oemal
NoVA
Formerly on 43T, trying this out
BADGES
Notes & Photos
Attach Photo
Donated again in January 2025! Scheduled again for April.
7 Things x 2025
My seven answers to the Day Zero alternative New Year's resolutions poll:
My seven answers to the Day Zero alternative New Year's resolutions poll:
- Learn how to use all the features of my oven
- Start using the stairs more at work
- Stop drinking soda frequently
- Take a vacation to Chicago
- Find a routine that works for me
- Try to find more recipes the kids (and adults) like
- Be more present
October 2024: successful first time with a non-family babysitter, including bedtime!
We bought two apple trees this fall, and I began sheet mulching around them so that in the spring I can plant a whole apple tree guild around it. (I'll hopefully amass more cardboard to prepare a larger area then.) We also had a path poured at the front of our house and will landscape that, too. We're finally defining our spaces, and now we can work on getting them to grow.
At long last, I was successful at donating blood again in September! I focused on getting my iron up, and it was well above the minimum. It felt great to do it again, even if it also made me miss my old blood bank in California. (They were the best!)
The kids' first baseball game was at Nats Park against the Cubs, with family member Cubs fans in attendance. They did pretty OK, although we still left a bit early, alas. Still, much better than I expected!
Well, I was late to get this tested, but in my physical I was lower than the last time I had fasting tests done - woohoo!
I did this differently than I expected - by taking a new job. But all the little things I did to get me there were also ways I built the CV!
Went to Arlington, Eastern Market, and a little one in Del Ray. It's a start!
4. Mr. Popper's Penguins (because a kids classic felt like it would be fun)
5. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (continuing on kids' classics?)
5. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (continuing on kids' classics?)
I tried another popular show from my teenage years. I also tried Veep. And I suggested GoT to my husband, but he didn't bite, and it's not the sort of thing I'd have watched by myself. So I'm considering VM my selection for this goal. Done!
I wanted to make this happen. But I also wanted to remain strong and healthy, and between trying to get pregnant, being pregnant, and recovering from pregnancy, I wasn't in a place to compete strong and healthy - therefore, I am OK having not accomplished this goal.
My husband said I should count our walk along the canal in Richmond, particularly along the pipeline bridge path. What fun!
20. St. Elmo’s Fire, or maybe I should count What’s Eating Gilbert Grape. Either way, a tribute to idols of yore.
Done!
Done!
I got a table from Buy Nothing. It needed a deep cleaning, but that was still more than worth the price. We have some chairs we can bring outside when needed, but no permanent outside chairs. That's OK - the table was the most essential piece. I'm happy to call this goal done, even without outside chairs.
Family party for the baby's 1st birthday - hurray!
I finally got to Community Forklift last month - what fun! I'm going to mark this as done because it's amazingly strange to me that there's so much fewer salvage stores here when there's so many more old properties! I guess we really appreciated what we had in SoCal in a way that's different from this region.
25. Children's Discovery Museum (Winchester, VA) - super cute!
We decided i could count zoos as 'living museums', so that would add:
21. National Zoo
22. Maryland Zoo
23. Metro Richmond Zoo
24. US Botanic Gardens
21. National Zoo
22. Maryland Zoo
23. Metro Richmond Zoo
24. US Botanic Gardens
I'd never been to a Kilwin's before, since they aren't in California and we're in IL when I was a kid. But we went to the one in Alexandria, and it's my current local fav!
We've gone several times, and I really like the city. I'm marking this done, but I'm not "done" with the city yet!
I've done this twice over! I learned a lot about my backyard birds in California, and started using the Merlin app. Now that we're in Virginia, I've used it to learn my local birds here, too. I'll always have more to learn, but I've really appreciated my work on this goal!
18. Fords Theater
19. Mount Vernon
20. Virginia Museum of History and Culture
19. Mount Vernon
20. Virginia Museum of History and Culture
40. sheet pan harissa chicken recipe from AllRecipes. Not a keeper. But this goal is done!
17. VMFA, Richmond
39. beef stew from an allrecipes recipe
I made this one, https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/12111/best-ever-pie-crust/ - and it was so much nicer (flakier, crisper, better) than a store-bought one. I will have to do this again!
38. pie crust for a cherry pie
Max's 4th birthday party was today, and it was absolutely perfect. If we hadn't moved we could have had a birthday party for him last year. But this one felt worth the wait. My heart is so full.
37. "chicken cobbler" -- as someone who appreciates hearty debate over what type of food something is, the name of this made me laugh. It was a tasty chicken and biscuits type recipe. Would make again, possibly with some minor modifications.
