101 Things in 1001 Days List #3

Here is my third list of 101 Things in 1001 Days. I did a list many years ago but didn't publish it anywhere. So this is my third try. I am pretty happy with this list - I should be able to complete most of the items on it.

Start Date: October 1, 2020
End Date: June 29, 2023

Spiritual

• Do an “Old Testament Survey” type of study
• Read the New Testament in two weeks
• Complete a whole devotional book
• Write down an attribute of God for every letter of the alphabet

Home/Organization

• Basement organized, everything on shelves
• Redo the hall closet
• Remodel bedroom-comforter, paint, decor, window treatment
• Take shelf down in The Room and replace it with something else
• Set up a Pinterest board for every room in the house
• Do 5 small home improvement projects (ex. plants, kitchen towels, artwork, etc)

Knitting/Crochet/Sewing

• Learn to knit English and do 2 color knitting
• Knit 3 Mother Bears
• Dye my bare Knit Picks yarn
• Knit 2 hats for charity and give them away along with all the other hats you still haven’t donated
• Sew an apron for myself and for my sisters and daughters
• Sew a shirt
• Sew a pair of lounge pants
• Host a craft day here
• Complete a small cross stitch project including framing or other way to display

Entertainment

• Watch Pride and Prejudice
• Go to a movie at the theater
• Go bowling
• Listen to 5 songs each by 5 classical composers
• Play a game with family or anyone for 7 days straight

Books/Reading

• Read a book in one day
• Ask 5 people their favorite book and read them
• Read 3 books of 500+ pages
• Have an all day reading day (minimum 8 hours)
• Read all 8 books mentioned in Eight Perfect Murders then read that book (can DNF any you don’t like including EPM)
• Read a book randomly pulled off a library shelf
• Read the entire catalog of one author
• Join a book club or literary society
• Participate in “Middle Grade March” - read at least one middle grade per week in the month of March (any year of this list)

Fashion/Beauty

• Try Stitch Fix
• Get highlights in my hair again

Family/Children

• Do a Lifebook for Lindsey and Allison
• Put together journals for Ben, Lindsey, and Allison
• Finish Lindsey’s 100 Good Wishes Quilt and scrapbook
• Finish Allison’s 100 Good Wishes Quilt and scrapbook. (need more wishes?)

Exercise

• Bike ride with Jay
• Get 50,000 steps in one day
• Walk a 10K
• Play tennis with someone (or a family tennis marathon?)

Food

• Have a smoothie every day for a week
• Eat a whole meal with chopsticks
• Make Sour Soup

Places to Go

• Snowshoeing.
• Drive-in movie
• Wisconsin State Fair
• Lake Geneva cruise with Jay
• LaCrosse
• Go to 3 libraries you’ve never been to
• Visit a national park
• Travel to a state I’ve never been to
• Go on a walk on the trail in Hortonville
• Visit 3 new cities

To Buy

• Jean jacket
• An old Bible at an antique store or thrift store
• A new puzzle
• A new wallet
• A new purse
• A new sewing machine
• Something to display my pencil collection
• New glasses

To Learn

• Learn to play a ukulele (minimum 3 songs reasonably well)
• Learn CPR
• Learn to play a new classic card game like bridge or sheepshead
• Learn a new song on the piano and be able to play it well
• Read a children’s book in German
• Complete a word puzzle book
• Take ballroom dancing lessons with Jay
• Be able to identify every country in the world

Miscellaneous

• Write a letter to myself by 10/14/20 to open when this is over (June 29, 2023)
• Write a letter to myself by 10/14/20 to open in 10 years (October 1, 2030)
• Write a letter to myself on January 1, 2021 to read on December 31, 2021
• Write a letter to myself on January 1, 2022 to read on December 31, 2022
• Take a day out for myself
• Save $50 in change
• Host an all day Game Day
• Host a Soup Party
• Volunteer somewhere
• Do a Random Act of Kindness (send someone flowers, leave $ somewhere, pick up trash, give someone baked goods, etc.)
• Use all gift cards
• Make a Chester photo book
• Get a professional family portrait done
• Go one week without spending (not including bills)
• Sleep until noon
• Make an Advent Calendar
• Try geocaching or letterboxing
• Spend a day going to garage sales
• Play Kick the Can
• Memorize the Gettysburg Address
• Sell homeschool books
• Leave a book and take a book at a neighborhood “library”
• Finish yarn puzzle
• Do dog puzzle
• Declutter 100 items in one week
• Take a family selfie once a month for a year
• Finish a Sudoku puzzle
• Rock painting with my sisters
• Go ziplining

