Thankfulness Project

I'm sure we've all had the question asked somewhere around the time of dinner on Thanksgiving Day "What are you thankful for this year?"  Well, I took that idea and ran with it.  The 16 days before Thanksgiving I updated my Twitter/Facebook/MySpace statuses with a new thing I'm thankful for.  I cannot take credit for the idea.  A former co-worker of mine, Judy Bergeron, did it first on her Facebook & I liked the idea so much I ran with it.  I actually had one of my friends from high school do it, too, Jen Tarantola.  And got a couple comments at first from friends of what they're thankful for.  After that it was mostly thumbs up along the way.

Well, to summarize, I haven't had the easiest 2009, and  I've had my struggles the last 6 years as well as the last 10.  Sometimes I've gotten a bit negative about life, and haven't held up being an optimist.  Anyhow, after thinking of a new thing for 16 days, which is actually harder than it sounds, it  made me think of all the things I have going right with my life & how much worse it could be.

Let me summarize where I got my list.  Day 1, 2, 3, 5, 9 & 10 are basically on Maslow's 1st & 2nd levels on the hierarchy of needs.  I think we all need to realize how lucky we are to be who we are.  The fact that I was born to who I was born to in the area I was born with the capabilities means I have access to some things that a lot of others don't.  I am able to get clean water from a faucet.  When I go to the bathroom it leaves the area I put it w/a simple flush.  I can go into my refrigerator or pantry to get food & when its out I have the convenience and means to get more at the grocery store.  If I get sick I can go to my doctor for a small co-pay & be quickly and safely treated for my illness, or if urgently ill go the emergency room.  I live in a country that I am not persecuted for my beliefs, where I can talk badly about officials and not be put in prison, and where both sexes and all races have the same rights.  I live in a home where I am able to go to sleep on a soft surface & stay warm and dry and clean from the elements.  And in life & especially in this economy I know I should be thankful for the job(s) I have.  I go on about how they're not the fields I'd like to be in when in reality I should be grateful for having one at all, nevermind two.  

I'd say that all of 4, 6, 9, 13 firmly fall on the 3rd level.  We all have our quarrels, disagreements & misunderstandings with our significant others, family & friends, but I think most of realize deep down that we still love them and always will.  I will admit to anyone (maybe not at all times)  ;-)  that I am stubborn, that I have a temper, that I can be jealous, that sometimes I don't always think with my left brain & can be irrational, but no matter what I am greatly thankful for Rich, my family (the Barradas', Meehan's, Smart's, Sweeney's, & Skinner's) & friends (old & new, online & in person, from elementary school, middle school, high school, college, Denny's, Papa Gino's Heartland Plaza, Papa Gino's Oakdale Plaza, Deluxe, Bath & Body Works, Loring Towers, and CCS) for all the do for me.  There is nothing that can replace the love & support of family (including significant others there) & friends.  I brood about how I don't get to go out & spend time with people that much, and yeah it stinks.  But, all in due time, I guess.  Lack of a legal license (see Day 16's item,) extra time w/the two jobs & hr commute, and not a whole lot of expendable income makes it tough.  That will never mean that I love any of you less.  You've been there for my good times & bad.  Hopefully more good are on the way.

7, 12, 14, 15, & 16 were just kinda random.  The window on Rich's dad's Mustang has been down & that's be a major inconvenience (w/the cold wind of November, rain & even a bit of snow) so that was a huge success when he was able to fix that.  I complain that I can buy this I want & that I want , and that I want, but I know that I do get the chance to buy some of the wants along side of the needs, just being in a materialistic society makes it hard to remember those wants I did get.  Alarm clocks was so silly, but true.  I don't know how that having a job thing would work out if they weren't invented & readily available.  I know occurrences sure shouldn't exist in that life.  And 16 was basically me just being grateful that my court case I had to take care of yesterday was cleared up with fairly minimal fines & no probation or jail time.  Kids don't drive when your license is suspended! ;-)  Oh, and 17, well see above.   :-D  No, seriously, I love getting to blog & express myself.  This is the 3rd blog I've had. I had a Xanga one, but it really turned out to be more of a diary.  I had a MySpace one, and that one became a little more like a public diary w/lots of venting.  And now this one.  Originally this was a 101 things to do in `1001 days, but w/money issues I'm thinking I'm going to find a new start date for the 1001 days and start anew.  So, for now its a mish mosh.

