Pix 'n Prose: List of Things

I was texting a friend who recently turned 50 and she was asking me the type of questions which were unusual for her. When I inquired what was going on, she said she'd made a list of 50 things to give attention to during this year.

I am 100% behind the concept of Intentional Living.

I think the last grand statements I made to this end were to NEVER BUY ANOTHER THING (and then I purchased a condo, Mitzi, a new phone, new indoor and outdoor furniture, a BBQ, an Air Conditioner, two new ceiling fans, a dining room fixture, curtains, screens, a Murphy bed, closet organizers, a pair of cutoff shorts, three tops and a dress).

The other grand statement I made was to get rid of clutter. Give it away. Take it to thrift or the dump. And then my sweet daughter, Dani, cleaned out a closet and some boxes at the lake and exclaimed, "This is hoarding at a whole new level" when she saw my shoe box filled with beads and my collection of children's books.

So I obviously fail when it comes to grand statements about STUFF. I will try harder at STUFF management this coming year.

My List for This Year:

Host a dinner (party?) on my deck at least once this summer.
~~Walk across Canada. Virtually~~. I did the math; totes not doable. Joined Dede's walking club instead. Hoping to chalk up 4 kms per day for the rest of my life.
~~Hang my pictures/art and curtains~~. Ok. Hire someone to hang things at my condo.
Plan a DOTS event. Thinking it should involve dueling pianos.
Prepare a budget. First time in years that I have fixed living expenses. Haha. The older I get the more responsible I have to be. I have no experience with this.
Paint 61 (limited edition) glow-in-the-dark rocks. Sell them to raise funds for homeless dinners.
Host a couple rock painting evenings.
Buy another tree for my deck.
Do a couple sit ups a day. I doubt I'll do this. But I should. So maybe if I post it here, I'll guilt myself into doing it.
Learn how to make a good roast beef dinner. And maybe a pork tenderloin one too. Or allow Clint and Sarah to figure this out. And I'll clean up after.
Write out my family's Ukraine (the trek from...) story. Post it to blog. Maybe get it printed.
FIGURE OUT, ONCE AND FOR ALL, a music system. For my phone, Mitzi, and my condo. Buy speakers for condo so I can listen to songs on my deck.
Get an area rug for living room so it's not so echo-y.
(For someone who's not planning on spending any money, I have a lot of purchases on this list.)
Lighting system for patio. (Trish? Can Chad have access to the welding room on the farm?)
Figure out how to make strawberry lemon cupcakes like the ones at The Silo's /Magnolia in Waco. Make so many I get tired of them.
Try Indian food. (Use gift card. Invite someone to help me navigate the menu.)
Apparently, according to a variety of sources, I have entered the decade that most people find to be their most productive. This is both encouraging and frightening. What if I waste these years being lazy? I'll be the only person in the history of humankind to accomplish nothing during these fertile years. But it's encouraging to think that I'm not done yet.
Visit a waterfall. I have no memory of ever seeing one. Maybe I'd like to walk behind it? Stand under it? Take photos of it.
Use my camera more often. I've been relying on my phone to capture moments, but I'd like to be intentionally artsy once in awhile. Also, quit taking so many sunset pics.
Join Northview Church
Volunteer to do devos more than once a year.
Figure out a way to easily transfer photos from my phone to my laptop.
Find, buy or create a perpetual calendar. I had one for at least 25 years, but it got lost in one of my moves. I'm relying on Facebook to remind me of birthdays and that is all kinds of wrong.
Get a hummingbird feeder for that hummingbird who tried to get nourishment from the patio lights. (This is looking like a shopping list more than anything.)
Stop throwing so much food away. (Which means STOP BUYING SPINACH, MIXED GREENS, APPLES and STRAWBERRIES.)
Get that second shingles shot already.
Join a marching band. Play the piccolo. Not. I'm trying to come up with 61 things and I've stalled.
Transfer all the photos from my laptop to the external hard drives Clint bought for me three years ago.
Limit time spent mindlessly scrolling on Instagram and Facebook and Twitter. One hour a day? Half hour in morning? Half hour in evening? Is that reasonable?
~~Learn how to swim, dance, play piano.~~ Try doing yoga. Ask around for good apps.
Continue reading through The One Year Bible.
Clean out the boxes in the hall closet.
Find a better place to store the Rubbermaids currently on my deck. (Maybe just get rid of it all?)
Make office at work habitable.
Keep encouraging people/friends/family to watch The Chosen. YOU WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED. It is really, really good. First episode - click here.
Drink more water. Nope. I don't think it's physically possible for me to drink more water. It's the only beverage I drink and I consume 10 - 12 glasses a day. Maybe I should add drinking a cup of green tea?
Give intermittent fasting a try.
I can't think of anything else right now.

(At least) Three Things I'm Thankful For:

1. Another stellar weekend. Time by myself on Friday night. Birthday Party at Terry's on Saturday. Sunny Sunday at the lake with Max, Clint and Sarah.

2. Thankful for this weekend's visiting cats ...

Pancake:

and Gravy:

3. Grateful that I didn't have to make supper or dessert. SUPER thankful that Max washed dishes, loaded dishwasher, cleaned countertops.

4. Grateful the picnic table didn't kill me.

Clint repainted/fixed/cleaned our old picnic table:

So I thought I'd sit out there, with my back to the trees, and blog. I set my laptop and phone on the table, then sat down, roughly where the green X is:

In (what seemed like slow motion) the table tipped up, knocking me onto the ground, then continued to fall across me, trapping me underneath it. I tried calling for help, "Help me, I've fallen and I can't get up..." but I realized I had no volume. I felt around for my phone, then texted Max with one hand, holding the table off my chest with the other...