Must Stop...Making Lists...

Inspired by Laura's post, I suddenly was able to think of enough goals to round out my 101 Things list. Of many house projects there is no end. Of course, we would need to win the lottery to actually complete all of these in the next year and a half. It's more of a fantasy list.

• Affix our house numbers somewhere that guests and pizza delivery people can see at night.
• Get an automatic light installed over the garage door.
• Get crumbling front steps replaced.
• Replace rotting wood in porch.
• Replace leaky window in living room.
• Get furnace serviced.
• Touch up exterior paint where it is peeling.
• Fix areas of interior plaster that have been damaged by misguided attempts to hang pictures.
• Learn how to correctly hang pictures on plaster walls.
• Repaint bathroom where paint has peeled from humidity.
• Install better bathroom fan.
• Stain study windows that were put in last year.
• Plant evergreen bushes around the foundation.
• Borrow M.'s truck and drive to the landfill for a load of mulch, which they sell there for something like $1/ton.

101 Things Update

It's been a year since I wrote my 101 Things/1001 days post. I only have a year and a half left!

Here's what I've accomplished from the list so far:

• get my research assistantship reclassified as a job
• take Mr. Flossie to the House on the Rock (That was fun.)
• visit Madison, Wisconsin (Same trip.)
• ride in a convertible (Same trip, last spring. A little cold but fun.)
• get a world map and stick map pins where Mr. F and I have traveled
• visit a botanical garden (In St. Louis.)
• take a cooking class (Vegan cupcakes!)
• go a month without soda (I never drink soda anymore, if sparkling water doesn't count.)
• get new car tires
• donate to public radio
• plug someone else's expired meter
• make a mix CD
• get a massage
• complete a New York Times Sunday crossword puzzle (Usually the last few words stump me. But finally, I did one 100%.)
• purge all the circa 1989 mom-jeans from my wardrobe (Or, at least, the most egregiously high-waisted.)
• landscape front yard (We'll see if the new plants made it through the winter.)
• buy a new oven mitt
• plant vegetables (Yield: handfuls of basil, two strangely-shaped eggplants.)
• go to the public library and read magazines
• make up a box of things to donate to the Mennonite thrift store (Several times.)
• drink an extra glass of water a day (My Sigg bottle and I are joined at the hip.)
• make a point to play with the cats or brush them daily
• convert old T-shirts to rags
• start a list of wines I like (So far there is one: Charles Shaw Cabernet. I'm just not a big wine drinker, I've discovered.)
• get Amber's print framed
• quit Annoying Yuppie Health Club
  
• start swimming at the community pool

One of the remaining things on the list is super-high-priority:

• finish my dissertation, get PhD
  

There are others that will probably have to wait until that one is done:

• learn to bake bread
• learn to knit socks
• learn to crochet
• learn to sew a skirt
• make something crafty with all the wine corks we’ve saved
• adhere to a daily (creative) writing schedule for one month
• read 5 new novels (so far, I've read Goldengrove.)
• read 5 new memoirs (so far, The Three of Us.)
• re-read Writing Down the Bones
• read Natalie Goldberg’s new book on memoir writing
• learn CPR
• learn first aid
• take a stargazing class
• take a car-maintenance class
• take a home repair class
• have 5 dinner parties (So far, I've had...one? I think?)
• host 5 houseguests (So far, two?)
• study Korean
• visit Old Friend Who Lives in Houston
• start an emergency fund in savings (Well, we do have a savings account now. There's just nothing in it.)
• organize photos
• learn to drive stick
• write a will
• put together an emergency kit for the car
• go hiking
• go whitewater rafting
• go cross-country skiing
• organize my home office
• clean the basement
• clean the attic
• take piano
• visit the Seed Savers Farm

And others I can perhaps fit into the corners of the days and weeks:

• learn to identify ten native trees
• …ten native birds
• …ten flowering plants
• go to a pilates or yoga class once a week for three months
• visit Old Friend Who Lives in St. Louis
• visit Brother
• visit Mom
• visit Mr. Flossie's grandparents in Wichita
• visit Mr. F's mom in Miami
  
• lobby for more recycling bins on campus
• try out veganism for two weeks
• learn to meditate
• go on a picnic
• go on a walk around the neighborhood for no reason
• go to a U-pick farm or orchard
• buy new towels
• go to the farmer’s market once a week for two months
• find one thing to de-clutter in each room
• find a squirrel-proof birdfeeder
• make a meal plan and grocery list for an upcoming week
• do not eat dinner out for two weeks straight
• pick out all my outfits for an upcoming week
• bring my lunch to work for a week
• do not go online for 3 consecutive days
  

A strict comparison to the list I made a year ago will reveal that I edited some of the items on the list, ditched some, and added others. It still doesn't add up to 101. How is it possible to think of that many goals?

No Solutions, Just More Problems

I wish I could say that I've totally reorganized my recipe binder, but alas. I have not. Instead I have another clutter challenge to present: my shelf in the bathroom. For a girl who wears little to no makeup on a daily basis, I have a plethora of beauty products cluttering my bathroom. Where does it all come from? How embarrassing. I feel so vain.

So, that needs to be taken care of, and I need to take some anti-dust-mite action in the bedroom because I just learned I'm allergic, and I need to rake the fallen leaves in the backyard.

P.S. There is no time to do any of this and work on my dissertation.

Jobs, Oven Mitts, Etc.

I haven't forgotten about the 100 Things/1001 Days list I made back in February. I'm happy to say that I've checked off #2: Get a job.

It didn't come as a complete surprise: I've been trying to get a job for several years. Specifically, I've been trying to get the job I was doing. I wanted to be upgraded from Grad Student Research Assistant Peon to Full-Time Staff with Benefits. After some arm-twisting, and to my great surprise, I got it.

So I started my "new" job yesterday. Same office, same computer, same chair. But much more emotional investment thanks to the 403(b) and vacation days.

P.S. It's hard to find an illustration for my job (pencils? Chicago Manual of Style?), so the picture is because I also checked off #83: Get a new oven mitt. I know, I'm going crazy with my salary increase.