the first amendment

No, not that first amendment. 

After a bit of thought and some...circumstances popping up...a few of the things on my thirteen by thirteen list are going to have to be replaced. First up--goal numero uno:

1. Take a dance class.  

This one, unfortunately, is not going to happen before 2013. It's just not. And there's no sense having it on my list, taunting me (because honestly, it's the thing on my list I want to do most) when I know it's not possible. So I'm removing it and hoping it'll happen some time next year. Replacing it is:

 1. Make a terrarium. 

Something I've always wanted to do, and today--I did! Now, lest you think I went out, made something, and then slapped it on the list cause I couldn't think of anything else to put on there, this is something that's been on my mental to-do list for about two years. I've read books on the subject, and spent hours drooling over pretty indoor gardens on the internet. It was high time it happened. 

Obviously, I'm new to this, and not rolling in funds with which to make magical tiny gardens appear inside amazing expensive terrariums like this one. So forgive my paltry little attempt at bringing green things indoors. But I do kind of love it anyway, the way you love your kindergartener's misshapen potholder--it's just made with a lot of love and enthusiasm if not much skill. 

I actually made two small terrariums. One is a tiny "desert" arrangement for my bedroom, using a year-old echeveria I got from Ikea and then managed to nearly kill the other day. I consider this a pleasant way to attempt some cactus rehabilitation. If it dies, well, I tried.

The bigger one was made inside an apothecary jar I've been drooling over for...um...two years. So I finally got the jar and the sand and whatnot, and came home to realize, uh, duh, I don't have any plants. Nor can I buy any right now. 

So I went out to my yard searching for something tiny that loves humidity, and I found this wee, sad little elephant ear sitting on the side of my house. The thing that is so fun about this is that I have an elephant ear plant outside my front door that is a freakishly huge thing with nearly six foot leaves that makes you feel like a Tyrannosaur is going to be coming around the corner at any second and eat you. And inside my house is a three inch version of the same plant. How cool is that?

I also gathered up some tillandsias (air plants) from my oak trees and tied them into a ball and hung them with wire. Not a terrarium, but something I've wanted to do for awhile and it's indoor-plant-related so it counts. :)

So that's it. This is officially the first thing I am crossing off my list. Although I doubt that I'm actually done making terrariums--I can feel the obsession cycle beginning even now...plant names rolling through my head...severe inability to concentrate on non-plant related subjects...a nagging whining voice in my head going, "but why, WHY can't I have that geometric hanging terrarium?! It's only my food budget for the next few weeks!!" But still. I have done it. I am crossing it off. Breathe a sigh of relief for me. It feels good.