My darling friend Katy wrote a wonderful blog post earlier this evening. Quite frankly, her transformation of late has been quite impressive.

Let's see. As for me *shuffles papers* it says here, no, wait, not that page. The one with... oh, here it is. It says here that I've gotten precisely *reads*... "nothing" done. Yes, nothing. That feels about right. Time to rewrite this list to include about 80 instances of scratching my butt or burping.

At any rate, I'm not as graceful as Katy, so I'll just say it: I'm not sorry. So there. Here's what's been happening.

I met a new friend through one of my online dating sites. He's an Italian exchange student who is in Canada to work on his doctorate and wanted to make some friends while he is here. I've spent the last seven weekends with him, and this coming weekend will be our last. Just today, we went downtown for a poutine. On Friday, we'll be going to a Raptors game. When he came here, he had a list of his own that he wanted to accomplish. We crossed most of his stuff off of his list together. The only thing we didn't get to do was go canoeing, but that's only because I hadn't met him when it was still warm. We have been dating, but we both know that it's not going to continue after he leaves. We both want different things, and are headed in different directions. I'm really grateful for the time I've been able to spend with him, though. I've never dated with an end-date in mind, or lived as spontaneously as I have been with him, or helped someone learn how to speak English (even if I was a poor teacher).

I just realized I lied. Not about the Italian; he really does exist. I did complete a thing. I had a dinner party in my new apartment - Number 24: Host a Dinner Party. I'd started hanging out with my stepmom's friends more often, in an attempt to complete Number 47. It was the middle of winter, and I made chili (which could have used more spice). We ended up chatting (as usual) and drinking way too much wine (also as usual) way into the evening. It was quite lovely. And they brought me lovely house-warming gifts.

As for work, I've recently applied for a permanent version of the same job I have right now at the same place I am right now. The big change this would mean for me is a few hundred extra a week and benefits (which means I can use my dental/prescription/emergency reserves for something else). Plus, the security of it being permanent. I'm quite nervous about it. The group I work for has to perform everything competitively; they can't just give me the job. It all sounds fair, until it's you in this position. Then it's all "this is a waste of resources! You're just going to hire me anyways... right?" I've been studying lately. The studying never seems to end. It will be nice when I finally have a desk I can really call my own.

I still find it a little funny when I think of myself in high school, doodling in the margins of my horribly beaten notebook, and writing notes to friends about how I'm never going to work in a cubicle, because I'm an artist, man. Now, I just want the cubicle, so that I can spend my time outside of it not worrying about if I can enjoy it or not. I guess that high school girl still exists (lord knows here awful eating habits do), and I take comfort in the fact that I don't find office humour funny. I almost snapped on a guy last week starting a sentence with "have you seen that Dilbert where..."

There's hope for me yet.

I do plan on revamping my list, though. There's a lot of things that need to be removed and replaced, and I'm still only at 72 items right now! I took an oil painting class that I'm going to add retroactively to the list (is that cheating?), and I think I'm going to add "explore my square whatsits" to my list, given that I'm in the city now. Any other suggestions? Please leave them in the comments!

Days one and two.

My list of 101 Things in 1001 Days officially kicked off on April 29, 2011, my 29th birthday. I wasn't looking forward to this birthday, so I felt I needed something to make the occasion a positive one instead of it simply feeling like another reminder of a period of time in which I could have accomplished more than I had.

My end date for the list is January 24, 2014.

Day one was a fun day. On day one, I set some of my things in motion. Number 4 on my list "Start an RRSP," and I swung by the bank to make an appointment. I've set aside a nice chunk of change that can be transferred right in when I set up the account. So, that's moving along nicely.

I was inspired by Colleen's Thing #16 - "Buy myself a diamond ring from Tiffany's for my 30 birthday," and added "Buy myself a piece of jewelry" as number 61 on my list. On my birthday, I wandered into the local jewelry store. I have a lot of very nice baubles, but they've all been given to me as gifts, I've never really gone into a store and chosen something for myself. I found a lovely little ring with two aquamarine stones flanking a sapphire and purchased it. I would say this was a very spontaneous move on my part, but I had tried on pretty much everything in the store at that point; I'd had time to think about it. Plus, it was half of the price listed on the tag, so I couldn't say no to that, now, could I? Sadly, I don't actually have it yet, it is being sized.

I also purchased a dress on Friday, which will help me accomplished Thing #38 "Wear only dresses for 1 week." I had a great day; my Visa didn't.

On Saturday, I put two more of my things in motion. I had supper with my stepmother and some of her girlfriends. They're a really nice bunch of women, and I'm hoping this will lead to the completion of thing #47 "Find 1 new group of friends (not to the exclusion of friends I already have)." I can't explain how I'll know when I've completed this one, but I think I will just know when it has happened. One of these ladies is a piano/singing teacher, so I was able to start on thing #51 "Take 5 Singing Lessons." My first lesson is next Sunday!