29 before I'm 29 recap.

It's about that time. Time to see the progress I've made on the old ball and chain. 29 before I'm 29. Sigh.

For those just now tuning in, I've made ZERO progress on the list as noted here. Double sigh.

So last month, I made it my goal to try and knock out at least three things on the list each month.

 

This month:

• Continue to regularly blog (Sundays are the only optional day).
• Make (and successfully not kill) an indoor herb garden.
• Teach Ruby how to roll over.

How'd I do?

Continue to regularly blog (Sundays are the only optional day).

This one I'm not doing too bad in. Granted, it's more of a year long goal but so far so good. This month, I have successfully posted 22 times, skipping only 8 days. The folks on FaceBook that aren't interested have to have hid or unsubscribed to my statuses by now. Factoring in the holiday and I'm right on target! Go me.

Make (and successfully not kill) an indoor herb garden.

For the record, I tried to accomplish this. I found five $1 mason jars at a Cleveland Pat Catan's (Cincinnati is really missing out for not having one of these). The plan was to fill with pretty functional gravel, dirt and then the plant. However, as I headed out in search of plants, they ended up being $5.99. EACH. Being the cheapo that I am, I've decided to postpone the herb garden to the summertime when the price per plant is lower. For now, this is what I've got so far.

Teach Ruby to roll over.

This is also a work in progress. Truth be told, I only started on this last night. Pup is half way there but, after half a bag of Pupperoni later, she still refuses to fully roll over and instead, hopes I settle for a sideways lean. Silly dog. So for now, here is Miss Ruby doing her famous trick, "Bang". She really, really, really hates doing it which is why she circles around at least 5 times before caving in to my fake gun.

BONUS: Buy a proper camera to take really good photos with.

Have I ever mentioned that my friends are the absolute best? Well, they are. And one of them, Michelle, happens to be a photographer-turned-accountant. Don't ask questions, just listen.

Over the last couple of months, our GChat conversations have looked like this:

M: Hey Kate.

K: Hey Michelle.

M: How are you feeling today?

K: How are you feeling about [this camera]?

M: Seems nice. But don't you want [this function]?

K: I don't know, do I?

And round and round we went. Finally, I'm sure out of sheer desperation to talk about something else, Michelle offered to sell me her old Nikon D100 (she upgraded to the D200) for a price I could afford as soon as I received my tax return. She walked through the basic functions and also guaranteed availability for on-the-spot "how do I work this thing" phone calls. What. A. Gal. I bought a cheap flash to start out with and have been on my merry photo-snapping way ever since. At first I was scared but now I'm starting to get the hang of it. See, he's not so bad...

Yes, he. I've decided to name him Murphy for the Clifton bar Michelle and I used to frequent and because if my camera were a person, he would look like a Murphy. Actually, he'd probably look like Rob Ryan but I think Rob also looks like a Murphy. Or King Triton from The Little Mermaid. Can't you see the resemblance?

Anyway, she even gave me a dorky, protective bag to keep it in. Something you should know: unlike me, Michelle is all about function and purpose. And funtional this camera bag is - fully lined, padded, durable, legit.

I'm going to continue thinking Michelle passed along this heavy duty bag because she wanted me to look pro vs. wanted me to not break the camera immediately after taking it home. True to form, I'm hoping to find a different camera bag that has a little more, you know, pizazz, but for now, the bag will prevent me from breaking my camera work.

So, as it stands, I've actually completed only 1 of my goals and have 3 currently in progress. Which I would say is pretty typical of what goes on around here. Next up for December?

• Teach Ruby to roll over. (carry over from Nov)
• Continue to regularly blog (Sundays are the only optional day). (ongoing)
• Visit a museum I've never seen before.
• Learn how to take really good photos.
• Minimize road rage. And improve my driving skills.

Fingers crossed I make some more progress!