101 things in 1001 days

A lot of bloggers have comprised these lists. It took me a couple months to comprise a list, but here we go...

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 organising and timing some tasks such as overseas trips or outdoor activities

Start Date: Sept. 12, 2006
End Date: June 9, 2009
Last Status Update: December 5, 2006
Days Remaining: 917

Key:
(normal text)- not yet addressed
italic - in progress
bold- completed (with date)

I'll organize these by category later. Most are in order, but I'm just striving to get the list for now.

1. Doctor- get my physical done
2. Doctor- go to OB/GYN
3. Eyes- new prescription & contacts
4. Lose 2 dress sizes
5. Create Living Will
6. Pay off credit cards
7. Put $2,000 into my IRA
8. Find a new job - 11/27/2006
9. Create a personal cookbook
10. Learn to cook 3 fabulous meals
11. Cook every night for two weeks straight
12. Sit ritual for Samhain
13. Reimburse Erich on loan
14. Reimburse dad on loan
15. Get a pedicure
16. Find a new hairstyle that I love
17. Get each cat to the vet for an annual checkup. 11/24/2006
18. Pick a date 9/30/06
19. Reserve ceremony & reception site 9/30/06
20. Reserve caterer Dec. 06
21. Compile guest list with addresses Mar 07
22. Send out save the date cards Mar 07
23. Buy dress & accessories 9/29/06
24. Arrange photographer 6/15/07
25. Arrange florist
26. Send out invitations
27. Get married
28. Take down wallpaper and repaint bedroom
29. Take down wallpaper and repaint bathroom
30. Take down wallpaper and repaint kitchen
31. Restring windows in sunroom to make them functional
32. Buy a snowblower
33. Finish sorting through boxes
34. Organize basement
35. Create a functional space in my office
36. Go through all clothes and make serious (and realistic) decisions
37. Have a yard sale
38. Create flower bed in the empty space in front of the house
39. Reclaim side flower bed from the weeds
40. Plant something under trees along slope in side yard
41. Send photos of the house to grandma
42. Create a good address book (with birthdays and other important dates)
43. Attend all three sorority degrees during the year
44. Hold an autumn 2006 Stitch 'n Bitch 11/10/06
45. Hold a spring 2007 Stitch 'n Bitch (multiple 07
46. Reconnect with Andi
47. Reconnect with DT
48. Clear out penpalling stuff
49. Send out all thank-you notes for wedding within five weeks
50. Send out thank-you notes for Christmas within one week
51. Shed old email groups
52. Clean out clutter email
53. Complete already set stitching goals for 2006 Dec. 06
54. Create new stitching goals for 2007 Jan. 07
55. Complete stitching goals for 2007
56. Complete Egyptian Sampler
57. Complete Apache Wedding Blessing
58. Complete my wedding sampler
59. Start an active stitching group/guild with semi-regular meetings - Stitch Bitch & Who - 5/07
60. Knit a shawl
61. Learn how to do cable knits
62. Write a fanfic story
63. Buy a floor stand for stitching
64. Buy a natural light lamp
65. Get The Castle professionally framed
66. Buff up my Russian
67. Read a Jules Verne novel in French
68. Read any book by Jane Austen
69. Attend the human body exhibit at the science museum missed it. :(
70. Audit a college class
71. Create a "must read" list
72. Read at least five books from said list
73. Buff up my French
74. Visit Vermont
75. Attend Arisia
76. Attend King Richard's Faire 2006 10/2006
77. Attend King Richard's Faire 2007
78. Go to the Big E fair in Mass
79. Attend one of the CATS (not feline-related) exhibitions
80. Visit the Roger Williams Park zoo
81. Spend an afternon at the Gardner Museum in Boston
82. Attend Waterfire
83. Visit Erich's Mom :( R.I.P. 3/12/07.
84. Go on a romantic weekend getaway with Erich (that's NOT part of the honeymoon)
85. Donate platelets in fall 2006
86. Donate platelets in spring 2007
87. Donate platelets in fall 2007
88. Watch a meteor shower
89. Attempt a looser-schedule novel project
90. Level another character in world of warcraft to 60
91. Purchase new battery for my laptop 6/10/07
92. Try a new ethnic cuisine Mar 07 - Brazilian
93. Re-memorize how to do sun and moon salutes for morning stretches
94. Find my clarinet at Mom's
95. Start retraining my breath and fingers so I can play again
96. Research (and attend) a meeting for a casual/alumni band
97. Attend a Drum Corps show
98. Knit an afghan
99. Balance my checkbook every month
100. Update this list every month
101. Create a new list to start in 1001 days.

