Another Movie Completed for # 30

I swear, I can't believe I haven't crossed off more movies for #30 - Watch 26 movies I've never seen before starting with each letter of the alphabet. I'm a movie-aholic. If time permitted, I'd watch a different movie every night. During the summer, before I started my 101 list, I had rented many different movies that I'd never seen before.

But life seems to have been busy lately. As much as I'd love to have seen more flicks, I haven't had a chance. Haven't even been to the theatre in ages! Oh, how I miss it...the smell of hot buttery popcorn...the big screen, the comfy seats...

I really need to go to a movie over the holidays.

But I realized - rather belatedly - that after I saw Disney's A Christmas Carol last week, that I should be adding it to my list! Sure, I've seen different versions of Charles Dickens' beloved Christmas classic over the years, but I'd never seen this particular adaptation yet.

Jim Carrey made a perfect animated Scrooge. The whole movie was wonderful. For my recap on the movie, you can click here.

I'm looking forward to crossing another few items off the list in the next few days. I purchased It's A Wonderful Life from Amazon, and it arrived yesterday. It's unbelievable that I've never seen this holiday favourite. I'm also going to consider it my "classic movie". (I'm even going to watch it in black and white, even though the DVD I bought has a colourized version on it).

I'll let you know what I think of It's a Wonderful Life soon!

#47 - {Tentative} Check!!

Last night, I cleaned my house from top to bottom. And I tackled one of the most daunting tasks I've faced in a long time.

Cleaning my closet.

To say it was messy would be an understatement. It was a disasterpiece. And that is why it was #47 on my list - Organize my closet in a way that it STAYS organized for more than a week.

I'm not a messy person, really. I like things tidy and in order. Occasionally I let things get cluttered and out of hand, but I usually like to nip the messy-ness in the bud.

My mother calls me a pack rat, so I try to keep that in check, too. A few times a year I like to just haul everything out of all my little hiding places, go through it, and chuck whatever has become old or unnecessary. When I watch "Hoarders" on TLC and scoff at their disgusting habits, I also hear that little voice in my head reminding me that my tendencies to collect useless crap could land me on that show someday.

I won't let that happen.

So while I would have much rather spent the night on the couch watching a movie or reading a book - especially since it was a rainy, dreary night - I cleaned my room. And did a massive overhaul of the closet.

When I first moved into the house, and picked this room, the closet was one of the main features I loved about it. It's much bigger than the one I grew up with at home, and I never thought I'd be able to fill all the space.

Wrong.

Clothes piled on the shelf at the back of the closet. Bar weighed down by clothes haphazardly hung. Shoe boxes and gift bags and random other crap all over the floor. Then, the clothes piled on the shelf start overflowing, co-mingling with the crap on the floor.

It had got to the point where I couldn't find anything I wanted in there. Literally. And the rest of my room was starting to look like a dump, too, because I had no room in my closet to put stuff, like recently purchased Christmas gifts. It was driving me nuts.

This is all the crap on the floor that I couldn't put in my closet because there was no room...ahhh!!!

But the only time I seemed to get the urge to clean it was at 7 in the morning on a work day, when I didn't have time to dive into it.

So last night was the night. And I started by hauling everything out of the floor of the closet first. Shoes. Old gift bags and wrapping paper. Murder Mystery crap. Canada Day Committee stuff. Old Karate equipment. Purses and wallets and shoe bags. When did I ever end up with so much STUFF?!?

Before

After

After organizing the bottom of the closet, I started hauling out all the clothes off the shelf. I had a mountain of shirts on the floor. I wish I'd taken a picture of it. I spent over an hour sorting through clothes, tossing old stuff that no longer fit into one pile, and neatly folding the rest into specific piles: T-shirts, dressy shirts, tank tops, long-sleeve shirts, sweaters, pajamas. Everything piled neatly on my bed. You couldn't even see the comforter. It was incredible. I really need to think of that the next time I say I have nothing to wear!...

