Rambling Words

101 in 1,001 Days List

2011-04-09T20:36:00.002-04:00

Dusting this off yet again.

Hmm, when I started the 101 things to do in 1,001 days list, May 12, 2011 seemed a long way off. Now, it's next month. Let's see just how many of these I actually accomplished...

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 (5/5) <-- Complete. Taking up writing freelance articles for New England Bride again for a few months helped with this.
3. Completely finish potty-training LD <-- Thankfully, complete since LD's now 8!
4. Play hooky with my hubby -- Hmm, I actually don't think we actually did this. Fail.
5. Have a date night out with Scott once every other month if not more -- Definitely not every other month, nope ...
6. Go to Niagara Falls with Scott and LD <-- Complete: We went last year and had a great time.
7. Go to Newfoundland with Scott and LD -- Didn't do this, but we're taking steps towards it. I actually have a passport. Now to get Scott and Adam one.
8. Take LD to StoryLand <- Complete: We went with Scott's family
9. Get away for a weekend with Scott -- Still haven't done this. I'm beginning to see a bit of a pattern here. LOL
10. Have a getaway weekend with my college chicas <- Complete: We started this two years ago with a trip to Freeport, ME. Last year was to Mystic, CT and this year is in the planning stages.
11. Replace our front door and casing/frame -- Still haven't done this.
12. Take LD to a Red Sox game <-- Complete: Scott took Adam to a game last summer. They had a great time.
13. Take LD on a swan boat ride in Boston <- Semi-complete. I took Adam on a Boston Duck Tour field trip with his class, but it wasn't an actual swan boat ride.
14. Work out 4 times a week each week <-- Complete. This is back to being a priority again.
15. Paint the porch <- Complete: HAH! I forgot this was on here, and it actually was done today.
16. Paint (and/or replace) the window ledges <- Complete.
17. Paint the kitchen entryway mini-porch <- Complete: This along with 15 was also done today.
18. Go on Scott's parents' boat every summer (2/3) <-- Not complete. We somehow never made it out on the boat this past summer.
19. Take LD to the Ben & Jerry's museum/store <-- Complete. We took LD up to Stowe, and he loved it.
20. Go to a movie with LD and stay through the whole thing <-- Completed sometime last year
21. Organize our photos into actual albums <- Complete
22. Take LD to Roger Williams Park/Zoo <-- Nope, but planning to do so with my parents sometime this summer
23. Write at least two opening chapters of my novel (0/2) <-- Ohh, I think I'm going to hate the next couple of items on the list after seeing this one. LOL Definitely not complete.
24. Write summary of plot for novel <-- See above.
25. Submit summary and two chapters to literary agents <-- See above. Fail. LOL
26. Continue to go to the Festival of Trees each year (3/3) <-- Complete. We've gone every year.
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 <-- Semi-complete. It's not every other month, but we're getting together more.
29. Attend 15-year college reunion <-- Complete and had a great time!
30. Bake holiday cookies with LD from scratch (3/3) <-- Complete
31. Host or attend a toy party with friends <-- HA! Didn't happen.
32. Host or attend a make your own purse party with friends <-- Also didn't happen.
33. Finally use that crock pot I bought <-- Semi-complete. My mom used it. ;)
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 <-- Not complete to this and the the next two items.
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 <-- Didn't do.
40. Have a spa day <-- If massages every now and then on my own and getting manicures with Kate, Sheila and Alexis count, then yes, this is complete. :)
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 <-- Still need to do that.
43. Get a professional pedicure <-- Didn't do.
44. Use gc Scott gave me for manicure <-- Eek. I'm pretty sure that's still sitting in a drawer. Need to use that before it expires.
45. Get another massage <- Complete
46. Host a party with friends and/or family <-- Totally complete. Have thrown quite a few wine/pizza nights and a Halloween party
47. Host game night <-- Didn't do.
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 <-- Explored and so not worth it
51. Host a play date for LD and his friends <-- Does a Halloween party count? Most likely not.
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 over a year, so let's say no. 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 <-- I really should do this, but haven't.
58. Finish reading the Twilight series (4/4)
59. Take my vitamins
60. Have Blake the dog professionally groomed and trimmed up <- This one makes me sad, because Blake passed away two months ago. :(
61. Get Blake's lyme disease checked every year
62. Take LD on a whale watch <-- Need to do this
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 <-- I think I typed this after the Chet Raymo reading, so yes, I still need to attend another book reading
66. Help LD see that getting his hair cut isn't a torture <-- Success
67. Attend a book signing of an author I like <-- Need to do
68. Go to the movies at least once every other month <-- Totally dropped the ball on this one
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 <-- Wow, never did this.
71. Watch Terms of Endearment <- Still haven't watched this.
72. Stock up on many, many tissues before watching Terms of Endearment <-- Still have time to stock up.
73. Stop buying books completely and strictly use the library <-- Clearly failed on this. I have used the library quite a bit, but also have 15 books that I found in my dresser that I bought, put there while cleaning and never read. Bad!
74. Map out a solid plan for visiting Ireland one day <-- No plan
75. Map out a plan for taking LD to Disneyland (if that's the one in Florida) <-- Pondering this and still planning on it eventually
76. Watch Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, which I own, but have never even opened <-- That's just embarassing. Still own it; still have never watched it.
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 <-- Haven't done.
79. Re-paint the guest room <-- Haven't done
80. Re-do kitchen floor <-- Haven't done
81. Bake a cake from scratch <-- Haven't done
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 -- Haven't done
88. Fully rake the leaves from the backyard each year (2/3)
89. Replace the Brita faucet in the kitchen
90. Plant annuals/perennials each year (4/4)
91. Either fix the swing set in our back yard or remove it <-- Haven't done
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. UPDATE: Ended lessons 2 months later.
100. Take LD to Mystic Aquarium when it's not 99 degrees outside <-- Planning to do this July, maybe
101. Get swimming lessons for LD <-- Planning to do this summer

