List 40 things to do before I turn 40 and do 2 things towards them every week

1. Get a passport
2. Visit another country
3. Move to California this is in the works but has been delayed due to the economy. I hope beyond hope that it will be achieved by Christmas. argh.
4. Finish a publishable draft of a novel taking a break from the revision of my first book to write something new, just for fun… but I did read that I could start looking for an agent with a solidly revised first few chapters and a good detailed outline, even if I haven’t finished drafting the whole thing. So that’s good news and something to look into. Must start researching queries and agents.
5. Get an agent no. but I have a couple of first drafts written and if I get together a few chapters of a finished piece then I have something to work for. Next year is the year for this one. Truly and honestly
6. Publish another article I am writing a chapter of a book on Creativity and women. Not done yet, but in the works.
7. Read through all 25 years worth of journal, organize and collect anything worth collecting (essays, poems, quotes, drawings, moments, ideas, etc.) I may have to consider changing this goal. I’m not focused much on the past, but instead on new works, plus my journals are now in storage. I am however posting pages from my 2003 altered book on my blog.
8. Learn to play the guitar I was working on this, but stopped when S went to California to get a job. I realize that it’s because I don’t have any time to myself when the kids are awake. Can’t risk waking them with guitar sounds. So I have learned a bit how to play the guitar. I should probably mark this as done, but I’m not really any good.I’ll wait to see if I get more opportunity later, but I essentially did take this one on to the mostly best of my ability.
9. Get married delayed, due to finances. but still in planning phase.
10. Sell my art to people who don’t know mewhy yes. yes I have, thank you very much. I have a shop on etsy and sell work there, although I’m not rich from it, I’m selling.
11. Publish my poetry in a reputable journal I may have to change this goal, because honestly, how many things can I focus on at once. I’ve got a novel, art, blog, and non fiction projects going on right now. I don’t think there’s room right now to focus on getting poetry published. Yes. Must change.
12. Potty train my son and daughter. one down one to go
13. Teach my children to read Read to them every night. Starting some prereading activities, like letter recognition, having them tell stories. Loving PBS for educational TV. G is starting to recognize a few letters and even some small words. On his own, with no help from me.
14. Roast a whole chickenWOO HOO one down. It was delish.
15. Move out of New York Citymoved
16. Meet S’s daughter and motherone down one to go
17. Be a better photographer tought goal to accomplish because don’t know when it’s reached. I would like to get a DSLR camera and then I’ll mark it down. I have the eye, the editing, need a better camera to take really nice photos, at least the way I want. So just money is in the way of this one.
18. Go on a romantic holiday with S. der, no money
19. Have a writer’s room/studio had one. was not viable. created an acceptable corner or two or three. systems that worked for me. had to move, now have to get something working again. but also want something real dedicated to my work. but need a house of my own, first.
20. Go on a writer’s retreat or to a writer’s conference
21. Be a part of a creative community again hmm. Not one in real life, but I would say I am involved in an on line creative community… more everyday. These people are really awesome. it’s so cool
22. Write my book on creativity and motherhood have a chapter to be written for someone else’s book, and have an illustrated journal in process with another partner. I think this is the best route for me right now as I don’t seem to have the time or brain space to develop my book from scratch.
23. Make some stuffed animals
24. Paint a monsters alphabet what to do about this goal? I’ve drawn the monsters alphabet and painted hundreds of paintings since I started this goal, i could mark this done, but i’m going to wait and see if I actually do paint the alphabet.
25. Send my children to school
26. Write a will
27. Learn to fricking drive for godsakes. no what the bleepin bleep is wrong with me!
28. Own a car
29. Step foot in the Pacific ocean move across country still in development stages.
30. Get back in touch with Julie D and apologizeWOO FRICKIN HOO DONE! She found me on facebook and we are back in touch! YAY!
31. Visit my alma mater
32. Renew my wardrobe.working. have bought some new things, reassessed some old things, in process of purging even more unworn and crappy things, but still have new adventures to look forward to.:)
33. Start making my own money again so I can be more independent so complicated. I’m making some money with my shop, but not much. petty cash mostly. but can’t get a real job til i go out to California. blech.
34. Start a writing and/or creativity workshop not yet, but need to work on this a little. think online opportunities, atleast.
35. Master the blogoverse in specific and the internet/computers in general.the goal is grandiose but I have a working knowledge of blogs, the internet and social media. I could actually teach others about it. I’m not a master, but I am a part of it, so. and so.
36. Upgrade my computer systemhey! I got a new computer, although inexpensive, new is more important than fancy at this point, a decent printer and a new point and shoot when I lost my old one. So I’ve got what I need now, more or less, to be current and not five steps behind. There’s always more, but for now, done.
37. Have a supportive and fun circle of friends again only online. sigh.
38. Make a living at Get paid for what I love to do and am passionate about.well, I think I need to change this to make a living off of what I love to do and am passionate about, because I have been paid, but I can’t focus on it since I don’t get paid very much and have to spend my time on other endeavors and I need to find a job that pays real money. either enough to pay for childcare, or something i can do at home or part time or whatever.
39. Finish the first draft of the second book in my trilogy.
40. Finish the first draft of the THIRD book in my trilogy.