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Close to half of the items were on my previous list, either word for word or some form of it. Making Lifebooks, journals, and 100 Good Wishes Quilts have been on all 3 lists! They're big projects that I just haven't taken the time to do (though they're all partially done). I hope to at least make some good progress on them!

I already finished 3 of the items. I finished the letter to myself to open at the end of the 1001 days (#73), and the letter to myself to open in 10 years (#74). I also had a Soup Party (#80) on Saturday for Allison's birthday. It was fun, I'll do it again. I made Creamy Carrot Soup and Potato/Broccoli/Corn Chowder; Kathy made chicken noodle; and Ginny made Cheesy Broccoli.

I have started working on:

• #4 Write down an attribute of God for every letter of the alphabet.
• #9 Set up a Pinterest board for every room in the house
• #23 Listen to 5 songs each by 5 classical composers.
• #29 Read all 8 books mentioned in Eight Perfect Murders then read that book
• (can DNF any you don’t like including EPM)
• #70 Complete a word puzzle book.
• #72 Be able to identify every country in the world.
• #78 Save $50 in change.
• #95 Finish yarn puzzle.

OOPS!

Ooops how quickly I forget. I forgot about this blog! I suppose it's because I haven't really been working on any of my 101 Things goals, though I HAVE been working on what to put on my new list. I think my current list is as done as it's going to get. It is over on Monday, my birthday!

Going forward, I'm ONLY going to have my 101 Things list. It's too much to have 20 in 2020 or monthly goals - while I love lists I can only juggle so much! :-)

So......updates since I last wrote.....

We did join the CSA and got our weekly delivery for 4 weeks. We really enjoyed it - the strawberries and peaches were delicious, and we enjoyed the other veggies too for the most part. Four weeks was long enough for us though.

I don't think I finished any other goals. So I'm calling it done. I completed 48 goals (almost half! so not too bad but could be better). I made progress on 10 goals, and didn't even start 43 goals.A few on that last category I have no desire to do anymore.  I'll try to improve this on my next list. I'm making a note to myself that halfway through the 101 days I can change up to 5 goals. I'll only do this if any of the goals become impossible to do or I really really REALLY don't want to do them anymore. :-)

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I'm hoping to update this monthly again once I start my new list on October 1.

CHANGES

I was going to redo my 20 in 2020 list and I got to thinking......why do I even have that list when I already have my 101 Things in 1001 Days list. If I'm going to have one or the other, I'd rather have the 101 things. So I'm going to scrap my 20 in 2020 list (a few of the items on the list are also on the other list anyway) and focus on the 101 things. That list expires at the end of September. So anything that was on my 20 in 2020 list that isn't on my 101 things list, I will put on my new 101 things list. 

I have also lost motivation for my monthly goals! I failed at May's goal, and I have no desire to do June's goal which is writing down everything I eat (maybe because I'm not eating very healthy, hmmmm?). I might just try to do it once a week, or I might scrap it. I need to get myself back into a "eating right" mindset. Right now I just don't have it. I'm just accepting that for now.

I'm working on doing other German language learning things instead of Duolingo which I did for over 500 days straight. I finished all the levels there and while I could go back and review, I'm ready for something new. But I really want to finish my "Read a children's book in German" goal from my 101 things before it expires. I also downloaded an app to learn how to play bridge, I'm hoping to get that goal checked off. I know better than to think I'm going to get a lot of goals done this summer but I'll try to do a few anyway. I can probably do the "leave a book/take a book from a neighborhood library" this summer, and maybe a few more. I'm going to be happy with that, but I'm hoping to make my next 101 things list much more doable.

