More of the 101 in 1001 days thing

Should I just call this blog my very neglected blog? ;) Let's see how far I've gone with the 101 in 1001 days list, shall we? Makes for a very easy blog entry as well.

Now, here's that list. Reminder: The bolded ones are the ones I've now done.

Start Date: Thursday, August 14 2008
End Date: Thursday, May 12 2011

1. Sign up for guitar lessons and actually attend at least 5 (5/5) <-- Complete! I took the guitar lessons for about three months and then ended them because I didn't have any time for practicing.
2. Have 5 more articles published in a newspaper or magazine (3/5) <-- I've had a history of parenting article published; one on pediatric cancer, and one on baby showers.
3. Completely finish potty-training LD
4. Play hooky with my hubby
5. Have a date night out with Scott once every other month if not more
6. Go to Niagara Falls with Scott and LD <-- Complete: We went last week and had a blast!
7. Go to Newfoundland with Scott and LD
8. Take LD to StoryLand <- Complete: We went with Scott's family in June
9. Get away for a weekend with Scott
10. Have a getaway weekend with my college chicas <- Actually starting to think about this more and e-mailed around to the girls about it.
11. Replace our front door and casing/frame
12. Take LD to a Red Sox game
13. Take LD on a swan boat ride in Boston <- This is close to being done. I'm the chaperone for a Boston Duck Tours field trip with Adam at the end of next month.
14. Work out 4 times a week each week
15. Paint the porch <- Halfway done. The tops of the porch are painted. Now we just need to paint the actual sides and the floor of the porch.
16. Paint (and/or replace) the window ledges <- Complete.
17. Paint the kitchen entryway mini-porch <- Halfway done. Also need to paint the actual steps of this.
18. Go on Scott's parents' boat every summer (1/3)
19. Take LD to the Ben & Jerry's museum/store
20. Go to a movie with LD and stay through the whole thing
21. Organize our photos into actual albums <- Complete
22. Take LD to Roger Williams Park/Zoo
23. Write at least two opening chapters of my novel (0/2)
24. Write summary of plot for novel
25. Submit summary and two chapters to literary agents
26. Continue to go to the Festival of Trees each year (0/3)
27. Clean out the guest room upstairs <- Well, this was completed and now more stuff is in it. LOL
28. Have a girls' night out dinner/event with my buds at least once every other month, if not more
29. Attend 15-year college reunion <-- Complete and had a great time!
30. Bake holiday cookies with LD from scratch (1/3)
31. Host or attend a toy party with friends
32. Host or attend a make your own purse party with friends
33. Finally use that crock pot I bought
34. Drink Vernor's ginger ale again <-- Dad brought some back from Buffalo with him when he and Mom went out there for Uncle Mike's funeral. :(
35. Find and re-taste Bottle Caps candy <-- Thanks to Sassy for that gift. :)
36. Have professional family picture taken of me, Scott and LD
37. Have professional family picture taken of me, Scott, LD and my side of the family
38. Have professional family picture taken of me, Scott, LD and Scott's side of the family
39. Take a cooking class
40. Have a spa day
41. Throw baby shower for my sister -- and see if there's any way she'll be surprised <-- Complete "no" on the being surprised part, but it was still fun. LOL
42. Have neighbors over for dinner
43. Get a professional pedicure
44. Use gc Scott gave me for manicure
45. Get another massage <- Complete, and signed up for a membership there.
46. Host a party with friends and/or family
47. Host game night
48. Reconnect with at least three old friends (3/3) <-- Reconnected with two old work friends that I hadn't talked to since my AWL days; and a girlfriend from my elementary school days that I haven't talked to since 5th grade (have to love Facebook for all of those reconnections).