Pretty sure I don't want to count up how many of those I didn't do. Yikes.

I'll be happy if...

2010-03-22T19:56:00.003-04:00

I was driving home tonight and heard the song Be Like That from 3 Doors Down. When I was singing along (because that's what I do in the car, at the top of my lungs...), I was struck by these lyrics:

If I could be like that
I'd give anything
Just to live one day
In those shoes.
If I could be like that, what would I do?
What would I do?

The lyrics and song made me think -- and for once they didn't instantly conjure to mind the pivotal scene in American Pie. Instead, it made me think about how happier the person singing/thinking these lyrics could be if they just stopped wanting to be like someone else.

We all know people who say:
"I'll be happy if I get that dream job."
"I'll be happy if it's vacation time."
"I'll be happy if I win the lottery."
"I'll be happy if I go a day without eating chocolate."

It seems we're all out there looking for/waiting for the next big thing and something or anything that's different from what we have now. But, why do we do that? I say it's time to get rid of the "if" and just "be happy".

Along those lines, when I was thinking about this song, I was also thinking about the movie, "Yes Man". If you haven't seen it, rent it. It's about a man who's tired of just sitting around, doing nothing, and not really living. So, he challenges himself to say "yes" to everything for an entire year.

Try a new class? Yes
Go out and see a band? Yes
Take a motorcycle ride when your car breaks down? Yes

Live your life? YES!

By saying "yes" when instead you might say "nah" or "next time" (and of course don't say "yes" to anything that would be oh, life-threatening or bad for you overall please -- Eat nothing but pizza at every meal for a year is a "no" :)), you open up to trying new things; finding out what you like and growing.

Be happy. Live your life.

More of the 101 in 1001 days thing

2009-07-30T09:30:00.003-04:00

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

2009-04-13T20:55:00.003-04:00

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

2008-08-13T09:53:00.015-04:00

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

2008-08-04T10:11:00.002-04:00

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

2008-07-30T19:34:00.002-04:00

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...

2008-07-27T15:44:00.006-04:00

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...

2006-11-13T14:18:00.000-05:00

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.

Whale Trail

2006-08-30T09:08:00.000-04:00

Haven't posted here in quite a while, but wanted to tell you all about this great art exhibit that's been going on on the Cape this summer. In fact, it ends this weekend (on the 2nd), so if you haven't had a chance to see it, go this weekend!

Titled The Whale Trail, this exhibit consists of 58 whale sculptures situated throughout the Cape and Islands. I've seen the ones that are in Hyannis and Chatham, including one adorable one in Chatham modeled after Wally the Green Monster from the Red Sox -- named Whaley The Green Monster. These whales are just adorable and draw quite a crowd.

The whale sculptures are all up for auction and benefits charities and local artists.

Make sure you hit the Cape by Saturday of this weekend (the 2nd of September) to check out these great whales.

The wit and wisdom of LD

2006-04-25T15:32:00.000-04:00

The LD ("little dude" for those new to my blog) has been cracking me up the past couple of days, so I thought I'd share the two most amusing statements...

