50 things in 2017
Inspired by Austin Kleon’s 100 Things that made my year, just a quick summary of the year as I look forward to 2018. I can already see that we are long overdue for a real vacation, and I need to make it to the movies more often.
- First Day Hike with friends at Bastrop State Park.
- Visiting east Texas for work and going to NASA’s Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility.
- The Women’s March and The Science March. I loved participating in them, though I didn’t love the circumstances necessitating them.
- Selling my diesel back to VW. Good riddance.
- The 2 year old having this conversation with Dottie the dog: “I lub you Sweetpea. I lub you. [Dottie licks the bongos.] Hey Goddammit Goddammit, you’re eating the drum!“
- Giving my daughter a Hello Kitty sewing machine for her 5th birthday, and watching her learn to use it.
- Selling my mom’s house and going through all the old photos
- Seeing My Neighbor Totoro on the big screen.
- Seeing Irish dancers at Central Market on St. Patrick’s Day
- Making chocolate-dipped strawberries with J.
- Taking a quilt class with Libs Elliot.
- Going to my friend’s monthly craft club at her house with a bunch of ladies.
- Easter at the Sherwood Forest Faire
- Taking a quilt class with Tara Faughnan.
- Visiting the Quilt Museum in La Grange and the fabric store next door.
- Moving my mom into memory care, which was sad but gave me peace of mind.
- Seeing the Pirates of Penzance with J and listening to “I am the Very Model of a Modern Major General” in the car for months after.
- Buying a FitBit and learning all about sleep patterns and what it takes to get 10,000 steps a day.
- My husband taking our daughter to New Mexico to visit his parents, and being on my own with the 2 year old for a while.
- The fig-splosion in our back yard, necessitating the making of a giant batch of fig jam and, sadly, chopping down the fig tree to get rid of the rats! The fig jam was good though.
- The solar eclipse on August 21, seeing all the shapes of the shadows change.
- Watching Black Books, the Detectorists. B watching Toast.
- Discovering my neighborhood Buy Nothing group, getting some good stuff for free and getting rid of some stuff.
- Starting Shrew and Snail!
- J started Kindergarten, and is loving it!
- Great audiobooks make everything better.
- Going to a bird illustration workshop with Pat Falconer at Art Science Gallery.
- Visiting Bracken Cave on September 19 and seeing millions of bats emerge. The largest bat colony in the world!
- A lot of birthday parties. That’s our social life now. Birthday parties.
- Listening to Celtic music at work, like Flook and Talisk.
- A day trip to the Science Mill in Johnson City with the kids
- Seeing Dylan Moran live
(photo from Wikipedia) - Cabin camping at Bastrop State Park at the end of October with friends.
- Going to Luby’s on Saturdays. Kids eat free! (And they love Jell-o!)
- Murder on the Orient Express on the big screen.
- The Ornithology print by Liberty fabrics, with images made by Edwyn Collins while he was recovering from a cerebral hemorrhage.
- Thanksgiving walk with my mom at the Houston Arboretum.
- Quitting Twitter.
- Moving the kids into a bunk bed! Then moving the 2 year old to a regular bed! But that’s ok.
- B sleeping better thanks to a CPAP machine!
- Buying my first season tickets to anything ever…. for Ensemble VIII. So good.
- Moving little kid furniture out and setting up J with a mini art studio in her room.
- Thanksgiving weekend brunch showing of Best Little Whorehouse in Texas with the best drag queens in Austin.
- Buying a lot of Christmas presents locally, like at Blue Genie, and doing minimal Amazon shopping.
- Volunteering on Thursdays at J’s school library, shelving books and helping 2nd graders check out.
- Staying with friends in Houston at Christmas. Visiting the Houston Zoo on a cold, wet day with zero crowds and getting right next to the gorillas.
- J finally getting a Hatchimal for Christmas and hatching it in the car.
- Spending the last few days of 2017 at home, sewing, cooking, reading, playing, and visiting with friends.
- Finally visiting Austin’s spectacular new Central Library.
- New Year’s Eve day lunch at the revolving sushi place with friends, then watching Uncle Buck at home and going to bed early.