Love you all!  Have a happy happy Thanksgiving.

Day 1- having a warm, dry, multi-room home

Day 2- freedom & the constitution (especially the bill of rights)

Day 3- being employed. (Btw, these are in no particular order.)

Day 4- friends & family that love me.

Day 5- food on my plate (/table/pantry, etc...)

Day 6- an adorable boyfriend <3 We may have our troubles but who doesnt?

Day 7- that Rich fixed the window of the Mustang. Its up! <3

Day 8- the birth of social networking & iming

Day 9- Gato, my dad's 10 year old cat. <3 him! :-*

Day 10- My health.

Day 11- having access to clean water, safe food & healthcare

Day 12- being able to buy wants (sometimes) & not just needs.

Day 13- having unofficial therapists, tech support, etc...;-)

Day 14- paid time off (& two day work weeks!)

Day 15- alarm clocks (so I can attempt to not be late places)

Day 16- fair judges (court went as well as could be expected)

Rhyme & Reason

So, here's the deal.  I really don't understand.  I want to have faith in God.  I want there to be a fair & just & loving God.  I want the world to work in a way that people get what they deserve , both positively & negatively.  Call it karma, call it the golden rule, see Matthew 7 v12 "Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets." or even see Luke 6 v31 "And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise."  I just don't understand what the rhyme & reason of it all is. 

Rich’s mom (Linda)’s best friend, Lynne passed away this week.  She was 52 years old.  She was in now way a sick woman.  Then look at Linda who passed away in June 2008.  Minus her two year struggle with breast cancer, not a sickly person.  Then we have my parents who both passed away from heart attacks at 66 years old.   I just don’t understand how good people who took care of themselves (didn’t smoke [except Lynne], didn’t do drugs, barely to rarely drank) are taken so early.  I know these are not the first people in the world to pass away at a relatively young age.  I’m not naive.  I even realize that Jesus Christ himself died at only 33 (granted this was during Biblical ages, so its a different scale.)  I just out & out don’t understand.

It really makes me a combination of angry at God & it makes me feel like a bad luck charm. Just doesn't seem normal to have semi-major to major deaths around you so often. 

I used to do the church thing.  I used to pray EVERY morning & night.  I used to go to mass every since Saturday afternoon when I was a kid & Sunday morning when I was older.  Used to go to choir practice every single Friday night.  During Lent & Holy Week used to go to mass on Ash Wednesday, Holy Thursday, Good Friday, Easter Vigil & Easter morning.  I went to Vacation Bible School at various Protestant churches as a kid.  Went to various Protestant youth groups as a teen.  I assistant taught CCD for two years & taught my own class for two years.  I was in the church choir either singing or playing my flute from the age of 5 (adult church choir as there was no children’s choir) to 19.  I just lost the faith when I couldn’t see the reason.  Maybe I’ll be able to find the faith inside of me at some point, but whenever I get close something major like this happens again…

My New Creedo

So, I had one crazy weekend.  Between having to walk home 8 miles because I have a suspended license, being with family friends who lost their mom/wife, and losing over $350 dollars I’m more than a little shocked.
I just can’t believe how much time & effort I’ve been wasting as of lately.  I’m not going to get into it in specifics, specifics, but, quick blip in general direction of what I want to do.  I want to basically think of these things below before taking action--

· Will it make me or keep me healthy?
· Does it make my relationships stronger (Rich, family, friends?)
· Will I be proud of this action 5 mins, 5 hrs, 5 days, 5 wks, 5 months, 5 years later? Or will it be wasted time & energy OR embarrassing to look back on?
· Am I truly enjoying what I’m doing or is it just keeping me busy?
· Am I at least treading water if not moving forward financially?

