A Quick 101 Update

I really must do better about writing a post every week or two.  I think of things to write about, but never sit down and do it.  So when I was in DC a couple of things were checked off my 101 List.  Woot!

11.  Watch Deer Hunter.
Halfway through this movie when the Russian roulette scene began I was pretty sure I'd seen it before.  Then when the second Russian roulette scene began I was DEFINITELY sure I'd seen it before.  I will say I watched it more intently this time because the movie seemed to make more sense to me than in the past.  I can also see why it's such a big movie to some people. 

50.  Buy a vegetarian cookbook.
Well, I haven't purchased it, but I have selected the cookbook I want to purchase so we'll call In Progress.  When I was house sitting they had several vegetarian cookbooks that I perused and I fell in love this one:  Moosewood Restaurant: Simple Suppers.  I'm waiting until I have a new home to buy it for myself.

69.  Visit the Air and Space museum. DC and VA parts
Partially complete.  I spent one afternoon visiting the Air & Space Museum in DC along with a visit to the National Art Gallery.  I'm being lazy right now, but will post photos later.  I didn't go over to the MLK, Jr Memorial that day because it was freezing and raining and I was not feeling that committed. 

100.  Convince at least one new person to join in on the 101 Fun.
My cousin, Dawn, decided to join in on the fun over at her blog, The Lens View.  Woot!  I haven't convinced Michelle yet, but she wants to do an Ab Challenge with me, so I'll take it! 

Roses and Thorns

Last summer I worked for a super fun family.  Each day at dinner they did something called "Roses and Thorns" where each person told a highlight/good thing (rose) and a low or tough moment (thorn) that happened.  I believe they got this tradition from the First Family.  I'm going to share my Rose and Thorn for the week.

Let's start with the Thorn.  On Thursday, I found out the job I'd been interviewing for was offered to the other candidate.  A bummer for sure, but I'd started to get that feeling when I hadn't heard any thing by Monday.  The search continues!

My Rose this week definitely has to be hanging out with two of the snuggliest cats ever in DC.  

I'm house/cat sitting for a friend's neighbor and am really enjoying my time here so far.  I get to see one of my besties pretty often and it feels like I'm in college as I go downstairs in my pajamas and flip flops to get something from his apartment or use his microwave.  I am also planning to check a couple things off my 101 List!  Stay tuned!

101 List. . .the 2013 Edition

After many days and a few edits, I think I'm ready! Here's my new 101 list.  If you're up for joining me on any of these tasks, let me know!

The idea is to make a list of 101 Things, be they minor or major, that you'd like to accomplish in 1001 Days (about 2.75 years).

