Happy Chinese New Year

Today I was going through the notebook I kept for this project while I was sans computer. Something about actual pen and paper makes my heart flutter. I love drawing that, “YES! I did this!” line through an item. It’s so much more fulfilling than a highlight and the strike through button. I also wrote down the start dates for some of the more time consuming challenges like 047 – Go 6 months without eating fast foods.

With 8 months left in this challenge I have to really think about some of these items. Sure I’ve improved my sewing skills but who’s to say if I do it “really well” now? Isn’t improvement what I was looking for in the first place? Or did I really have expectations that in 1001 days I’d become a master seamstress?  After all this is supposed to be a fun challenge to get you out there and actually do things! So I’ve decided to not be so harsh on myself and update the list as follows.

014 – Stop swearing or go at least 1 month without
I am tracking this starting today. And what better to kick it off with than a segment on the Today Show this morning about cursing.

047 – Go 6 months without eating fast food
January 12th was the last time I ate fast food (mmm Long John Silver’s Baja Fish Tacos). So July will be the next time if I’m going to complete this. Now eating out is okay in my books but if the place has a drive-thru then I’m considering it fast food.

057 – Learn to sew really well
This I will mark completed. Like I said earlier I have improved this skill. While I may be no “Sewing with Nancy” I can make outfits, up-cycle stuff and mend jammies with feet.

075 – Do not fall asleep in front of the TV for 2 months
Ah yes, the most trying of all for this tired momma. But I didn’t fall asleep yesterday so we’ll start there.

092 – Donate a gift for a child at Christmas
I forgot to cross this one off last month. Though I pictured myself doing a Salvation Army Angel Tree or Toys for Tots thing that didn’t happen. I did however give someone several trash bags full of toys in good condition through Freecycle for Christmas. Still a good deed!

Now there’s a few items on the list that just will not happen. 081 – Save my loose change and don’t spend till end of 1001 is one of those. We did really well saving our change…till we needed it. It was only half a year of saving and I had over $50 in change. That amazed the heck out of me! We still save our change and cash it in when needed but this is one of those that were a good idea but just not feasible when you have a family.

084 – Watch All Episodes of Ugly Betty – DONE!

I just finished watching the last episode of Ugly Betty.  Too bad shows that have positive messages like Ugly Betty and My Name Is Earl get canceled. At least the writers had a heads up and gave the viewers closure. It ended on such an upbeat and hopeful note I wanted to go right out and achieve my dreams. But in a way I have by getting to be a stay-at-home mom and watch my wonderful children grow up right before my eyes. Everyone has their own aspirations.

So with 65 things left and 8 months to go I better get cracking!

032 – Try New Exotic Foods

I have now tried Ethiopian food! I made Ethiopian Spiced Chicken Stew from Eating Well magazine. It was awesome! Even Taz loved it! It also made good leftovers.

084 – Watch All Episodes of Ugly Betty

084 - Watch Ugly Betty

First off, happy new year! I hope 2012 brings everyone much success on what ever your project may be. I am moving towards my own success with the 101 list and I found a buddy to help me cross off 084 – Watch All Episodes of Ugly Betty. Curly Sue (one of my step-daughters) stayed the winter break with us. That’s when I discovered her love of this show! We reserved from the library, picked up and watched seasons 2 & 3. I had so much fun guessing with her what would happen next to our beloved characters as each episode progressed. It reminded me of being a kid and watching Novelas with my best friend and her grandmother. Curly Sue made me promise to wait on watching season 4, the final season, till she was back at our house next weekend. As tempted as I am to use our free month trial of Netflix and “stolen” internet connection to complete Betty’s journey, I will be good. When I wrote this goal down on my list it was more as a filler item. I had no idea how much joy it’d bring.

038 – Bake cookies for Christmas presents

Check!  This is the time of the year I usually bake my Oatmeal Cranberry cookies. The plan was if any were left once Hubby got through stuffing his face I’d give them out as Christmas gifts. Yesterday I gave a dozen to our family doctor (who is the most awesome doctor you could ask for) at Taz’s check up. He may be the only person to get the cookies as presents. They don’t last long!

I’ve also crossed off 045 Eat a Piece of Food for Each Letter of the Alphabet. With help from Blondie, we figured out that was accomplished. Thanks chick! Here’s the completed list:

A- avocado dip
B- bread
C- cereal
D- deviled eggs
E- eggs
F- fish tacos
G- gizzards
H- hearts
I- ice cream
J- jelly
K- Kobe Beef Burger
L- lasagna
M- mexican bread pudding
N- noodles
O- octopus
P- peas
Q- quiche
R- rice
S- salad
T- tuna
U- ugli fruit
V- vegetarian pizza
W- watermelon salsa
X- xylitol
Y- yellow squash
Z- zucchini

#031 Donate My Hair to Locks of Love

16 inches of love to donate

Last night Hubby wanted to get a hair cut before we left to see the Trans Siberian Orchestra. Totally spur of the moment I decided to see if my hair was long enough to cut. I didn’t even have a camera with me. Well, after 2 years I had 16 inches to donate!! The stylist told me how much she appreciated what I was doing as she’s had a few friends and relatives with cancer. That made me feel extra special.

