MAAAAAH FACE

Wow 2010: Final List!

20. Using my new body bugg and getting fit! :-) Woot!


21. Going Camping! I want to take little Miss Sunday with me to Big Bend! I have a National Parks membership so I feel that I should use it before it runs out. Maybe another trip to the Grand Canyon should be in order. I'd love to go to the waterfalls on the Havasupai Trail!


22. Seeing the Cherry Blossoms in DC. My favorite time of year there - pink, pretty and wonderful!


23. Harry Potter expo at the Museum of Science in Boston! 


24. Organizing my new room in the new apartment! Trips to Ikea will be made!I've already been perusing the sales.


25. Finishing the translation of my memoire! Needs to happen.


26. Reading more in general. This sounds like a cop out, but I need to start finishing books. I tend to fall asleep two pages in. This needs to stop. 


27.  Being more organized in my life. Mobile me will happen as soon as I'm FT and an owner of a new computer (Jan 26 = Apple wonder!).


28. Being more calm and mindful. Maybe I'll meditate.


29. Sunday starts puppy kindergarten on January 3rd!


30. Enjoying a full Texas summer. On the trail, at the pool and in the heat. Kind of nervous for that, but I think I will survive with ample ice cream, cold pool dips and air conditioning!


31. Planning great adventures. Small and large and sticking to them. Hooray for 2010. A new decade, and to think at the end of it I will be 33. At the moment, I have limited clarity to what I will be doing. Weird. 

Catch up x 5

15. Using my new Austin 2010 calendar! It has all of the fun things there are to do in Austin highlighted on each month. I'll be in the know for all the big events! I lurve being in the know.


16. SXSW Interactive! ZOMG I've been wanting to go to this for like ummm FOREVER! I'll finally be here to see it and experience all the nerdiness that is hardcore and awesome. It will be a great experience to meet with other people with my love for connectivity, technology, and great design. 


17. New computer! YES YES YES I will be getting a new computer. My Powerbook G4 is in desperate need of retirement. One that doesn't have the words appear  10 seconds after I type them.  It will be a Pro awesome and super slick. I can't wait to get a computer with a webcam! So fun! I'll also finally have a magnetic powercord. Woot! 


18. LOST = Febuary 2nd! I will be glued to my television watching the final season of my favorite television show. I'll be searching for easter eggs, checking out the crazy references, and hoping the Sawyer and Juliet romance will somehow survive.I JUST WANT TO KNOW WHY, HOW, AND WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON!


19. I kind of want to read the Sookie Stackhouse series. I'm embarrassed about this [but it's true].

14 Going to Boston

I miss Boston. I miss the leaves, the restaurants, the public transportation, the sidewalks I could trail on for hours, the parks, El Pelon (maybe it will be rebuilt), the Arboretum, the Fenways, Queensberry street in general, Espresso Royale, AMC Fenway, Kendall Square, the Reflecting pool, the Mapparium, The Other Side cafe, bagels, Herrells, the South end, Sowa Open Market, and many more things.

I'm definitely going to go back this summer, when the weather is perfect and my funds are a little more secure. It will be a weekend of tasting, frolicking, and being silly. I want to walk everywhere, till my legs hurt and I can't walk anymore. I want to go from the South End to Harvard Square and then from there to Inman Square (for pickles!). I want to stroll around Davis square and get a cup of joe from Diesel. The next day, I want to start it off with a bagel and cc from Espresso Royale followed by sunning on NU campus (because it is pretty) and then taking the 39 to Jamaica Plain to browse the stores and then go for more sunning in the Arboretum. There are many more things I want to do, but I know that even more fun things have popped up in Boston while I've been gone, and that will be the most exciting part. Rediscovering a discovered place. 

13: spending more time outside

I know waves of my discomfort with the cold in Austin have permeated my other posts, but today was just another reminder of why I need a little more warmth. It was 70, sunny and glorious outside today. Sunday and I sat outside on our stoop, she ran around and I just sat there taking in some rays, feeling my bones warm up. We had refused to turn the heat on during the past two weeks of the cold front, but has perserved with hot tea, blankets, and going to bed early. I hated the idea of having to turn the heat on in Texas and so it became a challenge. I'm looking forward to doing more fun outside things next year, taking Sunday to the dog park, hikes in and around Austin, and going on bike rides. So many fun things can be done in temperate weather, which Austin can lack as temperatures can just be so extreme. But today was a good day and I want a month of good days in 2010 - so I can comfortably and happily spend more time outside.

10, 11, 12 - three more reasons to look forward to the New Year

10: I'll be a month older, wiser, and more ready to take on things. Things seems vague, but who knows what will come up in 2010. I have no idea where I'll be living, what company I'll be keeping and what I will be brought. I'll just have to deal with each little bump with ninja kicks and good humor. Because that's all I can do.

11: Reading more. I haven't been reading a lot lately and that bums me out. I love to read, but haven't felt inspired by a good book lately. I'm a reader, have been since I was a wee one, and can get lost for hours in plot, protagonists, and puns. I've been trying to read Outliers in effort to be more corporate (no words), but I can barely get through it. I get inspired when I hear what it is about, but one page of it makes my brain automatically snooze. Big time bummer. I'm determined to read it, because I think it definitely had good insights. We had a speaker at Bazaarvoice last month who said that reading is one of the most important steps toward success. I like that. But I know I am definitely more of a fiction reader, dreamer. That is just who I am, and because of it I can use the word grok. In my book, that equals awesome.