Despondance & overall frustration vent

I know I have perfectionism issues. I want everything to just snap together & have the life I want not now, but yesterday. Its not that I'm afraid to work for it. I just don't know how to work smarter & not harder.
I want it all! I want to travel the world. I want to be financially comfortable (out of debt, able to pay bills & unexpected expenses without worrying, and able to spend money on enjoyable things for myself and whomever else I'd like to.) I want to feel like I'm giving back to society in a positive manner. I want to have our own home that I'm absolutely in love with. I want to have babies. I want to have a beautiful, memorable, unique (but not over the top) wedding & reception. I want to have fun & be there for friends, my family & my in-laws. I just don't feel like these things are too much to ask for, but it all just feels so out of reach. I don't know why life just won't cooperate.
I hope this doesn’t sound whiny or like I want a Stepford Wife type life.  I just want the life I’ve always wanted, and I just feel like it just isn’t happening for me & I’m just getting older & older.
I know this doesn't really fit into a 101 things to do in 1001 days blog, but I'm just irritated that I had such grand plans, but I've barely been able to do anything on the list & feel like I can't do much more w/financial constraints. Blech!

Live life to your fullest theory

This kind of goes with the general idea of my blog. Maybe I'm looking too far into this whole thing, but how does the whole "live in the moment", "live like you're dying thing" type of thing work? I mean if you're a typical citizen, that being not a celebrity or socialite that's extremely rich and doesn't have to work and doesn't have children, how does one accomplish that?

I try to be as positive as possible & plan towards the future. Sometimes my plans don't work out as life seems to get in the way. This gets incredibly frustrating as I'm sure most people can relate to. I mean I wish I could wake up in the morning, eat a delicious (but healthy) breakfast, go for a run/skate/bike in a beautiful (and friendly) neighborhood, go to my incredibly intellectually & morally fulfilling job, come home to my clean, well decorated, paid-for home, have a fabulous (and once again healthy) dinner & be able to spend my nights & weekends having fun. Not to mention having really good relationships with my signifigant other, family, in-laws, and friends. Is this a dream or is this an acheivable reality? I mean when I break it down that simply it seems like a reality, but why does it seem so hard to reach then?

Sometimes I wonder if I'm whiny & just won't work to make my life better or if I'm just destined to have the life I have...

Another part of this that I though of is life on vacation versus regular life. Do we all really have that different of lives when we're on vacation? I'm thinking not, but its so much happier then. Is it possibly to apply those differences to our day to day life?

One last note, life on paper versus what your life truly is. I have a bad habit of comparing my life how it truly is to other people's lives on paper (noteably- MySpace & Facebook.) Basically bringing myself down because I don't have my own family (married or have kids), or having bought a home of our own, or I don't have a true career, or because I haven't really traveled post-high school, or partying till the sun comes up. It makes me feel like a failure & that I haven't done anything at all. I know this isn't the case, but its so hard to seperate the facade from reality when all you see is the facade.

Cheater, cheater, pumpkin eater

So... I haven't blogged in quite a while. Wish I could say it was because of being incredibly busy working on the list. You know? Havin fun & being productive. Not quite, unfortunately.

Like I said before, December 12th I lost my full-time permanent (not working as a temp) job in Groton. The fortunate part was I had a pre-existing part-time job at Bath & Body Works in Burlington. That held us over a little bit, especially as seeing it was Christmas-time & semi-annual sale time so I got a decent amount of hours. I feel like I really busted my butt looking for a new job, but combination of the economy, and in my opinion not completing my college degree I had a hard time finding a new full-time job. At one point I was registered with twelve plus staffing agencies. I did get a temp assignment for the Citizen's Energy project from January 20th to the 28th. Citizens Energy was kind of nice because I got the feeling to a certain degree that I was a part of something good. I then worked from February 3rd to April 30th as a temp at an apartment complex in Salem. The work at the apartment complex kept me busy & I felt like I was a useful addition to their team. I then spent a very long five weeks unemployed (minus BBW) until I got a phone call to start working doing customer service for National Grid gas. I like having a job & I know I should be grateful for that. I feel like I am more than adequate at doing my job, but I do feel like I could be challenged further. I think to break it down, I need to get my butt back to college!

Our housing situation has changed dramatically as well. To make it clear I'll break it down. I was born in Hollywood, Florida. My mom, dad & I spend only a month down there until they found a home in Brooksville, Florida. I was born & raised there. Lived in the same home until I was 24. I went to the same elementary school all six years, the same middle school all three, and the same high school all four. I even went to the local community college for a few semesters. My fiance, mom, cat & I then moved up to New England. We were living with his sister for a couple of weeks until he found a job in Massachusetts. We then lived with his grandmother for about a year and a half, until we finally got our act together and saved up for our own place. We rented a cute little house of our own for about another year and half. But, then had to move back to his grandmother's house. Then for a short period of time (from April 1st to late June) we were not living at his grandmother's house, and were looking for a new place to live. We are now living in Pepperell with his dad & a roommate. Its nice as its only the four of us. The only down side is it is a distance from my two jobs. We're still working on saving for our own place (just Rich, Gato & I,) but money has been tight.