49. Finally donate those clothes in bags in the back of my car to Goodwill
50. Explore if going back to school is a good idea for my career
51. Host a play date for LD and his friends
52. Stop putting off that dentist appointment and actually go
53. Purchase and use re-usable grocery bags
54. Update my blog at least once a week <-- HAH! Well, didn't update it in 8 months. LOL
55. Start contributing to my savings account again
56. Up the part I'm contributing to my 401K
57. Take a kick-boxing class
58. Finish reading the Twilight series (4/4)
59. Take my vitamins (6/1001)
60. Have Blake the dog professionally groomed and trimmed up <- This actually happened while we were in Niagara Falls, and Blake looks great!
61. Get Blake's lyme disease checked every year (1/4)
62. Take LD on a whale watch
63. Take LD on a boat cruise <- If the Maid of the Mist counts, then this is complete
64. Take LD mini-golfing <- Went to a mini-golf place in West Yarmouth (blanking on the name) and he had a fantastic time
65. Attend another book reading at my alma mater
66. Help LD see that getting his hair cut isn't a torture
67. Attend a book signing of an author I like
68. Go to the movies at least once every other month
69. Start and finish reading Ender's Game
70. Pick up the graphic novel version of Ender's Game when it comes out October of 2008
71. Watch Terms of Endearment <- Might actually do this tonight.
72. Stock up on many, many tissues before watching Terms of Endearment
73. Stop buying books completely and strictly use the library
74. Map out a solid plan for visiting Ireland one day
75. Map out a plan for taking LD to Disneyland (if that's the one in Florida)
76. Watch Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, which I own, but have never even opened
77. Take a voice-over class <-- took this in October of 2008 and found out how expensive it is to start doing voice overs. Oy.
78. Buy curtains for bedroom that are all the same
79. Re-paint the guest room
80. Re-do kitchen floor
81. Bake a cake from scratch
82. Take a wine tasting class -- This was actually fulfilled by the wine tasting party below, thanks to the lovely Sassy and her wine tasting party kit.
83. Throw a wine tasting party <-- had one 9/19/08 and it rocked. :)
84. Clean/organize the upstairs closet
85. Clean/organize the upstairs armoire
86. Clean/organize Scott's closet
87. Have that gigantic tree in the backyard removed before it falls on a neighbor's house -- changing this to the ones from the front yard because they're the ones that shed branches/limbs during the ice storm!
88. Fully rake the leaves from the backyard each year (1/3)
89. Replace the Brita faucet in the kitchen
90. Plant annuals/perennials each year (2/4)
91. Either fix the swing set in our back yard or remove it
92. Get Scott's car horn fixed
93. Welcome new neighbors when our next door neighbor's house is purchased <-Complete. They're awesome and have a little dog, who is Blake's new best friend.
94. If they have kids, bring LD so he can meet them <- They don't have kids.
95. Go through books and sell/get rid of ones I'm just keeping around for no reason
96. Start using video camera to record birthday parties/holidays, etc.
97. Take a cake decorating class
98. Spend a vacation without checking work e-mail once <- This is still in the works. LOL
99. Buy a laptop <-- Scratching this off the list since I now have a laptop through work. Replacing this with the below:
NEW 99. Sign up for and take ballroom dance classes <-- signed up and had intro class April 7, 2009. Had first real lesson April 13, 2009.
100. Take LD to Mystic Aquarium when it's not 99 degrees outside
101. Get swimming lessons for LD

