Old goals met

Here are some goals from my list that I met a while ago.

Use the picnic basket. We got a fantastic picnic basket as a shower gift and used it last summer at an Andrew Bird concert at the NC Art Museum. The site was fantastic,and we had brought an orzo, feta, mixed greens, and chicken salad. I was LVP (opposite of MVP) and forgot the bottle of wine we wanted to bring. Then it started raining during the opening act (Mavis Staples) and only got worse. This was the fourth time I'd seen Andrew Bird, and it would have been fantastic in better weather. We left early, soaking wet, but the picnic cooler was fantastic.

Foster s cat. I volunteer at a cat cshelter in Raleigh and had wanted to foster a cat for a long time. This involves taking care of a cat who needs a little extra time to get socialized and become comfortable in a house. I brought home Kyra Sedgewick, a silver grey tabby. She was a fantastic cat to foster. She hated the shelter and wasn't really comfortable around other cats. We kept her in a separate room and spent time with her every day. She did great with the dog and one cat, but one of the resident cats hated her. I got a great idea of what she would be like in a house, and she got adopted after she returned to the shelter by a woman who adores her. Our last foster experience (due to Kitty), but a happy ending.

Leftovers

As part of a company holiday gift, Jeremy got a coupon for a Butterball turkey. We could have cashed it in during the holidays and gotten a 40 lb bird for free, but we waited and got a much more manageable 15 lb breast. We roasted it on Thursday and dealt with leftovers today. First up - turkey tetrazzini. Patricia inspired me to break out our pasta maker, so we used fresh egg noodles for that. This was the first time we had ever successfully made pasta - will definitely make again. Then, a turkey chili. It smells delicious, but lunch tomorrow will tell for sure. The kitchen was super busy today and we ran the dishwasher several times. Totally worth it!

Dressed up for Halloween

I promise Sanford is more handsome that this would lead you to believe. He's ready to perform mountain rescue missions!

Brewery tour

This was written quite some time ago....
One of my goals was to visit a new brewery. There are so many fantastic breweries in the Triangle area, and we have visited quite a few: Triangle Brewing Company, Fullsteam, Bull City Burger and Brewery, and Big Boss. There was a (relatively) recent deal on a local deal site for a tour, growler, two pint glasses, and a 22 oz bottle at Aviator Brewery way out in Fuquay-Varina, so we snapped it up. We redeemed it this past week. As far as brewery tours go, it was pretty standard - here is where we boil stuff together, here is where we store it, here is where we bottle it, etc. (Except they don't really bottle and are working on getting a canner up and on line.) Super disappointed that there weren't more (any) free samples. Also, it was very hot and we had to wait a long time for the tour. Did I mention the brewery was an hour away? And that there were tornado warnings near our house while we were gone? We were worried about Sanford and didn't want to drink much when we had an hour long drive ahead of us. Anyway, the Hog Wild IPA is delicious, the Hot Rod Red is debatable (Jeremy likes it, I don't), and the Octoberbeast was pretty good. We will definitely take home some six-packs of the the IPA when it shows up in stores.

TV

Jeremy and I really enjoy getting caught up in good TV and following our favorite shows. Before we got married, Jeremy bought me the entire series of The Wire, and I watched seasons 1-4. I have a thing about watching all episodes of a series that has ended - it's like if I don't watch it all then it isn't really over. Other examples: Battlestar Galactica (Jeremy made me watch the final season, but there are still episodes from the first season I haven't seen) and Friday Night Lights (likewise, I haven't seen the entire first season even though I own it). We recently found ourselves without any new episodes of any favorite shows to watch (no thanks to Dish Network for dropping AMC), and we went back and watched the entire Wire series. How this show never won any awards is beyond me. The writing and acting are incredible, and there are others all over the internet who can better praise the show's virtues. One of the things that really struck me on the second watching of the 4th season was how difficult that particular season is to enjoy. The main storyline takes place within a public middle school in Baltimore, and in the words of my sister, you better not get attached to any characters.

I wrote the above paragraph several months ago and never published it. After switching from Dish we got three free months of all the premium channels on demand and glutted ourselves on Homeland, Game of Thrones, and Boardwalk Empire. Love, love, love. We've got one season of Boardwalk left, and Justified starts back up this month. Excellent entertainment for the new year!

Sewing Goals

When I wrote out the goal to sew an item of clothing, I had no idea I'd be so pleased with the result. I am a competent seamstress, but my sewing projects are mainly for the home (curtains, pillows, dog bed, etc.). I had an idea for a tunic to wear with shorts or skinny jeans. I found the fabric at a quilt store and adjusted a pattern I found to get the right torso and arm length. I'd never made anything with sleeves before, so that was a big challenge. I love the result and I get complimented whenever I wear it. Jeremy calls it my Mad Men shirt - the colors are much more vibrant in person.

I have a related goal of sewing something for the home, so I'll update here when I cross that one off the list.

Running

Next up on the goal list - run a race longer than 5k. I'm pretty sure that when I wrote out this goal I intended that the race be run without stopping, but I think the Krispy Kreme Challenge in Raleigh counts for this. I had wanted to do this race since I first heard about it many years ago. This past year the race was a little longer than it had been in the past - the course was 5 miles. Competitors were considered to have completed the "Challenge" if they crossed the finish line in under an hour. No problem, right? The only catch - you ran by the Krispy Kreme store at mile 2.5 and had to eat a dozen donuts. Then keep running. I was pretty happy with my result - 7 donuts and a time of 59 minutes. Jeremy walked the course with some friends of ours - he ate 8 donuts. We were supposed to travel to Davidson for a game later that afternoon but ended up spending the day on the couch in sugar comas. My goal is to eat all 12 donuts and finish in an hour next year - digestive system be damned.

I also ran the inaugural Ninja Challenge in Fuquay-Varina this summer. The running part was 5k but I feel like this race counted for more since it included (in part) monkey bars, a balance beam, running through water, using a rope to climb up a seriously slanted surface (followed by jumping into a dumpster full of muddy water - at which point I felt like I was dying), climbing a cargo net, and throwing ninja stars. It was a ton of fun, but I doubt I would do it again unless I had someone to do it with.

Next up, domestic goals...