Passport

Well, I didn't quite get everything crossed off my to-do list this week, but it was a pretty ambitious list and considering that I worked the late shift this week and I rarely get anything done on those weeks, I'm pretty happy with things.  I did, however get to mark another item off my list... yesterday, I mailed off my passport renewal (#12)!!!  I was debating over whether to mark this off when it was mailed or when I actually got the passport back, but I decided that I have done my part and so the task is complete.  Now it's all up to the government.  (there's a scary statement!)

My other big excitement is that I randomly took a multivitamin last Friday night, and I have continued taking them.  So I am officially eleven days into my two month stint (#82).  I bought an extra bottle to keep downstairs, so I should have no excuse for skipping or "forgetting" to take one.  I'm taking the Target brand multivitamin for women.  It seemed to have everything in it and was maybe slightly smaller than some of the others available.  My favorite thing about them, though, is that they are very heavily coated so there is no smell whatsoever, and if I need to hold it in my mouth for a second while I get set to swallow it, then there is no taste and they really slide down pretty easily.  All in all, it's not been quite as bad as I had expected it to be.

I tried a new recipe today (#73).  This was, I think, the first time that I had cooked anything this whole month that wasn't frozen or from a box, which is pretty pitiful.  Anyway, I made Nigella Lawson's lone linguine with white truffle oil.  I really wanted to like it, but I have to say that I was disappointed.  This was my first experience with any kind of truffle oil.  It definitely has a distinctive flavor, but I can see that it has a lot of potential in other dishes.  Overall, it was rich but a little bland, and I think I prefer my own made-up pasta with butter, garlic, and parmesan.

I also knit a couple of rows on Grandpa's afghan last night (#17).  I know that doesn't sound like much, but I really am slow, and it's been so long that I've knit that it took most of one row just to remember what I was supposed to be doing!

This first month is almost over, and I have to say that I am still very excited about this project.  Having these goals, some of them very broad, has actually helped me get a lot done.  I find myself making a weekly to-do list, some of which is related to the list and some of which is just for my every day life.  I discovered a while back that I am a list person, but I think that knowing that I have this committment that's above and beyond has kept me even more focused on getting everything accomplished.  So, so far this project has been fun, productive, and a really positive influence!  99 things and 971 days to go...

Alien

Today I watched the first of my ten movies to watch (#67), Aliens.  I happened to run across it one night, so I recorded it and today seemed like a good day to see it.  I liked it!  Which is really what I expected based on everything I've ever heard about it.  It's a good blend of horror and sci-fi, and I really had to keep reminding myself that it was made in 1979... good job with the special effects!  Most of the time I would much rather see special effects that are real rather than all the digital effects that so many movies have nowadays.  (back in my day, they made real movies!  *LOL*)  Anyway, I'm glad I finally saw it, and now I want to see the sequels!

It's been a weekend of ups and downs, due in part to the fact that I'm feeling a little under the weather, but I have managed to get pretty much everything marked off my to-do list this week which is always a good feeling.  Friday I had pictures taken for my passport renewal #12), but when I went to fill out the application online, I realized that the passport was in a lockbox and I didn't know where the key was.  I thought I must have packed it up during the move (although in the back of my mind, I really kept thinking that I had kept it out in case I needed it).  So I set the whole thing aside, frustrated that I wouldn't be able to mark it off the list for a while.  But then Saturday I noticed the keys sitting on top of a box in the living room!  Aha!  The back of my mind was right!  I had not packed away the keys!!  So now the application, photos, passport, and check are ready to go to the post office.  Yea!

Yesterday afternoon and evening I worked on putting together the bookcases that I bought at The Container Store last October.  Their purpose is to go in the living room and hold some of my books and knick-knacks.  So after many hours and one very sore hand from the teeny little allen wrench that you get to assemble them, I am finished.  I hook them together with the conveniently included brackets, push them up against the wall and get this...

umm, no.  That is really how it looks.  Apparently the slots for the shelves on one set was set to cut about half an inch higher than than the slots on the other set.  And yes, these are actually made for the purpose of being attached to each other and sitting side by side.  I was very upset.  I was quite close to tears at one point.  Or screaming.  Or throwing the whole thing over onto the floor.  But instead, I went to bed and called The Container Store customer service line this morning when I was a little calmer.  They are going to send me new pieces "A" and "C" (per the Leaning Bookcase assembly guide), and hopefully the notches will match one of the two bookcases that I already have put together.  They should be shipping tomorrow, so we'll see.