4. Finish a publishable draft of a novel slowly working on draft 3 of book 1. verrry slowly
5. Get an agent no, but building a platform and slowly getting known online

6. Publish another article did a couple of blog interviews which someone else publishes on their blogs. does that count? hmm, not completely, but closer.
7. Read through all 25 years worth of journal, organize and collect anything worth collecting (essays, poems, quotes, drawings, moments, ideas, etc.)I get the feeling I am not going to take this on as a proper project. But I did read a journal from about 15 years ago. That was fun
8. Learn to play the guitar I am learning. Have guitar, have teach yourself to play book, have been practicing semi regularly, can play “Down in the Valley” sorta, and do so before bed for the kids every night. cool.

10. Sell my art to people who don’t know me{color:green} holy cow I think I get to mark this one as DONE! I have an etsy shop up and people are buying, slowly. I have 49 people who have favorited my shop. Now I have to go about keeping the sales up and marketing. Yay me.

12. Potty train my boy and potty train my girl {color:green} you know what? he’s out of diapers completely. even if he still has accidents some times and is working on the poop issues, he’s done. So I’m marking this as half done and now I have to start working on the girl. Please wish for me that she goes easier than he did.

13. Teach my children to read Read to them every night. Starting some prereading activities, like letter recognition, having them tell stories. He read all the letters on the Oreo package. :) Then I think he made sense of the reading thing. I mean, the word sounds like the letters.
14. Roast a whole chicken
15. Move out of New York City
16. Meet S’s daughter and mother{color:green} met his mom, she’s a nice lady. now we’re in contact and exchanging photos and talking on the phone.

19. Have a writer’s room/studioset up a corner of the room. have desk, cabinet, my books out and a lot of my favorite pretty things. I still need to do my writing more, but the space is there.

21. Be a part of a creative community again I think I shouldn’t count the on line community, since it’s the IRL one that is the problem.. but then I have learned to not be so antisocial with the online peeps and still have some distance to go.so fine, we’ll include online, knowing irl is the goal.
22. Write my book on creativity and motherhood {color:green} new idea, “Art and Transformation” using my paintings in the book. Also wrote a very brief outline. Or the beginning of one. Doing the interviews for other people helped me straighten the ideas out.
23. Make some stuffed animals
24. Paint a monsters alphabet {color:green} have sketches, but not paintings. Did do a Where the Wild Things Are Flying guy, but not quite an alphabet
25. Send my children to school {color:green} at least I know where I’ll be for this year, so I can look into preschool for G

28. Own a car %{color:green} don’t have one, but need one so this should/must be done soon.

30. Get back in touch with Julie D and apologize

32. Renew my wardrobe. I’m marking this as done, because even though my wardrobe is not perfect yet, I am actively engaged in making cute outfits and looking for creative inexpensive items and wearing jewelry and scarves. So I am actually “dressing” again, not just throwing on what’s clean on the pile.
33. Start making my own money again so I can be more independent %{color:green} I am making money! Not so much. Not full time job worth, but some. The only problem is that it is our sole income right now. Yipes. S is looking for a job, and when he gets one, my art money will be our extra money, for maintaining my art biz and for getting stuff we need and perhaps my personal discretionary income. or maybe we’ll just save it.
35. Master (Utilize) the blogoverse in specific and the internet/computers in general. {color:green} I should get rid of the term “master.” blogging, check. FB, check. googlereader, check. twitter, in progress, etsy, in progress. picnik, in progress. want to learn Flickr right now.