Last night, LD came home from daycare with some pictures cut out of a magazine that were taped onto a piece of paper. He said that at daycare, he used scissors and a magazine. Hmm, who knew LD could use scissors? I remember learning that for the first time in kindergarten -- and with thoose charming green scissors no less since I'm left-handed. Anway, in order to help him learn how to use scissors further, we went to Tarjay and got him some scissors (and of course two Matchbox cars too). When he took the scissors from the shelf, he said "no cutting fingers... cut paper". I was dying. I have a feeling he might have heard that a few times at daycare yesterday using scissors for the first time.

And one from this morning... I was putting on some brown eyeliner this morning. LD was watching me and he said "it's brown on lashes" (close enough). I then went to put the eyeliner back in my purse and he said "smudge!" and rubbed his finger across his eye lid to remind me to smudge the eyeliner in case I forgot I guess. He kills me. Funny, funny guy! Future makeup artist or Fashion Police on my hands, I think.

Survived Chuck E. Cheese

2006-04-21T16:36:00.000-04:00

Well, I took LD to Chuck E. Cheese for the first time today -- I took a vacation day and LD and I got together with a college friend and her son, who's the same age as LD. I was a bit nervous because LD's never been there before, but he had a BLAST! Our friends had just gotten there when we arrived and they had a table all set. We ordered a large cheese pizza and drinks that came with 30 tokens and then split the tokens between the two of them.

LD rode this Chuck e Cheese car that takes a picture of the kid riding, which was pretty funny. I was cracking up when I saw the picture because he's looking so intently at the steering wheel.

There was skee ball (fun for me!!!) and LD enjoyed it as well -- he would just roll the ball up, and then I'd get it when it came back down and roll it for real.

The pizza when it came out was delish! How bizarre is that? I had no idea. LD was loving it and I had 3 slices (what a piglet!!! ). While we were eating lunch, a real-life (well, as "real-life" as a guy dressed up in a Chuck e cheese outfit can get) Chuck E. Cheese came out to see the kids. LD thought he was great and was waving to him and all excited. Surprised the heck out of me.

Then, after lunch, it was time for more skee ball and playing the games there. There was a train that went around and around when activated by a token. LD loved that one. Then, we played some game where you roll the token down and see where it lands up and you get corresponding .. of tickets from that. On the 4th try, we landed on 70 tickets, so LD got 70 more tickets. He was in heaven watching them all furl out. It was cute!

After that (about an hour and a half after we got there), figured it was time to head out and bring LD home for a nap. We cashed in his tickets and got a Chuck E. Cheese koosh ball and two things of smarties. Fun day. I'm still amazed.

I think I've created a monster though. He's already talking about wanting to go back soon.

RAD.... or not so rad

2006-01-05T16:40:00.000-05:00

So, all the coughing that LD had every time he had a cold -- turns out that it wasn't just a cold. Instead, it's something called Reactive Airway Disease (aka "RAD") -- which basically translates to that anytime he catches a cold (or can be caused from allergies, which is highly possible as well), it triggers his respiratory system and becomes like asthma, but strictly cold-induced asthma -- and there's no wheezing, just a constant cold. I was a little confused because I've always thought asthma was just wheezing, but I guess not.

Anyway, after oh, something like 16 trips to his pediatrician in the past 6 months to try and figure out just what the heck was going on, his primary pedi finally figured it out and prescribed an inhaler called Flovent -- this is a different one than the Albuterol he was on before. It comes with this quite nifty chamber and a duck-bill plastic piece that fits over LD's nose and mouth so that he doesn't have to keep his mouth closed while using the inhaler. Instead, the inhalant goes through the chamber and into the plastic piece and then LD just breathes it in for a count of 5. Very easy and not bad at all.

LD was started on it when the last cold started and this one was sooo much better than the previous colds. It's been over a week since that cold started and it's just like anyone else's regular cold now. There's been *no* nighttime coughing and no coughing all the time during the day like there was with the previous, untreated by the inhaler, colds. What a difference!

LD having RAD makes a lot of sense. Every time he was all stuffed up and coughing, the pedi's office would recommend a vaporizer with menthol or eucalyptus in it -- which would help a normal cough, but would instead make his cough even worse. Turns out the menthol/eucalyptus irritates the heck out of the respiratory airway, which makes the coughing even worse. Good to know and bye-bye vaporizer!

2005-12-04T08:23:00.000-05:00

We went to a local Festival of Trees yesterday with my parents, sisters, and brother and significant others; and Scott's parents, sister, brother-in-law and our nephews. A great time was had by all. Above is a picture taken there of me, Adam and Scott in one of the trees we loved. Sadly, we didn't win any in the raffle, but we came away with some great ideas for our own tree.

