Almost There: Another Parisienne ADTL Update

One! More! Week!

- Renew passport since it expires less than 3 months after I'll be traveling and it would be great if the countries I'm planning to visit didn't refuse me entry.
- Make sure taking off the Friday before is ok with my boss. Boss is A-OK with me not working the Friday we leave! Which is good, since we need to be at Logan shortly after noon for our flight.
- Research flights with the work travel agent and confer with Merrow that times/dates work for her too.
- Book flights.
- Research places to stay:
        -Iceland  Booked! We are staying here.
        -Paris (one place or two?) One place, because we don't want to move all our shit merde via Métro halfway thorough. Booked and staying here.
        -Alps Done. C and I finally agreed on a hotel, and Merrow said whatever was good with us was fine with her.
- Book lodgings.
- Research transportation options:
        -Airport transfers in Iceland Booked!
        -Airport transfers in France I think the easiest thing is just going to be to buy a Métro ticket for the trip, rather than trying to add it on to the Navigo Découverte.
        -TGV tickets/France rail pass/Paris metro pass France Rail 5-day pass booked; buying the Métro pass there.
- Plan Iceland activities with Merrow.
- Book any Icelandic adventures that need to be pre-booked. Done! We are doing this and this and this and this! And probably not much sleeping.
- Make a list of everything I want to do in Paris. Done. It is loooooooong.
- Edit list to a realistic length since I will be there for 12 days, not 12 years. Hahahahahahaha, this will not actually happen until I am on the plane home and cannot cram in any more activities.
- Determine what on list shall be done with Merrow and what will be done on my own. We have a rough idea of what we're going to do together. Events will probably include climbing the Eiffel tower, lots of café sitting and wine drinking, the Louvre, the Orangerie, Versailles, and we booked this tour for the first night we're there.
- Book any Parisian activities that need to be pre-booked. Wait, do I really need to pre-book "sit in a café for hours on end with wine, crêpes, and a good book"?
- Plan Alps Side Trip activities:
        -Determine what dates to head to the Alps End of week 2.
        -Determine if there is enough time to make a side side trip to Other Alpine Town Sadly, not this time. Which is too bad, because I know Merrow and C would love it, but they are going to have a kick-ass time in Switzerland, so next time.
- Make any Alpine reservations that are necessary. We're going to play it by ear, so all we really needed booked were the hotel and our train reservations.
- Start packing. This weekend. Really. NOT next Friday morning. I am not going to start this trip stressed out.
- Oh, and re-learn French.  :) Merde. This totally did not happen. Let's hope that I can get by on my 17-years-ago memory and a decent translator app!

Parisienne ATDL Update

Just over 2 months to go! Merrow and I have plane tickets, a place to stay in Iceland, pretty solid plans for our Icelandic activities, a rough idea of our Parisian activities, days we will be road-tripping to the Alps (is it rail-tripping if you take the train?), a tentative place to stay in the Alps, and no idea yet of where to stay in Paris.

I also have, in my hot little hands, a brand spanking new passport (which will not be "new" by the time I go as I'm heading back to Israel for work next month) and a 5-day France Rail pass.

- Renew passport since it expires less than 3 months after I'll be traveling and it would be great if the countries I'm planning to visit didn't refuse me entry.
- Make sure taking off the Friday before is ok with my boss. Boss is A-OK with me not working the Friday we leave! Which is good, since we need to be at Logan shortly after noon for our flight.
- Research flights with the work travel agent and confer with Merrow that times/dates work for her too.
- Book flights.
- Research places to stay:
        -Iceland  Booked! We are staying here.
        -Paris (one place or two?)
        -Alps
- Book lodgings.
- Research transportation options:
        -Airport transfers in Iceland
        -Airport transfers in France
        -TGV tickets/France rail pass/Paris metro pass
- Plan Iceland activities with Merrow.
- Book any Icelandic adventures that need to be pre-booked.
- Make a list of everything I want to do in Paris.
- Edit list to a realistic length since I will be there for 12 days, not 12 years.
- Determine what on list shall be done with Merrow and what will be done on my own.
- Book any Parisian activities that need to be pre-booked. Wait, do I really need to pre-book "sit in a café for hours on end with wine, crêpes, and a good book"?
- Plan Alps Side Trip activities:
        -Determine what dates to head to the Alps
        -Determine if there is enough time to make a side side trip to Other Alpine Town
- Make any Alpine reservations that are necessary.
- Start packing.
- Oh, and re-learn French.  :)

Ambitious To-Do List - La Version Parisienne

So many things to do in the 4 months before my OMG35 trip. Time for a (very) ATDL again.