38. Get paid for what I love to do and am passionate about.{color:green} I have entered the world that I want to enter. I am selling my art on etsy. I have a decent blog following. I am engaged in a couple of different internet communities. Next I want to work on getting some paid articles. I want to finish my book and get an agent/contract. I want to do some on line courses. Perhaps some online tarot reading. I want to work with my teaching partner and get our women’s groups going, probably online, since she’s in Atlanta. I also want to look into getting some grants. yes. I’m about making money, now.

4. Finish a publishable draft of a novel. got through some major revisions of half of my novel before I realized I needed to change the POV to someone else’s and discovered a better focus for the novel, so I am going to have to revise from scratch. So I think that would make it the second or third pass.

6. Publish another article. %{color:green}received an opportunity to publish in an anthology which I haven’t done anything with. Get crackin Ro. %

8. Learn to play the guitar got a guitar from my stepfather, a learn to play book from my uncle and after two days, snapped the string which I have been unable to replace right now. asked for strings for christmas.
9. Get married %{color:green}some discussion of this, some discussion of rings, some thoughts on planning, but we have to straighten out finances and living situation first. %
10. Sell my art to people who don’t know me. was asked to paint a picture, but I dropped the ball and never did it. Still can do it, she has still expressed interest. Maybe I wasn’t ready.

12. Potty train my children {color:green} the boy is potty trained for the day, even nap, with some accidents, still night time and poo to come. I dropped the girl potty training until she knows what to do when she sits on the potty and/or the boy is done and I can focus on her. maybe after the new year.
13. Teach my children to read reading every night, playing with letters, the boy loves to “read” magazines, toy circulars, comic books, picture books. got him to read along with me when he knew the words. he has sometimes read along with the characters on PBS, picked out correct letters and numbers. he sometimes reads the titles on videos and brought the right one. he is still only three. the girl has finally expressed an interest in books, as long as they are not too wordy.
14. Roast a whole chickendone
15. Move out of New York Citydone
16. Meet S’s daughter and mother gotten into email/snail mail correspondence w S’s mother.
17. Be a better photographer improved, learned to use my point and shoot settings, take better pictures of my art, but I need to get a better camera if I really want to explore this.

19. Have a writer’s room/studio have had a couple spots set up but they don’t always work for my needs. right now have a corner in my room for writing and a corner in the livingroom to work while kids are playing. Both work. Also have created a take along paint bag where I can carry my stuff with me and work anywhere. It’s not about conforming to what you think you “should” ahve, it’s about being able to get your work done in the life you live. sometimes I need privacy, sometimes I need to be able to supervise the kids and jump up at a moment’s notice, sometimes I need to crash on the couch and watch tv and still be able to paint.

21. Be a part of a creative community again. I am a part of an on line creative community, between Art Everyday Month, Artober, The Big Draw, Creative Everyday, Nanowrimo, Illustration Friday, Inspire Me Thursday, the Be Brave Project, the Portfolio Project, Burning Lines and my everyday creative blog, it’s out there. Now if only I could be in a creative community IRL.
22. Write my book on creativity and motherhood {color:green} much of what I am writing in my blog could go into this, but I have not sat down and worked on an outline or specifically worked on this book.
23. Make some stuffed animalsdone! robot and fairy doll and they’re adorable.
24. Paint a monsters alphabet I drew a monsters alphabet in marker, but to really be satisfied with this, I’d have to use real paint. I may see this goal all the way to the end, or I may turn it into something else about kids art on etsy.