Happy Thanksgiving

2005-11-23T10:48:00.000-05:00

Adam's cold became a croupy cough (up all night one night coughing, but thankfully breathing fine) topped off with a double ear infection for good measure. He's been on Amoxicillin for a week now and is doing so much better. That nasty cold/cough that's lasting for 3 weeks plus is really going around -- my sister-in-law's kids both have it as do the kids of a friend of mine. Crazy bugs!

Hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving!

A new look

2005-11-15T10:58:00.000-05:00

Trying out a new look on the old blog. This one reminds me of the Cape, where I grew up. Okay, so I didn't live right on the water like in the picture, but it's the general idea of the Cape.

Not much going on. LD's in the sicky mode again -- this time, it seems to be just a cold (as opposed to allergies, or an ear infection, or early, early stage pneumonia again). He was coughing quite a bit yesterday and last night, but he actually slept pretty good last night. He woke up this morning with a faucet of a runny nose. Poor guy! He was in great spirits though besides that, so off to preschool he went (to infect those he got the cold from in the first place ;) ). Fingers crossed that we don't get a call that we need to pick him up, and that indeed this is just a cold.

And so it begins...

2005-11-10T10:27:00.000-05:00

I just signed up to chaperone my son's daycare field trip in a few weeks. Since he's very cautious, I figured that would be a good way for him to enjoy it a bit and be able to go. He's still young for a field trip (3), but since his class is going, I guess there'll be other 3 year olds there as well. It's to a science center since they're learning about dinosaurs, and I predict many requests for dinosaur-themed toys for Christmas.

End of an era

2005-11-09T12:11:00.000-05:00

Okay, that's over-dramatizing more than just a bit, but CasualCorner.com is shutting its doors as of November 17th. That was my site to go to for twin sets (yup, just call me Bree from Desperate Housewives -- minus the creepy pharmacist love interest, of course! ) that I always knew would fit. Damn, I'm going to miss that site -- however, they seem to be offering 50% off on everything on the site until they close the site on November 17th, so I know what site I'll be checking out tonight.

Happy Halloween

2005-11-02T16:34:00.000-05:00

Dr. LD wishes you all a Happy Halloween. He had a blast trick-or-treating and greeting trick-or-treaters at the door, although I think he now is hoping we'll be going trick or treating every night.

The case of the missing lunch box

2005-10-27T19:05:00.000-04:00

Had a lovely parenting freak-out today. Got a call from LD's daycare that his lunch box wasn't there. Hmm... it was with him when he went to preschool this morning. Maybe it somehow didn't make it on to the bus. So, I called preschool and spoke to his teacher, who told me it was in his hands when he got on the bus. Great. Then, I called the bus company and gave them (what I thought was) LD's bus number -- they searched that bus and no lunch box. Then, the daycare director called and mentioned to me that she was a little concerned about the bus company, because on Tuesday, they went to give her the wrong child -- not LD. Errr... not quite what I wanted to hear about the transportation company I entrust with my child three days a week. She said she was concerned about it, and thought it might be worth a call to the school system. I agreed.

I called the school system and spoke to the transportation coordinator there (yes, there actually is such a person with that exact title :) ). He was quite concerned as well that that had happened, especially since LD's bus has only 4 kids on it and is considered a "special needs" bus (LD qualifies for that due to a speech delay and a wee bit of a sensory issue, go figure). So, yeah, even more troubling that the monitor of the bus doesn't have an idea of what kid goes where. He was going to call the school company and see what was going on.

In about a half hour, I got a call back from the transportation coordinator. He talked to the monitor and it turns out it was a simple mistake that was rectified immediately. She said that when they got to daycare, she got up and went to unbuckle the wrong child, but then noticed it right away and then went and unbuckled LD -- at no time were the kids off the bus. That made me feel a bit better, and I have a feeling the daycare director may have been overly cautious, which is fine by me! But, that was quite a fun couple of moments where I had these thoughts going through my head that LD might wind up being given to the wrong daycare or person. Oy!

In related news, I had the wrong bus number and the transportation coordinator had the right one. They checked that bus # and sure enough, the lunch box was still on it, so LD will get it back tomorrow morning -- they'll give the lunch box to his preschool teacher when she gets a child off the bus in the morning.