Before

After

So after transferring it all back into the closet, I was finally able to stand back and sigh with relief. A neat closet. Or at least neater than it had been in a long time.

I ended up with enough space to put all the Christmas gifts in there, and still have room for my laundry basket! Yessss!!

And then I turned around and saw all the "garbage" and unwanted clothes. Yikes. So I spent another long while packing up clothes to give away, throwing out the stuff that I wouldn't give to anyone, and getting the room back in order.

By 10:30 PM, I had it all dusted, vacuumed, mopped, and finally...finally...clean.

So this one gets a tentative check. Because while it's sparkling right now, time will only tell if it will still be in order by next week! ;)

A Few More Check Marks

So, it's been pretty dull on the 101 front these days. Not a whole lot accomplished, and I honestly haven't even been thinking much about it.

Has the 101 List novelty worn off? I hope not. There's still a lot of great stuff on that list I want to accomplish, and I don't want to just forget about it.

Plus, I need to uphold my status of "101 Cop" as a few of my kin have recently crowned me. ;)

First off, there is #99 - Direct a Murder Mystery that someone tells me is the best one ever. Honestly - and no offense to my wonderful cast this year, because they were truly wonderful! - I wasn't sure if this task was possible. Like, ever. Because last year's cast? They were pretty incredible. I wasn't sure it was possible to top them!

But you know what? It happens every year. Every year, they bring it. And every year, I hear someone say, "Pretty sure that was the best one ever..."

This year, it was my cousin Patti, who also MC'd the event. In her closing thank you's after the play was over, she made the comment that after every Murder Mystery event, she and Mae McCann have the same conversation, and Mae tells her that she doesn't think they'll ever be able to top the year before, but then they do. And according to Patti, this conversation happened yet again this year!

So while the exact words "best one ever" weren't actually used, I'm going to go ahead and cross this one off the list, thanks to Patti and to all the others who congratulated us on another successful Murder Mystery. The cast was, once again, amazing, and they had the crowd in stitches all night long.

Troy & Steph as Kaptain Flake and Officer Diddler

Last year's was a tough act to follow, but I think we pulled it off!

I was also able to get another game in for #33 - Go to at least 3 Senators games per season last night, when Luke and I were at Scotiabank Place with the Edmonton Oilers in town.
We lost 4-1. It wasn't pretty. In fact, it was quite possibly the most boring game I've ever been to. And while the Oiler fans in attendance didn't out-number the Sens fans, they chanted loudly, and often drowned out our feeble "Go Sens Go" attempts. To be honest, by about half-way through the first period, I was growing weary of the chanting battle, and everytime they started up the "LET'S GO OILERS, LET'S GO!", I couldn't help but roll my eyes.

Later on in the game, and after the Oilers had taken the lead, it became downright annoying.

Also annoying? The twit behind me who called our beloved captain "that cherry-picking Alfredsson". Seriously. Wanted to turn around and slap her.

To cap off the evening of splendour?? Trying to get out of Parking Lot 5, which can only be described as an absolute clusterfuck (pardon my language). It was insane. We barely moved for half an hour. And we both agreed that we would never, ever park there again.

Was there an upside to the evening? Indeed. The yummy Pizza Hut supper that baby bro treated me to before the game. And the "Great Games in Senators History" segment on the jumbotron, which featured the Game 3 Stanley Cup Final match-up in Ottawa vs. the Anaheim Ducks, in which Ottawa won 5-3. Wade Redden not only got mentioned for setting up the winning goal, but he was also shown celebrating at the end of the game. It was bliss. Bittersweet bliss.

So here's a picture of Wade, just because I love him so much. And it's been so long since I've put up a picture of him. On any of my blogs.

Yummmmmmmm

Tonight, I tackle organizing my closet. If for no other reason than my Christmas wrapping paper is all in there somewhere, but I can't see it for the pile of clothes, gift bags, shoes, and hangers piled up!

I'll let you know how that goes...

#65 - Check! And Made my Mom Happy by Doing So...