Family reactions were varied. Blondie (who’s recently moved in with us) was a little upset I cut it, Roo said I now had boy’s hair but liked it and Taz was unphased. Hubby likes the new cut and said he was glad I gave him a few years of long hair. I have to say long hair is completely wasted on me as I don’t do anything with it. Plus it’s such a pain to take care of. Funny thing though about my hair, it had always been pretty straight with a tiny bit of wave to it. Now that it’s short it’s almost curly! Strange huh?

Back on the Internet Horse…Sorta

The laptop is back, I’m picking up wi-fi from someone in the neighborhood and I have a burning desire to update on this project.

006 – Read all the unread books in my library
When we moved back in March I had to seriously downsize my personal library. I have just a few books now so this one I’ll have to revisit and update. All my books are packed and in the basement so when I get a chance I’ll list the ones I kept and need to read.

011 – Keep pen pals with Danielle and Niffer
Ah, Danielle and Niffer, my friends from Texas. I’ve know Danielle for 10 years and Niffer for 7. When I added this one to the list I envisioned my pen pal-ing teen years. But, we’re not teens anymore. The three of us have kids, two of us have spouses and the two of them have jobs outside the home. We write when we can, usually with a few months between our replies. And now-a-days pen pals can be via email, texts and Facebook comments.  That’s why I decided to mark this off the list. We still keep in contact and always will.

013 – Everyday, before bed, think of one thing I’m thankful for
A while back I was keeping these in a notebook. But some nights I’d forget to write them down and then stuff got put on top of my notebook. Months would pass without an entry so I abandoned that task. I still reflect on the day and what I was most thankful for. Some nights its just, “Oh thank god my bed is so comfortable.”  Other times it’s much deeper and personal. I think this exercise has allowed me to be more positive even when it seems all the cards are stacked against me.

020 – Simplify yet dress up my wardrobe
I have the list written down for times I don’t have computer access. This one was crossed off with the date of 4/02/11. I’m not sure why I have that particular date written down. A while back , while living in our other house, a neighbor was collecting clothes for a family who’s house had burned down. I figured this would be a good start to simplifying my wardrobe as they were asking for sizes I wore. I also knew that I’d probably go down a (pre-pregnancy) dress size or two after having Taz. I hung on to a pair of jeans, a pair of shorts, a skirt, a few shirts that could be dressy or casual and some sweat/workout pants till my weight adjusted. Sure enough, two months after delivery I weighed less than when I got pregnant and dropped a size thanks to biking places. I acquired some new (to me) pants through Freecycle and shirts/sweaters from a garage sale. Almost every outfit I wear cost me less than $10 in total and can easily be dressed up with a change or two. Plus I love that I can say my husband has more clothes than I do. Now shoes…that’s another story.

025 – Go on a trip with Ronnie to an unvisited place
Ronnie had a job to do that was about halfway to Colorado from here. Since it was on a Saturday and Roo was staying with her grandparents, Taz and I loaded up in his work truck and we tagged along. It was a beautiful drive and the job was out on a lake. I don’t remember the name of the town but we had never been there before so it counted.

044 – Make record album bowls
My sister gave me a bunch of LPs to accomplish this. So one of the weekends we had my step-daughters I decided to give this a try. You center the record over an oven safe bowl and bake it for a few minutes at like 250F. It doesn’t take too long so keep an eye on it. Once it gets all warpy, take it out and press the sides over the bowl for a little more definition. It makes a good fruit or chip bowl as there’s a hole in the middle.  (I also made a clock out of one of the records.) This was a fun activity and the girls had a blast making them with different sized oven safe bowls. Something about the destruction of an item gets kids excited. I’ll upload some pictures of these in the next few days.

058 – Organize my photographs
One day when the kids were both napping I started going through my pictures. I don’t have many photo albums to fill up but I thought I could at least sort them and dump the ones I didn’t need or want. I spent all afternoon at this and ended up with a box full. I would like to get some albums in the future but for now Ziploc bags work just fine.

068 – Try not speaking for one full day
Okay, this one I’m going to cheat on. I lost my voice back in October and for a full day I physically could not make sound come out. It was a little tough but doable for a day. The hardest part was that I was babysitting. Thankfully all the kids were really good that day. I’d like to try this as a voluntary action some day but till then this will count.

084 – Watch all episodes of Ugly Betty
Okay, this may be the main reason I wanted to update. I recently found the DVD jackpot at (drum roll please) the library. Who knew they had so many…and ones you’d actually want to watch! So I put in a hold for Ugly Betty season 1, paid my 25 cents and got to watching! I realized I had seen all of season 1 already but it was good to go through them again. Like, did you know that Jesse Tyler Furguson (Mitchell on Modern Family) was Betty’s dentist?!? The library has all the seasons so I can’t wait to get season 2 going.