I could have danced all night

Let's dust off this blog, shall we? It's time to revisit that 101 in 1001 list I made back in August (and probably bemoan how much I haven't done since then ;) ).

I also started ballroom dance classes last week with an introductory dance class. Tonight was my first non-intro class and I worked on the basics of the waltz and the left underarm turn/twirl. I'm still doing a bit of confusing my left foot and my right -- and trying to lead LOL -- but after quite a few tries, I think I got it. It helped a lot when I closed my eyes so I wasn't focusing so much on everything/everyone around me and just focused on the dance. Can't wait for next week!

Now, here's that list. Reminder: The bolded ones are the ones I've now done.

Start Date: Thursday, August 14 2008
End Date: Thursday, May 12 2011

1. Sign up for guitar lessons and actually attend at least 5 (5/5) <-- Complete! I took the guitar lessons for about three months and then ended them because I didn't have any time for practicing.
2. Have 5 more articles published in a newspaper or magazine (2/5) <-- I've had a history of parenting article published; and have an article being published next month on pediatric cancer.
3. Completely finish potty-training LD
4. Play hooky with my hubby
5. Have a date night out with Scott once every other month if not more
6. Go to Niagara Falls with Scott and LD <-- This is in the plans for July of this year.
7. Go to Newfoundland with Scott and LD
8. Take LD to StoryLand <- This is in the plans for June of this year.
9. Get away for a weekend with Scott
10. Have a getaway weekend with my college chicas
11. Replace our front door and casing/frame
12. Take LD to a Red Sox game
13. Take LD on a swan boat ride in Boston
14. Work out 4 times a week each week
15. Paint the porch
16. Paint (and/or replace) the window ledges
17. Paint the kitchen entryway mini-porch
18. Go on Scott's parents' boat every summer (1/3)
19. Take LD to the Ben & Jerry's museum/store
20. Go to a movie with LD and stay through the whole thing
21. Organize our photos into actual albums
22. Take LD to Roger Williams Park/Zoo
23. Write at least two opening chapters of my novel (0/2)
24. Write summary of plot for novel
25. Submit summary and two chapters to literary agents
26. Continue to go to the Festival of Trees each year (0/3)
27. Clean out the guest room upstairs
28. Have a girls' night out dinner/event with my buds at least once every other month, if not more
29. Attend 15-year college reunion <-- This is next month, and I'm actually on the planning committee, so I better be there. :)
30. Bake holiday cookies with LD from scratch (0/3)
31. Host or attend a toy party with friends
32. Host or attend a make your own purse party with friends
33. Finally use that crock pot I bought
34. Drink Vernor's ginger ale again <-- Dad brought some back from Buffalo with him when he and Mom went out there for Uncle Mike's funeral. :(
35. Find and re-taste Bottle Caps candy <-- Thanks to Sassy for that gift. :)
36. Have professional family picture taken of me, Scott and LD
37. Have professional family picture taken of me, Scott, LD and my side of the family
38. Have professional family picture taken of me, Scott, LD and Scott's side of the family
39. Take a cooking class
40. Have a spa day
41. Throw baby shower for my sister -- and see if there's any way she'll be surprised <-- Complete "no" on the being surprised part, but it was still fun. LOL
42. Have neighbors over for dinner
43. Get a professional pedicure
44. Use gc Scott gave me for manicure
45. Get another massage
46. Host a party with friends and/or family
47. Host game night
48. Reconnect with at least three old friends (3/3) <-- Reconnected with two old work friends that I hadn't talked to since my AWL days; and a girlfriend from my elementary school days that I haven't talked to since 5th grade (have to love Facebook for all of those reconnections).
49. Finally donate those clothes in bags in the back of my car to Goodwill
50. Explore if going back to school is a good idea for my career
51. Host a play date for LD and his friends
52. Stop putting off that dentist appointment and actually go
53. Purchase and use re-usable grocery bags
54. Update my blog at least once a week <-- HAH! Well, didn't update it in 8 months. LOL
55. Start contributing to my savings account again
56. Up the part I'm contributing to my 401K
57. Take a kick-boxing class
58. Finish reading the Twilight series (4/4)
59. Take my vitamins (6/1001)
60. Have Blake the dog professionally groomed and trimmed up
61. Get Blake's lyme disease checked every year (1/4)
62. Take LD on a whale watch
63. Take LD on a boat cruise
64. Take LD mini-golfing
65. Attend another book reading at my alma mater
66. Help LD see that getting his hair cut isn't a torture
67. Attend a book signing of an author I like
68. Go to the movies at least once every other month
69. Start and finish reading Ender's Game
70. Pick up the graphic novel version of Ender's Game when it comes out October of 2008
71. Watch Terms of Endearment
72. Stock up on many, many tissues before watching Terms of Endearment
73. Stop buying books completely and strictly use the library
74. Map out a solid plan for visiting Ireland one day
75. Map out a plan for taking LD to Disneyland (if that's the one in Florida)
76. Watch Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, which I own, but have never even opened
77. Take a voice-over class <-- took this in October of 2008 and found out how expensive it is to start doing voice overs. Oy.
78. Buy curtains for bedroom that are all the same
79. Re-paint the guest room
80. Re-do kitchen floor
81. Bake a cake from scratch
82. Take a wine tasting class -- This was actually fulfilled by the wine tasting party below, thanks to the lovely Sassy and her wine tasting party kit.
83. Throw a wine tasting party <-- had one 9/19/08 and it rocked. :)
84. Clean/organize the upstairs closet
85. Clean/organize the upstairs armoire
86. Clean/organize Scott's closet
87. Have that gigantic tree in the backyard removed before it falls on a neighbor's house -- changing this to the ones from the front yard because they're the ones that shed branches/limbs during the ice storm!
88. Fully rake the leaves from the backyard each year (0/3)
89. Replace the Brita faucet in the kitchen
90. Plant annuals/perennials each year (1/4)
91. Either fix the swing set in our back yard or remove it
92. Get Scott's car horn fixed
93. Welcome new neighbors when our next door neighbor's house is purchased
94. If they have kids, bring LD so he can meet them
95. Go through books and sell/get rid of ones I'm just keeping around for no reason
96. Start using video camera to record birthday parties/holidays, etc.
97. Take a cake decorating class
98. Spend a vacation without checking work e-mail once
99. Buy a laptop <-- Scratching this off the list since I now have a laptop through work. Replacing this with the below:
NEW 99. Sign up for and take ballroom dance classes <-- signed up and had intro class April 7, 2009. Had first real lesson April 13, 2009.
100. Take LD to Mystic Aquarium when it's not 99 degrees outside
101. Get swimming lessons for LD

