Friday, August 21, 2009

Things I want to do

I keep having all these big goals, like furnish the house, lose a ton of weight, complete a triathlon, have a baby--and while they're all great and they will all happen, they are not exactly short-term goals, you know? So I'm trying to distract myself from thinking about all the stuff that I'm not going to achieve right this second by thinking about some small projects that I want to take on. And there are a few of them. Kind of like resolutions, but maybe less binding? We'll see.
  • Make a quilt. I took a simple quilting class when I was 12 or 13, and learned how to make quilts in a checkerboard pattern. I still have the quilt that I made in that class, as well as one quilt that I made afterward. I made quite a few others and gave them away during middle and high school, but I haven't made a quilt since. I'd like to take a class and learn how to make a slightly more complicated quilt. There are some cool sewing stores around Denver, so I think this is totally feasible. And I am still hoping that a certain someone will come visit and take the class with me.
  • Hike more regularly. Torsten and I were doing a pretty good job working through a bunch of the simpler hiking trails in the Denver area, but as it got hot in the summer we laid off for awhile. Now it's starting to cool down and I want to hit up some of the trails in our easy day hikes book. I'd like to average a couple of hikes per month, at least.
  • Visit my BFF. She visited here, back in April, and now it's my turn to go to San Francisco to see her. I know, twist my arm. I haven't been to San Francisco since 1995, if I recall correctly. I'd like to go back and see it as an adult. And of course seeing my best friend doesn't hurt, either. We were hoping for a date in September but it looks like that is not going to work with our schedules, so now we are looking into October. Eventually, we WILL find a date that works for both of us.
  • Start celebrating Chanukah. The biggest obstacle to this is our lack of a menorah. I looked online for one but I didn't find anything that appealed. I want to get a menorah that we can keep forever, the kind where we can tell our kids that we bought it the first year we were living in our house, before they were even born. So I want it to be a nice one. Our neighbors told us about a nearby shop that sells Jewish stuff, so hopefully we can find a nice menorah there. And I'll have to brush up on the prayer songs, but actually, I remember them pretty well for the most part. I think we'll skip the gifts, though, and just light the menorah and say the blessings each night.
  • Prettify our guest room. We're trying not to spend money right now, what with the surgery and new mortgage and all, so all decorating plans have been placed on hold. But I'd really like it if our guest room contained more than a bed and a lamp on a cardboard box. Just a nightstand (or two) and a couple of little decorative touches would already be a big improvement. I'm going to need to set a budget for this, though, and then find a way to stick to it. It will be my first real home decorating project (that frame wall still hasn't happened), so it's probably good that whatever trial and error I go through will be on a limited budget. Come to think of it, we have a couple of gift cards--to Sears and The Container Store--that could probably help out with this as well.
What about you? Are there some short-term goals that you've been meaning to set for yourself?

20 comments:

  1. I want to paint my hallway (purple, you'd be happy to hear), go to yoga regularly and get back into making jewelry.

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  2. 1) Paint the house (outside AND in)

    2) Finish knitting scarves/hats for daughters

    3) Learn how to quilt

    4) Find exercise routine that FITS into my life (failing miserably)

    5) Buy new furniture for the LR

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  3. I like your goals, especially the one about making quilts :)

    For me, I want to take a yoga class, learn to knit and find a place to volunteer as a reading tutor this fall. Those are my current short term goals, but I need to make a list too, to make it more real, if that makes any sense at all!

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  4. I just want to get back into making exercise a priority. I slack off in the summer because of the heat. I love your goals, btw!

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  5. 1) Carpet Bennett's playroom/second guest room
    2) Go shopping for fall clothes
    3) Have a date with my husband

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  6. These sound like good feasible goals. I need to get back into exercising as well.

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  7. I have made myself a list using this website: http://www.dayzeroproject.com/ which keeps me thinking about my short-term goals. The basic idea is that you create a list of 101 things you want to achieve in 1001 days. I have my list on my blog and try to work through it day by day. It's a really great way to keep on task.

    Yesterday I went past a shop at the mall and heard a young man playing the piano and suddenly piano lessons have moved right to the top of my 101 list!

    I would love to do a quilting class (sewing machine quilting only) but cant find one in my area at a time when I am free.

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  8. I think the Chanukah goal is really pretty cool.

    Hmmm.

    I want to FINISH THE THESIS. Almost there!

    I want to get a sewing machine and learn to sew.

    I want to learn how to bake artisan breads. Yummy!

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  9. I have a hiking goal, too. Andy sprained his ankle pretty badly back in May, which has hindered our ability to go together, but I have been itching to get up on the trail. There are so many great hikes within 20-30 minutes of us and I've only hiked once this summer.

    I also have several blankets that I need to finish knitting for all the friends who had/are having babies this year. My hands are going to be arthritic by the time I'm done! But it's so worth it.

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  10. You might want to contact the Fireworks Gallery http://www.fireworksgallery.net/ in Seattle. They have AMAZING menorahs that look like pieces of art (both traditional and modern). They don't have many on their website, but maybe you could call them and see where they get them. Another option would be uncommongoods.com I think I've seen some really cool ones there! Good luck!

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  11. These would be big goals for me. My little ones are more like clean off desk area and try to get to bed before 10pm, so I'm not too tired the next day.

    Oh, and avoid Starbucks cookies. Not sure I'm going to make that goal today.

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  12. Those are great goals, you really have a lot of things planned. Good for you! I need to spend more time outdoors as well.

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  13. You need to start multitasking. Do the triathalon while pregnant

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  14. garage sale, garage sale, garage sale

    For $50 and some black or white paint, you could totally have a new room. You can make duvet with two coridinating sheets sown together - get a nightstand at a G sale or craigslist and paint it - get some new hardware from Lowe's for less than $5 - you can get an old caledar and frame the pics. Look at some of the other blogs on my site - TONS of ideas

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  15. garage sale, garage sale, garage sale

    For $50 and some black or white paint, you could totally have a new room. You can make duvet with two coridinating sheets sown together - get a nightstand at a G sale or craigslist and paint it - get some new hardware from Lowe's for less than $5 - you can get an old caledar and frame the pics. Look at some of the other blogs on my site - TONS of ideas

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  16. Hannukah? Menorah? Are you Jewish??

    I AM!!!

    WE CAN CELEBRATE TOGETHER!! Or not?

    I have 3 Hannukiot, all received as gifts. You should try the Boulder Artists market on Pearl Street...there may be some handmade ones you might like?

    Several years ago I had a First Night Hanukkah party and it was awesome! Rosie & Kev came as did lots of my blogger buddies.

    We need to talk :-)

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  17. Last weekend I finished the cross stitch project I've been working on since January, so I'm feeling pretty accomplished right now! I'd also like to do some (inexpensive) updating of the decor downstairs - painting the lampstands a bright color, stripping and refinishing the dining room table, etc. But grad school starts again this week, so those things will probably have to wait a while.

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  18. My short-term goals this year are actually pretty big.

    1. Buy a house
    2. Run a 5k race in September to raise money for charity (and I am really not a runner so that's a big scary goal for me)
    3. Talk to my doc about getting pregnant (I have some health issues that make this complicated)

    So yeah, big year. But I do like having goals. The past few years I've spent waiting to be at this point in my life and it sucked.

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  19. I had no clue y'all were jewish. I can't believe I just used the word "y'all" and the word "jewish" in the same sentence.

    Anyway, my goals are 1) make it through the summer without going into any more debt and 2) try to pay off a few of my big ccs by the end of the year.

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  20. Actually exercise instead of thinking about it.

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