101 in 1001

I was inspired to take on this challenge by my cousin, Sarah. I am still missing three goals if anyone is interested in suggesting some to me. To create your own list, visit the DayZeroProject website.

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 organizing and timing some tasks such as overseas trips or outdoor activities.

Key: bold = completed, italics = currently working on

Jess' list

1. Create a list of 101 achievable goals - April 2009
   
2. Eat left handed for an entire day
3. Donate blood at least once a year (0/3)
4. Send a postcard to Postsecret
5. Put a copy of my favorite poem up on a bulletin board
6. Write an actual letter to each of my nieces and nephews (0/8)
7. Have lunch with a friend that I haven't seen in person for a while
8. Visit my Grandma in Idaho
9. Try Moroccan food
10. Try Thai food - (4/18/09 Thai Ruby)
    
11. Make a homemade smoothie
12. Learn how to cook a whole chicken in the oven (and then do it)
13. Send 5 postcards using Postcrossing (5/5) - written and put in mailbox 4/26 (to Finland, Taiwan, China, Russia, and Germany)
    
14. Have at least $3,000 in my credit union savings account and in my bank savings account
15. Clean the oven in my house
16. Buy a cloth grocery shopping bag and use it
17. Floss every day for a week
18. Visit 3 art museums (0/3)
19. Take a multivitamin at least 3 times a week for 3 months (0/36)
20. Learn how to say "where is the bathroom?" in Spanish and French
21. Learn how to change a tire on my new car (in case it is different from my old car)
22. Paint my bedroom
23. Get a massage
24. Go through craft supplies and throw away any dried up markers and glue
25. Try cucumbers again to see if I like them yet
26. Read 25 new children picture books that have been published in the past two years (0/25)
27. E-mail my mom about any of the picture books that are worth adding to her collection
28. Try rock climbing at an indoor gym
29. Visit the battling cages and hit at least 3 balls
30. Visit the dentist once a year (1/3)
31. Have a gynecological exam - April 2009
32. Listen to one archive episode of This American Life on NPR each month (1/33)
33. Watch Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince in the theater
34. Read Teaching, No Greater Call and use what I read when I teach Relief Society
35. Recycle all magazines I receive
36. Read all articles in each Ensign Conference issue (0/5)
    
37. Use Anysoldier.com to send at least 2 packages to a soldier overseas
38. Buy a friend lunch
    
39. Babysit Lauren
40. Babysit Isaac and Aaron
41. Babysit Sidney and Wyatt
42. Babysit Tanner and Ava
43. Go on a date at least once a month (1/33)
44. Send someone flowers
45. Donate $50 to a non-church related charitable organization (0/$50)
46. Learn alphabet in sign language
47. Finish The Book of Great Books
48. Spend at least 3 hours per week working in the yard from May to September (0/40)
49. Bake a cake from scratch
50. Make cinnamon rolls from scratch
51. Take pictures in a photo booth
52. Attend a choir concert
53. Write a letter to someone I admire
54. Ride a horse
55. Write about Caleb's death in my journal
56. Update my journal with all my nieces and nephews birth since Caleb's death
57. Give any article of clothing I haven't worn in two years to charity
58. Register for a class at UVU and pass with a good grade
59. Read a book on time management
60. Read a book on the NY Times best sellers list
61. Loan Education of a Wandering Man to someone who might appreciate it
62. Memorize all the verses to Amazing Grace (0/4)
63. Be able to do 10 push-ups in a row
64. Attend a basic yoga class
65. Refrain from eating any fast food for a week
66. Go to one fair or festival
67. See at least one live play a the Scera Shell
68. Get an eye exam
69. Get my eyebrows waxed by a professional
70. Buy a pair of black sunglasses
71. Print out pictures of my family and take them to work
72. Buy a deck of cards and learn at least one card trick
73. Learn to how tie a mans necktie
74. Visit the beach
75. Read the NY Times book review at least once a month (0/33)
76. Take a tour of the Utah State Capital
77. Try Lobster
78. Reach 500 blog posts (0/500)
79. Write and mail letters to ten living authors that have impacted my life (0/10)
80. Try Mangoes
81. Try 5 new restaurants (1/5) - 1st was Thai Ruby
82. Volunteer at the local library
83. Write letter to the host of an NPR show that I like
84. Read The Declaration of Independence
85. Read The Constitution
    
86. Buy and wear a pair of red shoes
87. Go at least 7 days with no tv (0/7)
88. Go 48 consecutive hours without checking my personal e-mail, blog, or Facebook
89. Buy a set of sheets that are at least 600 thread count
90. Go to a baseball game
91. Donate at least $25 to Primary Children's Hospital (0/$25)
92. Lose 15 pounds from my weight at 4/15/09 doctor's visit (0/15)
93. Send at least three recipes to my cousin for the family cookbook (0/3)
94. Finish embroidering another skirt
95. Watch the entire series of Sports Night
96. Create a new list once I have done everything on this list
97. Run trough the sprinklers
98. Buy and wear a toenail polish other than clear or red
99. (Taking suggestions)
100. (Taking suggestions)
101. (Taking suggestions)
     

The Horror!

I saw these in Target last week:Jewel-toned jeans. Why, I ask you? Why must these come back? I hated them in the 1980's and I still hate them. Whomever is responsible is going to get a nasty e-mail from me.

Utah Weather....one week apart

Last week, the view from my window was this:

A week later, the view is this:It sure is exciting living in the west. On a related note, I was able to weed for a little over an hour tonight. It was fun. Sadly, the front garden is so bad that I only managed to clear about 3 square feet. Stupid grass. Oh well, it was fun anyway and I hope to weed again tomorrow night.

The Q-Tip won the a battle, but I won the war.

