I have not made my New Year’s Resolutions yet, I don’t do that until Chinese New Year. This is not my resolutions list, this is another list. I was thinking this weekend, however, that I need a Project List. Something manageable yet challenging. There are several things I would like to accomplish and experience this year that I will need to document in order to guarantee completion. Does that make this sound like a lab experiment with a written hypothesis and everything? Hmm…maybe. Ah well, I’m taking this seriously, why not sound all science-y and everything. (That and I have been watching Bones pretty much all night, David Boreanaz is SMOKIN’!)
1. Learn to knit.
2. Learn to make Thai food.
3. Read 25 books.
4. Sew myself a dress (round 2 of this one, different pattern & colors, obviously).
5. Organize The Loft.
6. Start some kind of Emergency Prepardness storage, contribute each month.
7. Clean off my desk and clean out my office…yikes! (Part of #5)
8. Make a piece of furniture, something easy, like a bookcase. (Also part of #5)
…preferably while watching David Boreanaz… Sorry! Focus!
9. Downsize my closet, organize, purge, etc. (Again…a component of #5)
10. Find a pair of truly fantastic jeans, purchase in multiples.
11. Make a quilt.
12. Learn Sudoku…don’t judge me.
13. Make a scarf, a snuggly one in a great color.
14. Learn how to ski.
15. Take a spontaneous road-trip.
16. Learn how to make gnocchi pasta.
17. Photograph, organize and label the rest of my shoes. (…yep, #5 again)
18. Makeover my sad, green couch, into something a little more, um, lively.
19. Wear orange successfully somewhere other than my feet.
20. And purple.
21. Find or make a truly fantastic Halloween costume.
…is Buffy the Vampire Slayer unfashionable now with the whole Twilight “Love the Vampires” thing? Because Buffy gets to hang out with Angel/Boreanaz…and he’s a hottie! Again…sorry! Back to The List.
22. Try canning something like peaches or soup or something, hope for success.
23. Paint or refinish my dining table & chairs…this is a BIG project.
24. In fact, let’s say the dining table project should take at least two.
25. Hell, if wearing purple gets it’s own number, refurbishing the dining table and 10 chairs can take at least three.
Twenty-five things should be enough to keep me busy for a good, solid year. Although I don’t know how on this good green earth I am going to refinish a table and 10 chairs, which will have to be done soon because the set is living in my dad’s unfinished basement and he is going to be moving some time soon.
Does anyone know how to strip and then refinish a table with a lot of seriously intricate carved details? How do I get the sick grayish whitewash stuff out of all those so I can put something more acceptable in its place? Clearly, this is going to be another post for another day, or several other days, but it takes up the bulk of my list. I mean, in comparison to wearing an orange T-shirt or buying a pair of jeans, refinishing a table and chairs–did I mention 10 chairs–is just crazy!
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Wow, that’s quite a list. Can you do all of that?
I love the fact that post at like 1AM. I’m guessing you write these ahead of time though, but I still like having something to read late at night. It’s like a nice little surprise when you pop up on my little feed reader widget.
I’m learning to sew. Actually, I’m not doing half-bad. One of these days I’ll even make a straight line! I can’t wait.
Comment by sovknight 2009 January 19 @ 1:27 ami’m so excited for our knitting adventure! and envious of all of your 2009 goals!
Comment by Erica 2009 January 19 @ 2:28 amSince one of my goals is to refinish my table and chairs too, I’ll be wanting all the information you can provide
Comment by Janssen 2009 January 19 @ 7:16 amThere are chemical strippers you can use on your table and some tools that help scrape the paint/varnish out of the carvings. You can usually apply a stripper (ha! Stripper…) first and then finish up with a sander. However, strippers are very dangerous (no pun intended) so you’ll want to do it outside with gloves and a respiratory device.
Comment by Britt 2009 January 19 @ 7:17 amBuffy and Angel will never go out of style, never. Good luck with your list!
Comment by Jenkneebee 2009 January 19 @ 8:07 amI’d focus on the fashion items–great jeans, integrating purple & orange into the wardrobe–before tackling the table. You need a sense of accomplishment and momentum going into a project that huge
Comment by Trish Ryan 2009 January 19 @ 9:38 amAll I got out of that post was David Boreanaz, Angel, David Boreanaz. Yum.
Buffy will never go out of style, because Angel could totally beat up Edward Cullen.
Comment by Erin 2009 January 19 @ 10:50 amI can’t play Sudoko either
I can’t even spell it.
Comment by Sarakastic 2009 January 19 @ 10:53 amCouple things: (1) you have a great complexion for orange, methinks, and (2) now that you mention it, I always thought Handsome resembled someone but I couldn’t put my finger on it, and now I realize it is David Boreanaz. No wonder you are obsessed!
Ok, some more things, knitting is not too hard. I think there are some knitting groups that meet around town. One might be at the library. I had Ian’s mum show me how. (I’ve since forgotten, but I’m sure I could pick it up again with a little instruction.) Also, check the library for a book on refinishing furniture. I’m sure you can find one will useful tips. I got one on reupholstering furniture, as I hope to do my terribly comfortable but badly conditioned armchairs this year.
Good luck!
Comment by Sra 2009 January 19 @ 12:25 pmOooh! Thai food! I can cook Thai food! Here’s a link to a recipe for Tom Yum (or Tom Kha Kai) soup – it’s a reeeeally good, addicting hot and sour soup that I eat over jasmine rice. Hmm, I think I need to go make some tonight.
P.S. A lot of thai food calls for coconut milk. In my experience, I’ve found that coconut milk sold at Asian markets tends to have MSG as a preservative. However, the Thai Kitchen brand does not have MSG. But Asian markets do have good prices on stuff like ginger and lemongrass. And don’t forget your Thai tea! Yummy.
Comment by Chiada 2009 January 19 @ 12:55 pmThat’s one helluva serious list, girl! I’m betting you’ll knock a whole bunch of them off the list now that we’re gonna hold you accountable. =)
Comment by SoMi's Nilsa 2009 January 19 @ 1:45 pmGreat list! I love a great list. So, my suggestion is to knock off all the easy one’s, like wear purple, as soon as you can, because then you get to start crossing things off pronto. (And if you are sneaky, well, you are sneaky, you put table and chairs as 3 items, you can knit a big chunky cuddly scarf, and cross those two off too! I’ll be joining you in the “refinish table and chairs adventure” but I only have 6. Ha!
Comment by Miss Erika 2009 January 20 @ 10:38 amoooh i taught myself sudoku and definitely took some time, but you can do it. love the projects list, sounds like you’ll be one busy lady.
Comment by katelin 2009 January 20 @ 12:34 pmI am ALL ABOUT number 20. As I’m sure you knew I would be.
Comment by Jess 2009 January 21 @ 9:48 amGreat list–impossible for me but you can do it all. As for the table and chairs–find a place that can dip them for you. They can take off all the old stuff and then you can do the fun application of new stuff part. That sounds really technical, doesn’t it? Hmm.
Comment by Liz Merrell 2009 January 22 @ 7:57 amThat is one great list!!!
But one question (and I’m truly curious here) – how many books do you normally read a year? A month? I know you’re a fairly book-lovin’ gal, so I’m curious. (And I want to compare to myself… I have a feeling my book consumption might not exactly be normal. But it’s just an impression, so maybe not?)
Comment by Z 2009 January 23 @ 10:33 am[...] I have this List for this year, things that I want to do. It’s not exactly like resolutions, because I think a [...]
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