36. Tried this one, https://natashaskitchen.com/creamy-chicken-and-rice-recipe/ - it was only OK
16. National Archives Museum
40. baby swimsuits via Buy Nothing
39. A baby-wearing wrap through Buy Nothing (and a second one going to another mom next week)
19. Dirty Dancing
18. The Goonies. This one was hard-fought - I fell asleep on my first two attempts (this time - and probably many times before this list existed)
38. Toddler swim gear via Buy Nothing (it was actually three separate BN gifts, but I’ll count it once)
The bed itself is done and the boy LOVES it. Jim wants to add some lights and other doodads, but the bed itself is done, and was finished in time for Christmas due to my help on it. (So much painting!)
35. Tried this alfredo recipe. We liked it; the kid didn't. https://www.southernliving.com/recipes/buttermilk-alfredo-chicken-spinach-pasta
3. A Christmas Carol (Dickens) - after seeing the movie and play adaptations, I thought I'd read the original
3. A Christmas Carol (Dickens) - after seeing the movie and play adaptations, I thought I'd read the original
33. A ham (recipe was for glaze)
34. Beef stew with cheddar biscuits (https://www.southernliving.com/recipes/beef-stew-cheddar-biscuits-recipe)
34. Beef stew with cheddar biscuits (https://www.southernliving.com/recipes/beef-stew-cheddar-biscuits-recipe)
7 Things x 2024
My seven answers to the Day Zero alternative New Year's resolutions poll:
My seven answers to the Day Zero alternative New Year's resolutions poll:
- Learn how to scratch make a pie crust
- Start running regularly again
- Stop projecting frustrations
- Take a vacation to new-to-me sites in my region
- Find my calm
- Try not to let parenting consume me
- Be more energetic/energized
I learned Mt. Vernon is open on Christmas. I had a free admission voucher. Win win!
32. A spaghetti sauce and meatball recipe from Allrecipes. The meatballs were good, but the sauce needed tweaks.
37. A running book (like new, from my summer reading club prize!), to someone in Buy Nothing
17. A Christmas Story
31. No bake chocolate peanut butter bars from Sally's Baking Addiction: https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/no-bake-chocolate-peanut-butter-bars/
15. Washington County Museum of Art (Hagerstown, MD)
36. Ring doorbell to someone in a situation who needs it
28. Cranberry spinach salad (https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/14469/jamies-cranberry-spin (...more)
Still going strong! So proud of my kids.
Note added to goal Make screen for kitchen casement window and repair new house screen door
The new house's screen door is done and has held up for a couple weeks. Soon we might be changing out to a storm door, but regardless, I know how to do it now, hooray!
Made omelets for dinner tonight, and they were so good!
35. Two more pairs of shoes, and kids' cough medicine ('tis the season) on Buy Nothing
34. Two (pretty much new) nursing bras that didn't suit me to Buy Nothing
33. Two pairs of practically brand new toddler shoes that my preschooler wasn't interested in wearing
We made a special overnight trip to see the Blippi stage show, and the kids seemed to really enjoy it!
27. Cheesy gnocchi from this recipe: https://www.delish.com/cooking/recipe-ideas/recipes/a47891/four-cheese-gnocchi-bake-recipe/
The kid didn’t like it, even though it reminded us of mac n cheese
The kid didn’t like it, even though it reminded us of mac n cheese
26. NYT vegan peanut butter chocolate chip cookies. I made w/non-vegan chocolate chips because it's what I had in the house (and no one eating it is vegan). The batter tasted good, so I'm hopeful!
25. Tried NYT Cooking cheesy white bean tomato bake tonight. I think it needs another element - going to revisit in the future, maybe.
14. Forest Lawn Museum (Glendale, CA) - one I'd forgotten but visited in 2022.
33. & 34. Historic photographs to a small museum in SoCal and the State Archives - I did this in late 2022, but forgot to list it.
I'm way behind on this goal - I'm only up to 3 as of 9/10/23 -- lots of catching up to do. My thought is that I'll supplement weekly reading with an exhibition catalog, for the weeks I finish a book early.
2021: 1 (after the 1001 days began)
2022: 3
2023: 10 (as of 9/10) -- so now I'll start picking up the slack from a slow start!
2022: 3
2023: 10 (as of 9/10) -- so now I'll start picking up the slack from a slow start!
32. A bunch of diapers - hundreds! - to my regional diaper bank
31. Another pair of nice shoes, this one by Coach, to Buy Nothing
I've been trying to learn a little bit more about the science of baking, and learned for the first time about why dough can (or should, depending on recipe) be chilled. Armed with this knowledge, I made our go-to chocolate chip cookie recipe, and it came out better than ever.