The problem with all of this was that I had planned on unpacking the rest of my books today and getting at least some of them onto the new shelves in the living room and the old shelves in my office.  Instead, I have read the paper and watched Alien.  I did go ahead and start unpacking some more of the books this afternoon, so I can get them sorted and ready to go on the shelves whenever/if they ever get finished.  Why can nothing ever be easy???  I do think that counts toward getting all my boxes unpacked, though (#80).  And I randomly took a multivitamin Friday night and again last night, so I think I have started my sixty days (#82).  Oh, and I went to Half Price Books on Friday where I happened to find two of the books on my list of fifteen to read (#66), so that was exciting!

Seeing all of it here makes me realize that I have actually accomplished some things and made progress, so I am feeling much better now.  I think that calls for some chocolate!

Insomnia

So here I am... awake... at 1am.  Which doesn't seem all that bad until I think about the fact that I have to be at work in six hours.  Yep.  It's going to be a rough day.  But I decided this would be a good time to run a quick update.  I did get a chance to work on one of my PSAP chapters this weekend at work (#68).  Finished one section and got started on another.  This is the Men's and Women's Health chapter, so I am now up to date on the HPV vaccines, hormone therapy, and sexually transmitted diseases!  woo-hoo!  I started reading Empire Falls at the end of last week, and I do like it so far, although I'm not really seeing why it's supposed to be so great (#66).  I e-mailed my dad today (#61) and updated a couple of things in my scrapbook (#35).  I have it on my to-do list this week to go have passport photos taken, so I'll be ready to send that in for renewal (#12).  I bought a pretty box the other day at Michaels to keep my project money in (#22), so I'll have to take a picture and post that.  The quote on it seemed very appropriate for this whole endeavor.

 

Friday

Here I was thinking that I hadn't gotten much accomplished this week, but in retrospect it has been pretty good (and it's not over yet!).  I received an e-mail yesterday from ACCP that a new PSAP chapter has been published (seriously? already?) which prompted me to pull out the last one that I was working on.  My goal is to get through a couple of sections this weekend at work if it's not too busy, so that goes toward #68 - finish all of the PSAP chapters.  Today I ordered the soundtrack from (500) Days of Summer, a movie I finished watching last night.  I liked the music and thought it worked really well within the movie, and when watching the credits I realized I wasn't familiar with some of the artists... perfect for #45 - find new music to listen to!  I think movies are a great way to find some new music, so maybe this will help me discover some new musicians.  I have a new recipe printed out and ingredients gathered for this month, so I will be able to make my very first entry under #73 - try one new recipe every month.  And I finally got my budget sorted out and entered into Quicken, so I will be sure to have the money to finance all the classes and travel required for the list.  So nothing new to cross off, but work done to get me there!

Books

I have hit one of those crazy times when all of my library requests came in at the same time.  I make hold requests through the library all of the time for books, CDs, and DVDs.  It's great!  You just tell them you want such and such, and they deliver it to whatever library branch you want when it becomes available.  Unfortunately, every once in a while, everything becomes available all at the same time.  Or in this case, one DVD and three books all showed up in less than a week!  I'm able to keep the books for three weeks at a time, but if someone else has a hold request, then it can't be renewed and I have to turn it back in.  So I have to start triaging.  So many books and so little time!  I don't suppose I could take a day off of work for the reason of catching up on my reading.  *sigh*  But I have finished a few books, so they have been added to the official list (item #60). 

On another note, I have been looking into the different classes that I wanted to take that are part of the list (foreign language, cooking, and cake decorating).  Cake decorating will be easy, because it's inexpensive and it's offered regularly.  Cooking is the most expensive, depending on what exactly I end up taking.  There's a place that offers a whole cooking basics series with one class per month for eight months.  That's really what I want to do, but it's $480 so I think it will have to wait a little while.  And French classes are offered every semester through IUPUI's continuing education classes, but I'm trying to decide if that's what I want to do.  The other option would be to get a tutor and take private or small group lessons.  It would be more expensive over the long run, but I also imagine that I would learn more that way.  At any rate, I have built the costs into my budget, so I'm thinking cake decorating this year and cooking next year.  French will figure in somewhere along the line; I just don't know where yet.