101 Things in 1001 Days

So, I saw this page, 101 Things in 1001 Days, and I was intrigued enough to start one of my own. We all have items on our "to do" list, but do we ever really get to them? I know I don't!

In order to actually make myself think about what I want to do -- and without a scary end date of 30 days or something like that -- I decided to start a list of my own.

The Mission:
Complete 101 preset tasks in a period of 1001 days.

The Criteria:
Tasks must be specific (ie. no ambiguity in the wording) with a result that is either measurable or clearly defined. Tasks must also be realistic and stretching (ie. represent some amount of work on my part).

Why 1001 Days?
Many people have created lists in the past - frequently simple goals such as New Year's resolutions. The key to beating procrastination is to set a deadline that is realistic. 1001 Days (about 2.75 years) is a better period of time than a year, because it allows you several seasons to complete the tasks, which is better for organizing and timing some tasks such as overseas trips or outdoor activities.

Some common goal setting tips:
1. Be decisive. Know exactly what you want, why you want it, and how you plan to achieve it.

2. Stay Focused. Any goal requires sustained focus from beginning to end. Constantly evaluate your progress.

3. Welcome Failure. Frequently, very little is learned from a venture that did not experience failure in some form. Failure presents the opportunity to learn and makes the success more worthy.

4. Write down your goals. It clarifies your thinking and reinforces your commitment.

5. Keep your goals in sight. Review them frequently, and ensure that they are always at the forefront of your thinking.

And here's my list. I'll keep you all updated.

Bold - Completed tasks!

