Chopsticks are tricky...and a few other updates

I have had some computer troubles lately but since I have my own built in tech support, I think everything is back up and running.  Unfortunately, one of the side effects is that I am a little behind in updated a few things that I have been able to check off my list.

First, as the title of this post implies,chopsticks are tricky.  I was able to meet Joe for a quick lunch one day and we decided to meet at the local Hawaiian place (think meat, rice, mac salad) and when getting the napkins, extra sauce and silverware, Joe brought back chopsticks.  He has provided me with lessons in the past but I mostly gave up and reached out for my fork.  This time, however, he didn't bring a back up fork which forced me to eat my whole lunch with the chopsticks unless I was going to give up and shamefully go back up to the counter and get a fork (which at this point wasn't going to happen because I am too stubborn.)  But, I am happy to report that I manage to eat the whole lunch (which for me does NOT include mac salad because...um...gross) using only my chopsticks.  I will admit that I scooped a couple of times, instead of pinching, but my list just said I needed to "learn" not master using chopsticks and that I have done. So it is checked off!

There has been a lot of sickness going around in this house (mostly of the congested kind) and so between that and the cold/rainy weather, we have been more apt to look for low energy things to do.  Which for us has always meant watching movies.  I was able to check some of the letters off from my A-Z movie list. We watched at home as a family Despicable Me which was adorable.  We got some movie gift cards for Christmas so we went and saw Rise of the Guardians which was super cute and a lot of fun.  Then Joe and I saw Looper which was more a Joe movie than Jodie movie.  It was an interesting story, but pretty violent.

I also started a gratitude journal.  This one has been mulling around in my head for awhile.  Actually for a long while and I almost wrote it down when I did some editing of the list a long time ago but I didn't because I wasn't sure I wanted to commit.  But the beginning of the new year and a 2013 calendar/journal for a Christmas present prompted me to start.  So, every night right before I go to bed, I am writing down 3 things that I am grateful for, mostly focused on the day.  There have been several times that as I am going throughout the day I think "I can write that down tonight!" so, so far, it has been a great exercise.  I am also asking Taelin to tell me one thing she is grateful for when I tuck her in at night.  It is pretty funny to hear what she comes up with.

So, there you go.  I officially have 56 items completely checked off and 16 items "in progress".