#78: Go Three Days Without the Internet

Gah. And gah again.

I am ADDICTED to the internet. I compulsively check my email--like ten times a day. I love love LOVE the internet. If I had a choice between the internet and cable television, I'd choose the world wide web in a heartbeat.

HowEVER. It's pretty damn easy to go without the internet when your beloved laptop makes a "ggggghhhhhhhhh" sound and the screen dies, followed quickly by the rest of the machine.

So not only did I go for three days without the internet, I went weeks on end without checking my email and watching Strongbad videos.

And let me tell you--it's not so much fun. But at least I know I can do it.

#71: Attend a Wine Tasting

I am a big fan of wine. I think it tastes splendid and I like collecting the pretty wine bottles. (And we'll just keep the fact that I may or may not select wine based on the bottles our little secret.) However, I don't know a lot about wine or how it's made or what exactly the different flavors are.

That changed one sunny fall afternoon when Chrissy and I embarked on a journey to Uncle John's Cider Mill. While it's called a cider mill, there is a fabulously cute winery hidden in one of the barns there. And that is why we went--not for cider but for alcohol. As did many other people because there was a line to taste the fruits. But it was well worth it.

Our bartender explained the differences in red and white, dry and sweet. I stuck to the white wines since they weren't as dry, but Chrissy sampled reds and whites, dries and sweet. All were so good. The best was an apple wine with a touch of cinnamon; it was a perfect fall wine. We each took home a bottle as a souvenir as well as new-found knowledge and appreciation of the art that is wine-making.

#98: learn a poker face and bluff my way through one game

It is no secret that I suck at lying. It is physically impossible for me to lie. Really! If I lie I start to giggle. It's like I'm thinking in my head "hehehehee! I'm totally lying and getting away with it! I am soooo good!"

Thus, the giggling begins. And the jig is then up.

The point of this goal was to see if I could even do this. I didn't think that I could. And neither did half of my friends.

On Halloween night, a rambunctios game of poker began, starring Becky, Chris (Becky's other half), Sarah, Lisa and I. It started with a challenge from Chris to me. He didn't think that I could win a hand against him.

This time when I lied? My thought process went like this: "don't smile don't smile don't smile and do NOT GIGGLE. You. Can. Do. This. Go girl!"

Three very good hands and three quarters of the chips later, he folded, I won my fourth hand against him and raked in the whole lot.

Mission very well accomplished.