Wrapping up my To Do List

Our kitchen remodel has been so gradual that we almost forgot exactly what it looked like when we moved in. So check out the refresher course. This was a huge item on out To-Do list this year and while it's not totally complete, we are so close that we moved it to the complete list. We need to paint one more coat of paint on the walls, re hang the already painted cabinet doors and nail on the trim that will go on the outside of the big gaping hole. That almost looks like a real breakfast bar.

Not bad for a couple of novice carpenters!

Now for the goods:

Before:

And After!

Wow. We love the after! The horrid memory of the fake chair rail has almost left our minds.

Now for the items that didn't get done.

See a play at the Shakespeare Theater in Central Park this summer
Take Tim on a camping trip
Complete 3 5k races
Build a new deck
Visit the Bronx Botanical Gardens
Attend an Opera
Complete the 5 Boro Bike Tour
Train for and run a half marathon

The 5 Boro Bike Tour fell on Mother's Day weekend this year, so I was happy to miss that in favor of a wonderful brunch celebrating my Mother in Law with Tim and his family in Boston.

I didn't make it to the opera or the Central Park Summer Stage, but I visited The Great White Way several times. I saw Nathan Lane star in The Addams Family and watched Paul Reubens bring Pee Wee's Playhouse to the stage. I took myself on a birthday trip to see West Side Story, one of my very favorite musicals of all time. S and I laughed our asses off at Chelsea Handler and I listened intently as Anthony Bourdain talked food, travel, and politics in a small auditorium in Kingston, NY. So although I didn't make it to Lincoln Center, I have been unbelievably enriched by all of the theater and culture I have been fortunate enough to experience.

I realized that my running goals were pretty ambitious as the year went on. I learned to love to run. I love the feeling of freedom that comes with it. I love the grit it took me to get through those early runs. How my mind screamed at me that I couldn't do it. That my lungs were burning and my legs would give out. But they didn't. Each day, I did a little better. Each run, each step became easier. Then suddenly, my body took over. I ran faster and further. And I felt better and better.

In choosing my running goals way back in January, I figured that the 3 5k races would prepare me for the longer runs and help me be more comfortable with race day. Life has a habit of getting in the way though and we were so busy this year that the beautiful summer weekends when I would think of doing a 5k were taken up with travel, and time with family and friends. A welcome trade!

Despite our hectic schedule, I trained for and ran 2 10k's. That almost the same distance as a half marathon..right? :)

I'm so proud of my running accomplishments this year and although they are not what I originally set out to do, in some ways I think that I surpassed my own expectations. Looking back on this past year, I don't think that I was ready to run a half marathon. To complete that length race takes a mental and physical strength that I didn't possess this year. But I do now. I'm ready to move that goal into 2011. And I will complete in. I'm ready.

I love making this big giant list of things that I want to accomplish with the next year of my life. I don't want to call them resolutions, because they're more of a guide. A way to get us off the couch and out into the world. To live the best and fullest life that we can. I dream of new travels and exciting projects. Of learning new things and stretching the boundries of who I am and who I want to be. This is what my list is.

I absolutely love the idea of a new year, where we can look forward to all the promise it holds, knowing that we made the most of the year before. This will always be my only real resolution, to know that I didn't waste any opportunities and grabbed onto everything that life threw at me. That I enjoyed every bit that I could, kept my loved ones close, and continued to be grateful for all of the wonder in my life.

"Life is a great big canvas and you should throw all the paint on it you can." ~Danny Kaye

The Great Blizzard of 2010!

Tim just made fun of this title, given that he grew up in Massachusetts and was a wee little lad during the great blizzard of 78'. That storm dumped 2 feet on top of the two feet from the day before. Add in hurricane force winds and you have yourself quite an event. Our little storm still managed to snarl the roads and gave a lot of people an excuse to extend their weekend.

Tim got up early and shoveled out our cars so we could go to work. I can't lie; when I walked into work and all the guys wondered what I was doing there and how I made it in, I felt like a burly northeasterner. Ladies and Gentleman, I have arrived.

Massachusetts Christmas!

After a truly wonderful weekend with Tim's family, we are home with the hatches battened down. The snow started about noon and hasn't stopped yet. It's a belated White Christmas! We are warm and toasty in our little house and fortified with the huge bag of leftovers that my fabulous mother in law sent us home with. Tim and I are feeling so loved and want to wish you all a wonderful belated Christmas!

A Christmas Prep Weekend!

Merry Christmas from our sad little tree. I have a weakness for the Charlie Brown trees. See it, right behind the wine bottle?! It's so small that it wouldn't hold any of our ornaments. I hung one.

The Christmas cookies are baked...I brough half of them to my work party today.


The Oreo Truffles are done...

And S and I had our third annual night out in NYC to celebrate the holidays. We had a wonderful dinner, tried a square peanut butter and jelly donut (yum ) and drank vodka tonics out of sippy cups at the Pee Wee Herman Show. I know you are but what am I?!

Bring on the holidays...I think we're ready. :)

Cupcakes!

Tim helped me with a batch of cupcakes last week.

Note the finished drawers behind him. When we find hinges that fit the cabinet doors, our dishes won't have to be on constant display anymore. Finally, I can see the kitchen coming together!

A blast from my (distant) past

My theatre buddy Shannon and I are going to see Pee Wee Herman on Broadway. It's a stage version of Pee Wee's Playhouse, one of my favorite childhood shows. I annoyed my parents for years with my Pee Wee laugh. I can't wait to see this!

Date night tomorrow night for my BFF and I! Chelsea, we are ready for some laughs!