Start Date: 06 November 2013
End Date: 03 August 2016

1. Go to Europe or Australia
2. Go to Trivia Night
3. Apply to Grad School
4. Create a business plan
5. Clean my things out of my mom’s shed
6. Put loose photos in albums
7. Make photo books for China, Colombia, & Germany trips
8. Take a Spanish class
9. Take a photography class
10. Buy a DSLR
11. Watch Deer Hunter
12. Watch American Gigolo
13. Read or Listen to the Pelican Brief (I’ve seriously been working on this since I was in 7th or 8th grade. I really think my Social Studies teacher gave it to me.)
14. Go on Vacation with my mom
15. Visit Talishia; meet Athena
16. Visit Katie; meet Creede
17. Visit Christy; meet Samuel
18. Go Tubing or Whitewater Rafting
19. Read Anna Karenina
20. Take tennis lessons
21. No television for a week
22. See a Broadway show
23. Finish a 5k in 36 min or less
24. Finish a 10k
25. Pay off student loan and credit cards
26. Start a Gratitude Journal
27. Complete an Ab Challenge
28. Go to a Bowie Baysox game
29. Take a real estate course
30. Go on a camping trip
31. Host a taco party
32. Lose 20 lbs
33. Go to VA Beach
34. Go to Topsail NC
35. Take the Cape May-Lewes Ferry
36. Go on 5 dates in 4 weeks
37. Have my pearls restrung
38. Swim in the Gulf of Mexico and/or go on a snorkeling trip
39. Go to the Ballet
40. Complete my RHCP collection
41. Go to the Philadelphia Museum of Art
42. Go to an amusement park
43. Organize recipes in a binder or box
44. Buy a shredder
45. Organize magazine articles in a binder or file folders
46. Finish filing system for financial documents
47. Buy a proper desk
48. Go to Tea with my mom, Aunt Dorie, and Marianne
49. Go to at least 3 concerts, which will hopefully include RHCP and Anita Baker
50. Buy a Vegetarian cookbook
51. Buy or make at least 30 things from my Pinterest boards
52. Take a Ballroom or Latin Dance class
53. Go indoor rock climbing
54. Read three non-modern classics
55. Take a knife skills class
56. Go skiing or snowboarding
57. Go to Boston
58. Floss at least 4x/week for a month
59. Make my bed a least 4x/week for a month
60. Volunteer at least 3 times
61. Give up Facebook for a month
62. Take a trip to Hawaii
63. Host Girls/Wine Night (I haven’t had a home since Girls Night began)
64. Make new one recipe from each of my cookbooks (will count cookbooks once I have a home)
65. Go to Las Vegas
66. Visit with Shannon for more than a few hours
67. Go to the driving range
68. Visit the MLK, Jr Memorial
69. Visit the Air and Space museum. DC and VA parts
70. Write 20 letters, not cards
71. Get InvisAlign and Damon consults
72. Buy a printer
73. Move all my retirement accounts from old employers
74. Buy a headboard
75. Frame door photos from Colombia
76. Replace batteries in all my watches (and have links removed in the Seiko)
77. Buy a Skagen watch
78. Read Daring Greatly in an effort to live Wholeheartedly
79. Exercise BEFORE work 10 times
80. Go to a Meet-Up
81. Attend a Bikram Yoga class
82. Get a new job
83. Buy a Plant
84. Go Skeet Shooting
85. Participate in Project 365
86. Complete at least 15 days of the FlyLady program (part of me thinks this lady is nuts, but the other part thinks she’s onto something)
87. Be able to complete 25 consecutive push-ups. Maybe with this plan.
88. Make a new friend
89. Buy the CORRECT version of Shag on DVD
90. Read at least 6 books I own and haven’t read including
-When You are Engulfed in Flames
-Game of Thrones
-Make your Creative Dreams Real
-The Pure and the Impure
-Midnight in the Garden of Good & Evil
91. Write 30 blog entries in 30 days
92. Watch the sunrise at the beach
93. Watch an outdoor film in Baltimore
94. Lead a “Gifts of Imperfection” book discussion
95. Enter a photo contest
96. Go to the Drive In
97. Submit something to PostSecret
98. Start an Outstanding in the Field Fund!
99. Leave a 100% tip
100. Convince at least one new person to join in on the 101 Fun (Michelle, I’m looking at you!).
101. Ride a John Deere!

A Week Later

What a difference a week can make.  Last Sunday I posted that maybe my luck was changing.  Monday, a friend called and said she'd spoken to someone at a company where I'd applied for a job and asked for my resume.  Tuesday, I got an email about having a phone interview that afternoon.  Thursday, I had a Skype interview with the same company.  Today rounded out the process with an in person interview. 

It has been a crazy week with lots of research, chaos, and some freak outs, but overall each step went well.  The interviewer said he was pleased after the Skype interview and seemed pleased today.  Hopefully, it will lead to an offer.  I should hear by the week's end. 

Fingers crossed!!!

Who me?!

Today I went to a Halloween Block Party with my friend Heather in the Beverly Hills neighborhood of Baltimore.  There was a raffle for a couple of carved pumpkins and I won this beauty!

I rarely win anything, so maybe this means my luck is changing!  Happy Hallo-Hallo-ween, y'all!

An Update! 101 Things in 1001 Days

As I was updating this list I learned that many of the things on the list are still things I truly want to do. I really wish that I'd kept up with this project and referred to my list more often. I think it may have helped me to not get as "stuck" as I felt in like the last couple years. Luckily with all the changes in my life right now I am feeling far from stuck.

