#89: Be social

"89. Have guests over at least 4 times a year. Not always to watch TV, although special events like gymnastics meets are okay. (This is a general “be social” type thing.)"

This goal was put into the list because when the 1001 days started I had moved into my own non-roomated place for the first time. And I knew my introvert tendencies could lead me into more hermit-like bahavior. That didn't happen. In fact, I probably socialize more now. Part of that is copious amounts of free time lately (remember: no job), but some of it is also that having my own space to retreat into makes me more able to deal with larger groups of people. I still prefer parties with 6 or so friends rather than 30 strangers, but I'll try the latter knowing that I can have plenty of alone time to recharge afterwards.

#81: Take my gymnastics fan behavior to the next level.

"81. Go to a gymnastics meet in another country (Worlds or a major international meet) to cement my position as a whacked out crazy gymnastics fan. Or to a college meet in a different state."

Met this one in April 2007 when Stella and I took a road trip to Salt Lake City to watch Stanford compete at NCAAs. We had a blast. Not just at the meets (which were great fun) but also during the days when we walked around SLC a bunch and took a tour of old industrial buildings that had been refurbished for modern uses like office space and condos.

#76: Take care of my skin.

"76. Take care of my skin. Use lotion, sunscreen, drink enough water, etc."

Another poorly worded not entirely measurable goal. But I do use sunscreen all the time now. And drink more water. I could be better about the lotion. Overall, I think I'm more consistent at this than I used to be.

#72: Tax papers

"72. Keep tax related papers in one central organized location to make things easier come tax time. Including receipts for things bought off the internet for that stupid “use tax” thing."

This was an easy goal to reach. I simply set aside a folder at the beginning of each year. I dump tax related stuff into the folder as it comes in and deal with it come tax time. Lovely. The use tax, however, I figure using the receipts that are invariably emailed with online purchases.

I didn't declare this one done earlier because I wanted to finish out the whole 1001 days rather than do it once and then forget about it.

#70: Spread chores out over the week.

"70. Set up a regular schedule of chores instead of cramming them all into the weekend (or, you know, not doing them at all)."

The schedule part (washing on Monday, etc.) didn't so much happen, but I do keep up on stuff during the week rather than catch up on weekends. Mostly.

#66: Take care of my teeth.

"66. Take care of my teeth: Go to the dentist at least once per year. Floss daily for a month. Finish the teeth whitening pack that is only supposed to take 7 days in no more than 14."

I am one of those people who was blessed with naturally healthy teeth. But that is no excuse to ignore them. I went to the dentist for the first time in mumbledy mumble years (probably around 10) and had my first cavity ever. (Boo!)

I've always brushed, occasionally flossed, but the whole dentist thing? Didn't happen. Now I do go to the dentist and floss about 5 times a week. I am not great with the teeth whitening stuff. But whatever. That actually isn't that important to me. My teeth are not super-white, but nor are they grossly yellow. They are normal teeth.

#61: Get a tea set.

"61. Get a tea set, or a tea pot and cups from various sets but which magically go together in an attractive or even arty way. Use them even if by myself."

I actually did this near the beginning of the 1001 days for a friend's bridal shower tea party. (Tea set from IKEA was cheaper than nicer paper/plastic plates and cups.) I didn't declare vistory then because, honestly, the set I have is sort of plain and boring. But it's good enough for me. It's not like I use it that often.

#51: Cut down on Diet Coke.

Again, the whole goal was more restrictive than what actually happened, but I am thrilled with where I am now with this.

"51. Cut down on diet Coke. A lot. As in get down to one per week. Instead of 4 per day."

I'm at less than 1 a day. Probably more than 1 per week though. I'm guessing one every other day. So yay for that. I'm claiming complete victory.

#37: quit working at something that bores me

The whole goal actually read "Find a new job. Or go back to school. But quit working at something that bores me in any case." I'm not doing so hot on the find a new job part, but the quit working at something that bores me was accomplished handily when UOL shut down PhotoSite and laid off the whole team in 2007. My personal lay-off wasn't until August (most of the team left several months earlier). I'm still considering what I want to do next.

#28: Go to New York City. See a Broadway show.

I completed this in December 2007. I won tickets to see Pygmalion through Sarah's Donors Choose Challenge. Yay! So I bought plane tickets, booked a room at the youth hostel (after trying in vain to find a semi-affordable hotel room), checked out the Lonely Planet guide for NYC and packed my stuff. I managed to see quite a bit of Manhattan, walk across the Brooklyn Bridge, navigate the subway system, and see not one, but two Broadway shows. Photos can be seen here - http://picasaweb.google.com/snewland/NYC2007?authkey=ZhQPd7XXTW0

#12: Start using Quicken again for personal finances.