30. A whole bunch of baby bottles, which someone on Buy Nothing was going to give to a community in need out of state.
The used bookstore in Manassas was one recommended to us because of its big kid section and overall good size. It definitely has a much bigger kid section than my beloved Rockville Second Story, but the prices at Mckays were all over the place, and that was weird. So: good option for kid books, not so much for much else. Darn.
29. Like-new shoes to my Buy Nothing group (and probably more of that to come, due to shoe sizes changing after pregnancy, alas!)
I learned that the upside of her being too little to understand is that she had a great first day and was just as indifferent/receptive of her second day. Hopefully she'll build a strong bond with her teachers before baby stranger danger/separation anxiety kicks in, and this will continue to go well. I am so pleased that it's working as well as it is so far!
2. The House on Mango Street (Cisneros)
L starts daycare tomorrow, and so tonight I am an anxious stressed mess. It must be done, and I know I'll be relieved as she starts to understand her new schedule, even if I know there'll be a bunch of heartbreaking days in my future (based on what it was like with Max).
We moved and this new property doesn't have any "food" growing - no fruit trees, no veggie garden, and I wanted to know the property and its light levels before I started to add anything that would further support this goal. So, I think I can call it complete (for now)? I think I made some improvement on actually using the things I grew, but hope such practices can continue to improve as I grow more food in the future!
Checked out the used bookstore in Reston today! We found a couple books, but prices were a bit high, and I didn't find a lot that excited me. But with the Second Story Rockville warehouse ever looming in my mind, it's hard for most places to compare!
Tried Pitango Gelato today. Really good, but not quite ready to call it a "favorite."
(In our old life, we'd drive about 15 miles to go to my favorite ice cream shop; for me, Pitango felt like one I'd go to if I were in the area, but not drive out of my way to return.)
(In our old life, we'd drive about 15 miles to go to my favorite ice cream shop; for me, Pitango felt like one I'd go to if I were in the area, but not drive out of my way to return.)
12. Reston Museum - small but really interesting
13. Mill House Museum (Occoquan, VA) - I debated listing this one because it is very rough around the edges, but I decided to include it.
13. Mill House Museum (Occoquan, VA) - I debated listing this one because it is very rough around the edges, but I decided to include it.
9. Rubell Museum DC
10. DC History Center
11. National Postal Museum
10. DC History Center
11. National Postal Museum
28. A whole lot of swaddles to my sister-in-law (who went to the hospital in labor right around the time I was walking into the post office!)
27. Book on mixology to my brother & BIL - this was a while ago but it looks like I’d forgotten it
24. Tried this one tonight. The kid couldn't have cared less, but it was a keeper in my book: https://kristineskitchenblog.com/honey-hoisin-pork-tenderloin/
Current to goal 40 (with funds split with sister, and into 529 account this time)
8. Stabler-Leadbeater Apothecary Museum
26. Shoe organizer on buy nothing
I’ve tried two places in my city and one in a nearby city that was recommended to me. No standout yet.
In broad strokes, I see my goals as:
-Have a network/community/friends
-Have thriving child (...more)
-Have a network/community/friends
-Have thriving child (...more)
23. We tried this fried rice recipe tonight - https://kristineskitchenblog.com/fried-rice-recipe/ - our kid wasn't interested, but we liked it.
16. Ghost - this one was way better than I expected
25. maternity swimsuit that I bought but never used, to someone on Buy Nothing
7. Smithsonian Natural History Museum
22. Broccoli cheddar one pot pasta (https://www.delish.com/cooking/recipe-ideas/a38699256/one-pot-broccoli-cheese-pasta-recipe/ ) - toddler friendly and pretty decent. Will make again, but probably play with seasoning a bit.
Note added to goal Do something special to celebrate Bella’s high school graduation
I dropped her at the airport this afternoon. I think she had a great time - I definitely did!
My husband said I should call this goal complete, because the doors I did were more complicated (and one was significantly bigger) than my usual doors. So: done, I guess!
21. Postpartum supplies through my terrific new Buy Nothing
22. Book to my friend
23. College era photos to my friend
24. Tons of baby clothes to SIL
22. Book to my friend
23. College era photos to my friend
24. Tons of baby clothes to SIL
This was probably one of the things that I’m saddest about with moving. I’d been really thriving in this goal and had several new friends I really liked. I still text with some, but it’s a huge bummer that our kids won’t grow up together like I expected. Back to the drawing board here!
Note added to goal Do something special to celebrate Bella’s high school graduation
Because we moved far away, we offered to host her at our new place. She’s here for five nights and we’re doing a lot of sightseeing and some shopping. It definitely feels special!
6. Glenstone - amazing
Note added to goal Make screen for kitchen casement window and repair new house screen door
This goal was about two sets of screens for the old house, but I modified to address a new need.
This goal had been about specific salvage items for our old house, but having moved, I had to modify it a bit.