End of ramble to myself.....ha ha. 

END OF MAY UPDATE

101 Things in 1001 Days

Completed:

Read the main Bible events chronologically - finished mid-May

In progress:

Join a CSA - still waiting to hear back from them if they will be doing an Appleton drop this year. They will refund my money if not.

That's it. :-)

20 in 2020

What I did do: I am well on my way to reading 75 books (read 50 so far) and 9 of them have been on audio. I planted the Christmas basil I got from Lynn and the herbs I got from Kathy, still have to plant them outside but I consider these 2 goals done. So I completed 4 things so far.

That said, I'm going to totally redo this list. First of all my tendonitis (better but not gone) might prevent me from finishing the two knitting goals and the goal to learn 3 songs on the ukulele, depending on when I start knitting again. The Covid-19 restrictions prevent me (or will probably prevent me depending on when and how much the restrictions are lifted) from volunteering somewhere, going on a Lake Geneva cruise and to LaCrosse with Jay. It's possible I can do those things but it's up in the air. So I'm going to redo the list and start fresh in June. I might still have a knitting goal on the list and change 3 songs to 1 song on the ukulele.

MONTHLY HEALTH GOALS

The goal was to eat 5 servings of vegetables every day. I thought this would be easy, it was not! Well some days it was easy, other days not so much. I started out writing what I ate every day and lost motivation and stopped doing it. It did open my eyes to see I don't eat as many vegetables as I thought. Some days I ate more than 5 servings but most days I probably ate fewer than 5. So even though I didn't accomplish this goal, it did accomplish something and I will continue to try to eat more veggies.

Looking ahead to June.....

I doubt it will happen but I'd like to get the desk area organized in our bedroom. I think it WILL get done before the end of the year but maybe not before my 101 Things list expires on 9/28 and probably not in June but I'll leave this here anyway.

Jay and I have been watching The Crown; maybe I can get him to watch Pride and Prejudice with me, otherwise I'll try to watch it alone in June.

I have an app for learning bridge, I'm going to try to get started on that.

I could also do the "take a book/leave a book" from a neighborhood library in June.

I was almost going to add a few more but I need to be realistic. I will probably spend most of June reading books on the deck. :-)

END OF APRIL UPDATE

101 Things in 1001 Days


Completed:
92.Convert video tapes to DVD - I sent them in on Friday, May 1 so I just have to wait for them to come back, so DONE! Finally!

In Progress:
#4 Read the main Bible Events chronologically I'm still doing this almost every day and will definitely be done before the end of May.

#48 Join a CSA We signed up for one but it is tentative, if they get enough people in the Appleton area.

So not as much progress as I would like, I 'd really like to start knocking some of these things off the list! I definitely have more time in my days due to the Corona virus but on the other hand there are quite a few things I can't do while we are supposed to be "social distancing".

Monthly Health Goals

I made April's goal pretty easy - do 10 squats every other day using my exercise ball (the exercises the PT gave me for my back which I no longer do ooops. Anyway I had no problem accomplishing this.

May's goal is to eat 5 servings of veggies per day. That should be fairly easy but I will have to be diligent to make sure i eat enough.


20 in 2020

I read ELEVEN! books in April including 4 on audio so I'll have no problem reaching my goal of 75 books for the year (I've currently read 34 books). I also sewed 3 face masks though I don't plan to wear one unless they make me. I made the first one for Ben to wear at Biolife and he said it works good.


Looking ahead to May:

I plan to get my 5 herb garden plants potted and also plant the Christmas Basil. I'm looking over my 101 Things list and I just don't feel motivated to do any of it right now. But maybe that will change. I can't do so many of the things because of the stay at home order. But we'll see what the summer holds. I have until the end of September to do things! I won't even be close to finishing the whole list but it's fun anyway. I plan to do another one shortly after this one is finished and try to put a few more easily doable things on it.

