I'm doing 33 things
Another Garage Sale This Weekend
5 months ago
Hopefully I’ll get rid of another large load of STUFF!
Kate L.'s Life List
-
1. enjoy my life
3 entries . 18 cheers169 people -
2. take good care of myself
6 entries . 11 cheers41 people -
3. Clean out and organize all my drawers, cupboards, baskets and cubbies
6 entries . 3 cheers1 person -
4. Sell my stuff
4 entries29 people -
5. Deal with my VHS tapes. Evaluate, burn DVDs, dispose of.
1 entry . 1 cheer1 person -
6. Reduce my mail inflow to a trickle
2 entries . 1 cheer1 person -
7. Throw away my tee-vee
3 entries . 2 cheers1 person -
8. stretch more
8 cheers119 people -
9. Learn Arabic
3 entries . 4 cheers2,110 people -
10. Establish a creative practice
5 entries . 10 cheers1 person -
11. Take more pictures
2 entries . 1 cheer14,327 people -
12. Practice my French
2 entries . 8 cheers72 people -
13. read Proust's In Search of Lost Time
4 entries . 7 cheers40 people -
14. Relearn and practice T'ai Chi
2 entries . 8 cheers1 person -
15. Make a List of 100 Things That Make Me Happy
4 entries . 4 cheers511 people -
16. learn to belly dance
6 cheers2,299 people -
17. take the time to do a fun and wonderful project
3 entries . 8 cheers1 person -
18. visit Morocco during the rose petal harvest
1 entry . 6 cheers3 people -
19. Get a terminal degree
5 entries4 people -
20. find my true home
1 entry . 9 cheers2 people -
21. Buy a House
5 cheers12,584 people -
22. find a creative partner
1 entry . 8 cheers8 people -
23. get a keyboard
4 cheers8 people -
24. take voice lessons
8 cheers752 people -
25. ride a horse on the beach
6 cheers235 people -
26. Find someone to travel with
2 entries . 8 cheers52 people -
27. swim with dolphins
10 cheers7,369 people -
28. see the northern lights
5 cheers16,927 people -
29. Go someplace very, very dark and look at the stars all night
1 entry . 20 cheers284 people -
30. Ride in a gondola through the canals of Venice. With a lover.
1 entry . 6 cheers1 person -
31. go hot air ballooning
7 cheers126 people -
32. see Machu Pichu at dawn
8 cheers3 people -
33. Complete the Proust Questionnaire
1 entry . 4 cheers1 person
How I did it
It made me
feel liberated! 
How I did it: I downloaded an Excel spreadsheet that let me plug in numbers: of balances and interest rates for every card, tinker with which one to prioritize. It really made a big difference to see that bottom line (total interest I'll pay over the life of the debt) go down, lower and lower, if I put the lower-interest cards on minimum autopay and throw as much money as possible at the highest interest loan.I also took the big step of moving my… Read how I did it…
It made me
So happy!
How I did it: The biggest obstacle for an older volunteer such as myself is the medical review. I had to get my doctors to write letters and fill out forms. Fortunately they are all very supportive of my decision and went that extra mile for me. I had to struggle past an initial decision for deferral of service. In the end, persistence paid off. Read how I did it…
It made me
Very Happy
How I did it: I found this wonderful organization that has after-school arts classes for school-kids. It's called Venice Arts In Neighborhoods. I'd volunteered for them in the past. I found them on the Internet. Read how I did it…
See all "How I Did It" stories...
Recent entries
The grand-daddy of all junk drawers
5 months ago
I’ve cleaned out the junkiest of my junk drawers—the one that had all the stray bits of hardware, string, and pieces of used sandpaper, not to mention batteries, small cat toys and just plain junk. The drawer was so full and heavy it was starting to make the bottom sag. But now most of it is in a box that will go into the garage sale, and the drawer is tidy and lightweight again.
More time with Arabic
6 months ago
I’m now learning how to write Arabic. Other people serving in Morocco tell me it isn’t important to learn to read and write Arabic. Just to speak it (or one of the Berber languages). But since my opportunities to hear Moroccan Arabic are limited (and opportunities to hear Berber are non-existent) right now, I am learning some MSA vocabulary, and it helps to be able to read the script.
Plus, I find learning the script fascinating. I am an artist, so I am attracted to calligraphy. The challenge of learning to write makes it fun.
Also I’ve been doing the lessons at LiveMocha, and they involve recognizing the words even with the very very tiny letters that that the browser uses to represent Arabic.
I’ve met a couple of Moroccan lads on LiveMocha and this may lead to some opportunities to learn a few phrases, especially very common things. Right now I’ve only done text chat so far and mostly using English or French. Text chat with Arabic is way beyond my present stage because I’m like a kindergarten child, still learning the alphabet. Maybe later I can use voice chat and then I can learn some Darija.
