January Recap

A Beatle once said, “Life is what happens when you’re busy making other plans”.   That certainly proved true this month when cancer once again reared its ugly head in all of our lives by surprising my sister, Michelle, with yet another you’ve-got-to-be-kidding-me visit.   I guess that sonofabitch just forgot what it was like to get its ass kicked the first time around. Nevertheless, cancer will quickly learn that it chose the wrong host as it will soon choke on the poisons that my sister will bravely endure to defeat it once and for all.  In the mean time, Michelle has vowed that she will lean more on her family and friends this time around and, I for one, look forward to being leaned on. 

While my list seems trivial in comparison to fighting cancer, my sister was the first to point out its relevance.  She said that she looks forward to every post and that it is a source of hope and motivation for her to act on her own set of goals.  While our circumstances and challenges are night and day, we both realize that life is short and we must act to enjoy it.  I love my list, not because of the things that are on it will make me happy, but because I am already happy and that they just add to the experience.  A change of perspective is an amazing thing.  And I’m just getting started.  To quote Abe Lincoln, “It’s not the years in your life that count, it’s the life in your years.”

As for my list, January was a good start.  Despite knocking out just three goals (#1, #54, #71) on my list of one hundred, I made progress on a half dozen more.  I completed my first goal at the stroke of midnight on January 1st with a simple kiss.  The kiss was great, but the night was ho hum as most New Year’s Eves tend to be. They just never seem to live up to the hype.  With only a slight hangover to deal with, we were off and running.

It should come as no surprise that our first goal of the new year was to eat.  We discovered a new breakfast joint, The Coral Tree Cafe, thus completing the first step toward goal #24 (discover a new eatery once a month).  However, rather than settle back to our regular eating spots, we continued to venture out and try new places, including: Iwata Sushi in Sherman Oaks, Koi (#71) in West Hollywood, Chez Nois in Toluca Lake, Boneyard Bistro in Sherman Oaks, Cafe Vida in Pacific Palisades, Big Wangs in North Hollywood, and The Abbey in West Hollywood.  We also ate a bunch at our usual spots including, Artisan Cheese Shop, Katsuya, Laurel Tavern, Aroma Cafe and Casa Vega.  While we ate out more than we “should”, I did manage to cook dinner two nights in a row.  The first meal was jumbo shrimp on a bed of Angel Hair pasta with asparagus.  For my second trick, I christened the crock pot Georgeanne got us for Christmas with chicken and dumplings.  Even the kids liked that one.  Anyway, with all of that eating #25 (weigh 155 lbs) was paid no service. 

As for my progress in regards to the rest of the list….

(#23) We saw Gran Torino, Revolutionary Road and The Wrestler at the theater over the month and really enjoyed all three of them.  (#5) I made minimal progress on my current screenplay, but feel as though I am close to a breakthrough. I have also started to use the local library as my office. (#8) January was a better than expected month for us.  We were bracing for bad times that have yet to come.  Please don’t come. (#10) We hiked a couple of times, but yeah, nothing regular yet.  (#11) All of the necessary forms and payments are in concerning Devin’s college applications.  Now we just wait.  Hopefully we will know something this month. (#12) We still don’t know where Brittany is going to High School. (#15) Despite getting knocked into next Tuesday by an errantly thrown softball, I am still having trouble leveraging our bank account for health insurance. (#19) So far, so good. (#20) Wrote two posts on my Grandfather’s Office. (#22) After recently finishing the book, Outliers (excellent), I have begun reading The Big Sleep. (#54) We laid in bed all day and did nothing but play scrabble and watch TV.  The rain made it that much better. (#95) So far, so good. (#97) I only applied for Trivial Pursuit so far because it was a simple application.  The other game shows will require videos and auditions.

As for what is not on the list…

When she wasn’t playing Club Soccer, Brittany went on a trip of a lifetime to Washington D.C. to witness the presidential inauguration of Barak Obama.  Devin continues to ride out his senior year in High School and ready himself for his final baseball season.  Although I sustained a substantial shiner to my right eye in the process, we put together our best softball season to date.  In other sporting news, Marquette Basketball continues to exceed my expectations.  After going 8-0 in January Big East Play, the Warriors are playing for the record books.  The Clippers, on the other hand, continue to disappoint.  I suspect the remaining few games my Dad has tickets for will be our last.  It should also be mentioned that January produced more than twenty 80+ degree days.  With the rest of the country under snow and ice, how can you not smile with days like these?  And finally, we celebrated the birthday of my little sister, Rosie, and my niece and nephew, Kaden and Kennedy.  Without friends and family, this list is meaningless.

On to February.