I guess I'm looking for pity from the 101 in 1001 Gods to change the end date on my 1001 days. I really haven't had a chance to do much on the list & there by lost almost 6 months aka 180 days. Wdyt?

Random progress (TasteBook, new job, etc...)

It's been a little bit since I've updated so I figured I'd take a few minutes here. The new job's going well. I can leave work having the feeling that I'm a part of something good which is obviously a good thing. The only thing I feel a smidge uneasy about is we have to finish our calls in four minutes which kind of sucks because I feel guilty cutting people off on their stories & can't really slow down on the speech that explains it all or answer too many questions. But, I've got to keep my ducks in a row. Three girls who started at the same time as I did (a week ago) have already been let go. I'll tell you that was a wake up call. I enjoy chatting with the girls that I work with & lately it's been slower so I've been able to get some reading time in. I finished The Undomestic Goddess & will probably pick up Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. I'd gotten that from Autumn for Christmas last year & read about half of it. I guess I got distracted or something happened in life that I stopped reading it. It was interesting, so that is kinda weird.
I found a wicked cool site today Tastebook where you can upload all of your recipes to it & at the point you're ready to you can buy a cookbook of your recipes. it's a binder that you can add to, too. So if you want to add more pages (that look the same) you can add more. It costs money which sucks, but it looks really nice & isn't that expensive. I had a three ring binder with my recipes in it, but it's just been hard keeping them organized & looking nice, so I think this may be a step in the right direction.
I got my belated Christmas present from Autumn. It was great by it self & the fact that it helps me with #5 & #66 on the list. She gave me three new tops & a gift card to iTunes. I was itchin to wear some new clothes, so I wore them Wednesday, Thursday & Friday of this week. In my opinion I think they looked nice & fit me well. The biggest thing I need to work on is getting more classic pieces, though & build from there with other tops & accessories. I had way too much fun shopping for songs on iTunes. I'm gettin there to building up my music collection again. I had a really good sized CD case full of CDs a few years ago, but I'm not sure if it was stolen, borrowed & never given back or lost because I don't have any of them anymore.
The water drinking is going alright. I haven't really been able to get a full 32-64 ounces in, but I am trying. The soda ban is great so far. Really the only time I miss it is with a meal, but with that & working out a little more & watching what I eat a little more I might be able to start losing a few of these pounds I'm trying to get rid of. Oh, and I finally bought a bottle of vitamins.
One other thing that popped in my head when I was grabbing the List numbers for the labels. I made a wicked baby step on the wedding planning. I was talking to one of the girls at work, Mary Kate, and we were just chatting about all kinds of stuff. Rich & my relationship came up. I told her we're engaged. I really don't do that much anymore because when I do then they ask when the wedding date is & then I have to hang my head in shame and tell them October 1st, 2011. It just sounds sill because it's so far away. But, she was cool with that and then she asked if we had any details about it. I told her that I had always since I was a little girls wanted to have a beach wedding, but since moving up here & seeing the beaches I kind of rethought that idea because they're quite different than what I'm used to. After our first fall here that sealed the deal. The foliage is gorgeous. I was kind of still holding out hope for water near a foliage ful area. At my last job one of my customers brought me to their company website
& I adored it. Well, I made the mistake at one point of telling some of the girls at work this & then they asked me if I'd been there, and once again I had to hang my head in shame and say no, not yet. Well, Mary Kate put my worries aside a bit by telling me she's been there & it is GORGEOUS, so that made me pretty happy.
Oh...and I joined the

(details are here
) &

so maybe that'll help me keep on track with a lil community support. The new book on docket is

and you can read the cover flaps here. Just for reference the last book was

& here's a lil synopsis
of that.