Helpful stuff: Duration calculator.

A crisp Monday morning

fEvery year, one morning in September wakes me up to the reality that it is, in fact, autumn. It's the "I Really Should Have Worn My Jacket" morning of the year. I was shivering as I stood on the train platform. I continued to shiver once we were on the train because NOW... after the heat of the year, the A/C is finally blasting in the trains. Tonight my light jacket will get pulled out of the closet, washed if necessary, and be used for the next couple months.

To my surprise, I'm not shivering at work-- the temperature gauge seems to be about right... finally. :)

But it was a beautiful autumn morning in Boston. The sky was a beautiful, sharp blue without a single cloud. The air is just starting to smell of dew on the grass mixed with earth and leaves.

I've said it before - I love this time of year. It's cozy and comfy and the world is full of color. I get to fall in love with New England all over again.

--------

The funeral, obviously, was the unexpected focus of this weekend. Erich and I went, along with Erich's dad.

The services and burial for Normie were held on Saturday morning. It was a simple, beautiful service at the funeral home, surrounded by loved ones and friends. Normie was 90, and was lucky to have three of his close friends (aka "partners in crime") there at the funeral. If only we all could be so lucky-- both to live to 90, and also to have close friends in our lives.

The saddest part of the day, in my opinion, was the fact that Erich's mom couldn't be there for her own father's funeral. She's been in the hospital for the past several weeks- with at least three more months to go - and is simply too immobile right now to travel. Katie, Erich's cousin, pointed out that she would had to arrange an ambulance to drive all the way from mid-coast Maine to southern Massachusetts and back. It just wasn't feasable. :( But Erich and I have a recording of the funeral service and the warm eulogy given about Normie to give to her. We're also going to make a point to get up to Maine as soon as possible to be with her.

The rest of the weekend was nice and quiet. Since we were in the area, Erich and I swung by The Big Apple in Wrentham, Mass., on our way home and to pick up some yummy stuff. We bought a bag of apples (McIntosh, which are in season right now), fresh peaches, two apple pies, and a pumpkin pie. The Big Apple, as its name might suggest, is an apple orchard farm. They grow at least a couple dozen types of apple trees, and by about late September, TONS of different apples are for sale in the sales barn, for sale in five pound bags up to "whatever you need" if you call ahead. The thing that Erich and I beeline for is the pie rack. Weekends can be an absolute zoo at The Big Apple in the fall. But it's fun insanity, and it's one of those things that we get to perhaps only once or twice a season. On Saturday, the air outside the sales barn was full of the smell of fresh doughnuts (yum!) and of course... the pies. All three that we bought were still hot in the box. It was a relatively quiet day at The Big Apple. It's definitely still early in the season.

We got home.. Erich headed off to Frank's to spend the rest of the day with the guys playing Dungeons & Dragons (which originally had been scheduled to be at our house that day). I know he needed the time with the guys and was honestly glad he decided to still go play.

With the rest of the day to myself, I scooted myself up to Cumberland, RI, to go to the closest cross stitch shop. My second stitching round robin is a Floral theme, and in creating my layout for each stitcher's block, I discovered that I didn't have a piece of fabric within my stash wide enough to allocate both stitching space and the additional inches needed for framing. Off to With Heart and Soul I went to purchase a piece of cream 32 ct. linen that's 20.5 inches square.

I arrived back home a bit after four p.m. I called my father, but as always, he's not home. So I left him a message to wish him a happy 63rd birthday. (sigh... more on Dad and I in another entry... it's another rant piece). Then I started my stitching work for the weekend.

The first order of business was finishing my prep to send out the UFO RR on Monday. I decided, after lots of thought, to send out Teresa Wentzler's Floral Bellpull. I made sure all of my materials were in place and then packaged it up.

Next I got to work on the Floral RR. I tried to start by marking out each block with gridding thread, but it just was not working right. After an hour of miscounts, I gave up and decided to just work on stitching my square, and then I'd mark the other squares based upon my measurements. I've decided upon 60x60 stitch blocks for each person. Conveniently, each square of the Floral Bellpull (from the other RR) is exactly 60x60 stitches without the border. I selected the Morning Glory block, and got to work.