Last night I decided to take a late shower since I wasn't really tired. I got out of the shower and went through the motions: conditioner, lotion, cleaning out my ears with a q-tip. As I was cleaning out my right ear, I was thinking about something else. All the sudden I had a strange feeling and some slight pain. I pulled out the q-tip and, lo and behold, the cotton was missing. I stuck my finger in my ear to get the cotton out and proceeded to push it farther in. I then got a pair of tweezers, which didn't help. (You'll all be happy to know that I didn't go too far in since I couldn't see what I was doing.) At this point it was almost 11pm. I sent a text message to a friend of mine to see if she still awake. She was. (She being Angie, a nurse.) I went over to her house. She tried flushing out my ear with a syringe of warm water which didn't help. She couldn't see the cotton with a flashlight and didn't want to poke around too much in my ear in fear of hurting me. After a half an hour, we gave up. Now, you might ask why I didn't just go to sleep and worry about it the next morning. The reason is that I was in pain. The pressure was bad enough that I would never have been able to sleep. I decided to go to the ER. I know, I know-it was probably a bad idea because of the money it costs, but I was in pain.
So off in the blizzard I went to the ER. I had to wait in the waiting room for almost a half an hour. By the time I got back there (around midnight,) my whole head from throbbing. I explained what happened and the doctor took a look. We started trading jokes about the situation. Soon two very attractive young men came in to help (me with wet hair, no make-up, and a stained t-shirt.) They put their two cents in. The doctor had to look around the ER for the proper instrument, which happened to be something called Alligator Forceps (see picture.) The cotton came out in three pieces. By the time I left it was 1am. All in all, I feel incrediablly silly but am very glad that someone invented Alligator Forceps and that Angie was so willing to help me late at night. Man, there are times my life seems a little bit like a sitcom.

Conference Weekend (and other stuff)

This past weekend was great. I was able to go to my parent's home and see all my kids (nieces and nephews.) I drove up during the second session of General Conference on Saturday and got there just as Jordan and Alison were heading out. Earlier that week I had offered to help babysit Isaac and Aaron while their parents headed down south. They were both darling. We ate, played, and I helped put them to bed (I took Aaron and Mom took Isaac.) The next morning they let me sleep in (or my parents did.) Soon after I awoke, I took the two of them for a walk. I was pretty impressed with how far they both were able to go. I'll admit that my goal was to have them get really, really tired so they would take excellent naps and be in good spirits for later that night. The plan worked. Aaron had yawned twice by the time we approached home and Isaac was a little too quiet. We had lots of fun and the weather was great. They both went down, with Mom putting Aaron down and me putting Isaac down. I told him two stories, one where Tanner, Isaac, and Ava were cars and were driving around and the other where Isaac and Batman went about town saving those in distress (kittens, etc.) After two stories he was out like a light. I was going to take a nap, but then realized I might not sleep well that night if I did. Instead, I vacuumed the rug upstairs. The boys woke up and the playing continued.
The rest of the family arrived by 4:30pm for the birthday dinner. We were celebrating the April birthdays of Alison, Brooke, and Wyatt. The dinner was great, as was the company. I got home at a decent time. All in all, it was a great weekend although I was really tired by the end. I can't imagine how mothers all over the world do it.
In other news, work is going well, as are the other aspects of my life. Well, there are one or two things I might change. For instance, the crack in my windshield is now app. 12 inches long. When I first got the chip in my windshield, it was two inches long and came from a rock a semi threw up on my way to work. Within 8 hours, or when I came out from work, it had stretched to app. 6 inches. It is now almost 12 inches and on the passenger side. The question now is: at what point do I replace my windshield? Hmm, hard to know. Luckily, I don't have to worry about it until it affects driving or my car is inspected (which is scheduled for November.)
In other news, I had another episode today. If you know me and my stupid health, you know what I'm talking about. The numb hands and feet, the shaking, a pain in my chest, the passing out. Can a girl have more fun than that? I think not. It happened shortly before lunch. Since then I've been to the ER (which I don't plan to go to again,) taken a nap, ate some cereal, checked my work e-mail (in which I found an e-mail addressed to the entire company of 50 people updating them on my condition and an apologetic e-mail from the person who sent it,) and watched two episodes of Gilmore Girls. Other than being tired, I'm fine. I plan to make an appointment with my family doctor tomorrow because this is getting ridiculous. While I realize that this only happens once or twice a year, it is way too frequent. Anyway, I hope everyone had a great day (or at least a little less interesting than mine.)

Pizza with Lauren

I got the chance to babysit Lauren last night in Salt Lake. As soon as I got there Lauren and I went outside to explore while we waited for Nana and Poppy to arrive. We discovered daffodils, tulips, and a small pile that a dog left on the front lawn. Luckily, Lauren thought to get her daddy so he could to find a shovel and dispatch the pile. (Man, she sure is smart for a three year old.) Lauren helped pick the restaurant after our first choice fell through. She said that she preferred pizza over a hamburger. We ended up at Litzas Pizza, where Lauren ate almost two whole pieces of pizza. We returned home, at a few girl scout cookies, and Lauren's parents took off. She cried for a minute and then the fun began. We danced, played hide and go seek, read books, and sang. I then got down my camera to take a picture of her. Here it is:I made the mistake of telling her to smile and she totally cheesed it up. Then she got a hold of the camera and took these (including a self portrait after she saw me do it:)
After Lauren sat on the potty for a few minutes (sadly nothing came out) we read lots of books. She started yawning at 9:15 so we sang a few songs and she went down. It was a great night, although the ride home wasn't my favorite due to the insane rain. Luckily, I arrived safe and sound at home. I'm excited to see the rest of my nieces and nephews this weekend. I am such a lucky aunt.