30. Get back in touch with Julie D and apologizedone

32. Renew my wardrobe. doing this. paying more attention. getting more new items. wearing skirts, scarves, jewelry again. even wear shoes everyday.
33. Start making my own money again so I can be more independent. I had a part time job waiting tables but quit. I have also taken tighter control of the family finances. Next step is to put us all on a real budget. BUT I have also started to make money with art. I have a commissioned portrait and a set of prints where I am expecting the pay any day.
34. Start a writing and/or creativity workshop started something on line, but the members did not contribute so it fell apart. will try that again. Oh, well…also joined a group writing project online, that might count, but I won’t make it the end of the goal.
35. Master the blogoverse in specific and the internet/computers in general.revised to Build my online platform and product. done a lot here. blogs readership is up. links and groups are up. got an offer of an anthology, people seem to want to buy my art, started another blog, seem to be communicating more with some bloggers who are MUCH bigger than me, which means I am in the circle. maybe not the inner circle, but not the outer, anymore. Still need to put up an Etsy shop, work on Flickr and look into other opportunities for sale/platform.
36. Upgrade my computer system,so that I have all I need professionally.lost my camera, but replaced it with a refurbished one with a few more features. finally got my photo printer so i can start selling prints.
37. Have a supportive and fun circle of friends again. online, awesome people. still need people IRL. although I have gotten back in touch with old friends via FB. Went on a weekend with best friend from HS who I had lost touch with. (goal 10)
38. Get paid for what I love to do and am passionate about.gettin 100$ for a set of prints and about 300$ for a portrait. That’s money for my art, folks, and only the beginning.
39. Finish the first draft of the second book in my trilogy.Used Nanowrimo to write the next installment which was kind of the same book and kind of a sequel to part 2. I am almost done with that portion. I don’t really know how the book will be broken up when I really get it revised.

9. Get married. SOme small discussions w S.

10. Sell my art to people who don’t know me. Does selling just one piece make this goal done? I will wait until I get the money, anyway. Would be nice if I had the rest of the selling art goals accomplished in and ongoing way.

12. Potty train my children. SL-ooo-ow.

13. Teach my children to read Bit by bit.

16. Meet S’s daughter and mother. Got an email from S’s mom. Better to have direct contact instead of only through S.

17. Be a better photographer. Have learned a lot about the settings on my point and shoot digital. Have been using manual white balance, delayed shutter, different proportions. These all make my blog photos of my art much better. Also got my old camera to experiment with a new technique.

19. Have a writer’s room/studio. Got (found) a cabinet for art supplies and a drawer for a shelf. Cleared off typing table. Need to decide on a corner to put this in and just do it.

21. Be a part of a creative community again. Online this is developing nicely. IRL, not so much.

22. Write my book on creativity and motherhood. Bloggy work is related to this. Plus, I just found myself offering advice to a commenter on my blog, almost as if I was a creativity consultant… which I would like to be and this is connected.

32. Renew my wardrobe. Rediscovered thrifting. Rediscovered accessories, which go a long way to pulling together an outfit. Got: a hat, 2 necklaces, one bracelet. two tank tops, one plaid shirt and one pair skinny jeans to wear as leggings under longer tops and shorter dresses.

33. Start making my own money again so I can be more independent. Selling a painting. This is not a living wage yet, but baby steps.

35. Master the blogoverse in specific and the internet/computers in general.revised to Build my online platform and product. Learned a lot in this one. I would like to do a run down of what… later.

36. Upgrade my computer system,so that I have all I need professionally. Not permanent, but I think I’m going to borrow my mom’s printer, and hopefully what I print there can fund my own printer… it’s an idea.

38. Get paid for what I love to do and am passionate about. I have my first commission in the works. It’s only 45$ for a small painting, but it’s a beginning. It’s helping me to straighten out my policies for when I open my shop. Need to set up the paypal thing on my etsy account.

Hmmm. Busy week.

I would like to cross reference it.

38 things to do before 38 (November 19)

1. Paint a month of Flying Girls (this might actually be 30 things, but oh well.)10, 21, 35, 38
2. Schedule an artist's date with myself.
3. Get G completely off of diapers. 12
4. Get some business cards. 5, 10, 21, 33, 34, 35, 38
5. Put art supplies in the new cabinet.19,
6. Set up a nice workspace in my bedroom. 19
7. Sort kids clothes into keep/toss/store/giveaway
8. Get a long sweater/cardigan 32
9. Get some ballet slippers at target.32

Hey. Cross referencing is a lot of work. And the kids woke up. I’ll finish later.