I'm quite proud of the amount of stitching I got done this weekend. I have nearly 1/4 of the stitches already in the fabric. Hopefully between this week and the weekend, I can get the majority of it done. The tenative start date for this RR is on Sept. 25th. I may just make it.

When life disturbingly resembles Hugh Grant movie titles

Despite my Thursday Thirteen entry yesterday that was full of happiness and cheerleading about myself, the last 48 hours or so have been quite sad in the Geekywitch household. I'll be replying to Thursday Thirteen comments (thank you!) over the weekend...

Erich's maternal grandfather died late Wednesday night. He apparently had been fine, watching golf on Monday. On Tuesday he developed a cough. When family arrived to visit him Wednesday morning, he had developed pneumonia and was unresponsive. Norm was quite elderly- in his 90s, I believe. From what I understand, he never regained consciousness.

This was Erich's last surviving grandparent, and the second death this year. So far Erich's doing okay. He's somber of course, but he's getting through the day fairly well. We escaped reality for a few hours last night at Battleground with a D&D game, and I think that helped his mood quite a bit even if it decreased the amount of sleep on which he's running today. I don't think reality has really hit him yet. He took yesterday off to talk with his parents and wait for funeral service details, which are scheduled for this weekend.

I've only met Norm once - last year at his birthday party. I sadly don't have enough memories of him to make a fitting tribute to him. :(

Thursday Thirteen #2: Things I like about myself

Thirteen Things I like about myself

1. I’m extremely patient, both with people and with myself. I’m well aware that good things take time… sometimes lots and lots of time.

2. Since early childhood, I’ve always been passionate about learning. I don’t care what subject—I love to learn and love to explore through thought and discovery.

3. I can keep calm during the worst of times – or at least keep an image up that I’m under control. My mind may be racing, but I instinctively try to create calm around me. Unless it’s just around Erich, and then I don’t worry about it.

4. I love that I have a wide range of hobbies to enrich my life.

5. I love being a cat mom.

6. I generally can find a way to enjoy myself, even if on first glance a situation looks like it will be a complete bore.

7. My friends confide in me, and value my comments and suggestions. I’m straight forward with them because as I believe being a friend requires me to be honest with them, but always try to find a way to be both gentle and supportive (even if I think they’re being stupid).

8. For absolutely no reason at all, I’ve always quietly loved that I have grey eyes, blonde hair, and freckles. I don’t feel like me if my hair’s a different color—and I feel more like me in the summer when my freckles come back out from the sun.

9. I’m very proud to not be a girly-girl. It took me a while to get to this, but I’m still a tomboy, and know I’ll remain that way my entire life.

10. I’m generally able to express myself so clearly with writing, which is a damn good thing since I tend to get tied up if I try to verbalize my deeper thoughts.

11. I’m thankful for being adopted because it has opened my eyes to the reality that family is a connection of love as much as (and honestly in my opinion, more than) it is biology. You can, in fact, pick many members of your family, despite how the saying goes.

12. I like that I wasn’t too scared to go on a first – and blind- date five and change years ago to meet Erich.

13. I can – and do - laugh every day.





Links to other Thursday Thirteens!

Cass - Shash - Caylynn Southern Girl - JM Snyder - Pass the Torch - Buttercup - Tonya - Cindy


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Monthly Stitching Goals...

Eh... not a great month, but it is summer and attention is elsewhere...

1) Finish half of the bottom border of Apache Wedding Blessing I'm close... just under one half. All of the yellow is done.

2) Finish Home is Where the Cat Is I did work on it, but it still has a few hours to go.

3) Prepare my UFO to mail for the UFO RR that starts in September Yes-- it's ready!

4) Get at least a couple hours of work done on Egyptian Sampler Can't get to it... I'm going to have to shelve this until Apache is done.

5) Finally update my stitching pages completely, with photos and update progress. Nope. Computer's been in and out of the shop all month for repairs, so I haven't been able to sit down and get it done.


For September...

1) Finish bottom border of Apache
2) Work on UFO RR
3) Finish Home is Where the Cat Is
4) Update Stitching Pages
5) Have a stitching cram session (6+ hour day) on Apache.
6) Attend the Boston Knit Out in late September