101 Things Update - Weeks 9-11

Well, things are still hectic and hellish but I'm slowly settling back into a routine, which is good. And despite the fact I have been quite absent, rest assured that I HAVE actually been achieving things from my list! I'll explain the changed goals next time, and I haven't posted about all of these (I promise I'll get to it!) but for now, there's this, in reverse chronological order:

#40 - to buy a good pair of sneakers that support my feet like they should: Check. Bought them on Sunday. Haven't used 'em yet, mind you...

#31 - to build a Lego model: Check. Did I ever! Spent all of Saturday on my knees. Um, playing Lego... ! And I didn't just build one, I built, like, five. And I'm still going. And my dad came over and played with me and it was soooo cooool!!!

Ahem.

#30 - to do a jigsaw puzzle: Well, I haven't started it but I have bought one, so I'm on the path to achieving this one. You know that famous photo of those guys sitting on a steel girder, high above New York City eating their lunch? Well I reckon it might be the same guys, but they're all having a snooze. It sort of made me wonder if it was a staged or superimposed photo, which made me question the authenticity of the "real" photo of the guys having lunch... way to burst my bubble...

#71 - to learn the basic geography of Africa: I've just started to learn about Morocco. Watch this space for the first of waaaaaaay too many. Stupid goal, this one...

#39 - to climb Mount Bogong (again): I am in the process of rallying the troops, and of convincing myself that serious, regular exercise is a good way to prepare for something like this, especially if you have a heart condition...

#9 - to make gnocchi from scratch: Check. I made it (them? Is gnocchi by implication a collection of singular objects considered to be one dish, or does it refer to the individual components that make up the dish?? Is it like the words "sheep" and "fish" and "deer"?? Can someone help me because my head's exploding!!!) for the lovely Mary in Adelaide the weekend before last. Thanks for the company, Mary! Hope you enjoyed the leftovers.

#18 - to make a lemon tart: Check. Again, I made it for dinner with Mary in Adelaide, and again, she took the leftovers off my hands on account of the fact that I would be leaving town the following morning. Luckily I saved myself a piece for brekkie (yes, really) otherwise there would have been no evidence that the tart ever existed!

#16 - to make Monkeyface biscuits. Hurrah! I did this! AND I wrote a post on it! The Cake With and his lovely family took them for their first test run in the morning (they must have been okay cos The Junior Burger went back for seconds, and even little Caitlin wanted some of her dad's), and Jody came for the second round in the afternoon but settled for miniature versions of the lemon tart instead, and I sent a Monkeyface home for her mister, Brad. This suited me quite nicely because by the time I got back to Melbourne on the Sunday night, all I wanted to eat for dinner was... you guessed it... the last Monkeyface that had travelled interstate in my handbag! Quite possibly the world record for Monkeyface travel...

Maybe it's because I'm ever so slightly addicted to raspberry jam biscuits (seriously, I could polish off a whole packet of those Raspberry Shortcake bikkies... okay, maybe not quite... OMG but those Kooka's Country Cookies with the jam centres that you get a motels? *swoons*) but I happened to really, really enjoy these and I will be sure to make them again. And then I'll have to make another batch because I will have eaten all the first one and there won't be any left for anyone else.

So, all things considered, tough though the last little while has been, I think I've been doing okay. I seem to be averaging doing one thing and starting one thing per week, although that will probably flatline quite shortly. Maybe my little list is keeping me afloat, or maybe the feeling of achievement is just a happy side-effect. Who knows? Who cares? I'm doin' stuff I wanna do! I promise I'll post about it soon.

Meanwhile, this is the last week of September (oh CRAP, I just wrote "August" and August is long gone!) which means that I have to make cupcakes on Friday night otherwise I have just ruined Year of the Cupcake!!! That's okay, I'll bake them Friday and decorate them Saturday. Technically, that way, I still made them during September. Whew.