If my mom had a 101 List, one of the items on her list probably would've been Make Jillian get back the two dresses she loaned to someone a long time ago.

It was with her in mind that I put this as #65 on my list. Because ever since I loaned these dresses to someone two years ago, she's harped at me at least once a month to get them back.

And that in itself is kind of hilarious.

Yes, these dresses aren't just "any" dresses. One of them was the dress I wore to my graduation over ten years ago. I recall it well. It was black velvety material with sequins on top, and we bought it a Laura warehouse sale for about $50. When my sister graduated 6 years before me, she wore a $400 dress from Melanie Lynn. More evidence that I'm the black sheep of the family. Or just too big to fit in beautiful, expensive dresses...

I got a bad, blistery sunburn a few days before grad, and I spent much of the day telling people I looked like a sunburnt killer whale. (My self-confidence is astounding, isn't it?)

The second was my bridesmaid dress from my sister's wedding, over eight years ago. I have much happier memories of that dress. A beautiful summer day, a wonderful occasion to celebrate, and dancing all night long in the eggplant-coloured gown. It was a little too long come party time, when I kicked off the heels and opted for flip-flops for the dancefloor, so I spent half the time yanking my dress up so my bra wouldn't show. When my cousin Jim stepped on the hem while we were dancing, one of the straps snapped. I have fond memories of giggling with some of my sister's friends in the ladies room while they pinned me back together, and thanked God my mom had the vision to put saftey pins and sewing kits in the little bathroom courtesy basket.

So yes, these dresses weren't just any old dresses. They definitely had sentimental value. That's why my mom didn't want me to leave them in someone else's basement, to grow old and dusty and eventually be forgotten.

Ironically enough, my mom throws out almost everything. She's not into pack-ratting. Or keeping momentos. Or hanging on to things of sentimental value. I think I heard her last week threatening to throw out my baby book because she needs more room on the shelf of her closet. (I'm kidding, I'm kidding...)

But for some reason, it was extremely important in her eyes for me to get these dresses back.

I, on the other hand, didn't really care, and felt sort of silly asking for them back, when I figured I'd never have any reason to wear them again. I mean, especially now. They're old.

However, this week, I realized I did have a reason. The Murder Mystery is this weekend. And it's a formal birthday party theme. As one of the directors, I really should dress up for it, since we encourage other attendees to come dressed up. I only own a few formal dresses, and the ones hanging in my closet right now definitely won't fit. So my only other choice was to hunt down these old dresses and try them on!

Picked 'em up last night. Safely back in my possession. Pretty sure I won't be wearing either of them.

But at least my mom can sleep at night again.

#65 - Get back the dresses I loaned to someone a long time ago... CHECK!!

PS - I've spent much of this blog trying to figure out if I loaned the dresses or lent them. I was already corrected on this once before in my life (in an entirely embarassing fashion, but that's another story for another day), but I can't for the life of me remember which way is grammatically correct, and my (brief) Google research didn't help much. I think lent is the proper term, but it sounds weird. And reminds me of Easter. Loaned it is!!

#45 - Check!! & Happily Watching DVDs in Bed!!

Falling asleep had never been a problem for me. Until this past summer.

But after the emotional & unexpected upheaval that my family went through in late July and early August, I discovered sleep no longer came easily. My brain just wouldn't shut off, and I'd find myself tossing and turning long into the night, flooded with memories, tears, and "no fairs".

Up until then, I had a TV with a built-in VCR that my friend Brenda gave me when I first moved in to my own place that had been very rarely used. I usually watched TV downstairs, read for a while in bed, then shut my lamp off and fell asleep without any trouble.

But I had a new reality of insomnia to deal with. And during one of those sleepless nights, I thought, "Might as well pop a movie in if I'm going to be lying here awake anyways."

So since then, I've been rotating between the same five VHS videos - 10 Things I Hate About You, She's All That, The Cutting Edge, Rock Star, and A Cinderella Story. And as much as I love them, they're starting to get a little old.