Below are my final updates to the original list as of October 26, 2013. Hopefully, in the next week or two my new 101 list will be ready. Expect to see many of the things listed below on it!

PS - I have got to change the background of this blog! It is annoying the crap out of me.

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102 in 1002 (formerly known as 101 in 1001)

The idea is to make a list of 101 Things, be they minor or major, that you'd like to accomplish in 1001 Days (about 2.75 years).

Start Date: 01 June 2007
Finish Date: 27 Feb 2010

1. Go back to Europe

Didn’t do this.  However, I did go to Colombia and China.

2. Visit Rohan in Australia

Also didn’t do this, but see #1.

3. Make a decision about grad school

Decided that I’m not going to SLP grad school, but want to go to grad school in the next year or two to get a teaching degree.

4. Create a business plan for consulting

I didn’t do this, but still want to because I think it’d be a fun and informative exercise.

5. Clean things out of my mom's attic - complete 9/3/07

6. Clean things out of my mom's shed

Not completed.   However, I’m living at home right now and have been thinking about this every time I look at the shed.

7. Put loose photos in albums

Not completed.  All still in a box.

8. Print digital photos and put them in albums

Not completed.  I have two albums I want to fill and would also like to make bound photo books of my International trips.

9. Become conversationally fluent in a foreign language

Not completed.  Unfortunately, I didn’t even take one foreign language class.

10. Take a photography class

Not completed.  Still want to do this because I’m hoping to get a DSLR soon.

11. Buy an SLR camera

Not completed.  Asking for money for Christmas to subsidize a DSLR purchase this winter.

12. Go to an Ethiopian restaurant - complete 11/17/07

13. Watch The Godfather Trilogy - watched part 1, 7/8/07; watched part 2, 7/21/07; watched part 3, but have no idea when.  Part One was the best.

14. –Goodfellas – when I watched this I realized I’d already seen it!

15. -Taxi Driver

16. -Star Wars (original)

17. -American Gigolo - Not completed.

18. -American Graffiti - Not completed.

19. -The Graduate

20. -Deer Hunter – so part of me thinks I did watch this, but I really can’t remember.

21. -Scarface

22. Become more proficient in Excel – I am much more proficient, but not an expert that’s for sure.

23. Finish reading The Pelican Brief – I’m starting to think I’m not going to finish this book.  Maybe I should give up on the “reading” and listen to the audiobook.  [In progress]

 
24. Go on vacation with my mom

Not completed.  I’m trying to plan a vacation this winter for her 60^th birthday.  It’s like pulling teeth to get her to go anywhere!

25. Go Tubing (water)

Not completed.

26. Visit Katie W in TX

Not completed.  She’s been there over 10 years and I’ve yet to make it to Texas.  I did get to see her in Oct 2010 to celebrate one of our bestie’s 30^th.  Katie just had a baby so I really need to try harder to get there.

27. Read a book that intimidates me (e.g., Anna Karenina, Song of Solomon)

Not completed.  Still intimidated, I guess.

28. Learn how to properly play Tennis

Not completed.  Tried to get a friend to take lessons with me, but was unsuccessful.  I guess I’ll have to do it solo.

29. Go on a Road Trip (6 hours or more) – complete 3/17/08

30. Give up TV for a least a week, not while on vacation

Not completed.  I will say that after I got rid of cable my TV watching decreased significantly on a day to day basis.  I did have SEVERAL Netflix benders though.

31. Read a magazine from cover to cover

Not completed.  I don’t think I’m cut out for this one.  If I’m not interested, I won’t read an article.

32. Be a tourist in Baltimore - visit Blacks in Wax Museum - Not completed.
 

33. -Reginald F Lewis Museum - Not completed.

 
34. -Walters Art Museum – I took my younger cousin here.  We had a blast.

35. –AVAM – I went here with Heather.  Really enjoyed it.  

36. See a show on Broadway

Not completed.  I usually make it to New York once or twice a year so need to just plan it.

37. Take a dance class – I took a tap dance class for 4 months and LOVED every second of it.  Then I hurt my ankle playing volleyball and haven’t danced post-surgery. 

