November Bucket List

A few soul-nourishing things I am planning to do this month. Obviously, I should have published it a couple of weeks ago, still, better late than never, I guess. Some of the items on the list I have already completed, some others I am doing in the next couple of weeks.

1. Bake pumpkin chocolate chip cookies
It's the middle of November, and I still haven't baked any pumpkin themed treats yet. It's a must though, when pumpkin is in season. I might do it this weekend.

2. Watch Bohemian Rhapsody in cinema
I already did last week. It was an okay-ish film, but did not live up to my expectations.

3. Attend a painting class
I did attend one on last Saturday. It was fun, I did slightly move out of my comfort zone as I tried something completely new. It's unlikely I will attend again though.

4. Donate books to charity
I would really love to do a charitable act, with Christmas around the corner and holiday spirit kicking in. (I am aware that I seem hypocritical and superficial, since I am only doing it because it's Christmas, but I got to start somewhere.) I recently came across Libri's Christmas project, and thought it would be a good place to start. They are collecting children's and young adult books to then give them to those in need. Then I also found out that my library welcomes book donations as well, and a local primary school will be gifted with the collected books. And there's a third local charity book drive I came across: the city council is also collecting books to then donate them to primary schools and libraries in Transcarpathia. I have so many young adult/children's books I collected over the years, all just gathering dust and holding up precious place on my shelves. It's highly unlikely I will ever read them again, so I might as well give them to charity. I am planning to skim through my stacks this weekend, and assort the volumes I am donating.

5. Enter a photo contest
And by 'a photo contest' I meant Utazómajom's annual photo contest. I did submit three photos of mine, fingers crossed at least one of them makes it into their calendar. I would be so proud of myself! Plus it would definitely be a boost of confidence in my photography skills.

6. Plan a trip to Zakopane
Zakopane has been on my travel bucket list for years and I would love to see it covered in plenty of snow in the holiday season. A local travel agency organizes two-day, low budget trips there, there is one in mid December as well, so all I have to do is to figure out if I am free that weekend (meaning that I don't have to work) and sign up.

7. Find a dusty pink winter coat
I am still on the hunt for a pretty pink coat, preferably second-hand as I don't intend to spend a fortune on it.

8. Send hand written letters
I just miss the good old days of snail mail and writing nice long-hand letters then posting them. I would love to get back into the habit of sending snail mail to Zsófi. Plus there's a post box right by my office entrance, which, obviously, is a sign.

9. Buy and keep alive a poinsettia
I love poinsettias, they are such lovely plants, I cannot resist buying one in each and every holiday season. And then I cannot keep them alive. One year it only took two short days until the plant shred all of its leaves, some other year I got lucky, and I could keep it alive for a whole fortnight. This year I am purchasing one and trying my hardest to not kill it. Wish me luck.

10. Figure out Christmas presents
I always leave Christmas presents to the very last minute, when it's too late to buy/order what I had actually wanted to get for my dearest and nearest. This year I am figuring it out in time and not leave it until it's too late.