Reasons again

Just to let you know that I finally finished entering all the reasons for the list.  Also, I don't know whether I mentioned that I'm keeping track of all the movies I've seen in addition to the ones that are part of the list; all are under the movies tab.

Mala

My meditation beads (mala) arrived today!  (kudos to Brian Harrison aka QuietMind for an amazingly quick shipping process!)  As a reminder, this was #19 - buy something from Etsy.  They look and feel every bit as beautiful as they did in the picture.  I am looking forward to making good use of them, and I really hope they'll help with my meditations.

An aside here... every time I try to type the word "meditation", it comes out "medication".  even when I just now typed it!  no wonder I have trouble meditating!!

Bedroom

#16 - Finish decorating my bedroom

Well, I'm one step closer after ordering a bed skirt, quilt and shower curtain to match the sheets, towels, and duvet cover that I recklessly bought on sale at Restoration Hardware a couple of months ago.  They are having another sale that ends today, and I figured in for a penny in for a pound.

I originally started the decorating process up there by looking for a wall color.  I had pictured in my mind a sort of slate blue/grey color but was having absolutely no luck coming up with something that looked quite right.  And I have a stack of sample-painted posterboards up there to prove it!  Finally I was watching an episode of Colour Confidential on HGTV (a decorating show that revolves around the host/decorator helping the family chose colors that they love based on a custom color wheel and color theory), and the host said blue is the hardest color to work with because it never looks like you expect.  Well, that made me feel better, because at least it wasn't just me being completely unable to pick a color, and worse, because now would I ever be able to find a color I love?

So I finally decided to scrap the wall color concept and start with bedding instead.  Hence the fateful trip to Restoration Hardware.  I had seen this gorgeous bedding in a catalog and on line and decided to go in and see if it looked half as nice in person.  I knew this might be a dangerous venture, because RH is like the more expensive cousin to Pottery Barn or Crate and Barrel, and we all know I could happily spend myself into debt decorating my whole house from either of those stores.  Well, the sheets & duvet were beautiful  And they were having a sale.  And it was the last day of the sale.  And I had a weak and spineless moment.

Which brings us to today's slide down the slippery slope.  Sometimes the internet makes things far too easy.  But, regardless of how steep that slope may end up being, at least I'm going to land in one seriously soft and beautifully colored bed!

http://www.restorationhardware.com/catalog/product/product.jsp?productId=prod1671163&categoryId=cat90093
  

Richard Russo

I am very excited!  Today I got an e-mail with a list of Butler's cultural events for the Spring semester.  One thing they offer every year is their Visiting Writers Series where they invite authors from all genres to come speak on campus.  They have eight different authors lined up for this semester, and the great thing is that they're free and open to the public.  So imagine my surprise when I glanced through the list and saw Richard Russo, author of Empire Falls, on the schedule for April 12!  To jog your collective memories, Empire Falls is on my list of books to read for item #66 on the list.  I had actually purchased it during on of my recent buying spress at Half Price Books, so I figured I would end up reading it sooner rather than later just out of convenience.  Now, of course, I want to make sure I get it read in the next couple of months so I can go hear him speak having already read the book.  What timing!  Now I just hope I don't end up hating it.

http://www.butler.edu/absolutenm/templates/?a=2387&z=41
    

Cash

I am working on a budget for this year (not on my list, but something I wanted to do since I haven't followed an actual budget for several years now; with the mortgage payment, I really need to be watching my money a little more closely), and as much as I love my house, it is putting a serious dent in my cash flow.  I was planning on doing a budget anyway, but I realized that with some of the things on my list, I am going to need to specifically budget for those items, i.e. classes, bicycle, Butler donation.  Makes me realize I really need to push lottery tickets to the top of my to-do list for this week!

I got some more reasons entered in on the list.  Part of me keeps wanting to edit some of them as I transcribe from my scrapbook, but I want to keep them the same and then add on if I feel like something warrants it.  Let me tell you, that was the most writing I've done at one time in a loooong time!  Probably since college and our insane PDA and therapeutics classes.  It actually felt kind of good (with the exception of the sore spot on my middle finger, since that callus is long gone).  I like writing, but I use the computer so much these days that writing seems only for post-its and my calendar.

