One New Thing Every Day

From the day I turned 29, I tried to do one new thing a day... it took a few extra months, but I did it! Now I'll post new things randomly as I try them.

Friday, February 19, 2010

#430 - Lady with the Painted Veil

For lunch today, I joined some friends at the Cafe Musee at the Nevada Museum of Art. Afterwards, we took a quick tour of some of the headline exhibitions going on there, including seeing Raphael's masterpiece painting, "The Woman with the Veil," painted in approximately 1516. It was pretty spectacular, seeing something in such good condition from so many years ago. The woman seemed to be glowing in the painting, and the longer I looked, the more details I saw. They had this painting in a darkened room, with no other distractions, just the one painting under lights with a security guard nearby. We also saw an Italian triptech (a three-paneled painted altar piece from the 15th century); a set of quilts from Gee's Bend, Alabama; and a gallery of Amphora pottery pieces. There was an artist there setting up a future exhibition of statues made of furniture that's been stripped down and reassembled into animals, which looked fun and interesting. We also saw two groups of students on field trips. I'm not usually one to spend time in an art museum, but I really enjoyed seeing the different exhibits, and they seemed to have something for everyone.

Monday, February 15, 2010

#429 - Slugbug

Did you ever play Slugbug? We used to play a lot, I think I even remember playing in our carpool - maybe in high school? It's where you see the VW Beetles while you're traveling, you say "Slugbug!" and you get to hit/slap/punch someone else if you beat them to it. Well, today, TLG and I were driving around doing errands, and I taught him to play Slugbug. I don't know what made me think of it, it's been years since I even thought of the game. TLG wasn't very good at finding the cars, but he thought the game was hysterical! He even chased me up the eisles of the stores, yelling Slugbug! and slapping me on the arm. It was fun to share something so silly with him and it made me remember lots of good times with my carpool buddies.

Sunday, February 14, 2010

#428 - Biking

Yes, today was Valentine's Day, but we most of our V-Day celebration was all things we've done before. So I'll share today's new thing instead: this morning, my wonderful hubby fixed up my 10-speed bike's tires (the same bike I've had since I bought it at age 10) so I could ride with The Little Guy. TLG was thrilled, since that meant I could ride next to him instead of walking/jogging to keep up. *Note: we took photos/video, but haven't downloaded them yet... hopefully soon. TLG has training wheels so doesn't need help actually riding his own bike, but our court has a little bend in it and I like to see him at all times, just in case. We had a great 20-minute ride up-and-back, up-and-back, wash, rinse, repeat. I tried to see if he wanted to go around the corner and into our neighborhood a little more, but so far the answer is no. My bike does need a new seat (the padding in this old one is basically flat!) and some work on the brakes, but for something that's been around so long it worked pretty well. The last time I rode it was at least five years ago, and before that... well, I think I was still a kid myself. I hope TLG and I can get lots of riding in this spring/summer, and once my hubby's knee is all healed up (from his recent surgery) maybe he'll join us.

Saturday, February 6, 2010

#427 - (Not) Leaving on a Jet Plane



This evening, an old friend who's now a pilot flew into town for an overnight stay. He routinely flies LearJets full of famous people all around, and happened to be in town for the Super Bowl tomorrow. So after we took him out to dinner, he took our family to the airport so we could check out the jet! Wow, what a privilege it was to see the plane close up - and how excited The Little Guy was to go inside! My friend let him climb into the cockpit, turn on the lights, and even move the steering wheel a tiny bit. (While the grown-ups chatted, TLG was making flying noises and pretending to be the captain!) We stayed long enough to learn how the plane works, and hear some stories about what life is like when you're a pilot. TLG loved the special attention and seeing the gazillions of buttons and switches and lights and everything in the cockpit. Did you know it would only take 14 minutes to fly from Reno to Sacramento in a LearJet? Amazing. We had an amazing visit to the airport and this is something I doubt TLG will ever forget.

#426 - Event Volunteering

This morning, some ladies from the music fraternity and I volunteered to get the Note-Able Evening of Romance event ready for their big 400-person gala. The Note-Ables are a great local organization who provide music therapy to children and adults who need it, they also have a performing group. Their executive director, Manal Toppozada, is a new Patroness member of the fraternity, so we have been helping them this year so we can all get to know her better. As for this morning, I spent time using a cutting board, stringing icicle lights along the stage, and putting together goody bags. Here's hoping they have a great event and raise lots of money!

Monday, February 1, 2010

#425 - Wii Fit Plus

The second of the new Wii games we recently purchased is the Wii Fit Plus. One thing we didn't like about the regular Wii Fit was that it was always for one player only. The best feature about the new Plus games is the ability to take turns among players without having to go out to the main menu each time. There's also a few new games for the multi-player mode only, including a a fun snowball fight that TLG really enjoys, and an obstacle course game. (You still only play one player at a time, but at least you can take turns easier.) Much of the rest of this game is the same as the regular Wii Fit, with the yoga, strength training and games. But we're still really enjoying this new addition to our collection.