Project 52

An old childhood friend of mine, Kim, a blogger herself ( http://kim-thelunchbox.blogspot.com/) put me onto an interesting blog challenge called Project 52 (http://www.jenneethompson.com/p/project-52.html).  The purpose of this blog seems to be to list 52 projects you wish to accomplish or goals you wish to reach in the coming year and provide weekly updates.  I can do that.  So here we go:

1. Host a party when we get news that Kate's cancer is in remission.
2. Buy and learn how to play guitar with my daughter, the Bean - learn to play, wait for it, Stairway to Heaven (remember the scene in Wayne's World?)
3. Lose 35 lbs.
4. Get into shape to run 10K.
5. Build Tool chest for under my workbench.
6. Make a cane.
7. Resolve my depression.
8. Learn how to sew and sew a couple of projects.
9. Relearn how to draw.
10. Look into making a documentary.
11. Make a soufflé.
12. Make a critical decision about my career (should I stay or should I go?)
13. Refinish/Restore dining room furniture.
14. Have our shower retiled.
15. Never say no to an opportunity I can afford.
16. Always try to make lemonade from lemons (i.e. turn a negative into a positive).
17. Make a small trebuchet.
18. Shoot off a rocket.
19. Weave a basket.
20. Read 10 of the unread books on my bookshelves.
21. Watch the 1972 Summit Series on DVD.
22. Look for and buy a nice mini-metal lathe at a super bargain basement price.
23. Restore something mechanical.
24. Carve a Celtic cross for my father-in-law.
25. Carve lovespoons for the Bean and Kate.
26. Learn Calligraphy.
27. Make a woodworking plane.
28. Make paper.
29. Take a university course in art history.
30. Try not to despise a particular neighbourhood family so much.
31. Clean out gardens.
32. Resod the backyard.
33. Build a garden shed.
34. Research my grandfather's WW II service record with the Veterans Guards of Canada.
35. Write an article for a newspaper or magazine.
36. Make woodworking prototypes for selling at craft shows next year.
37. Blog the A-Z Challenge.
38. Go to the Hudson Flea Market.
39. Go to one of Shaun's bonfires.
40. Re-learn how to take apart and rebuild small engines.
41. Get a bicycle repair stand and do a full maintenance of my family's bikes.
42. Learn how to download e-books from the Ottawa Public Library to my Kobo E-Reader.
43. Learn how to play the harmonica.
44. Brush up on some academic disciplines like math, physics, chemistry.
45. Learn how to pay household bills.
46. Grow gourds and do some gourd vessels.
47. Start a new blog or blogs on local artists, artisans and craftsmen.
48. Learn how to use Photoshop Elements.
49. Start doing science experiments with the Bean.
50. Build a crystal radio with the bean.
51. Make some Ukrainian Easter eggs.
52. Do the aircraft carrier model I got for Christmas three years ago.

Whew.  Not a bad start.  With my depression, getting anything done is a challenge, but maybe having a list like this will motivate me and help me along the path to recovery.  I'm somewhat ambivalent about this exercise.  On the one hand, not making much progress can be demoralizing, on the other checking things off can be quite satisfying.  Anyway, number 15 on my list is to never say no to an opportunity I can afford and I can definitely afford to do this.  So here we go...