! but I did get my DVR fixed today - yeah!!!!! Life is good :)

Thanks Mrs. 4444 for being the gracious host of Friday Fragments.

Have a great day!

Kristin

POTD - Whale

Lena's Restaurant - by Kristin Corlett

I think this restaurant is in Silver Springs, FL on Hwy 40. I couldn't quite figure out if it was still open, but it may only be open seasonally from October - May. I'll have to make another trip to that side of the state sometime and find out for myself! I love this sign though. I just love it.

Enjoy!
Kristin

Thursday, November 26, 2009

Happy Thanksgiving

The turkey tried to run away before it was too late to become the center of our Thanksgiving dinner. It might have been better to let it go as it is taking forever for it to cook. :) Tom wanted to stuff the turkey and I had no idea how much longer it takes to cook a stuffed turkey, not to mention I had the temperature too low in the oven. Hopefully we'll eat before bedtime!

I planned on having guests for Thanksgiving, but none of the invitees ended up being able to come. Considering how long it's taking to cook the turkey, it's probably a blessing! (Actually, I would have been much more prepared had it not been just Tom and I. I would have investigated the cooking times for a stuffed turkey at least!)

Tom got home from his hunting trip just last night. Thankfully he didn't get a deer this year. Not that I mind hunting, but last year he got a deer and we weren't able to get any of that meat to Florida, so he had it processed and had the meat donated to Hunters for Humanity (I think it's called). He had a nice time with his friends and family, so I'm very glad that he went.

Tom and his family had their Thanksgiving on Sunday before he drove back to Florida. I'm glad he was able to be with them. It just so happened that everyone was going to be in town before Thanksgiving and not on the day - so they had it early. Perfect! Good thing he got turkey then, because he may never get any today haha!

All kidding aside, I'm so very very thankful for my loved ones, my blogging friends, my online friends, for the wonderful people I've met through the transplant groups and to every single person, place or thing that has touched my heart or made me a better person. I am truly thankful.

I hope you've had a blessed year.
Kristin

**Edited to add - we finally ate at 7:30pm. That's not too bad. I was shooting for 4pm.

All the images were found using Google search - Vintage Thanksgiving card.