12: Sunday is currently sleeping on my neck. This makes typing difficult. I've been spending a ton of time loving her, petting her and telling her she is awesome. This is why I was a bit delayed in my writing project. But I'm in to being flexible, and that is something that 2010 needs to have as well. I need room to grow and if that means certain flexibility in life (putting more time into working out), in meeting people (being less judgmental perhaps),  and in my to do list (here might need to be a little more rigid), I'm willing to take that on. :-) Sunday makes me so happy and I can't wait to take her on walks in the park, in the sunshine, with my day being centered on having fun and enjoying life. Because being flexible means I can do whatever I want, I just need to roll with the punches.

Slight delay in my 31 things made me think of 8 & 9

Didn't end up getting to write yesterday because of a few things going on that made life crazy. Yesterday little Sunday was looking a little mopey. She seemed lethargic from the moment I got home to about 10 o' clock. She didn't want to eat anything and was looking pathetic. I got nervous so I took her to the vet. Good news: nothing too serious. Bad news: she has parasites! Eeeeeks! That is what happens when you are a raggamuffin with an obscure past. Parasites. So the events of yesterday made me look forward to 2010 even more, because that means Sunday (sometimes called Sunny) will have been here for over a month, hopefully will be free of parasites, and will finally started to come into her own.

Number 9 is simple. I'm sitting in my apartment and I'm freezing. I want December to end, and to land on two warm(er) feet in 2010. We've had cold drizzly weather for the last week and I'm sick of it. I did not move to Austin to be cold, miserable or wet from misty rain. Also, in Texas, when the weather gets a little bit bad everyone starts driving crazy and it makes commuting even more tiresome. I know January isn't the best month either, but I just need to get through that and head to February where I've heard it gets back to warm comfort.

7 of 31: polaroid photography... photography in general

        Since I now have the newest little muse, I feel like I should definitely start getting better with my photo skillz. There is a special place in my heart for my Land Camera that no other camera will replace. I also have a Diana that is a pretty great camera as well (light for travelling!). My SLR is obviously the crown jewel of my collection and it has the ability to make any of my dull (somewhat unfocused) photos into semi magnificant pierece of "art".

There are definitel yframes that need photos and adventures to be had, so I'm not too worried that I won't have the inspiration or the place to do it. I am more worried about not getting better and continuing with just Meh photo skillz. So in 2010, I will be opening up a book, learning photoshop and making photos that I take look amazing!

Training Sunday to be awesome: 6 of 31

I adopted a puppy today. A little wriggling ball of joy with freckles on her feet and black markings on her face. She howls every once and awhile, which is probably one of the most adorable things on the planet.  Puppy training classes start on January 14th. We will socialize little Miss Sunday, and make her the best housebroken little puppy in the world. She will do tricks, learn to be hilarious, and go with me for long walks around Town Lake. This is put on here for 2010, because Sunday will be the most ready to learn around January. She is a little peach.

I thought long and hard about adopting her, but I just knew that I needed to take her home. I asked myself how I would pay for her bills, how much time I would be able to afford her, and if it was fair to her to be an apartment dog. She will be littlish - no taller than my knee, but because she is a mutt nothing is sure.  I know that I will be able to care for her, train her, and keep her forever. Because I make the things that I want happen. I'm sure of it. She was a little fleabag that needed a home, and I gave her one, a forever one. I love her because she is a little squeaker, gives puppy kisses, and has a little bit of doofus in her face. I love her. 

So as my sister says, today, I saved two lives from the pound, Sunny's and the other puppy that will be able to be taken into fostercare. Hooray! :-)

5 of 31 : Knitting projects

A few weeks ago, I picked up my knitting needles, and started knitting a hat. I knitted, knitted. and knitted some more and finally it turned into a slightly oversized hat that is pretty adorable. It still needs three buttons on the flap or I would show a picture of it here. But trust me, it's cute.

I had bought the pattern at the local yarn store that has tons of yarn (many deliciously soft). Throughout the shelves  within my price range. The best part of the experience was that they were so helpful, helping me locate the correct needles, the perfect yarn and everything at the lowest price. It was a good experience all around, and it made me think a little bit about my mémoire and my ongoing interest in customer experience. By not trying to oversell me and give me honest good intruction, I can honestly say that that they won my loyalty. 

So in 2010, I can honestly say I will be visiting HIll Country Weavers a lot more. I have a pattern that I've been wanting to try and it involves me getting more needles and yarn.  I'm thinking a nice cocoa color for this one as I don't really like the yarn they used. I'm motivated and excited for fun new knits.

More scrabble, definitely more scrabble ! 4 of 31

I need more games in my life. Cranium, Scrabble, and Taboo, I like them all. I like playing word games and remembering how to spell movement during a rousing round of gnilleps! But I think what I've missed the most in 2009 is a group of people who love to play those game, love to get silly and love to giggle over someone misspelling something like "mississippi". But that is definitely something that is difficult when one moves away from everything.  

So hmmph, I need to also work on finding people as interested in the same fun things, and that is a challenge, a challenge, I'm willing to take on in 2010. :-) But maybe in interim, I will be inviting some of my friends to a healthy game of lexulous or downloading the iphone app.