Category Archives: 101 goals – Achieving a Better Life

My Jelly Belly Jalapenos!! :)

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Davide rocks like no other.  He just made the number ONE spot on my top 10 favorite people for the day.  First he agreed to take over the care of my plant while I’m on holiday in the U.S. and second he sent pics of my plant so I could see that it’s thriving without me!!!  ) I thanked him OF COURSE – with another lovely late at night email – after I hit “send” I was like – oh my gosh I just compared my plant to a beloved farm animal and said I didn’t have the heart to eat it.  WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME??  Anyway – I surprised myself AGAIN.  And you will find the evidence below.  But for real – there is no way I can eat those jalapeños now.

2008_11_22_2343

To Dd:

Ah babe you are the best!!!  Thank you so much!!  It looks BEAUTIFUL!  And can you believe all of those little jalapeño babies?  D I grew the plant so I could eat them but I don’t know if I’ll be able to now – that’s like eating your favorite cow Dotty with the cute ivory heart-shaped patch over her left eye or slaughtering your favorite pig Pudgie who oinks in delight every time she sees you.  I mean I know people eat their beloved farm animals all of the time but come on – how can you eat something you have named??  I don’t think I have the stomach for it.

Oh well – I can buy the peppers in the store and just not eat the ones I grew.  Thank you again!  XXXXXX ~Daisy

For those of you who are new to the blog – this is what it looked like the day I planted it.  Aw!  It’s grown so big!  I’m so proud.  dmy-jalepeno-plant


National Novel Writing Month

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So how cool is this?  No wait – Don’t answer that.  I’ve changed my mind.  I’m going to restart this post.

Guess what I discovered that is really cool?

November is National Novel Writing Month

The rules are fairly simple and straight forward – they’re posted at the bottom of this.  And no I didn’t write the rules.  They’re posted by National Novel Writing Month.org

Who’s in?

Me!  ) Most people are quitters.  In fact last year, 101,510 signed up and were SUPPOSED to write 50,000 words in the month of November.  85% of the participants were big fat quitters. What this means is there is no pressure if you quit too. D Everybody’s quitting!!

Who wants to sign-up and then be a quitter with me?  Any takers? D

I have to admit there is a good chance I’ll be a quitter.  HOWEVER I’m going to start it and I’m going to try and get ScottPete to do it too.  If he and I are doing it together then I will be less likely to quit – though I don’t think the same goes for him.  ScottPete – I love you but you and I are cut from the same cloth.  We’re both quitters.  And since I know already going into this that there is a good chance I won’t finish, I’ve decided to give myself motivation.  If I pull this off I get to cross off like 30 of the stupid goals from my 101 list.

[guilty look]

What?  I mean I LOVE that 101 list but writing a novel in one month deserves some major credit!!  [guilty look]

THE RULES

  1. Write everyday throughout the month of November.
  2. Sign up at National Novel Writing Month.org.  Click here.
  3. The idea has to be new – new characters, new plot, new novel.
  4. Don’t Edit.  You can edit in December.
  5. Write 50,000 words.  For more FAQs click here.
  6. Scramble your novel for privacy and copyright purposes (using Microsoft word) then upload it to the National Novel Writing Month.org site for word count verification.
  7. Get a winners badge and YAY! you wrote a short novel.

And THEN what’s even COOLER is Blurb.com will print up your story in paperback format and it’s only like $10 for 240 pages.  WHAT?  That’s freakin awesome!  Here’s the link.  Right HERE.

Gratitude Journal – it’s finally done – 30 days

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I haven’t forgotten about this at all – but it’s so boring to post everyday so I just save up until I have multiple days.  This completes my gratitude journal.  I did it (though only half-heartedly) for 30 days.

Sunday  – I’d like to give a little shout out to American/Australian converters. I get to use my fave hair styling tools down under. YAY!! I did a nice funky wave for  Saturday’s party – it was a winner.

Monday – Australian Scott found a Mexican restaurant for me. YAY!!! It’s so yummy! Next to American Mexican standards it doesn’t quite make the cut but next to Australian Mexican it’s some of the best I’ve had so far!!