10. Buy new paints and paintbrushes.
11. Write 25k words in my new novel (for nanowrimo).
12. Write an outline for my new novel (in October)
13. Figure out Flickr.
14. Go trick or treating with the kids. (I hear my neighborhood is Halloween central.)
15. Have a Halloween Party on October 18 (a Fanciful Twist. Awesome blog!)
16. Listen to music more often.
17. Take a walk to the beach with the kids.
18. Collect (steal) sand to make a mini sandbox for the kids to play with.
19. Make a holiday plan (including gift lists and plans for making stuff.)
20. Put ten paintings on my etsy shop.
21. Get a learner's permit.
22. Get a scanner/printer (either the one from storage, or a new one. Or get comfortable using my uncle's.)
23. Clean and purge bedside tables.
24. Start inspiration file/board.
25. Mae playdough with the kids.
26. Make rice krispie treats.
27. Get some sculpey and make stuff.
28. Straighten out paypal account.
29. Make small and heartfelt public. (Not ready yet, so no link.)
30. Post one of my poems.
31. Host a giveaway.
32. Make a Flying Girl with my Alice in Wonderland.
33. Do some ATCs/ACEOs.
34. Connect w S.
35. Get a project going with PK. (PK, if you're out there, we've got to get off our rears.)
36. Start making Christmas presents.
37. Write up a business plan.
38. Post this list.

1. Get a passport no
2. Visit another country no
3. Move to California this may be in the works, but not yet
4. Finish a publishable draft of a novel working on 2nd draft. slow going
5. Get an agent no, but building a platform and slowly getting known online
6. Publish another article no, but see above.
7. Read through all 25 years worth of journal, organize and collect anything worth collecting (essays, poems, quotes, drawings, moments, ideas, etc.)just went through some old blog entries from when I first started blogging almost FIVE years ago.
8. Learn to play the guitar no
9. Get married talked casually about it. S says he’s planning on asking, w a ring, “doing it right.” I have started a blog to keep track of my budget and non conventional wedding ideas, it is still a secret since I have not been officially asked yet.
10. Sell my art to people who don’t know me big developments. haven’t sold anything yet, but people are now asking for my paintings! have to get my shop set up.
11. Publish my poetry in a reputable journal ignored
12. Potty train my children UGH frickin frackin in the middle of this. Boy is partly trained during the day, not naps. Girl is not ready yet, I think, or maybe I am too lazy.
13. Teach my children to read Read to them every night. Starting some prereading activities, like letter recognition, having them tell stories. Loving PBS for educational TV. G is starting to recognize a few letters and even some small words. On his own, with no help from me.
14. Roast a whole chickenWOO HOO one down. It was delish.
15. Move out of New York Citymoved
16. Meet S’s daughter and mother no, but got into direct contact with MIL for the first time, not through S.
17. Be a better photographer yes I would say so, but still farther to go
18. Go on a romantic holiday with S.no
19. Have a writer’s room/studio eh… had one, then it started not to work for me because I didn’t want to be there. So what does that mean? Keep at it.
20. Go on a writer’s retreat or to a writer’s conference no
21. Be a part of a creative community again hmm. Not one in real life, but I would say I am involved in an on line creative community… more everyday. These people are really awesome. it’s so cool
22. Write my book on creativity and motherhood in process
23. Make some stuffed animals no
24. Paint a monsters alphabet oh, hey… I drew all these in marker for G’s birthday… but it would be so cool to make them in real paint and make them really nice.
25. Send my children to school no too young
26. Write a will no
27. Learn to fricking drive for godsakes. no what the bleepin bleep is wrong with me!
28. Own a car no
29. Step foot in the Pacific ocean no
30. Get back in touch with Julie D and apologizeWOO FRICKIN HOO DONE! She found me on facebook and we are back in touch! YAY!
31. Visit my alma mater no
32. Renew my wardrobe.slowly. planning on starting to yardsale/thrifty/targety. Actually designed some dream fashions for myself started buying chick mags again to get my head in the game.
33. Start making my own money again so I can be more independent hmm. yes and no. Had a job. It sucked and wasn’t worth it so I quit. Not working now, still dependent, but taking more charge of the money sitch and working on the art to sell, but not sold yet.
34. Start a writing and/or creativity workshop not yet, but need to work on this a little. think online opportunities, atleast.
35. Master the blogoverse in specific and the internet/computers in general.Master? No, but I am in the game. My blog is starting to frickalickin rock. Loving it. Things are moving. Yay.
36. Upgrade my computer system,so that I have all I need professionally. nope, no money. but I did spend the needed money to replace my old camera when I lost it, so atleast I didn’t go backwards.
37. Have a supportive and fun circle of friends again only online. both bloggy friends and getting back in touch with old college, HS, teaching, momfriends on Facebook.
38. Get paid for what I love to do and am passionate about.I am committed to this and have not been paid yet, but I am getting so much closer it makes me dizzy.
39. Finish the first draft of the second book in my trilogy.no
40. Finish the first draft of the THIRD book in my trilogy.
no

I thought I had been ignoring this goal, but it turns out, I have just not been updating it. In the last five months since I wrote about it, I have been working on a lot of this. Go mama for having deep focus on my dreams, even when I am not consciously tackling them.