Baby steppin

In the words of Bob Wiley, baby steppin, baby steppin, I'm doin the work. Im' not a slacker.  I haven't been able to "check off" that many items on my list this week, but then again it's 101 Things To Do In 1001 Days not 30.  I mean in reality this list is about self improvement of my quality of life.  Basically I'd say my list is split up into 3 categories

1.  a regular to do list of not so fun things (legalities, financial, home, pets)
2. things that are classically fun (my relationship with Rich, fun for fun sake)
3. in between (health & appearance, mental health and well being and intellectual furthering, cooking)
   

Like I said in my post Prioritization
I worry about money a lot. I mean a lot. I think a lot of it comes from guilt from past financial irresponsibility. I mean I wasn't really that bad, I just wasn't good, and I don't want to fall into those habits again. I've learned a lot from Money Matters message board
, and as my List shows I like Dave Ramsey\'s 7 Baby Steps
. Anyway the point of bringing that up was that I get wicked guilty when I spend money on things that aren't necessary (bills, groceries, gas, debt reduction, savings.) But, hopefully w/my new job (more about that in a minute) and not having so many payroll deductions like I had at Deluxe we'll be able to make progress and I'll feel okay with spending $ on some fun stuff, too.
I haven't been doing half bad w/flossing. I fell off the wagon a bit when I started work & am only at 64% success rate, but it should be okay. I've hard a few times that if you do something 30 days in a row it becomes a habit, so I'd say that first 30 days are the hardest and then it should be cake.
Bonus on my water drinking goal. I forgot that we had bought a replacement filter for the PUR water pitcher we have. So, that's one less thing I have to buy. I would still like to get a cute 32 oz water bottle. This one is so cute Victoria\'s Secret watter bottle. I hate the color pink, but I like the little motivational benchmarks on it like "Hey have a sip" on the top & "Drink Up Baby" almost on the bottom. But, until then I've been doing good at home & I'm going to try and find the lid to my favorite Starbux travel mug. It's silver sparkly & cute, but not too girly.
Drinking more water should hopefully make the soda ban (for two weeks ) easier. I even have a worksheet on my workbook for that. lol I'm starting today & it's ends conveniently on the last day of the month.
I finished Swapping Lives. Most of it was pretty good, but it got a bit whiny towards the end of their swaps, and wrapped up a little quick. I started book #2 of the 32 that i'm going for. The Undomestic Goddess by Sophie Kinsella. Jane Green & Sophie Kinsella are pretty much my two favorite authors. They're both pretty much the same genre. I know I really need to broaden my horizons, though. But, I've got 30 more books to go, plus the 5 banned books, 5 from the New York Times Bestseller List, and 5 classics, so I think I should be good.
We used our gift cards that we got from Rich's grandmother for Christmas to Outback. I'm going to count this as our weekly date week. It was delish as usual. I have Phantom Gourmet\'s Guide To Boston\'s Best Restaurants book and I bought Rich the 2009 Entertainment Book for Christmas, and we've used a couple coupons out of the Entertainment book, but to be honest I think the only place we've been to out of the the Phantom Gourmet Guide is The Melting Pot and Fuddrucker's. Both not intentionally for the purpose of checking out restaurants in the book. The Melting Pot we went to for Rich's 25th birthday. I'd been to one of their franchises in Orlando with my friend, Steph, and her mom and her friend when we went on vacation to her timeshare back in 2003 (incidentally my last vacation.) I loved it all three courses. When I went with Rich it was good, but way too filling. I almost felt sick with how much I ate. You can't exactly get a to-go box. Fuddrucker's I'd never been to before. They had one in Tampa, but for some reason I'd never made it. We went to the one in Methuen on a whim. It's pretty darn good. A little on the pricey side for a burger and fry place, though.
The "Get a Job" item should be in some mid color between green & red, maybe yellow or something. I have a job, but it's only a temporary assignment. It's for five weeks. I'm actually pretty proud of it, though. Its The Citizens Energy Oil Heat Program or as some call it the Joe For Oil Program. Joe Kennedy, of The Kennedys (he's Bobby Kennedy's son) is a big part in this program that is grant funded to help those in need. It's a one time delivery of 100 gallons of oil. It doesn't seem like a difficult job, but it seems like it should actually have intrinsic instead of just financial rewards to the corporation I work for.
Anyhow, speaking of work, I've gotta weather the storm & get to BBW (Bath & Body Works.) The roads are apparently horrible, but it's time & a half.

