52 in 52 Update: Resin Tumblers, Sydney Harbour Bridge Climb and July Goals

I just went to write the title of this post as the “June” update…but, it’s July. What the heck?! Please excuse me while I process that we’re now in the second half of the year.

I’ve just had one of the most enjoyable weeks of my life, spending time with a friend who’s over from the States, along with her family, who also made the journey over. I’ll be recapping the week in another post (spoiler: we did a lot), but it means that I can finally share details on some of the 52s I’ve had to keep under wraps. Or, you know, complaining a lot about it on my blog (here and here) without photos to show what I was making.

Completed

Make another resin water bottle

I first made one to practice.

And then made another one because I didn’t like the first.

And then I procrastinated for months on end because I hated both of my attempts so far. I didn’t want to start and mess it up.

So instead, by procrastinating, I put myself under immense pressure because if I didn’t start, I would run out of time before my friends arrived. I left myself with zero time for screw-ups.

Anyway, here’s the end result:

The photos are a bit forgiving, because it’s not obvious that there are lumps and bumps everywhere, despite my best efforts.

I put so much pressure on myself. I needed these tumblers to be perfect.

And it turned out to be a nightmare.

During this exercise, I even threw a tantrum and got my husband to make the last couple. The tumbler with Jack’s name on it had turned out so horrific with lumps and bumps everywhere that I quit. I groaned that I just can’t do resin, and that I’m horrible with craft… insert lots of whinging here.

I ended up sanding Jack’s one right back, and we did the final coat again, as the last in the set.

You guys…we finally figured out the problem, of course with the last coat, and of course only hours before picking our friends up from the airport. So, essentially with no time left to fix the others.

I’m happy to report that when I handed them over, they were well received, and I even spied the kids using them a couple of times on the holiday. Mission accomplished.

Current Kel is swearing off ever doing a resin project again, but for Future Kel’s benefit, after applying the resin, the trick is to go back 10 mins later and run the heat gun over it to redistribute the resin. The end result was a smooth, even surface – exactly what I’d been trying (and failing) to achieve for months.

Anyways, to my friend Kim, I hope you like the lumpy and bumpy tumblers. Let’s just pretend they’re speed bumps, or finger holes designed to make it easier to hold. That sounds legit, right?

Print more photos + Keep a list of memories for the year

I’m officially declaring both of these 52s done, courtesy of my daily planner that I’ve been using this year.

Every week, I’ve been going back and printing out some photos as a way of capturing memories and showing what I’ve been up to. For example, this last week of holidays is filled with photos and short recaps of what we did each day.

These 52s also encouraged me to be in front of the camera a bit more, which is new to me. But it’s been fun!

I’m really excited to keep using a planner like this for the next few years. Already, I’m finding it so much fun to look back on days earlier in the year and see what we got up to. The 2027 edition of the Saint Belford Curate planner should be available to buy next month. For now, it’s a matter of deciding which colour I want next year and getting ready to blow up the credit card when it’s available to buy.

Climb a bridge

This one is now complete. And not just any bridge, either.

My friend and I climbed the Sydney Harbour Bridge!

Ok, confession. This was added to my 52s when I already knew this was happening. But this has been a bucket list item for me all my life, and not a chance was I going to miss out on the opportunity to formally cross it off a list.

It was so much fun. It was easier than I expected, although my knee wasn’t a big fan of one section of coming down – it was just a weird angle with wider steps, so my knee was behind me with a bit more pressure on it. But anyone without a bung knee would be totally fine; it’s just because I have zero cartilage.

Also, because I forgot to take a photo of the bridge, I shamelessly stole my friend’s pic from her run this morning (not the day we did the climb). Thanks, Kim!

On the day we climbed the bridge, we completely lucked out with the weather – it was crystal clear skies, and a beautifully warm sun. It was pretty windy, not enough to worry anyone for balance, but enough that my hands were frozen. They offered us wind jackets, but I didn’t bother – the jumpsuits we were wearing blocked the wind well enough; it was just because my hands were exposed that they were frozen. And to be fair, it doesn’t take much for my hands to be cold.

The experience was so fantastic. I definitely think my son would love it. My husband would, for the most part, just not the bits where he’d have to duck right down. Being so tall sometimes has its drawbacks. I think he’d enjoy the view, though.

I’ve also just noticed I’ve got a 40% off discount voucher in my emails as a way of enticing me back to the summit. That’s just a little bit tempting; when are we heading back to Sydney? *checks planner

Make a gift pack for a friend

This also got ticked off with my friend’s visit – it’s been quite a productive visit!

For their arrival, we made a gift pack that included:

• A Hammerbarn tote bag (if you watch Bluey, you’ll know what that’s about)
• Squeaky Gnome Husband toys (another Bluey reference)
• 4 x Tumblers (see above with the ones that I made for them)
• Bunnings straw hats
• Sunscreen (they weren’t going to get sunburnt on our watch)
• Excessive amounts of snacks, with four different varieties of Tim Tams, Pizza Shapes, Caramelo Koalas, Bundaberg Ginger Beer, Milo and some other smaller snacky things

We wanted to make sure their arrival felt special, but also that they had comforts to take back to their Airbnb and feel settled in.

Hopefully, we hit the mark!

In Progress

Looking back at my list, there are still a few more that are underway already:

• Make my America video – I had hoped to finish this before Kim arrived in Australia, but alas, I ran out of time. I’ll be getting back to this project this week, though.
• Earn an iFit badge every month – I’m on track with this, and haven’t missed a month yet!
• Learn the drums – this is a carryover from my last update. I’ve bought the electric drum set, I’m just waiting to start a subscription and start learning. As soon as the America video is done, I can cancel that subscription and redirect those funds to the drums project. I don’t want to sign up when I know I don’t have the time to dedicate to it just yet.

The immediate goal is to try to get the America video done and crossed off next month. Plus a few of the smaller ones that I haven’t started yet.

Current Status

As it stands right now, I’ve got 28 of 52 items remaining. If we look at it simply and say that we’re now in the second half of the year, I should have had 26 items remaining to be considered on track, so I’m only 2 behind.

Of the 28 remaining, I know that 10 of those are either planned or in progress, leaving me with just 18 to make a start on.

Some of those are quick and simple ones, like “Compliment a stranger”. Some are a little more time-intensive or require some planning for when it would be convenient. For example, learn how to use nail tips. I’m likely going to have a bit of a horrible time trying to type with them on, so just applying nail tips on any given weekend doesn’t really work.

But right now, I’m feeling confident that I’m going to come pretty close to completing the list. If I do, it will only be the second time in the 15+ years I’ve been writing a 52 list. That’s pretty exciting!

Does anyone else have a bucket list item they’ve been sitting on for years, just waiting for the right excuse to finally do it? Or did you ever make a gift pack for a friend?