4. Finish a publishable draft of a novel Been writing almost every day for the last couple of weeks. Rewriting, anyway, much is new material. Have about 60 pages now.

5. Get an agent. Started researching the industry. Signed up for MediaBistro daily newsletters. Found a blog today written by an editor. Not quite an agent, but learning about them.

6. Publish another article. Signed up for freelancing websites, job listings, etc. Actually applied for a freelancing gig, although as a blogger. I wonder if I only count print articles in this? I don’t think blogging counts, because it is a different format. Emagazines would count, though. Keep researching. Start sending things out, okay Ro?

8. Learn to play the guitar Found out my stepfather has a guitar he’s not using, although he was clear that it would only be a loan.

12. Potty train my children. Bought G a potty. They both like playing with it. That’s about all. Must work on this.

13. Teach my children to read. Still reading. Showing letters. Playing with the letter flash cards. Watching WordGirl and Wordworld on PBS. No serious work on this, but that’s okay.

14. Roast a whole chickenYOO HOO HALLELUJAH! I have finished one thing on my 40 list!!!! I didn’t think I could do it, but I did it last week. It wasn’t as hard as I thought and it was a lot tastier. Tomorrow, I am roasting TWO chickens at once. Leftovers.

15. Host a sit down dinnerthis was something I’ve done before, so I don’t know why I put it on the list. maybe because I thought I should host a fancy dinner. Move out of New York City _This goal is accomplished. It was a lot harder than I expected. And there is still the possibility we will go back. But at least I did it.

19. Have a writer’s room/studio Welll, I don’t know if it counts. I have one, but it is a borrowed one, and I kind of want my own. One that I can decorate and fill with my library and my art supplies and my inspirations. I suppose this is one step towards making sure I have one, even if temporary and not truly my goal, I am making sure to give my self and my writing the respect we deserve. It’s a big thing to put yourself forward like that, especially in someone else’s home.

22. Write my book on creativity and motherhood I have not started my outline, but my blog has definitely moved toward the creative hints and helps. Maybe I need to put less hints into it and more personal stories.

24. Paint a monsters alphabet Just a little. Showed what I had to Uncle, he loved it. G loved it again. Looked up monsters in my uncle’s monster dictionary. It’s on the back burner a bit, but still simmering.

30. Get back in touch with Julie D and apologize. Spent all of one afternoon looking for her on line. Couldn’t find her. Found some other sites to check that I will try. Also, if I need to, might turn to S for help. He is, after all a Private Detective.

33. Start making my own money again so I can be more independent.well. I did this. Got a job waiting tables. Of course, S still doesn’t have a job, so all we have is mine so not much mopney actually goes to me, but you know what? I think I did this goal.

35. Master the blogoverse in specific and the internet/computers in general. Slow and steady. Working on it. Building my audience. Learning about good blogging. Reaching out. I am so annoyed that I can’t post pictures right now. Technical difficulties. Much to learn.

38. Get paid for what I love to do and am passionate about.Working on it. Made the decision to take this goal on seriously and actively. My goal is to be supporting myself with my freelancing/art/novels by the time G and Ivy are in school full time, by which time, I would otherwise need to go back to teaching. Started researching being a freelancer and working from home. Working on my web presence. Got a gig at domesticglamor.com. Steps.

But this week I made some small steps, also.

9. Get Married. Obviously this will take some planning. Planning I did. I’m looking at a very small and casual wedding with lovely hand made touches. That’s what I want. Luckily, that will hopefull fit in my budget, when I get a budget that is more than just basic necessities. But here are the things I have figured out so far.

Dress: Sophia Dress from J Crew. I really should buy it as soon as possible on the off chance they stop making it, because that’s really the one I want. Not just because it’s cheaper than the ridiculousnesss that’s out there, but because I really like it.

Hair: A loose low bun, rather like a Ancient Grecian style, or a Jane Austen style. Found a beautiful picture that I’m sure my sister would be able to duplicate. With a ribbon. And maybe some flowers.