Progress or lack there of on the list

So...today's the nine year anniversary of my dad passing away.  I always feel kind of weird about it.  I've always wanted to do something simple on the day to mark it, but not make a big deal of it.  I can't ever put my finger on what to do, though.  For me it, along with my mom's anniversary, my birthday & New Year's, always turn out to be a reflection on where my life is now & where I think (or where I think my mom & dad would want it to be & if they'd be proud of me if they were still here.)  I think that my list is a good way towards meeting my own expectations for myself, and what I believe my parents expectations were of me.  

I feel bad that this post is kind of a downer, but what do you expect?  Other than this post this blog has stayed pretty positive & I've enjoyed seeing & feeling that.  I had a blog on Xanga a long time ago, but no one was subscribed to it so it was more like a diary and kind of turned into a fill-in session to a really good friend of me who did actually follow it.  I've also blogged on MySpace, but a lot of the time when I look back they're very mopey & negative.  I'm really trying to look towards the future & make actions to make myself a better person.  I've also been struggling hard with comparing myself to others.  MySpace and Facebook can be a great tool to keep in contact with long lost friends & acquaintances, but it also can lead to lots of comparing yourself to others' online personas.  I know that everyone has had a different journey to where they're at, and that profile's aren't usually a 100% snapshot of a person's life and that if anything's going to be left out it would be the negative parts.  I guess I've just become more & more overly honest & open about my life and my feelings.

Anyhow, yeah...so I've so far succeeded with #8 (Flossing Daily) and I've been working on #22 (Reading...)  I've thought about #16 (attempt to give blood), but my diet hasn't been the best lately and I want to make sure I've had a quality meal before I go to maybe not pass out.  My dad was a multi-gallooneer, and I always wanted to give that gift as well.  The first year I was able to I tried.  We had a semi-annual blood drive at my high school.  I passed out.  First time in my life I'd fainted.  I tried again my senior year and same thing.  I've actually fainted just having blood taken for a blood test.  I'm not a squeamish person, or afraid of needles, nor am I anemic or anything of the such.  I have had blood taken for blood tests & when I had my bone marrow typed for a drive, and I did not pass out.  My guess is it's actually watching the blood come out.

Moving on, though.  I should be getting a pretty decent check Friday, so I'm going to get a few things to help with the list (a Brita filter for the pitcher we have, a BPA free bottle, more SuperFloss, some multi-vitamins, maybe some more music on iTunes, probably set some $ aside for the legalities section, probably go to play pool, and maybe work on wardrobe/lil black dress/workout clothes.)

Charting out the 101 things to do in 1001 days list

So, here we go.  I made a chart with the dates from Wednesday, January 7th, 2009 to Wednesday, October 5th, 2011 for the "A Habit" section, and saved it on my desktop (I have a very clutterfree desktop.)  So, basically I'm going to open the file every morning as a reminder of my goals & by the end of the night hopefully w/a little work be able to mark that I completed the goal for the day (drinking 64 fl. ozs., flossing, vitamins.)  I also included the aerobic workout and cleaning the house, but to make it easier for myself chart wise I have it daily, but made my "yellow line" 57%.  Meaning if I complete the goal less than 57% of the time I'm in trouble.  I also made a chart for going to the salon every other month, but that has only 15 months, so that was a bit easier on the eyes.  I also have a pie chart to the left of the date chart.  They say that doing something consistently for 30 days makes a habit.

So, far what I have started is, "#5- work on acquiring a classic wardrobe for work", "#8- floss regularly", "#22- read at least 1 book a month", "#45- get a job", and "#66- work on my iTunes library."  

#5- was started technically a little earlier than the beginning of the 101 project as I went shopping on Monday January 5th, after work.  I got a FABULOUS pair of black pants and pair of jeans.  Lane Bryant has a sizing system that's works with your hip to waist ratio.  Yellow is slightly curvy to straight, with little to no curve from the waist to the hips, red have moderate curves, and blue are curvy with small waists and fullest at the hips.  I fall into the yellow, which works because their pants fit my waist, hips/butt (or lack thereof), and legs (kind of, I mean it could still be tighter to fit correctly.)  I also got my first blazer.  It's black with tiny pink pinstripes.  I'm not really one for pink, but you can barely tell & the cut looks great on me.  I picked up a few more little pieces, a white tanktop, a new belt, a cute lil red top, and a fantastic bra.  I actually learned something in the process, too.  Did you know you're supposed to wear nude under light not white under light?  Yeah, and it works too.  