- Renew passport since it expires less than 3 months after I'll be traveling and it would be great if the countries I'm planning to visit didn't refuse me entry.
- Make sure taking off the Friday before is ok with my boss.
- Research flights with the work travel agent and confer with Merrow that times/dates work for her too.
- Book flights.
- Research places to stay:
        -Iceland
        -Paris (one place or two?)
        -Alps
- Book lodgings.
- Research transportation options:
        -Airport transfers in Iceland
        -Airport transfers in France
        -TGV tickets/France rail pass/Paris metro pass
- Plan Iceland activities with Merrow.
- Book any Icelandic adventures that need to be pre-booked.
- Make a list of everything I want to do in Paris.
- Edit list to a realistic length since I will be there for 12 days, not 12 years.
- Determine what on list shall be done with Merrow and what will be done on my own.
- Book any Parisian activities that need to be pre-booked. Wait, do I really need to pre-book "sit in a café for hours on end with wine, crêpes, and a good book"?
- Plan Alps Side Trip activities:
        -Determine what dates to head to the Alps
        -Determine if there is enough time to make a side side trip to Other Alpine Town
- Make any Alpine reservations that are necessary.
- Start packing.
- Oh, and re-learn French.  :)

Luckily Merrow and I have plans to hang out and drink wine on Saturday (after running a 5k - this is going to be ugly) so hopefully we can nail down a lot of the plans.

109 By December 31

I was three tasks short of a perfect score. And now it's time to relax for New Year's Eve. Happy 2012 everyone!

Things Gotten Rid Of:
1. Box of dried out markers from Girl Scout stuff (garbage)
2. Stretched out and tired bra. My girls deserve to be perkier than that. (garbage)
3-5. 3 Tank tops that have seen better days. (garbage; they were too worn out to be donated)
4. Large wok with cover (Goodwill)
5. Small wok. I feel kind of guilty about the woks, because they were a requested birthday present from my grandma several years ago. But I never use them because I have an electric stove that just doesn't get the burners hot enough for a good stir-fry. They take up a ton of shelf/cupboard space. So they are going to Goodwill in hopes that someone will take them home and use them.
6-7. 2 pairs of curtains (Goodwill)
8-9. 2 brand new kitchen towels that don't go with my kitchen colors (Goodwill)
10. Purse I haven't used since 2 jobs ago (Goodwill)
11. Grocery bag full of stale or expired food from pantry (garbage)
12-13. 2 insulated coffee mugs that leak. No point in keeping them as they dribble coffee down my front every time I use them. (garbage)
14-15. 2 plastic beer mugs from summer beer festivals past (recycling)
16-17. Not 1 but 2 pleather portfolios/notepads embossed with shitty former company's name. Wanted to burn them, but figured just trashing them was enough. (garbage)
18. Travel pillow (Goodwill)
19-20. 2 tarnished silver picture frames. One with broken glass. Not worth the effort to clean them! (garbage)
Holy crap, just went through my closets and dressers and wow. One garbage bag of stuff to throw out. One of stuff to donate. A small pile to see if Mom wants or to consign. Discovery that I had 5 pairs of black or gray yoga pants.
21-23. Bathing suits, either too big, too old, or stretched out and ratty. And I still have 5 left. I am not allowed to buy any more bathing suits, no matter how good the deals are at the LLBean Outlet end of season sale. (garbage)
24-42. Shirts (12 to garbage, 7 to donate)
43-49. Shorts/pants/jeans (3 to garbage, 4 to donate)
50-51. Suits (donate)
52-58. More undergarments (garbage)
59-62. 3 pairs of shoes plus a set of Dr Scholls insoles (1 pair of shoes to donate, the rest to garbage)
63-64. Skirts (donate)
65-66. Sweaters (donate)
67. Dress (donate)
68. Blazer (donate)
69. Backpack (donate)
70-79. Gloves/hats/scarves (6 to donate, 4 to garbage)
80. Falling apart cheap macrame style purse (soooo getting trashed!)
81-83. Towels that no longer match my bathroom (donating to the animal shelter for bedding or cleanup duty!)
84. Tic tac toe puzzle book (donate)
85-87. Old textbooks from college (donated to the book drop at my church; they get sent to 3rd world libraries and schools)
88-90. Pastels, smudging tools, and drawing paper (sending to Maine for Artsy Niece)
91-92. Bathroom towel bars (sending to ME for Uncle EMS and Aunt Stet's house)
93. Anti-vibration pads for a washing machine on a concrete floor (ditto)
94. Toddler-sized UMO hockey jersey (for Sporty Niece who is obsessed with UMO to hang on her wall)
95. Doodle Dice game (for all the nieces and nephew)
96-98. Kitchen towels that have seen better days (animal shelter)
99. Trivet that I've never used (donate)
100. Warped, cracked and chipped wooden cutting board (garbage)