38. Go to a Vietnamese restaurant - complete 05/08  BTW, if you've never had Pho, you are SOOOOOOO missing out.  It's awesome!

39. Take my vitamins for 30 days w/o skipping a day  - I didn’t complete with a multi-vitamin, but I did do it with Calcium, Vitamin D, and fiber.  Thank you, gummy vitamins!

40. Complete a 5k...running – I ran 3 5Ks last year and one this year!  I participated in a Couch to 5K running program offered by the Baltimore Women’s Classic and really enjoyed it. 

41. Get a professional massage - complete 06/08

42. Get a professional bikini wax - complete 08/07/08

43. Decrease debt by at least 40% - I decreased my debt by more than 50%, minimally.  Not sure of the exact percentage.  I paid off one student loan and am close finishing the second.  Woot!  The end of my credit card debt is also in sight!

44. Host a games night - complete 04/08

45. Go to a baseball game at Yankee or Shea Stadium

Not completed.  Well the original Yankee Stadium closed, so I’ll guess I’ll have to go to the new one or Shea.

46. Go to a baseball game at Fenway

Not completed.  Mostly because I haven’t made it to Boston.

47. Go to a Bowie Baysox game

Not completed.  I still want to do this.  Man I was a slacker. 

48. Take a real estate course

Not completed.  I still REALLY want to do this.  I’m more intrigued by real estate now than I was 6 years ago.

49. Go to a bar by myself in Baltimore - complete 3/24/08

50. Go on a camping trip

Not completed.  Was supposed to go with some friends, but then they found out they were pregnant! 

51. Learn how to rollerblade

Not completed.  I really couldn’t care less about this anymore.

52. Track my spending for one month and create a proper budget using Quicken - complete 10/08

 53. Lose 20 lbs – I lost 28lbs last year.  I’ve put back on 10 in the last month thanks to illness and eating whatever the heck I want, but I’m marking this Complete anyway!

54. Go to VA beach

Not completed.  Le sigh. 

55. Dye my hair (professionally)

Not completed.  I really have no desire to dye my hair anymore.

56. Spend a day with Kyle - just the two of us – so Kyle and I lived together for a year and a half.  I’m marking this complete!

57. Take the Cape May- Lewes Ferry

Not completed.  Went to Lewes this fall and drove by the terminal.  I thought, “Man!  I can’t believe I still haven’t done this!”

58. Go on a date! - complete 8/28/07

59. No computer at home for a week.  - This has probably happened, but only because I have an iPhone.   We’ll mark it complete because I don’t actually care anymore.

60. Have lunch/brunch with Kiana

Not completed.  I haven’t even crossed paths with Kiana in years.  I will probably take this off the list.

61. Contact Marianne via email/phone at least once a month   – So this thing called Facebook came along and enabled very regular contact.

62. Contact someone from my dad's family at least once a month – Ditto on the Facebook comment above.  I feel like I know more about my cousins than I ever did before.

63. Join a BSSC team other than volleyball - complete 6/12/07

64. Play drop-in at the Volleyball House

Not completed.  This is probably because I’m chicken.  I did go alone to a Womens Volleyball League in Parkville and got picked up by a team.  I LOVED playing with those ladies.

65. Donate blood - complete 12/30/08

66. Have my pearls restrung

Not completed. When I was packing up my house in July I came across them and brought them with me to take them to a jeweler in Easton.  Have I gotten them strung?  Nope!  Le sigh.

67. Swim in the Gulf of Mexico

Not completed.

68. Go on a snorkeling trip
Not completed.

69. Complete my RHCP collection on CD or mp3

Not completed.  Still wish to do this.

70. Go to the Philadelphia Museum of Art

Not completed.  I had a date to go with a friend.  She got sick the morning of our date so it was cancelled and I never attempted to go again.

71. Get lunch/coffee with Sarah Tuck - complete 10/4/07

72. Have a chocolate stout float - had a Guinness Stout float on 2/22/08

73. Take a cooking class – I took a cooking class in May 2011 with two friends.  It was fun, but I didn’t get as much knife work in as I wanted.  I think I’m to make this “take a knife skills class.”

