A tentative plan to complete my life's goals

I checked out some books from the library. I want to read as much as possible now that I've got six weeks off. I think I'll get an audio book or two for my drive to Missouri in January. That'll be lovely. Maybe something that I wouldn't be able to get through myself like some Jane Austen or something. Or maybe something lighter. I've been wanting to pick up some of Amy Sedaris' books.

I think that the things on my life list are quite accomplishable. I'm going to revisit my list:

Knitting - There are online guides for how to do the basics, and I know people who said that's how they ended up learning. Or for $50, plus supplies, I could take a Union Mini Course on knitting. Three sessions. Maybe worth it.

Canning - I know people who can, and there must be guides online as well. I love jars. This could be good.

• applesauce - I've heard that this is incredibly easy to make
  
• salsa - I already know how to make
  
• jam - This one I'd have to look up
  
• fruits and veg - I've heard canned blueberries are good. Maybe I'd rather freeze stuff, though, unless I get an endless supply of fruit and veg sometime.
  

Make rock candy - I'm not as excited about this as I was when the idea occurred to me. It's more of something to do with a group of kids who are learning about crystals and want to eat some pure sugar. I don't really know what I'd do with it, but it'd be interesting to try at least once before doing it with kids.

Make chocolate - There are candy making classes that I could take through the Union as well! Mini courses are expensive, but seem so cool! I've decided that I want to take as many cooking classes as I can come across (as long as they aren't super expensive) and I suppose that just trying new things in general will increase my cooking skillz.

Make spice mixes (a la Martha) - Martha Stewart Living has a guide for doing this. All I'd have to do is gather the ingredients and find cool things to put the mixes in.

Train for a half marathon - Kind of a joke, but maybe I'll get motivated. :)

Make pie (that's not liquid!) (and cookies) - I'm really excited about baking right now. I blame the holidays. I want to work on making some more cookies, pies and cakes, and maybe learning more about cake decorating. I discovered that my issue with my last pie was a cornstarch deficit. Easily remedied. I told Amanda a few weeks ago that if I had endless amounts of free time and no need to worry about money, I'd spend my time making pies and traveling. Staying home and making stuff would be lovely, in general. I don't even need to go anywhere. (Although, I couldn't stay home and do this forever-- I'd get too bored. Teaching will be a lovely career.)

Make candles - This one's a little trickier. I'm sure there are guides online, but I have a feeling, after seeing Fight Club, that this whole process is a lot more complex than one would initially think. I'll have to look further into this.

Ceramic-making (mugs, plates, bowls) - The Union has classes with pottery wheels as well. I think the only way that I can get into this is by taking a class, as it would be madness for me to just buy a wheel without at least trying to make something first. I'll have to talk to Erin-- I'm sure she could give me some advice on this.

Gardening (containers on porch-- see DNR's website) - This summer, I'd like to set something up on the porch where I'd grow fruit and veg (zucchini, rhubarb, tomatoes, strawberries, maybe some peppers, other berries) in containers or window boxes. Carrots! And potatoes, as well! Maybe. :P It might be nice to have a few flowers, too, but I have a feeling that they'd end up neglected as do many of my plants. I want to get some more plants for my apartment, too. Maybe a hanging basket or two and a tree as well. Yes, I said a tree. In a pot.

Composting - This one might have to wait until I have a yard, although I know you can buy composting supplies to keep on a porch. I have a feeling it'd get kind of gross if I neglected it, though. And if I wanted to use it as soil, it'd have to be spun. Still a nice idea, though. When I have a yard.

Build bookshelves and other stuff - My bookshelf space is dwindling. Maybe I'll find some plans for bookshelves and find some time to use my dad's tools. I want to figure out what kind of stain or paint I want to carry across a cohesive theme, as my stains are all over the place at this point. I learn towards darker woods, but my parents lean towards lighter and since most of my stuff used to be theirs or is from them (my coffee table and dresser are their old things and my dad built my bookshelf and stained it to their preferences) I have a lot of light wood. I want cohesive! I suppose that can wait until I'm in a more permanent location with more permanent things.

Learn to play chess - Zac says he'll teach me! This goal kind of stemmed from my general love of games. I want to play more games, too. In general. They're happy.

Yoga (and kid-friendly yoga for school) - I could take Yoga from the SERF, as I already paid the $30 to take whatever classes I want to. My time's kind of limited, though, but I believe they have a Saturday morning yoga class that I could take before work. I'm also thinking that when I graduate I should join a real gym, and hopefully they'll have some yoga classes. Otherwise, books and videos and the internet wouldn't fail me either.

Learn to play piano and guitar - Someday. Lessons might not be required, but having the instruments would be. I want to buy a piano at some point (or maybe find one for free on Craigslist that just needs tuning) and have any future kids of mine take piano lessons at least for awhile. Give them a base for music, and let them choose if they want to continue. So I'll need a piano then.

Picture boxes - Martha Stewart had something in Living about creating picture boxes and picture frames, and I feel like a lot of my pictures get neglected. I'd like to have some around.

Write, tape, be creative - I'm writing right now, foo'. Someday I'll put my firewire port into my computer at home and then I can check out camcorders from the library and do whatever I want. Sometimes I think of the movies that Maggie and I used to make and I think that I could do something like that again. It'd be fun.

Learn more html, CSS - DoIT's got classes, but they've also got manuals online for free. When I'm ready, I'll peruse them and see if I can get enough out of it to do that on my own.

Paint a room - I think I could paint my apartment right now, but I'd probably have to paint it back before moving and I don't know how long I'm going to be there. Paint's also expensive. I do love colors, though. My apartment's so white. My bathroom could do with a really pale seafoam green, the kitchen with a nice sunny yellow, and my bedroom with a deeper purpley/blue, as that's supposed to be the most tranquil color for sleeping. I don't know what I'd do with the living room. Maybe just one wall to match the connecting walls. Coordinating!

Ahh, goals for life. I'm at work today for a long time. I got here at 7:45 to work in circ until 10. Now I've set up post in the computer lab to liason. Today and tomorrow are the last days of the semester that I can liason, and I haven't reached my 30 hour maximum yet. I wanted to get closer to that, so the plan (the tentative, but hopefully doable plan) is to stay here until 8 tonight. That'd be 10 hours. And then three hours tomorrow, and I'd be up to 27 or 28 for the semester. Not too shabby. No one's even asking me any questions anyway-- I just spent an uninterrupted 45 minutes writing this out, eating free cookies, drinking a Diet Cherry Coke and talking to Beth. I'll spend the rest of my day eating free pizza, reading books, making a grocery list and maybe if I'm productive enough, working on my e-portfolio or resume.

Don't be surprised if another blog post or two crops up, either.