Random Tasks That Needed Doing:
1. Signed up for 401(k) at work.
2. Made a whole bunch of doctors appointments that I've been procrastinating on. I get to see the podiatrist in January, GYN in February, and dermatologist in March. What fun.
3. Took a HUGE load of recycling to the transfer station. I think that's the first time I've ever completely filled the back of the SUV with recyclables.
4. Deep cleaned both my bathrooms, including a double scrub of the tub AND de-gunking the upstairs sink drain.
5. Shoveled the ash out of the fireplace.
6. Washed my duvet cover and pillow shams, and fluffed the duvet.
7. Repotted the aloe plant.
8. Cleaned out the lower cupboards of the pantry and washed the shelves.
9. Submitted (most of) my FSA receipts for refund

Holiday Productivity

ATDL wrap-up! Hope you all had a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Joyous Kwanza, and Happy New Year. (No mention of Festivus because while I like the idea, I am the only Gen X-er who hates Seinfeld.)

-call furnace guy
-make sure neighbors will watch the cats, and give them their Christmas presents
-order pictures for holiday cards
-finish writing up holiday letter
-print letter
-print address labels - opted not to and just use non-holiday return labels
-find address book
-finish the damn holiday cards, which will wind up being new year's cards, but whatever
-wrap Auntie L's holiday gift and get it ready to mail
-take everything to the PO (and thank goodness for the 24-hour APC at my PO)
-make another batch of chocolate-dipped spoons
-make another batch of banana bread
-finish putting together goodie bags for work and Miss J's family
-drop off goodie bag for Miss J's family - still need to do this, but promised her I'd wait until this week until some of the cookies and holiday food had been eaten!
-consolidate Christmas presents to wrap and make sure nothing is forgotten
-change sheets on bed
-wash/dry/put away sheets and towels
-wash/dry/put away load of random laundry floating around bedroom
-pack clothes for trip to parents'
-vacuum first floor
-vacuum stairs
-vacuum upstairs
-clean upstairs bathroom
-mix up sugar cookie dough - checked with Mom, and they had plenty of cookies in ME already, so decided to wait until the week after to make some to have when R comes to visit

-bake off sugar cookies
-wrap Christmas presents, then box up
-load car
-clean cat box
-take out garbage
-stop at liquor store for nips and Baileys
-pack up Wii and games to take to parents' house - forgot this, but it was ok as I was only there for a couple of days anyway

So for the most part I was successful. Didn't quite get all the cleaning done before I left that I was hoping to do, but at least the house was pretty well straightened up before I left. It's always nice to come home and have empty surfaces to set down all of the gear I always seem to return with. Tomorrow is back to work time, but hopefully it'll be an easy week.

Ambitious To-Do List - Holiday Version

So much to do, so little time to do it. Let's make a list instead of actually doing anything productive, shall we?