090 – Pay for the car behind me at a toll booth
Though this wasn’t done at a toll booth we did a Pay it Forward at the corn maze. The kids got free passes for completing their summer reading and my sister gave us a Groupon for 1 entry. As we were unloading our brood from the car the man parked next to us gave us two free passes. This left us with an extra pass. So we gave the person behind us that extra one. Same concept as paying for the car behind so it counts. I have to say that this made the whole family feel good.

According to my husband there are a few items I should cross off. I don’t really agree but think it deserves a good mention:

016 – Do 6 random acts of kindness without recognition
019 – Every week do something to feel sexy
032 – Try new exotic foods
051 – Make handmade paper (though I know for a fact I haven’t done this one, he claims I have)
057 – Learn to sew really well
074 – Learn at least one magic trick (he thinks the detachable thumb trick should count)
088 – Make bread once a week (though I haven’t made bread each week, I sure have made a lot of bread!)
098 – Make a t-shirt quilt (he said the quilt I made for Roo, though not a t-shirt quilt, should count)

Not taking my  husband’s suggestions into account that leaves me with 70 items (or $350 to donate to charity) left to accomplish in slightly less than a year.

Updates

Life can change dramatically in the course of a few months. First, we lost our internet. This was very difficult as you can come to rely on it for everything. I had to think back to the days before internet to things like…the phone book!! Second, we sold our house. Then I gave birth to another beautiful baby girl (two days after we sold our house I might add). We were temporarily “homeless” and stayed with my husband’s parents till we were able to move into a rental house. This was a HUGE change as well since the rental is quite a bit smaller than our old house. This meant really simplifying our lives. I am still a stay-at-home momma and am learning to adapt by renting our movies from the library and biking (with the kids in a bike trailer) to the places I have to go. Taz (the baby’s nickname as she sounds like him when she’s fussing) uses cloth diapers and is breatfed, I make my own dishwasher and laundry soap, bake my own bread, and next year we’ll have another garden to grow our own food. My husband describes me as a hippie which I take as a compliment.

I have computer access for the moment at my in-laws as the a/c is broke at our house and we’re in the middle of a heat wave.  So here are my updates on the project:

003 – Stand up for myself
I will mark this one done. I have learned to do this quite a bit to get things done here in Kansas. No offence to the state but I have never had to deal with such incompetent people and programs! You really have to stay on top of things here or nothing will get accomplished.

007 – Watch a sunrise
On July 9th I got to watch a sunrise while driving my brother, his boyfriend and daughter to Oklahoma to catch the train back home. It was really cool to watch and realize you were up before the sun (which is a normal occasion for me anyway) and getting to watch the sky wake up.

024 – Lose 50lbs
I have lost 12lbs in total, even after having a baby!

027 – Finish decorating every room
We have downsized from a 10 room house to a 7 room house. This does make it easier. I have 2 rooms to complete and I’ll be able to mark this off.

That’s it for now. Though I don’t know when I’ll be able to update next I am always working on the project.

010 – Make a Snowman

My first snowmen!

Growing up in South Texas doesn’t lend itself to making too many snowmen.  In fact, the last time I saw REAL snow there I was 5 or 6 years old and it was not enough to make a snowman.

Living in Kansas provides snowmen opportunities every year but I just never took advantage of it.  (I blame this on it being cold when it snows, ha!)  This was the first year Roo could really enjoy the snow,  and thanks to her Kipper obsession, she’s seen him make many a “snowdog”.  So Ronnie, Roo and I set out to make a snow family today.  Daddy snowman is on the left, a Roo snowman is in the middle and that’s a preggo Momma snowman on the right.

Here’s a few tips to those making snowmen for the first time: 1) If you have long hair, tie it back!! Nothing is more frustrating than hair in your face blocking your vision! 2) Make sure you’ll be finished rolling the ball somewhere by the snowman. 3) When breaking branches for the arms, realize that if they’re still pretty green they will win every time.

This was so much fun and such a great family activity!

052 – Learn How to Make Quilts

Roo and her quilt

Last night, just in time for bed, I finished my first quilt.  I made it for Roo out of her old baby blankets.  Though technically not a true quilt as it doesn’t have a middle layer nor is sewn with a decorative pattern to keep all the layers together, I’d say this one can be marked off.  I now know what it takes to make quilts…besides a lot of hard work and patience.

I think the pattern I mainly used is called a Windmill.  I added three solid panels on both sides to make the quilt wider.  The center square has a part that says LOVE and other with two hearts, both cut from baby blankets.  The back is a solid pink and brown floral print.

This was a lot of fun to make and hopefully she’ll be able to use this quilt when she’s in a twin sized bed.