I received an e-mail today that my meditation beads are already in the mail!  I will post a picture when they arrive.  I am very excited about them.  It doesn't help that I have a headache right now and the idea of meditation sounds pretty good.  I usually don't like to meditate before bed, so I think I will just take my shower and hopefully that will help ease the pain for now.

Reasons

First, because of something a friend mentioned, maybe I should point out that my complete list is located near the top of the page below the blog title and description.  Just click on "101 in 1001".  The headings of Books and Movies are other lists that have to do with the main list.

Second, I finished entering the complete list and the reasons for each task into my Day Zero scrapbook.  So now I'm working on getting it all entered on here.  It's a lot of info, so I'll probably do it in sections.  It was an interesting exercise, trying to articulate the reasons for each thing.  There are probably some that I wasn't completely honest about, even though I tried to be, but even to myself.  So I may go back and make some edits at some point.  I'll try to talk about them if I do.

Okay, so back to the list.  Got a lot more typing to do!

One down, one hundred to go

It's only day two, and I already get to cross one off the list!  #19, Buy something from Etsy.  Ever since watching "Eat, Pray, Love", I've been wanting a set of meditation beads... probably like 90% of the people who saw the movie.  I have looked at some of them on Etsy and other sites over the last few months, but I kept coming back to one particular set that I found on Etsy.  I just hadn't bought them yet.  Probably because I was trying to minimize my spending going into December with a vacation and Christmas coming up.  But I was organizing the Favorites list on my laptop tonight and after going through all the links I'd saved for different malas, I realized that I still love that one set.  Then I noticed that it said there was only one available, and I would really hate myself if I waited longer and then they were gone.  Plus, they were only $45, which is pretty darned cheap compared to most of the other sets that I had seen.  Yea!  I'm so excited!  Turns out they are made by a guy who lives in Phoenix, so there's another weird link since that's where my friend lives (the one who prompted me to do this whole project).  I hope they look and feel as nice in person as they appear to on the website.  I'm hoping these will help me with my meditation practice, especially since one of my goals is to meditate more often.  It's not on the list, but that doesn't make it any less important.  One task down, one hundred to go.

New Year

Happy New Year!  It wasn't until I was reading some of my friends' posts on Facebook last night that I realized that it isn't just a new year but also a new decade.  Of course, I suppose that distinction also depends on whether you count the beginning as the year zero or the year one, meaning that last year might have been the start of the decade.  Hmmm.  Well, either way, it's always exciting to have a fresh start.

A fresh start is kind of what I feel like I have today, although I haven't exactly figured out why.  I spent last night home with my cat just watching TV and playing on the computer.  Not terribly exciting, but it felt nice (except for the headache I got from burning a scented candle all day... gotta remember to blow them out after a couple of hours!).  Got a good night's sleep and had a leisurely breakfast this morning.  I think what has appealed has been the lack of any schedule, no interruptions, and the beautiful sunny day outside.  Also, I got some tidying done yesterday, so my living room doesn't look quite so much like a war zone anymore (two trips and a holiday all in one month will do that to you!).

As far as my list goes, #35 is to make a Day Zero scrapbook, so I spent a good chunk of yesterday writing the list into a brand new Moleskine notebook.  I wanted to have all the entries copied in by the end of day 1, so that is done now.  I'm also working on writing a little explanation for each task, because, like I mentioned before, each one actually does have a purpose.  As I get that finished, I'll probably be adding them on to here as well so you'll be able to understand them all, too.

As I was copying the list into my notebook, it really hit home that 101 tasks is a serious lot of stuff to do!  On one hand I had to keep reminding myself that I do have almost three years to complete them, not a year like you usually think of when coming up with Resolutions.  But on the other hand, I'm really going to have to keep on top of things and not let time slide by too quickly.  I don't know yet how I'm going to utilize this blog, or in other words, how often I'm going to update it.  But I will definitely keep track of tasks as they are completed and my take on the project as a whole.  It's hard straddling the world of technology/computers and the world of pen/paper (which is the one I most definitely prefer), and I often end up feeling like I'm doing everything twice, so I'm trying to figure out how to keep both this blog and the scrapbook current and complete without duplicating all my work.  Please extend a little patience while I work that out.

Okay, the Rose Parade is almost over, so it's time to get on with the day.  Still need to get to the store and pick up some black-eyed peas... family tradition for New Year's Day.  Here's to a wonderfully healthy and happy 2011!