Tuesday – I love the Bondi Beach Hardware store down the street from my house. It only takes like 5 minutes to walk there and they have tons of useful things. I bought a little hand mixer and can now officially make baked goods. YAY!!

Wednesday – I was grateful for school friends on Friday. I went to dinner with a few girls and we had so much fun!!

Thursday – I met a fellow American and he was so nice!!! He was empathetic and gave me a lot to think about. I feel a little better about toughing it out here.

Friday – My teacher at school was so nice today!  I was grateful for her when she asked me how my toe was doing.

Saturday – I love Boost Juice.  Yum.

Sunday – I was very grateful for BFA today.  I have a lot of fun with him.

Monday – I went to a party and I knew a bunch of people!  I didn’t have to sit around not talking to anyone, nor did I have to go out of my way to be social.  It nice to become familiar with people.

Tuesday – I was SO happy with my kitchen this day – crazy right?  But my gluten-free brownies were delicious!  No one in my flat even knew they were gluten free!!!

Wednesday – I love skype.

Thursday – I’m happy the Australian dollar sucks compared to the US dollar right now.  )

Friday – haha!  Happy Halloween!  I’m done with this gratitude journal and can cross #24 from my list.  YAY!

Long Weekend (3-day weekend)

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Ok so this will have to be brief … I’m rushing off to I have no idea where and I won’t be back for a few days (public holiday on Monday.)  I’m going with a group of friends and am excited – it should be fun.

Yesterday I went to the Zoo (# 89 Visit Taronga Zoo) and will post pics later but I’d have to say that yesterday I was grateful for gluten-free pasta.  Mmm – it’s so yummy and tastes JUST like normal pasta.  D

Today I’m grateful for the ocean and the rain – it’s so relaxing!!!

Here are some Aussie Words
Hen’s Party – Bachelorette Party
Capsicum – peppers (bell, red, chili etc.)
Rock Melon - cantaloupe
Boot – Trunk of car
Holiday - vacation
Long Weekend - 3 day weekend

Oh and I keep forgetting to put up Episode 5 – definitely need to do that when I get back.  I’ve had quite a few developments over the past little bit – so yeah … coming soon!!!

Gratitude Journal Day 1 of 30

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OMGOSH!!!  How rotten am I today?  SUPER ROTTEN!!!

YAY – hip, hip, hooray!!

Ok but the GOOD news is I crossed off #26 of my 101 goals today – “Prioritize list of 101 (with time frames.)”

And that’s when I realized 101 goals is a LOT!!! So in the spirit of being proactive and because I kinda like HATE Australia right now I’ve decided to start #23 – “Gratitude journal/blog for 30 days” except I’m going to add a twist – I have to blog about things I’m grateful for IN Australia.  [gulp]

Can it be done?  I guess we’ll see …

So Gratitude Journal Day #1 – I’ve only been in Australia for 2 months and I already have friends who care about me.  For example:

Dr. Sarcastic who, upon hearing the tears in my voice when he called this morning, didn’t pry when I told him I didn’t want to talk about it and instead took control of the conversation and made me talk about other things in my life until I was laughing.

Then there is Australian Scott who, knowing I was in a rotten mood, picked me up so we could be rotten together.  Then he told me HE wanted to go to the garden store so we could look at plants and ya know … possibly – if it suited my rotten mood – find one so I could start #54 on my 101 list “Plant and grow a vegetable or fruit.” So even though I was absolutely determined to not buy a plant because in my rottenness I thought it’d be better to wait and grow one at home …  I am now the proud owner of a new jalapeño plant.

And My Flattie who, after having heard from Dr. Sarcastic that I was having a really bad day, invited me over to make enchiladas. I’m not sure I’m particularly pleased that Dr. Sarcastic orchestrated this bit – however – it was thoughtful of both of them.

Oh and last but not least – Davide – who taught me two new games so I can now cross off #65 – Learn to play 2 new games.  He taught me the game Boa (an African game he picked up while he was there this summer) and Briscola (an Italian game his father taught him.)