Nor'easters -- Have to love them

2005-10-25T18:53:00.000-04:00

We had a "Nor'easter" today here -- thankfully, it wasn't snow related (too early for that in my world ;) ), which is what I usually think when I hear the term. We did get gale-force winds and plenty of rain. However, said winds knocked out the power to LD's daycare. Greaaat. I got a call at work in the late morning from there and was thrown for a loop a bit because I knew LD was still at pre-school and wasn't even there yet. But, they were calling because they had to close for the day because their power was totally out. I was surprised to hear they didn't have a generator, but maybe they do, and it was knocked out as well. I didn't even think to ask.

Since it was 2 minutes from when LD was going to get on the bus to head from pre-school to daycare, he still took the bus and then daycare kept him there until I got there to pick him up. There were a bunch of other kids still at daycare as well when I got there, so I didn't feel bad.

Thankfully, the power at home wasn't knocked out at all (knock on wood!), so I was still able to work from home. Big phew to that since I'm still training my new editorial assistant as today was only her 2nd day. Kind of bad timing, but thankfully, she got a lot of training yesterday, so I was able to help her out with anything else remotely today. Phew, phew, phew!

Halloween candy be gone

2005-10-24T23:42:00.000-04:00

Can't wait for Halloween to be over! LD's dressing up as a doctor, and I'm sure he'll look adorable... but, I will love not having Halloween candy in the house anymore. Specifically, I'll be glad to be rid of those tasty little treats of fun-sized Butterfingers. They're the devil. I'd never tried them until last year's Halloween, because for some reason I thought they'd taste gross. Clearly, that was the wrong judgement because now I can't get enough of them. And, it's just the fun-sized ones. I'm not a big fan of the regular-sized Butterfingers -- too much effort to break them into bite-sized pieces. :D

Yes, yes, it's my own doing that I keep buying these little devils and then eat them. Mind you, I'm not even buying it to give out as treats for Halloween. We already have two bags of 115-count candy from BJ's stashed away -- which is about right since we live in a big family neighborhood and easily pass out 200 pieces of candy each Halloween. So, since we already have Halloween candy, why do I keep buying these? Yup, no will-power whatsoever. Thankfully, Halloween is over in just a little over a week's time and I can stop buying those damnable little pieces of goodness and get back to eating apples as snacks instead.

2005-10-19T16:40:00.000-04:00

Okay, and now to catch up besides just this week, since I somehow haven't posted in here since March...

LD is now 3 years old and has started preschool. He's doing great and absolutely loves taking the yellow bus from preschool to daycare three days. He had to leave his little girlfriend (mentioned in a blog back in March) behind at his old daycare, but he has, of course, found new girlfriends at preschool and the new daycare.

Scott started a new job about a month ago that is going great. He loves the company and the people and is doing a fantastic job. Much better than a past gig or two that he had and hated.

As for me, per a recent post (that I pasted in here today from another journal), I'm now a manager. Yup, lil' ol' me is now managing three people. Perish the thought! But I seem to be doing pretty good at it. When I hired on the third person, I went out and bought The One-Minute Manager (great for my ADD ;) ) and The Everything Guide to Managing. Some interesting theories in The One-Minute Manager, but I think I might check out The 30-Minute Manager -- have heard better things about that.

A sweet compliment

2005-10-19T16:39:00.000-04:00

Catching up on the past week's events in here:

Saw my husband's aunt and uncle from CA on Monday. His uncle's a plastic surgeon. I haven't seen them in a while and got a great compliment from his uncle -- he said I "looked great". Well, hearing that from a plastic surgeon is a definite high. So glad he didn't think I needed work and tried to slip me his card. :D

A new phrase

2005-03-13T14:23:00.000-05:00

LD said "I love you" for the first time last night -- S and I were saying "I love you" to him and he suddenly looked at us, grinned and said "I love you" right back. My heart leaps just remembering it.

LD has a girlfriend

2005-03-08T19:46:00.000-05:00

LD has a little girlfriend at daycare. For the past two days, we've dropped him off and one of the little girls has come up to him and handed him his favorite book (a Blue's Clues one -- LD's latest addiction). Then, he sits down at the table happily reads the book. It was cute the first time and adorable the second.

Intro time

2005-03-08T19:25:00.000-05:00

I've jumped on the Blog bandwagon. About time, I know.

Brief intro for those who may have found their way here. I'm Mary -- I'm an Editor for an Internet media company. Husband is Scott and we have a son -- to be known here as "LD" for "Little Dude", a nickname that seems to have stuck and a big old dog named Blake.

In here, you'll read about our adventures, or misadventures as the case may be; the ups and downs of toddler life (LD is 2-1/2); and other such stuff.

Welcome!