74. Go whitewater rafting
Not completed.

75. Organize recipes in a binder or box

Not completed.  So I have my recipes shoved in a binder so they’re all in one place, but they are FAR from organized.

76. Pick up/put away my clothes every day for a month in an effort to make it habit  - So I started going to a Cognitive Behavior Therapist last fall and one of the things I ended up having to do was get a laundry sorter because I was having so much trouble keeping my room clean.  It helped TREMENDOUSLY. 

77. Wash my face every night for a month in an effort to make it habit - complete 8/11/07

78. Floss everyday for a month in an effort to make it habit
Not completed.  I’m still a horrible flosser.  I’ve been working to increase it to at least few times a week. 

79. Buy a shredder

Not completed.  Every time I see shredders in Target I think I should get one.  And, after purging 6 years worth of shredding at various community shreds when I was moving, I decided that when I find a new home buying a shredder HAS to be high on the priority list.

80. Organize magazine articles in a binder or file folders – Once again I have all the articles shoved into a binder, but they are FAR from organized. [In progress]

81. Go skinny dipping – Oh boy, do I love Naked Pool Time.

82. Finish filing system for financial documents

Not completed.  I bought a bigger filing box when I was moving.  I continued with the filing system of “just put it in the Important Papers Box.  Still not in any sort of order.

83. Look for better car insurance rates and change providers  - I just got cheaper insurance last week with a new company!

84. Host a quesadilla party

Not completed.  I did host a Tapas party, but think a quesadilla party would be a blast.

85. Listen to the Harry Potter audiobook series (7/7) – LOVED THEM!!!

86. Read 3 pieces of classic literature (3/3) – I read The Great Gatsby, A Moveable Feast, and The Sun Also Rises.  These were all modern classics, maybe I'll add less modern ones to my next list. 

87. Empty out my old car - my mom cleaned it out sometime last year ('08) when she sold it....

88. Research student loan consolidation at SECU - 10/08

89. Open a Keep the Change acct at BOA – I decided to open a standard savings account at BOA when I saving for my trip to China.  Mostly because it was a fast way to transfer money out of my account so I wouldn’t spend it.

90. Go to “Bodies... The Exhibition” in DC - complete 10/14/07

91. Go out in DC with Tyauna and Bonita – I hung out with them in DC, but didn’t necessarily “go out.”  Tyauna is often MIA and rarely responds to contacts to visit, so I’m marking this complete.  Plus I see Bonita a few times a year now.  OH!  And, Bo and I went to an Inaugural “Ball” in January together.  It was super fun!

92. Buy a proper desk

Not completed.  I decided I thought that would help with paper/organization problem when I was packing to move.  It’s now on the high priority list when I find a new home.

93. Finish my bedroom so it looks like I'm staying for a while – This was in progress because I’d ought curtains and a dresser and bookshelf.  However, I moved from this house in July and NEVER finished it.  Since I no longer live there, it no longer matters.

94. Make my bed everyday for a month in an effort to make it habit

Not completed.  I’m going to add this to the new list, probably with a modification.

95. Learn how to do something new on my MacBook by taking a class at the Genius Bar.

Not completed.  I don’t really care.

96. Go on vacation (or at least spend the weekend) with my college roomies. – OBX!!!  I’ve gone on a beach vacation with at least 2-3 of my college friends for the last 5 years.  Woot!

97. Go to Boston – visit Joe

Not completed.  Still need to make it to Boston.  I’m going to le sigh again.

98. Go to a wine tasting or an event at a winery - complete 01/25/2009

99. Go to Tea with the important ladies in my life - Mom, Marianne & Aunt Dorie

Not completed.  Mostly because of my laziness.  I would still like to do this.

100. Go skiing again

Not completed.  I’d like to do this.  My friends went back to Copper a couple years ago, but I didn’t have the funds at the time.

101. Create and finish a project using GarageBand.

Not completed.  Don’t really care.

102. Drive a John Deere!

Not completed.  Mostly because I never got back to Savannah before shit hit the fan.  I’m still going to leave this on the list because even if it’s a lawn mover, I’m going to drive a John Deere!