L is for List

April 13, 2012February 17, 201516 Comments

Where have the months gone? Time is seriously ticking away. But I’m getting closer to reaching my goal of 40 Things.

#11 – Retry 10 foods I always thought I hated.

Cottage Cheese

Since I’m such a texture freak, I assumed I would still detest this stuff. But because someone explained to me that it’s NOT supposed to be sweet like yogurt (which I thought it was), but is more salty….like ricotta (which I LOVE (see HERE)), I was pretty much hooked after the first bite. Now, I eat it practically daily; with pairs, or tomatoes, or blueberries, or straight out of the tub. I only hope its healthier than ricotta….for the amount I’ve been consuming!
Side note: I prefer the small curds to large. But they’re both rather delish.

(This was my first attempt. Which explains the tiny amount. I was nervous. I eat much larger scoops now!)

#15 – Take on a new leadership responsibility at work.
United Way hotdog cookout (celebrating natural gas summer grilling…for a good cause!)

Planning this has been such fun, and the execution was far beyond my hopes. With the help of my fellow marketing team and some other lovely volunteers, I was put in charge of a relatively huge event.We raised a pretty huge amount for United Way.

Go Team Atmos Energy!

Pre-staging. A view of the grill and dining area.

“Big Tex,” the massive grill, with the two superheroes who run the sucker.

The first wave of fine diners. They were ready to eat!

One of the natural gas grills we raffled off. I did NOT win.

Me with some of the Marketing angels.

We had ice cream, yo.

#32 – Volunteer at a soup kitchen (or something similar in the community)

Donated surplus food (from the above cookout) to North Dallas Food Bank & to a local first station

Yes, I did happen to volunteer to take the food to the firehouse. And, I’m not gonna lie…a bunch of steamy firemen were outside playing shirtless basketball when we pulled up, and yes, they showed their appreciation in very intimate ways. Nope, no pictures included here.

#31 – Renew my passport

(This is my expired one. Don’t I look 12?)

Because I still had the BROWN HAIR when I had my passport renewed, I opted to use a different passport-sized photo I had taken over the summer, for my CHL class. At that time, I had very blonde hair….as well as a pink stripe. My new passport will be rocking that picture for the next decade. Party on.

#24 – Learn to do a Sudoku puzzle
I didn’t complete as many as I thought I would; I guess I’m still a crossword puzzle girl. But, at least now I know how to do a Sudoku, and I’m no longer afraid to chat about them at the next Sudoku cocktail party I attend. And that’s what this is all about!

(My first lesson.)

brought to you by……

L is for List

April 13, 2012February 18, 201516 Comments

Where have the months gone? Time is seriously ticking away. But I’m getting closer to reaching my goal of 40 Things.

#11 – Retry 10 foods I always thought I hated.

Cottage Cheese

(This was my first attempt. Which explains the tiny amount. I was nervous. I eat much larger scoops now!)

#15 – Take on a new leadership responsibility at work.
United Way hotdog cookout (celebrating natural gas summer grilling…for a good cause!)

Go Team Atmos Energy!

Pre-staging. A view of the grill and dining area.

“Big Tex,” the massive grill, with the two superheroes who run the sucker.

The first wave of fine diners. They were ready to eat!

One of the natural gas grills we raffled off. I did NOT win.

Me with some of the Marketing angels.

We had ice cream, yo.

#32 – Volunteer at a soup kitchen (or something similar in the community)

Donated surplus food (from the above cookout) to North Dallas Food Bank & to a local first station

#31 – Renew my passport

(This is my expired one. Don’t I look 12?)

(My first lesson.)

brought to you by……

37 days and counting

March 13, 2012February 17, 20157 Comments

Oh, I’m so glad you asked. Yes, I’ve been working very hard on my LIST.

Wanna see my latest progress?

#23 – make ricotta cheese

The recipe was dead easy. 3 ingredients. Even I can handle that.

This spreadable deliciousness was a huge hit at the dinner party I attended over the weekend. I think I may have found my new go-to.

#11 – retry 10 foods I always thought I hated: Cheerios

Not good. Not bad. Kind of bland. But at least they didn’t taste like puke–which was my fear. Win!

#30 – wear false eye lashes

creepy, no?

I wore theses mamas to a dinner party (yes, the same dinner party with my artisan ricotta). They’re freaking eight inches long, right? And, no one said a word. A few minutes after my arrival, I actually sneaked off to a mirror to make sure they were still on there. They were. And still…no reaction. After a while, I figured they weren’t as dramatically insane as I’d thought. The next day, I asked my friend if….ha-ha….she’d noticed that I was wearing freaking eight-inch falsies. She said she thought I’d got new mascara or something, but that my eyes popped. Ok? Hmm. Well, anyway. It was a goal. And an experiment. And I removed the spider legs the next morning. I think I’ll save them for Halloween.

#37 – Take a long walk in the rain without an umbrella

This one took a while, because it’s been unseasonably (ha-ha) warm and dry the past few weeks. But then suddenly, the heavens opened and it poured like crazy all weekend. Well. I grabbed my pink wellies and pink checked rain coat and hit the running trail that I abuse myself on every day. With camera phone in hand, I took a couple shots of things I’d never noticed during my runs. And I must say, it’s quite beautiful. Thanks to the rain, things were green and blooming and just stunning.

Self-port of me enjoying the down pour. Too bad I didn’t notice until I was on my way back to the car that my “Big Ass Fans” cap was gone. Sad.

Er…what the devil? I think I would pee my pants if I’d seen one of these nasties.

This kind of wildlife I can handle.

The super sexy soaking-wet “After” shot. My camera lens and car windows were all nice and foggy.

Since I’m a music junky, during my lovely, rainy walk, my iPod came with me, serenading me with songs from the playlist of my current work in progress…including but not exclusive to THIS, THIS, THIS and THIS. I mentally wrote a new chapter, so the walk was productive for multiple reasons. Score.