#8- I've been lax on.  Sometimes I floss, sometimes I don't.  I'm not consistent.  But, 1 day down, 29 to go to stick, right?

#22- Well...this one I also kind of cheated on.  I bought my first book of 2009 & the project on Dec. 7th, and started reading it on January 2nd.  It's not heavy reading by any means.  It's Swapping Lives by Jane Green, my favorite author.  It's brit chick lit at it's finest.  Okay maybe not necessarily at it's finest, but I like it.  It's not trashy, but it isn't deep either.  I think it still counts toward the one book a month goal.

#45- I'm making headway on.  I lost my job December 10th.  Since that date & even a little before I've been hardcore looking for a job.  I do not want to go back to retail or restaurants again.  So, I posted my resume on a few job searching sites, applied to a few random postings, and registered with a couple staffing agencies.  Okay, so a couple is technically seven.  I got some great feedback & critique on my resume at the staffing agency I went to in Boston last week.  I got a call yesterday afternoon about an temporary assignment in Andover.  It's only a little over five weeks long, but still it'll pay the bills.

#66- Rich had bought me a iTunes gift card not long after Christmas, but I hadn't been able to redeem it as my iTunes/QuickTime was being a pain in the butt.  Luckily my brother is a whiz with computers and was able to help me uninstall, and reinstall QuickTime and make sure that iTunes was good to go.  So, I added fifteen more songs to my library.  Yea!!!

I'd say I'm getting there little by little.  I have 1001 days afterall.

Prioritizing the 101 things to do in 1001 days list

So...I finished the list.  A good amount was just fresh on my brain or on other lists I had previously made.  Some of it I was inspired by from other people's 101 in 1001 Lists that were online.  It wasn't necessarily stolen or not something I would ordinarily want to do.  101 is just a lot of things, that's all.  

Anyhow, here's the list prioritized into three categories.  I still need to break down the "Something that needs work to Complete" list into even smaller more planned out goals.  The "One shot goal (just need to make a date)" goals we need to save $ for and make dates for.  And lastly the "A Habit" goal takes the least preplanning, but I know will be the hardest to acheive.  

I'm really looking forward to working on the list.  The only thing I'm afraid of is being able to accomplish some of the fun things & things just for me (or for me and Rich or for me and my other relationships) without pushing forward the date on the financial goals (having our own place, getting out of debt, having an e-fund, helping to  take care of Grammy's house, and taking care of the house in Florida.)  I'm really hoping if I put my mind to it, plan things out well, and stay postive not only will 2009 be a great year so will 2010 & 2011.  :-D

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A habit

Try to drink at least 64 oz. of h2o a day.
Get to the salon every other month.
Get an aerobic workout at least 4x a week.
Floss regularly
Take vitamins daily.
Be consistent on house cleaning and not letting it pile up.

One shot goal (just need to make a date)

Attempt to donate blood.
Attempt to donate platelets
Color my hair a different color.
Have professional pictures taken of us.
Go on a hot air balloon ride.
Go to a drive in movie.
Go to a bed & breakfast.
Go stargazing.
Go on a picnic.
Take a first aid class
Throw a house warming party for ourselves.  ;-)
Backup data on my computer.
Cook carne vino daas for Christmas morning.
Meetup with Autumn.
Carve a jack o' lantern.
Buy a BPA free water bottle & water filter system
Buy a little black dress.
Make a non-Christmas Eve or Day date to spend time with specific friends and family for the holidays.
Renew my passport (uh, oh.  Or possibly get a new one completely if it may have expired.)
Go to the zoo.
Go to a comedy club.
Play miniature golf.
No t.v. one night a month. (0/32)
Try 3 new beers. (0/3)
Try 3 new wines (0/3)
Have one night a week that is a "date night" either out or in. (0/143)
See all of the films listed on the AFI's Top 100 American Films of the 20th Century (0/100)
Make my first holiday dinner (a whole turkey or something of the like.)
Everytime I cross off a goal, I put $2 into a fund to do as I wish.
After buying a home get either a pug, a husky or both
At the end of the 1001 days for any goals I have not completed I'm going to donate $2.
On Day 1001, publish a new 101 Things in 1001 Days list.
Get my right tragus pierced.
Make it to Lowell Winterfest.
Make it to Lowell Folk Festival.
Make it to Lowell Summer Music Festival.
Get a massage.
Go to Niagara Falls
Go to Six Flags
Play tennis
Play pool.
Get a tattoo
When in FL see a sunrise on the beach and a sunset on the beach on the same day.
When in FL go to the Salvador Dali museum
Go to a play.
Go to a concert (seperate from any of the Lowell Festivals or Hampton Beach summer series.)
Make a list of 101 things that bring me joy
Organize at least 1 girls night out.
Put coins in an expired meter for someone else.
Make a snowman.