-call furnace guy
-make sure neighbors will watch the cats, and give them their Christmas presents
-order pictures for holiday cards
-finish writing up holiday letter
-print letter
-print address labels
-find address book
-finish the damn holiday cards, which will wind up being new year's cards, but whatever
-wrap Auntie L's holiday gift and get it ready to mail
-take everything to the PO (and thank goodness for the 24-hour APC at my PO)
-make another batch of chocolate-dipped spoons
-make another batch of banana bread
-finish putting together goodie bags for work and Miss J's family
-drop off goodie bag for Miss J's family
-consolidate Christmas presents to wrap and make sure nothing is forgotten
-change sheets on bed
-wash/dry/put away sheets and towels
-wash/dry/put away load of random laundry floating around bedroom
-pack clothes for trip to parents'
-vacuum first floor
-vacuum stairs
-vacuum upstairs
-clean upstairs bathroom
-mix up sugar cookie dough
EITHER:
-bake off sugar cookies
-wrap Christmas presents, then box up
OR:
-box up unwrapped presents, wrapping supplies, etc to finish on Friday morning
-take cookie dough to parents' house to bake off
THEN:
-load car
-clean cat box
-take out garbage

Edited to add to the list:
-stop at liquor store for nips and Baileys
-pack up Wii and games to take to parents' house

Weekend Productivity - Somewhat Achieved

How did I do on my latest Ambitious To-Do List? Less than stellar. There was a significant lack of cleaning or exercising that went on at Chez Kate this weekend. I did manage to put away 3 half-unpacked suitcases and an over flowing laundry basket, and in doing so confirmed that I do, in fact, have a bedroom floor! Other than that, lots of projects half completed. Oh well, at least I didn't spend all Sunday sleeping like I did last week! Here's hoping I can cross off a few more of these during evenings this week.



-Once again, oh dear Lord, the recycling. Why does it always manage to take over the basement stairwell before I get to the Transfer Station?
-And once again, scrub the bathroom.
-And also, vacuum.
-Bring flowerpots with annuals and garden decorations in from outside before we get any more snow.
-Pull remains of veggies from garden beds. I got one of the two beds done, but ran out of daylight to finish the other one.
-Cat boxes. Ew, but necessary.
-Sand the bathroom cabinet doors and get at least a coat of primer on them.
-Hang the light in the laundry closet.
-Talk to handyman neighbor about installing shelf in bedroom.
-Update the random financial crap that is boring but needs to be updated.
-Including filing all my travel expense reports for work.
-Start working on my photos from the Israel trip so my book can be done by Christmas.
-Make at least 1 Christmas present. No pictures of it until after Christmas though! The recipient reads my blog occasionally.
-Go to the gym at least once and actually work out (not just shower because there is no power at home).
-Go for a looooong walk outside. Maybe even consider jogging for part of it!
-Dig out ski gear and winter clothes, swap out with summer shorts and tanktops in dresser.
-Drop the dry cleaning off.

Ambitious To-Do List

It's only Wednesday, but I have a lot going on in my non-existent free time. It's time for another ATDL! Let's see what I can get accomplished by Sunday night.

-Once again, oh dear Lord, the recycling. Why does it always manage to take over the basement stairwell before I get to the Transfer Station?

-And once again, scrub the bathroom.

-And also, vacuum.

Hmmmm, maybe I should have just copied my last ATDL.

-Bring flowerpots with annuals and garden decorations in from outside before we get any more snow.
-Pull remains of veggies from garden beds.
-Cat boxes. Ew, but necessary.
-Sand the bathroom cabinet doors and get at least a coat of primer on them.
-Hang the light in the laundry closet.
-Talk to handyman neighbor about installing shelf in bedroom.
-Update the random financial crap that is boring but needs to be updated.
-Including filing all my travel expense reports for work.
-Start working on my photos from the Israel trip so my book can be done by Christmas.
-Make at least 1 Christmas present.
-Go to the gym at least once and actually work out (not just shower because there is no power at home).
-Go for a looooong walk outside. Maybe even consider jogging for part of it!
-Dig out ski gear and winter clothes, swap out with summer shorts and tanktops in dresser.
-Drop the dry cleaning off.