Start Date: Thursday, August 14 2008
End Date: Thursday, May 12 2011

1. Sign up for guitar lessons and actually attend at least 5 (5/5) <-- Complete! However, I'm still enjoying the lessons and still learning, so I'm still going. :)
2. Have 5 more articles published in a newspaper or magazine (0/5)
3. Completely finish potty-training LD
4. Play hooky with my hubby
5. Have a date night out with Scott once every other month if not more
6. Go to Niagara Falls with Scott and LD
7. Go to Newfoundland with Scott and LD
8. Take LD to StoryLand
9. Get away for a weekend with Scott
10. Have a getaway weekend with my college chicas
11. Replace our front door and casing/frame
12. Take LD to a Red Sox game
13. Take LD on a swan boat ride in Boston
14. Work out 4 times a week each week
15. Paint the porch
16. Paint (and/or replace) the window ledges
17. Paint the kitchen entryway mini-porch
18. Go on Scott's parents' boat every summer (1/3)
19. Take LD to the Ben & Jerry's museum/store
20. Go to a movie with LD and stay through the whole thing
21. Organize our photos into actual albums
22. Take LD to Roger Williams Park/Zoo
23. Write at least two opening chapters of my novel (0/2)
24. Write summary of plot for novel
25. Submit summary and two chapters to literary agents
26. Continue to go to the Festival of Trees each year (0/3)
27. Clean out the guest room upstairs
28. Have a girls' night out dinner/event with my buds at least once every other month, if not more
29. Attend 15-year college reunion
30. Bake holiday cookies with LD from scratch (0/3)
31. Host or attend a toy party with friends
32. Host or attend a make your own purse party with friends
33. Finally use that crock pot I bought
34. Drink Vernor's ginger ale again
35. Find and re-taste Bottle Caps candy <-- Thanks to Sassy for that gift. :)
36. Have professional family picture taken of me, Scott and LD
37. Have professional family picture taken of me, Scott, LD and my side of the family
38. Have professional family picture taken of me, Scott, LD and Scott's side of the family
39. Take a cooking class
40. Have a spa day
41. Throw baby shower for my sister -- and see if there's any way she'll be surprised
42. Have neighbors over for dinner
43. Get a professional pedicure
44. Use gc Scott gave me for manicure
45. Get another massage
46. Host a party with friends and/or family
47. Host game night
48. Reconnect with at least three old friends (1/3) <-- Reconnected with an old work friend that I hadn't talked to since my AWL days.
49. Finally donate those clothes in bags in the back of my car to Goodwill
50. Explore if going back to school is a good idea for my career
51. Host a play date for LD and his friends
52. Stop putting off that dentist appointment and actually go
53. Purchase and use re-usable grocery bags
54. Update my blog at least once a week
55. Start contributing to my savings account again
56. Up the part I'm contributing to my 401K
57. Take a kick-boxing class
58. Finish reading the Twilight series (4/4)
59. Take my vitamins (6/1001)
60. Have Blake the dog professionally groomed and trimmed up
61. Get Blake's lyme disease checked every year (1/4)
62. Take LD on a whale watch
63. Take LD on a boat cruise
64. Take LD mini-golfing
65. Attend another book reading at my alma mater
66. Help LD see that getting his hair cut isn't a torture
67. Attend a book signing of an author I like
68. Go to the movies at least once every other month
69. Start and finish reading Ender's Game
70. Pick up the graphic novel version of Ender's Game when it comes out October of 2008
71. Watch Terms of Endearment
72. Stock up on many, many tissues before watching Terms of Endearment
73. Stop buying books completely and strictly use the library
74. Map out a solid plan for visiting Ireland one day
75. Map out a plan for taking LD to Disneyland (if that's the one in Florida)
76. Watch Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, which I own, but have never even opened
77. Take a voice-over class -- signed up for one in Oct of 08 on 8/25/08
78. Buy curtains for bedroom that are all the same
79. Re-paint the guest room
80. Re-do kitchen floor
81. Bake a cake from scratch
82. Take a wine tasting class -- This was actually fulfilled by the wine tasting party below, thanks to the lovely Sassy and her wine tasting party kit.
83. Throw a wine tasting party <-- had one 9/19/08 and it rocked. :)
84. Clean/organize the upstairs closet
85. Clean/organize the upstairs armoire
86. Clean/organize Scott's closet
87. Have that gigantic tree in the backyard removed before it falls on a neighbor's house
88. Fully rake the leaves from the backyard each year (0/3)
89. Replace the Brita faucet in the kitchen
90. Plant annuals/perennials each year (1/4)
91. Either fix the swing set in our back yard or remove it
92. Get Scott's car horn fixed
93. Welcome new neighbors when our next door neighbor's house is purchased
94. If they have kids, bring LD so he can meet them
95. Go through books and sell/get rid of ones I'm just keeping around for no reason
96. Start using video camera to record birthday parties/holidays, etc.
97. Take a cake decorating class
98. Spend a vacation without checking work e-mail once
99. Buy a laptop (which yes, I know that could contradict the above item)
100. Take LD to Mystic Aquarium when it's not 99 degrees outside
101. Get swimming lessons for LD

Pizza boy

Last night, LD ("Little Dude" for those new to the blog) and I made home-made pizza. Well, it was out of a Chef Boyardee box, but I still considered it home-made. LOL

LD is quite the little chef. He read the ingredients, helped me measure everything out and then had a blast mixing the dough together and then spreading on the sauce and the cheese. While we were making the pizza, I told him that this is like what his Uncle Kevin did to make pizzas (Kevin worked out in CA for a few months as a pizza maker, and became quite the pro -- I'm pretty sure he didn't use a Chef Boyardee mix though ;) ). LD thought about that for a minute and said, "I didn't know this is how he made pizzas." Apparently, LD has a new respect for Uncle Kev.