In recent days, sleep has been much easier to come by, and most nights I fall asleep about 10-15 minutes into the movie. But a habit has been formed, and apparently now I can't drift into dream world without the soft background noise of a movie quietly playing.

For that reason, #45 on my list was Get a DVD player for my room. And since I didn't have a lot of cash floating around, I had decided to put a DVD player on my Christmas list. I was willing to wait until then to finally start watching some of my favourites in my DVD collection while snuggled up with blankets and pillows!

Enter: My friend Lindsay.

The other day, while talking Christmas, I mentioned that I had a DVD player on my list for my room, and right away she mentioned that she had one she was no longer using. By the end of the day, I was going home with a DVD player for my room, and that night, I got to watch The Ugly Truth in my pjs!

Well...at least the first half-hour!

So now #45 is crossed off the list, and I couldn't be happier.

Thanks again Linds!! :)

#96 - Done...and What a Reading It Was!

One of the items on my 101 List that I was perhaps the most nervous about, believe it or not, was #96 - Get a Psychic Reading.

Why be nervous about it, especially since it wasn't my first time? I had a reading done about a year and a half ago, and it wasn't anything overly startling or alarming. The woman who did it was pretty bang-on when she told me things about myself, but aside from her referring to my grandmother in the past tense (as though she had already passed), it wasn't an unsettling experience. (And Grandma's 95 and still kickin' so obviously that meant nothing!)

When my friend Stacy and I decided to co-host an Escape @ Home Day at my place, I immediately signed up for a psychic reading, and almost instantly regretted it. In fact, I tried to give the damn thing away. The psychic service filled up quickly, and we had a waiting list going for awhile until we knew how many appointments they could fit in one day. I kept telling Stace, "Well, I'll give mine up, don't worry, someone else can take my spot."

As it turned out, the psychic was able to take everyone who had asked for a reading, including everyone on the waiting list, and including me.

Frig.

I had stressed about it for the past month or so, worrying about what she might - or might not - tell me. And I think I was also a little worried about whether or not I would hear anything about my cousins who passed away this summer.

I went into the reading feeling very agitated, knots in my stomach, nervous, and unsure why I felt this way. While I usually find psychic readings fun, interesting, and something to take with a grain of salt, I couldn't muster up much excitement for this one. In fact, I was dreading it.

Without going in to great detail, let's just say it was an emotional yet strangely comforting experience. The woman who gave the reading was very accurate - in fact, it was a little scary how accurate she was. And she was able to connect with the other side for me, which was truly amazing.

At the end of it, I was glad I had it done.

But I don't think I'll be signing up for any more anytime soon! ;)

#90 & #97 - Complete!

Halloween weekend has come & gone, and I was able to cross a few more items off my list.

#90 - Carve a pumpkin : I should get a double-bonus for this one, because I carved two! But you know what I discovered? It's something I fail to remember from year to year. I buy the pumpkins, I design the faces I want to create, and I get so excited for pumpkin carving day.

And after an hour of hacking into tough pumpkin skin & flesh, scooping out slimy pumpkin guts, altering my designs because they're too complicated to create without slicing the pumpkin into smithereens, I remember...

I hate carving pumpkins.

Hated it when I was a kid. Still hate it now.

But the end results were satisfying - not too elaborate, but a nice touch on my front doorstep for the trick-or-treaters!

#97 - Rake leaves and put them in pumpkin bags for Halloween : Another task which I accomplished this past Saturday, in anticipation of the big day.

But again, a slightly frustrating job, as I realized my pumpkin bags were extremely flimsy and see-through, and I had almost no leaves left in my yard to rake. I did, however, have some brush that my mom had piled up when she cut back my flower beds. Which totally shredded my bags as I was filling them, and I ended up standing outside in the icy drizzle with scotch tape, trying to repair them, and even at that, there were sticks poking out of them everywhere.

Joy.

The only good thing about my pumpkin bags? Their faces glowed in the dark. But I didn't even realize that until I was throwing them in my dark garage last night!

Hope everyone had a safe & happy Halloween!