Weekend Wrap-Up

Friday I posted an Ambitious To-Do List for the weekend. I know myself, and I know the lazy is strong within me, so I figured I'd be happy if I got at least a couple of things checked off. I have a bad habit of procrastinating projects in favor of sleeping in late and reading. I thought if I had a list posted somewhat publicly, it might give me some incentive to get off the couch on Saturday and Sunday.


-Oh. Dear. God. Take the recycling to the transfer station. This was actually the first thing I did on Saturday - no missing closing time at the transfer station again!
-Scrub the bathroom. The downstairs bathroom sink got overlooked until tonight, but both baths are now sparkly clean, and the upstairs one has been swiffered to pick up all the stray hair, both human and feline. 
-Figure out what is causing the upstairs toilet to leak, and fix it. Diagnosis: Leaky fill valve. Solution: Install all new guts to toilet. Result: Much swearing, 3 trips to the hardware store, and some very sore muscles, but in the end the water both runs AND stops when it is supposed to, and does not drip out of any unanticipated locations. Win! In fact, I am so impressed with myself, it may warrant a post of its own.
-Everything that was listed Tuesday regarding the laundry closet? Yeah, do that. Mostly done with this one. The shelves have been secured to the wall and the hanging bar installed. The CO monitor is back in place. Everything is organized neatly back on the shelves. All that remains is installing the bar light and hanging the curtain.
-Vacuum.
-Do something productive with the basement - put things away, or at least stack them neatly. I probably should have been less vague about the basement, but then again, the vagueness means I get to check it off. Put all the books away and pulled out a bunch to swap/donate. Tidied up the camping gear, repacked the two camping totes, and stacked them by the door, since I'm going camping again this summer. Finally cleaned out the bar cupboard and put all the booze away. Gathered up a bunch of junk to throw out, and stacked up the empty boxes. It's still kind of a mess down there now, but at least you can see the floor in the main part of the finished room.
-Mail a belated b'day gift to Auntie L.
-Turn the house upside down looking for the round mirror. Found in only the second place I looked, so I didn't have to rip the house apart too much.
-Turn the house back right side up. Half marks for this one. It didn't get too trashed looking for the mirror, and I managed to clear some trouble spots, like the guest room bed. There's still more work to be done though on the straightening up front.
-Recreate some photo shoot ideas and play around with the camera.
-Put together at least one section of the Israel trip photo book.
-Do something for the Pinterest Challenge. Technically, I still have until tomorrow to do this! :-P
-Cook real food. Grilled chicken tenders, zucchini, and garlic bread for lunch on Saturday. Made rice to go with leftovers for Saturday dinner. Ate more leftovers, a nommy grilled cheese sandwich, and made peanut butter cupcakes on Sunday. Yay, real food!
-Go for a run.

So 14 tasks overall, and I completed 7 and gave myself half marks for 2 more. Not bad. I also went out for dinner and drinks with a friend and then played Wii until 1 AM on Friday, and slept late and spent half the afternoon reading on Sunday. So even though it looks like I only worked on the boring household stuff, I still had a fun and relaxing weekend.

I really should get off my butt and go for a run though....

Weekend Productivity

I'm borrowing an idea from my friend, Craftosaurus, and creating an Ambitious To Do List for this weekend. Maybe this will keep me somewhat accountable for the next two days? Probably not, but let's try!

-Oh. Dear. God. Take the recycling to the transfer station.
-Scrub the bathroom.
-Figure out what is causing the upstairs toilet to leak, and fix it.
-Everything that was listed Tuesday regarding the laundry closet? Yeah, do that.
-Vacuum.
-Do something productive with the basement - put things away, or at least stack them neatly.
-Mail a belated b'day gift to Auntie L.
-Turn the house upside down looking for the round mirror.
-Turn the house back right side up.
-Recreate some photo shoot ideas and play around with the camera.
-Put together at least one section of the Israel trip photo book.
-Do something for the Pinterest Challenge.
-Cook real food.
-Go for a run.

Things I Want To Do This Summer, 2011 Version

I was only partially successful with last year's list; let's see if I can do any better this year.