Something that needs work to complete

Drop at least 3 dress sizes
Get my cholesterol to a healthy level.
Get my blood pressure to a healthy level.
Work on acquiring a classic wardrobe for work
Run a mile
Run 3 miles.
Run 10 miles.
Run a charity run for heart disease research
Run a charity run for breast cancer research.
Swear off soda for 2 weeks.
Finish my associate's degree (maybe even with honors)
Balance my free time between
-time for me
-time with Rich
-time with my family
-time with Rich's family
-time with friends
Read at least 1 book a month (0/32)
Read 5 classic novels (0/5)
Read 5 books from the current year's New York Times Bestseller List. (0/5)
Read 5 banned books. (0/5)
Plan out Christmas plans plenty early enough
-Christmas cards photo taken, ordered, written & mailed
-gifts bought, wrapped & shipped (if shipping applicable)
-house cleaned a lil extra & decorated
Memorize a poem
Start planning our wedding.
Pay off tickets to get my license back.
Work with Rich to pay off his tickets to get his license back.
Fix my car to pass inspection.
Fix Rich's car to pass inspection.
Pay all excise taxes for both of us.
Get a job.
Work on steps 1-3 of The Seven Steps to Financial Freedom
-#1- $1,000 to start an Emergency Fund
-#2- Pay off all debt using the Debt Snowball
-#3- 3 to 6 months of expenses in savings
Have a fully funded holiday fund.
After finished with the Baby Steps 1-3 & the wedding's complete start saving towards a down payment for a home.
Move into & decorate our own apartment on our own.
Help work on fixing up Grammy's house.
Work on updating the Lancewood house
Everytime I cross off a goal, I put $2 into a fund to do as I wish.
Vacation to Florida.
Keep Gato up to date with his vet check ups.
Keep all 4 animals on flea medication.
Work on advancing my skills including
-traditional meals (mashed potatoes, pot roast, meatloaf, steak)
-desserts (homemade pie, homemade cookies)
Vacation (maybe something all inclusive or a cruise)
Scrapbook more
Work on my iTunes library
Work on the family tree more.
Spend more time at Hampton Beach during the summer.
Try to see as many New England beaches as possible.
Get to know Boston.
-see the typical tourist spots
-get to know it as a native
Buy some sheet music and pick up the flute again.
Go through my MySpace, Facebook & MSN contacts/"friends" and either contact these people or delete 'em.
Go to as many state and national parks & museums as possible.
Use the 2009 Entertainment book I bought Rich for Christmas in 2008 as much as possible & buy another one in the years following.
Learn how to change a tire.

Intro to 101 things to do in 1001 days list

So...here we go it's January and January means resolution time for most people in Western society.  I've made resolutions for years.  I mean pretty much as long as I've known what a resolution was, and had the cognitive thought process to better myself.  But, as with what I can only take as "most" people they never seem to stick.  I think New Year's Resolutions by name are doomed to failure.  We get all hyped up maybe at the earliest at the end of December and lose our steam by I'd say March at the very latest.

I've personally been a huge list maker for a long time, too.  Some things get completed, some things don't.  I don't feel like I really follow through with my goals as much as I should.  

The Day Zero Project seems like a huge jump in that direction, but as long as baby steps are taken & it's done for me it can't hurt to try, right?

My usual mantra is to make my time not at work or school to be used either doing something productive or fun, so that's what I'm going with this, too.  As long as I'm working on a fun or productive project that's all that really matters, right?

So...here we go on my list makin.