I really started at the beginning of 2008 but am slowly back-filling all the receipts that I have been storing up for about a year just for the whole charts and graphs thing. It helped, a little, that Lisa made fiscal fitness a theme for 2008. So yay for that.

Purple items (partly done)

2 - eyebrows. Not done monthly for 6 months, but in general much better about this than before.
11 - non-IKEA furniture. One item (wine rack) was a gift from my parents. Also I no longer care about this right at the moment.
13 - non-retirement stock. I should really get on this now while the stock market is having a sale.
35 - Rosetta Stone. Haven't finished a course, but have made minimal progress on German. Die Pferd rennt.
36 - Grandma died.
39 & 40 - reading. Didn't try Hamlet, but did read at least some books that would have counted because of book club(s). Poorly fleshed out goal.
45 - nails. Again, didn't meet the letter of what the goal said, but marked improvement in my general fingernail state.
49 - iPod. Many songs on the iPod. Not so great with the "using it" part.
56 - cards. At some point I stopped keeping track of how many were on time vs. late vs. decided I wasn't doing the birthday card thing and opted for e-cards.
59 - papers. Am in the midst of a major paper filing operation. Much has been accomplished, but still work to do.
64 - gift certs. Have located all known gift certificates and used some of them. Others easily grabable if I think of it.
65 - perfect t-shirt bra. Many attempts, perfection still elusive.
69 - They're probably memorized, but I still read (especially the Te Deum) rather than recite in devotions.
78 - random gifts. Done once instead of 5 times.
79 - 6 new things. Didn't keep track. Did try trapeze, class IV white water rafting. So at least 2 done. Probably more, but if you aren't actively thinking about it and keeping track...
86 - stack o' magazines. Have organized some, recycled others. Still want to read the kept ones and keep only those articles I deem necessary.
87 - prayer. No journal kept. Personal devotions much more frequent although not, strictly speaking, daily.
92 - blood pressure. New doctor doesn't see any problem.
94 - Excel. Have learned a few new things about it. Not even remotely a power user though. That was a random "I can't think of anything else" goal in the first place.

Red items (not done)

1 - OCW course. Not only did I not complete a course, but the one I semi-started stalled after about a week.
5 - Dance classes. Didn't even look into classes.
7 - Physical therapy. My knee is just as bad as it ever was and my quads are probably weaker than ever since I still baby the left knee.
9 - Pet. Not done. Although my sister keeps threatening to gift me with a dog at some point.
10 - Jewelry. Not done. Not even sure it's a goal I care about at all.
15 - Houselet more appealing. Not done.
16 - Sew. Not even started.
17 - 19 - Weight/clothing issues. We won't talk about the weight thing. I'm still as lackadaisical about style (nice way of saying "completely hopeless at anything remotely related to fashion") as ever. I do care about that, somewhat, but not enough to spend actual money to fix it. And I have this perception that being stylish requires that you not cringe at spending over $25 for a pair of pants.
21 - Drive Hwy 1. Not done yet, but planned for this summer with the youth group. On our way to Irvine for Higher Things.
22 - Letters. Probably didn't write any. Pathetic.
24 - Ireland/Italy. Will happen someday.
26 - Relaxing. Too vaguely phrased.
27 - "If I die" info. Still need to do. Going higher on next list.
29 & 44 - Dating. No discernable improvement on that front.
31 & 32 - Spa services. Didn't try them, not too upset about it.
33 - Herbs. Didn't plant any. Not sure I care that much. Dry is mostly fine and fresh is cheap at the Milk Pail.
34 - Not done, not sure how much I really care at this point.
41 - Lists for visitors. Done on an as needed basis, but results in much "I don't know, what do you want to do"-ing.
43 - Ashland. Not done. Still want to someday.
47 - Lose some books. Gah! This is so hard to do. Give away books? Are you crazy? But necessary and reasonable.
50 - Write to an elected official. Not done. Not sure if I really want to even.
52 - Bible. Hmmm. I've read more of it than before I started, but not all.
54 - walk/hike. I have done quite a bit, but probably not weekly for 3 months straight. This probably should have been purple as there was *some* movement here. But I'm too lazy to go back and change that.
55 - aerial. Not even close.
57 - work related reading. Yuck. (Never wanted to do it, thought I should.)
58 - warm up for gym. Not really appropriate the way we're warming up now. Although might result in faster warm ups and more time for other stuff.
60 - Scrapbooks for the munchkins. May never happen in a very involved way, but should throw something together with photos I already have.
62 - music. Still no idea.
67 & 68 - car stuff. Not done. But I have had it detailed. Once.
71 - sell text books. Still need to do. As time goes by, less and less chance anyone will want them.
73 - organize. Hahahahahaha.
74 - house. Even funnier.
75 - weekends away. Didn't happen.
80 - thank you notes. Really need to do this ASAP.
82 - TAR. Family show was lame. Even if they were stupid anough to do another one, wouldn't want to be in it.
85 - t-shirt quilt. Still want to do this.
88 - fluff TV. Still watch it. Seldom while exercising.
90 - job related class. Will do once I decide upon a job. Maybe.
91 - personal finance class. Not even offered any longer.
93 - left-overs rescue. Still a good idea. Not something I want to do myself though.
95 - flowering plant. Didn't even try. Had a gift of mum,s that lasted maybe 1 month.
99 - yurt. Semi-planned for summer 2009 for womens' retreat.