Color Scheme: Pink and Orange with some touches of dark red and leaf green. Because it won’t be expensive, I am going for festive, and colorful will help the festivity. Plus it’s inspired by some lovely bouquets I’ve seen, of Dahlias or roses or really any round and full flowers. And no specific colors, but a generous array of many different pinks and oranges

Some decorations: these tissue paper poufs that Martha Stewart made. Huge things. Better than balloons and Festive! Plus some botanica candles wrapped in matching tissue papers (remember orange, pink, red and green.) And I really like paper arts. In fact I think I also saw some Martha banners/flags made out of origami paper that I liked. Even in conjunction with the tissue poufs, I think it would make a nice composition.

And the big one:
CAKE: Found a blog where a woman made her own cakes for her wedding. Almost flourless chocolate cakes. They look divine, not that complicated, and better, can be made a week or two in advance and frozen. They aren’t frosted, but can be served w whip cream or icecream, and probably decorated with flowers. Not really interested in the big white cake with all the elaboration. Had been planning to do cupcakes, but I think I like the chocolate cakes better. Might even be easier to make. Must bake one and see if it’s as tasty as it looks. And as easy.

I still don’t know where or when we would get married, but a vision is starting to come together that I am rather pleased with. I am opposed in so many ways to those big gigantic wastes of weddings, morally, aesthetically, spiritually, and so on. Lucky for me, since I can’t afford one.

Okay, that was a huge entry for this one little item. And I still haven’t actually done anything. In fact, all the planning I’m doing on this “wedding” has been in secret. Don’t know why, it just has.

12. Potty Train my kid. Two poops in the potty. Woo hoo. No other desire from said kid, but still, two poops. I’m trying to motivate him with hershey’s kisses.

14. Roast a Whole Chicken. Didn’t manage the WHOLE chicken, but did roast 4 quarters, legs and thighs. Somehow, it was a little less intimidating than a whole chicken and gave me a taste on how it could end up if I went the whole distance.

Took steps. Baby steps, but steps.

Last week, I cleaned out my closet and got rid of a lot. Big step to see what you have and don’t have.

This week I bought a pair of jeans and a coat/jacket.

Does that count as two things?

What am I going to do when I get rid of the easy things and have to tackle the long term ones?

I guess I’ll just have to take baby steps towards getting the long term things done, even if they take three years to complete, it’s about taking steps, not about getting things done.

And that’s because if you take steps, you’ll either get things done, or get closer to getting them done… it’s about the journey, not the destination, anyway.

1. Get a passport
2. Visit another country
3. Move to California
4. Finish a publishable draft of a novel
5. Get an agent
6. Publish another article
7. Read through all 25 years worth of journal, organize and collect anything worth collecting (essays, poems, quotes, drawings, moments, ideas, etc.)
8. Learn to play the guitar
9. Get married
10. Sell my art to people who don’t know medone
11. Publish my poetry in a reputable journal
12. Potty train my children Ivy, working. G almost done.
13. Teach my children to read
14. Roast a whole chickendone
15. Host a sit down dinnerrevised toMove out of New York Citydone
16. Meet S’s daughter and motherhalf done
17. Be a better photographer
18. Go on a romantic holiday with S.
19. Have a writer’s room/studio
20. Go on a writer’s retreat or to a writer’s conference
21. Be a part of a creative community again
22. Write my book on creativity and motherhood
23. Make some stuffed animalsdone
24. Paint a monsters alphabet
25. Send my children to school
26. Write a will
27. Learn to fricking drive for godsakes.
28. Own a car
29. Step foot in the Pacific ocean
30. Get back in touch with Julie D and apologizedone
31. Visit my alma mater
32. Renew my wardrobe.
33. Start making my own money again so I can be more independent
34. Start a writing and/or creativity workshop
35. Master the blogoverse in specific and the internet/computers in general.revised to Build my online platform and product
36. Upgrade my computer system,so that I have all I need professionally.
37. Have a supportive and fun circle of friends again
38. Get paid for what I love to do and am passionate about.
39. Finish the first draft of the second book in my trilogy.
40. Finish the first draft of the THIRD book in my trilogy.

Interestingly, starting a writer’s/creativity workshop showed up THREE TIMES on my list… each time that I added something new, that was added again. Hmmmmm. Seems that’s something I really want to do.