Catch Up: 10 items from my lists

When I started this blog, I intended to blog about each of the items on my list of 30 Things To Do While I'm 30.  But, three years, three lists, and 93 list items later, I've failed to do so.  So, I thought I'd do a little catch up...  

30.11 Make something I can wear

 This is going way back to my first list.  My friend
Rachael taught me how to make these felt flowers and I turned them into a brooch.  Unfortunately, I lost it before I could wear it.  I have a cute jewelry hanger that I foolishly have hanging over my trash can.  You do the math.

30.27 See a lighthouse

  On our annual summer camping trip on the coast, my family went with me to the Point Cabrillo Lighthouse.  It's a beautiful walk down to the lighthouse, where there is a museum inside.  You can also walk through the lighthouse keeper's home that has been turned into a museum.  It's a beautiful place for a picnic!














31.8 Learn to drive a stick shift

Incidentally, this is also proof that I grew my hair out for 6 months.
I think I'm going to do that again.  

 My Aunt Julie bravely volunteered to teach me how to drive a stick shift.  We took her mustang out after Thanksgiving dinner and practiced on the winding roads in the hills.  I really had no problem shifting between gears.  Shifting into first, however, was challenging for me, so my aunt made me do it over and over.  Fortunately, there is very little traffic through their little valley!  I only spun out once...I blame the gravel.

31.29 Learn how to play chess

       Also on the evening of Thanksgiving, my brother Joe taught me how to play chess.  I brought a chess set I'd found at a thrift store, but it was missing a rook, so we used a buffalo from my Grandma's toy basket in its place.
      My brother has always been smarter than me.  He took his SAT's the morning after staying up all night at Grad Night and got 80 points higher than I got...my third time taking it.  So, he both the best person to teach me how to play chess, and the worst opponent to play my first game of chess against.  Notice I'm biting my fingernails in the photo.

31.21  Sew or knit something

My friend Rachael and her mom, Vicci, helped me sew an apron for my mom!  I've sewn some basic things, and made a quilt, but I can't sew without someone around who knows how to thread a needle
or change the bobbin on the sewing machine.

 

32.3  Shoot Bubba's Bow

Isn't he so cute?

My cousin, Dan, is a bow hunter, too.

I actually did really well...shooting a stationary target.

32.6  Pottery: Throw or paint

I took Braden, Lauren, and Grayson to paint pottery in Chico as a kick off to our summer.  Braden painted flames on a motorcycle helmet piggy bank, Lauren painted a basketball bowl, and Grayson painted a mug with his name on it.  So, I didn't actually do any painting, but spending the day with these three was totally worth it.













32.12  Drive to the ocean for the day

Over spring break, Jennifer, my Mom, the kids, and I drove to Fort Bragg so I could take Lauren's 8th grade graduation pictures.  Although it wasn't just for one day, it was the quickest trip I've ever made to Fort Bragg...about 36 hours.  We stayed at a hotel with beach access and had two photo sessions.  They turned out great!

Jennifer was in the hotel room doing Lauren's hair, so we took
a walk on the Pudding Creek Trestle bridge.

Believe it or not, my niece is just as beautiful
on the inside as she is on the outside!

32.10  Make cake pops

Although time consuming, cake pops aren't really that hard to do.
I've made them a few times since.  

32.30  Get new glasses

 I never wear my glasses.  It's not that I don't think glasses are attractive, in fact, I think they're a great accessory.  For normal people.  Unfortunately, when it comes to the ability to see, I'm not normal.  I've had glasses since I was 4, and the only reason I was that old is that it took that long for my parents to figure out I couldn't see.  I've probably been blind since birth, and they've gotten worse every year since.  This makes for hideously thick lenses, which instantly downgrade my glasses from "hip accessory" to "freak show".  If you've never seen me in glasses, don't hold your breath...you probably never will.  At least not if I have anything to say about it.

I can't even fold them up all the way because the lenses get in the way,
which means they won't fit in the case they came with.