a list of life to-do's

This list was posted on the Life of a Southern Belle blog, so I decided to take the test to see what I still need to accomplish in my life. What I've done is highlighted and I've added some miscellaneous notes.

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland/World
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo - only in the shower and I don't think that counts
11. Bungee jumped - this will never happen.
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child - working on trying to accomplish this one.
16. Had food poisoning - knock on wood
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort - that would require living outside of my latitude parameters, so not likely to happen
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice - does the gondola ride at the Venetian in Vegas count?
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language (with some outside assistance)
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied - any time Jimmy and I come into a little bit of money, we can never think of what to do with it for a "splurge". So I think that must mean we're truly satisfied.
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing - I climbed Huayna Picchu (next to Macchu Picchu in Peru - that was rock climbing in my dictionary)
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke - that would be unfortunate for everybody involved
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance - does a fire engine count?
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater - one of my greatest regrets in life is not having been to a a drive-in.
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class - I once took a women's self-defense course at a martial arts school, so I'm counting this!
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies - I have eaten enough of them that I should get some credit for this one.
62. Gone whale watching
63. Gotten flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving - never going to happen.
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades - I've driven across the Everglades and that's enough for me to cross this one off my list!
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle - I have never even been on a motorcycle, speeding or otherwise.
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a new car
83. Walked in Jerusulem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury - we've always been overseas when I've got jury duty notice.
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee



There is still much to be done!

Decadence on a Thursday morning...

This morning I was frantically working on the corn maze financial books (because I have put off doing this for months) and I made a lot of good progress... to the point where I can almost file the tax returns, so I'm talking GOOD progress. I was feeling so good about myself that I decided to check the movie listings to see if anything was playing that I could watch and get back from before Mac's bus came from school.

So I trotted myself right off to an 11:20am (did you know they show movies at 11:20AM?) showing of Australia. I really wanted to see this because I love anything Australia-related after my exchange student year there a long time ago. And I didn't think Jimmy would be interested because a) there are people riding horses in it; b) it's been called an "epic love story" and he doesn't do "epic love stories" (think Titanic - not his favorite); and c) it involves a lot of drama of lost love and death and orphaned children.

Of course I was running late because I couldn't figure out how to get on the Marginal going the other direction (I now know), but it was great because nobody is in the ticket line or the popcorn (aka lunch) line for an 11:20am movie. So I settled into my seat just as the first words introducing the film came across and didn't move for approximately the next 160 minutes, which is unthinkable and decadent and wonderful. I could laugh and cry and nobody within a 10-seat radius was bothered, namely because there was nobody within a 10-seat radius. And best of all - I was so thoroughly captivated that my mind didn't wander for even a second to income tax filings.

Now let me see what's playing tomorrow...

out of the mouths of babes

I was just laying down with Mac for a few minutes before he goes to sleep. I love this part of the night. He's quiet and he likes to whisper and his mind just must be somersaulting because he says some really extraordinary things. Tonight's conversation went like this:

Mac: "Mom, do people have meat in them?"

Me: "What?"

Mac: "Is there meat inside of people?"

Me: "Well, yes, sort of. It's flesh, but I guess that counts as meat."

Mac: "So if predators eat meat, then they can eat us."

You are hereby forewarned: watch out for predators!

Isn't this blog GORGEOUS????

I just can't stop looking at it. I love the colors, I love the design, I love the flowers, I love the bubbles. I love the whole thing. So if you want something beautiful for your blog, check out the Knuckleheaders link to the right. Megan is a genius.

Miscellaneous Items

1. Today marks one week and one day since I've drunk any soft drink. Big whoop, you might say. But let me tell you this has been hard, hard, hard. I love Coca-Cola, but I have forsaken all soft drinks for the moment. Even when I was pregnant with Mac, I allowed myself one can of Coke each day. But since the start and well past the death of the South Beach Diet, I have had nothing to drink but water, tomato juice, a little coffee and green tea. That is not to say that I won't be having a Coke in the near future, but we're talking about right now.

2. I have been to the gym twice this week, which is two times more than in the last four months, I believe.

3. I have a new look coming for the blog. This really talented lady named Megan (who designs one of my favorite blogs - cjane (click on it to the right) has great designs for really affordable prices. As I was beyond tired of the blogger templates and was having a hard time getting the cutest blog on the block or whatever it's called to work, I hired her! The problem now is that she's dealing with a moron and I can't quite figure out how to upload my new snazzy banner. But when it's uploaded and the new skinny (I know SO much blog lingo) is in place and I get the new colors right, prepare to be amazed!! This could take awhile, knowing my skills, so you have plenty of amazement preparation time. And you'll be able to click on Megan's website on the right as well if you want to investigate her services. Her company is called Knuckleheaders. How cool is that?

South Beach Diet, Day 4 (or really T-1 since I'm a cheater)

This will likely be my last South Beach Diet update as the game really seems to be over for me. Today I had Starbucks, part of the blueberry muffin Mac ordered but didn't eat (I'm not going to waste a blueberry muffin at those prices!), popcorn (but airpopped and no butter or salt, so practically a health food since popcorn is from corn, a vegetable, after all), and M&Ms. And tonight we're going to a barbecue where if I stick to the diet, all I can eat is salad (that'll have to be undressed) and meat because a Brazilian barbecue is going to have nothing else on the South Beach Diet.

Yesterday we had lunch at Outback where I ate a steak (meat is allowed), steamed vegetables (BO-ring) and a salad with Italian vinaigrette. I stole a couple fries off of Mac's plate, and I did eat the croutons on the salad, which Jimmy did not. He's so good at this. Neither of us touched that yummy warm bread they bring which is a good thing since Mac ate nearly the whole loaf.

And last night for supper, we followed the book to the T, even down to the "surprise" mashed potatoes. There was no surprise when you looked at the recipe: it was steamed and pureed cauliflower. We had to cheat a little because they don't sell fat-free half-and-half here, so we used real cream, but just a teeny little bit and no butter or margarine. And I will be the first to admit that it wasn't half-bad although it does sound disgusting.

Net Weight Loss: .8 pounds but there will probably be a weight gain tomorrow after the splurges today.

South Beach Diet, Day 3 (or what feels like Day 333)

I cheated yesterday. I should have left the house because I was tempted by everything I saw. I kept opening the snack cabinet and wanted to eat everything in it. Jimmy was at work, Mac was at a playdate, so there was no adult supervision. I resisted. I looked at the back of the Lifesaver package to check on carb count. Four Lifesavers is 11 carbs and I decided it wasn't worth it.

I should have eaten the 4 Lifesavers because I worked myself into such a feeding frenzy that I attacked a can of chocolate-covered peanuts like a maniac. They have been in this apartment since my mom arrived on December 19 and nobody's touched them because they were all melted together. Well yesterday I took a dinner knife and stabbed them until they came apart so I could eat half a can in one sitting.

And then because Jimmy would soon be home and would smell the chocolate on my breath when he kissed me hello, I brushed my teeth twice to cover up. How sad is that?

But I did confess and ate the required dinner last night with Jimmy (sans the ricotta creme "dessert").

So my weight GAIN since yesterday is .8 pounds, which is still a .2 pound net loss.

Jimmy, however, is melting pounds away because he's actually sticking to the diet. He's lost 8 pounds in 2 days! That seems unnaturally high and unhealthy to me, but he's on a roll.

So I'm going to stick to the diet in his presence in my continued show of solidarity but everything is fair game in his absence.