• Enjoy tapas and sangria on Newbury St once again.
• Find a way to stay within the letter of the NH Fire Code regulations while giving a big "FU" to the neighbors who complained about the chiminea. I'm thinking lots of citronella candles, including a chiminea-shaped candle holder, and possibly a wood fire in a Weber grill is the way to go.
• Sit in the sun, reading trashy books and drinking wine. Because there can never be enough of that.
• Complete the laundry closet remodel.
• Run a 5k in August. Operative word is "run".
• MOOT. Ahem. Hanging with awesome ladies is always necessary.
• Pick a paint color for the bedroom and install beadboard/plate rail fixtures.
• Figure out if last summer's inappropriate actions are worth a revisit, and move on in an appropriate manner from there.
• Complete the 200 sit ups in 6 weeks and 100 push ups in 6 weeks programs.
• Hike at least 3 more of the White Mountain 4000 Footers list.
• Camp twice. And don't stress about the canoe trip.
• Yoga. Once a week. Really.

I Know What I Did Last Summer

Almost a year ago I posted this list.

Over 10 months later, I am finally getting around to the round-up of how I did. Just in time to start thinking about what I want to do this summer!

• Running. Ahahahahahahahahahahahaha! Yeah, running did not happen. I signed up for a half marathon with L (again!) and did not train for it (again!) and wound up wimping out the morning of and not even trying (again!). I'm pretty sure L will never sign up for a race with me again.
• I zen'ed out in front of the chiminea exactly 4 times before a couple of my neighbors complained to the condo board and I was told to either get it inspected by the fire department or get rid of it. Spent a morning at work researching NH fire codes and determined that there was pretty much no place acceptable I could put it. So took the chiminea up to Maine for my parents to use, since ME fire code considers it an "enclosed fireplace" structure.
• I had tapas and sangria on Newbury St and it was as wonderful as expected.
• I successfully planned the canoe/kayak/camping trip, and did not stress out too much. The biggest stress was trying to get Creep and all his stuff in my car and then headed north in a timely fashion. We had a great mix of people on the trip, some of whom camped both nights, some who only camped Saturday, and some who hung out during the day and hotel camped at night. We also had a great mix of alcohol, food, guitars, and campfires.
• I hiked a lot during my week's vacation at Acadia with L and Mom, but other than that, no hiking. Need to do better on that this year.
• I did something inappropriate. Multiple times. I do not regret it. And it was wonderful.
• I think I sat in the sun with wine and trashy books every time I was at my parents' house in Maine. Still not enough though!
• Despite having a lot of weekend plans, things did become pretty spontaneous. Lots of impromptu ice cream, wine, dinner, and hanging out. And also some impromptu kissing!
• Meditating, home DIY projects, and skydiving - yeah right! I was certainly feeling optimistic when I put those on the list....
• I was only purposeful in my eating if you count purposely eating lots of very yummy food at several very cozy restaurants and cafes. That was not what my original intent was. However, despite my less-than-healthy diet, I managed to lose about 8 lbs over the course of the summer and fall. No idea how that happened, but if you can get the Drinking Wine and Making Out All the Time diet to work for you, I heartily endorse it!
• I probably did buy a case of wine in restaurant glass and bottle increments. Also not the original intent.
• It took me until now, but I did finally get my reason to open the French champagne. It was a bittersweet celebration, but the champagne was delicious and worth the wait.

Things I Want To Do This Summer

The solstice is around the corner and I love lists.  Here we go.

-Run a 5k in July
-Run a 10k in August
-Zen out in front of the chiminea at least once a week
-Eat tapas and drink sangria on Newbury St on a hot, humid evening
-Plan the watersports/camping trip
-But don't stress about it
-Hike more - locally, regionally, on vacation, and in my backyard (metaphorically)
-Do something inappropriate, just once
-Don't regret it
-Sit in the sun with trashy books and some wine
-Be more spontaneous, which I already acknowledge may be difficult, as I have the next 5 weekends already planned out
-Meditate before bed
-Finish one of the mundane house projects
-Skydive. I may not be willing to jump out of a perfectly good airplane, but I am willing to jump INTO a perfectly good vertical wind tunnel
-Be purposeful in my eating for a change
-Buy a case of wine
-Have a reason to open the bottle of French champagne. It is being saved to celebrate a specific goal, go achieve it!