They say time heals all wounds

Wow! It's April already...life has taken me on one crazy journey this past month. So much has happened. For one, I haven't updated. And there's sort of a reason for that. What seemed to be very final and cut throat, morphed into this in-flux, mystifying situation with many more questions than answers. I guess what seemed dead was much more organic and alive than I gave it credit for. I won't go into too many details, but I'll say that things are never quite as they seem. Life has revealed some interesting stuff to me and I'm going to take advantage of it. With that said, I'm not going to change too much on my list...just two items. I'm keeping things open-ended and hoping for the best. I said this yesterday: "How do you know if you're going in the right direction if you don't go there?" So I'm taking a little walk. And I'm happy.

On to my update! A whole month's worth yipes! But here goes:

end February/all March/beginning April

17. Surprise John once a month: (2/33)
So, right away we've got this one. Too funny. Well, I'll just mention that I think my positive/optimistic response to his revelations on 3.22 was surprise enough!

30. New restaurant (4/10)
Open Flame (the best seafood I've had in Milwaukee so far!) 2.23
Benji’s (jewish deli although I had to have a tuna melt because it was a Friday! although my friend Katie bought me a corned beef sammie to eat the next day and it pretty much knocked my socks off) 3.2
Riverlane Inn (good seafood, but I still love O.F.) 3.24

39. Walking when it's above 60 degrees:
3.13 (70 degrees), 3.25 (75 degrees), 3.26 (80 flipping degrees)
The current temperature in Milwaukee? Oh that's right, it's 28 degrees and snowing. How's that for fabulous?

45./46. New recipes:
Feb:
*Pumpkin and sausage pasta 2.20 (4/4) - I made this twice it was so delicious! Just amazing!
Mar:
*Corn Chowder 3.5 (1/4)
Cold Sesame Noodles 3.21 (2/4)
Squash Risotto 3.26 (3/4) - also incredibly tasty so I made it twice...tonight I'm trying a mushroom risotto!
*Hot Potato Salad / Creamed Spinach sides ?date? (4/4)
Apr:
Mandsi's Kielbasa dish (kielbasa, napa cabbage, sweet onions with a sweet relish/hot mustard/horseradish/fennel sauce) 4.1 (1/4)

*...also from Christmas recipe books (4/50)

50. Atypical Produce:
Feb: zucchini .5/33
(ok so I never made it...but I had made a Zucchini Gratin dish RIGHT before Feb started so I'll count halvsies and make it up later!)
Mar: bean sprouts 1.5/33
(added them to my cold sesame noodles at the last minute!)
April: artichoke hearts
(have a few recipes in mind!)

51. Guilty food
Feb: fried foods...a success!
Mar: chips...a success!
Apr: This month's is sweet bakery, but this also includes bagels...a hard one!

54. Hair cut: (1/12)
Spring: 3.14

58. Organize paperwork
Done and done...I even took home all the stuff from my work drawer! So exciting.

68. Vacation from list (1/12)
Although I fulfilled most of my monthly duties, I think my general absence from this blog counts as a vacay...

72. Give away Beanie Babies
Crossing this one off the list is a big one for me. I've had these mini Beanie Babies for like 7-8 years or something. I got them for free when I worked at McDonald's. And of course, greedy 20 year old Katie wanted to make money off of them one day. Well times have changed and I always wanted to give them to someone who would really appreciate them (that and they really aren't worth anything at all!) So a couple weeks ago, I find out my boss is going on this missionary trip to Africa this summer. She asked everyone if they had anything to donate, including toys for the African students. Perfection!!! So I had about 27 of the little guys and I handed them over to her the other day. Good stuff!

75. Bring treats into work (2/8)
Our first 5th floor Happy Half Hour 3.9 (brought 3 bottles of vino)
Spring CKYP Luncheon 3.15 (brought "famous" buffalo chicken dip)

76. Home-made Birthday cards
Bekky - 2.28
Jean - 3.1
Joel - 3.16
(I also made a thankyou card for my mom and a sympathy card for a security guard here who's fiancé passed away)

87. New band (3/33)
Feb: Röyksopp
Mar: the Good, the Bad and the Queen
Apr: The Brian Jonestown Massacre

93. Lent
Well I've tried to participate as best I could. My "almsgiving" turned out to be volunteering my services at the St. John's soup kitchen via the CK Culture Committee. I went to the Ash Wed service of course, along with one church service every weekend, but only one Stations of the Cross which I sort of regret. It's quite an endeavor (particularly on the quads...who knew?!), but definitely something I'd like to participate in more next year. This week is Holy Week of course, and I plan to attend the 7:30 mass on Holy Thursday (Last Supper), the noon service as well as the evening Tenebrae service on Good Friday, the 3 hour Easter Vigil on Saturday, and finally the 8:00 Easter Sunday service followed by a lovely Easter brunch at my parents (salmon crepes!!!) After that I'll be able to cross off this item!

Miscellaneous:
Stuff I continue to do regularly: aspirin mask, weekly grocery list, $250 in savings, $1 a day (starting today! oops!), and sticking to budget (eh sort of...I'm good with the groceries, but the rest isn't where I'd like to be just yet)

TO DO LIST!:
-The 26 project - I'm going to check the website sometime this week or next
-Donate blood (the plan is 4.20 via work)
-Inspirational Note/soundtrack - I'll figure this out sometime this week as it is Holy Week!
-Books: finish He’s Scared She’s Scared to count toward my ten books
-Take spring photos (yesterday would have been a perfect stormy spring photo opp, blah)

And finally...

New items to the list:
These two are OUT: 99 & 100....I’m not pushin the envelope there anymore. Not that I was in the first place. But my Big Goals don't have to be either of these things. The other John related items, however, I’m going to ever so optimistically leave for now :)

What's IN?
new 15. Create INKYTNMO* Scrapbook!
* - INKYTNMO = Indiana Kentucky Tennessee Missouri road trip Memorial week!
new 62. Decorate bedroom so it looks like I sleep there!


I will update my list after posting. And speaking of posting, excuse the length here! Hopefully I will be able to update more often now that my life has settled down a touch. I really hope to get on some of these more creative/inspirational type projects sooner than later! Until then!