We made two pizzas -- both cheese -- on two cookie sheets. And, yes, I used to sell Pampered Chef and have pizza stones galore, but still used a cookie sheet. It's easier. LOL I'm glad we made two because one of them became completely scorched on the top, despite rotating the sheets from the top to bottom racks. Ah, well -- it worked out okay because we had more than enough pizza with the one pizza and that one rocked.

No dining in the sky for me

I have a fear of heights. A pretty bad one, in fact, to the point that sometimes if I'm walking up a set of open stairs (meaning you can see between the slats), I feel nauseated. Scott and I once stopped by this bookstore while we were in Stowe, VT and it was so cute. I went to investigate the upstairs and noticed that it was (a) an open spiral staircase and (b) the upstairs itself looked like it wasn't supported by too much. I somehow got up there but didn't stay upstairs too long at all.

So, with that in mind, the thought of this just makes me want to throw up. The concept is called "Dinner in the Sky" and basically 22 people are strapped into leather seats secured to a table and then hoisted 12 stories up by a crane to enjoy their meal 180 feet in the air.

I found out about this through an article that was in the Boston Herald today. The people in the pictures look quite happy and like they don't have a care in the world. Clearly none of them have a strong fear of heights, or else they're somehow glossing over the person who's green and whimpering silently (or not so silently) in their chair with their feet dangling into space.

I'm sure if you don't have a fear of heights (and have $30K to throw around -- the starting group price), this would be all sorts of interesting. For me, I'll remain firmly on the ground.

Dusting this off...

Since I'm going to be blogging at work, I think it's time to dust off this old blog that's been inactive since 2006. Plus, this gives me a place to jot down my thoughts and it was pretty interesting to read my posts from 2005 and 2006. LOL

No need at all to re-hash the past 2 years since my last blog post. Let's just go forward.

This weekend, we went down to the Cape to Scott's parents' house and went out on their boat. LD ("Little Dude" for those who are new to the blog) had such a good time. He thought it was hilarious when the speed boat revved up and we hit choppy waves. Luckily, I had a blast as well -- which is pretty huge, since I've known Scott for 13 years and have only been out on the boat twice in that time frame -- last year and this year. I had a bout with motion sickness while on a whale watch during college, so I've always thought that being on their boat would make me sick and just wouldn't go each time. Wimpy wimpy wimpy.

But, last year, LD really wanted to go out on the boat with his cousins and I didn't want to stay behind while he was out on the water. So, I went... and I had a blast. Insert the image of me kicking myself all over creation here for wasting years when I could have been enjoying the boat.

<-- This isn't Scott's parents' boat, but it says "Great Scott" on it, so of course I had to grab a picture while we were out on the boat yesterday.

This year, Scott's parents bought a smaller boat (rising costs of gas and all that), but it was just as fun as last year. We were out on the water for close to three hours and just had such a good time. LD even said he wants a boat of his own. Sure, I'll get right on that. ;) I asked him if he wanted a baby brother or sister (adding a disclaimer -- no baby brother or sister in the near or not so near future! A baby cousin is fine for now.) or a boat. He thought about it for a moment and said "a boat"! Hah

Santa's not coming to town...

because he's already here!

Went out to dinner Friday night with some college friends to a local mall. While waiting for the girls to arrive, Barbara (a friend I had driven down with since we live near each other) and I roamed through the mall. To what to our wondering eyes did appear but Santa Claus all dressed up in his red suit and sitting in his "workshop" for pictures.

This was November 10th. Isn't that a bit early for Santa to be arriving at malls for pictures? I could have sworn that usually Santa arrives at the mall the weekend after Thanksgiving, or at least the day after Thanksgiving -- not weeks ahead of Thanksgiving. It was quite crazy.

On a good note, though, a lot of stores are having "Christmas" sales, and I picked up a gift for Scott (that I won't disclose since he reads this) on Sunday while at yet another mall.