the 12 days of kiki: 2 months down, 10 to go

merry friday, march the 9th!

how went your week? happy beginning-of-march-break to all my teacher friends. there is no feeling like knowing holidays commence TONIGHT! i bet all you want to do is sleep for a week, right?! let me know if you are leaving on vacation and i will tag along so i can wish you bon voyage!

the kiki project is two months old today. yes, i am upright and still smiling after 60 days without diet pop…but we shall discuss that more in a moment. overall, this past month was rock solid in terms of working on my twelve mini-goals. wanna see?!…

1. record at least one positive thing every day in my gratitude journal/excel spreadsheet. done! there were zero days where i had to scratch my head in order to come up with an entry. cool.

2. babysit little e and cutie c two times so that the brother and sil ana can enjoy a significant date or special event. not yet! we still have lotsa time.

3. blog three times per week (monday-wednesday-friday). modified on february 13th to: leave a comment on a minimum of three blogs, every day. gosh, this was the best decision to make, i cannot emphasize my pleasure enough. for whatever reason, i felt stifled as soon as i set that schedule of mon-wed-fri blogging, and also stressed out. i feel reinvigorated and i don’t know, but to my mind, the blog is breezier and more fun. in terms of commenting on at least three blogs per day, i have done that! although, it is funny because there were at least two sundays [if there is a day of the week where my blends are less likely to blog, it is sunday] where i have had to either comment on a *big blog* [GOMIers, you know who i mean!] or leave a comment on a random, unknown blog. [it’s fun sometimes to just click on a commenter’s link and see what their blog is like!].

4. run four (point two) km…times ten. i did not accomplish this goal this month – and had no intentions of so doing!

5. eat five wildly decadent and delicious desserts. while i have enjoyed some more of mumsy’s fresh baked goods, none of them – and don’t take this the wrong way, mom! – quite constitute the over-the-top, make-your-head-spin lavishness that i am picturing. i will know what i mean when i see it.

6. finish a minimum of six knitting projects. nope! with any luck, our check-in on april 9th will have a different story! [must stop blogging and get back to knitting…].

7. read seven books, and hopefully more. i totally shocked myself and finished up the friday night knitting club on monday night. i honestly thought it would take me more than a month to read – but, no, it was quite a speedy page-turner. i gave it a **1/2 star rating in my log book. **spoiler alert: skip the rest of this paragraph, if you want.** observation: usually, my first impressions of characters stick with me for the duration of a novel. not so, with the fnkc [ok, that’s a bad acronym!]. i did not like darwin initially; however, by the half-way point, i was quite fond of her. but the main character, georgia? i grew less fond of her as i kept reading. so you can bet i felt super guilty about that when i hit the last chapter. speaking of, i was SHOCKED by how the novel concluded, shocked, i tell you. i DO think i will read knit two, kate jacob’s sequel to the fnkc. library, here i come!

8. perform eight random acts of kindness. yes! two completed: the story of r.a.o.k.#1 is here and the tale of r.a.o.k.#2 is here!

9. watch nine different and new-to-me tv shows (either online, on dvd, or on tv). i have one new show to tell you about, today. (therefore, two new shows watched, thus far). i’ve watched several episodes of you’ve gotta eat here. this is the canadian rip-off version of diners, drive-ins and dives. whenever i watch d,d & d, my mouth hangs open and i gawk at the concoctions these restaurants offer. you can’t look away! you gotta eat here, in typical canadian fashion, is not as good as the show it is imitating. i give it ** (two stars). the host, comedian john catucci, is a bit dweeby and not as funny as he thinks he is. and once you’ve watched a couple of times, the episodes seem very repetitive. sorry to sound unpatriotic, but i would choose to watch the american show over the canadian one.

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vs

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10. refrain from chewing gum for ten months. no problem-o. my jaw is very happy. the only comment i will add is that one day, a customer at the store was chewing gum and my first thought was, wow, it sure is noticeable (but i was not judging, as i chew gum like a cow chews its cud) and my second thought was, mmm, that peppermint smells good. and that was the end of my thinking.

11. abstain from drinking diet pop (any pop) for eleven months. i’d say that this month, my desire (that’s a more precise term than craving) has diminished, and my petulant attitude has improved. now: remember when i was musing about how coffee was influencing my energy/anxiety levels? i think i have a lead!! i finished up all my s’bux via pacs, and did not buy any more. instead, i have just been drinking taster’s choice instant. and i notice a reduction in frenetic feelings. it’s only been less than a week, so it’s too soon to draw any firm conclusions, but i will continue to monitor how i feel, and see if i am on to something…oh! and i can have diet coke again in less time than a full-term pregnancy lasts! 😀

12. meet with at least twelve different friends for a social get-together. completed! rock. on.

outing #6:

cafe 1842 with cousin joel!

outing #7:

sarah's house + tim horton's with sarah!

outing #8:

starbucks with mom and dad!

outing #9:

coffee culture with tricia!

outing #10:

cafe 1842 with andrea!

outing #11:

movie "the vow" with nicole!

outing #12!

whole lotta gelato with sharon!

since this was obviously way too easy a target number, let’s bump it up a notch (said in an emeril tone of voice) – i’ve now set my sights on enjoying twenty-one different social outings (because twenty-one is half my age). [remember that i am counting first-time outings only, not repeat visits – there’s been a few of those this month, too!].

thanks for reading! now, go have some FUN this weekend!