101 Wrap-up

I have now color-coded most of the 101 things on my list. Green means the thing was accomplished. Red means it wasn't. Purple means it partially was. I'll be adding notes too, but then it is on to my next 101 list. Which will be better constructed.

#6: Work out more

Yay me! It may be a tiny bit premature to say I've conquered this goal, but I'm saying so anyway. I started a few weeks ago at working out 15 minutes per day. Bumped it up to 20 the following week, and now I'm at 25 minutes a day. More on Tuesdays (gymnastics). I plan to keep adding each week until I'm at 45 or so minutes. I'm mostly using tapes from The Firm (great workout tapes!) and strength training from www.sparkpeople.com and just stuff I used to do when I had a gym membership.

So far I am being remarkably good at the every day part of the equation. I skipped it while I was at my parents' house but jumped right back in once I got back to my house. Sundays are my day off unless I go on a hike. I can already tell a difference in stamina when I do the tapes. I'm still looking forward to the part where I look at my arms and discover that there is a muscle there.

#98: Cancel Doubleday Book Club membership

I sent them a letter saying I wanted out (because they couldn't possibly let you cancel by phone or over the internet). I think it worked. They sent me a "come back to us please" mailing which makes me believe they got my break-up letter. But if any books show up I'm just keeping them and not paying. Because they went out of their way to make it hard to cancel.

On indefinite hold #84: list the books I read

I tried this goal, I really did. But it ended up being sort of useless. I never went back to look at the information and filling it in was a pain. I was probably trying to track too much info considering how much I read. So since this isn't something I really care about any longer, I'm de-goaling it.

#101: Get renter's insurance

Done last week!!! With merely a phone call. Gah, I wasted enough time on that one.

#97: Donate blood regularly

Done in 2006!

I just passed the 1 gallon mark for blood donation. Yay me! There's no exciting story to go along with this, just regularly making appointments and showing up every couple of months when I'm eligible.

#100: Visit the Scharffen Berger factory and take a tour

Did this sort of on the fly. My mom and one sister were visiting and we were in Berkeley anyway (to visit The Walk Shop for my mom). I thought "Hey, the Scharffen Berger factory is right near here. I wonder if they do tours on Sundays." So I went to a bookstore to find a guidebook with the factory phone number in it. Then I called the place. They had a tour starting in half an hour.

It's a small factory and they explain the whole chocolate making process. They also give samples. Mmmmm, samples. So it is sort of cool, but not something I'd be dragging everyone to go see.

#14: Go to a concert of some sort

I took my sister to the Tim McGraw & Faith Hill concert in San Jose on August 13 for her birthday. It was her first concert too (although my mom stole my gift idea and is sending her to a concert too, with my dad).

General impressions: I liked it. Other than the whole starting 45 minutes late thing. (Seriously!) I like those two artists, they are really cute together, FH is teeny tiny, they certainly do work hard on that stage, cool stage with light effects and pictures and colors and all, you just *have* to sing along, TMG didn't even have to sing some of his songs the audience did it for him.

Would I do it again? Sure. But at those prices I'm not going to be seeking out a ton of opportunities to do so.

#38: Take a road trip over at least 3 states

I think our recent youth group road trip to Colorado Springs should cover this one nicely. 3300 or so miles (I only drove roughly half of that since my car had two drivers). 9 days (3 of them w/o any driving, so we covered that distance in 6 days). Camping overnight in either church facilities (on the way there) or campgrounds in tents (return trip). 2 rented cars (cheaper than a van). 6 people (3 adults, 3 teenagers). I'll write more on my other real blog and probably put up pictures on a photosite soonish.

#25: Go whitewater rafting again

Done. and about to be done again.

I took my family rafting on the Kings River on July 8. Everyone seemed to enjoy it.

Tomorrow I'm rafting on the South Fork American river again. I've done this trip before, so I know I like it. Although after this I think I'm going to look into moving up to Class IV rapids. Class III rapids are fun, but... well, I've done that.