END OF MARCH UPDATE

March sure was a crazy one with the corona virus! I didn't really get much at all done on any of my lists.

101 Things in 1001 Days

Completed:

Not a thing

In progress:

• #4: Read the main Bible events chronologically (I do this almost every day, another week or so in the Old Testament then on to the new. This might take me into summer yet.)
• #92: Convert video tapes to DVD: Allison and I watched parts of all the tapes to make sure I want to have each one converted; now I just have to send them in somewhere but it's so expensive! But I need to do it. 

I just can't seem to find the motivation to do many of the things left on the list. Plus many of them I *can't* do because of the corona virus restrictions.

Monthly Health Goals

March's goal was "No caffeine" (initially also "no alcohol" but since I hardly ever have it I didn't see the need to give it up for a month. I had a glass or two of champagne at Mike and Melanie's house earlier in the month and a glass of wine with Jay near the end of the month). I thought I would try drinking tea for the month and I bought 3 different kinds from Fava Tea but I didn't care for it. So I just had decaf coffee all month, I just couldn't give up coffee completely! I didn't feel any different (better or worse) being off caffeine all month, and I did drink regular coffee on March 31 only because I ran out of decaf and I wasn't going to buy more for one month.


20 in 2020

Other than reading a lot I'm not doing much from this list. Again some of it I can't do right now due to the corona virus. I did try to do the Real Food Mini Challenge. I did good for week one which was have at least 2 servings of fruit/vegetables at each meal. The second week was easy, no fried food or fast food since I hardly eat that anyway. And then I lost motivation and haven't done the rest. So I'll be replacing that one with something else when I edit the list in June.


Looking ahead to April:

These are things I might try to do:

• Eat vegan for one week
• Learn a new song on the piano and be able to play it well
• Send my video tapes in to be converted to DVD
• Start my herb garden
• Sew a mask or project bag
• Find a small storage unit online (small dresser maybe) to put in my bedroom by the window

Find out at the end of April is I actually do any of them!

END OF FEBRUARY UPDATE

101 Things in 1001 Days

In progress:

• Read the main Bible events chronologically. (Not quite half done, still in the Old Testament)
• Basement organized into tubs and shelves. (I've spent quite a bit of time the past few weeks organizing the basement. Everything has been organized but we still need to get some sort of shelving to put it all away)
• Sell ALL homeschool books and redo hall closet. (Hall closet has been decluttered but same as basement, need to figure out how to arrange things and decide what to keep in that closet and what to put elsewhere. Tried to sell a few homeschool books on Facebook Marketplace with no success (have tried several times before, also with no success. I think whatever I don't sell by the end of summer/beginning of fall I will donate somewhere)

Probably won't do before the 1001 days is up:

• Read Knitter’s Life List, checking off boxes and filling in lists as you go (Not enough time to complete this)
• Get a facial (expensive!)
• Watch all remaining episodes of Call the Midwife (way too many left to finish especially since we rarely watch TV but we will keep watching)
• Do a Lifebook for Lindsey and Allison. (will take time and focused work on this and I feel I don't have the brain power these days!)
• Put together journals for Ben, Lindsey, and Allison.Finish Lindsey’s 100 Good Wishes Quilt and scrapbook (same reason as doing the Lifebooks)
• Finish Allison’s 100 Good Wishes Quilt and scrapbook. (again, will take tons of time and I think I need more wishes)
• Snowshoeing (considering the the snow is already melting and this ends in September, I probably won't get to this. But you never know since this is Wisconsin after all and I'm sure we'll get at least one more snow storm. However I don't feel like doing winter things anymore, I want spring!)
• Milwaukee Bucks game (tickets got way too expensive this year with how well the Bucks are playing but I hope to go to a game next season)
• Anything involving knitting due to my tendonitis
• I won't get all the day long things done (Craft Day, Game Day, Soup Party) but I hope to do at least one of those.

Monthly Health Goals

February's goal was to eat less than 10g of sugar per day. This was easier than I thought it would be but still challenging. I only "cheated" twice - once we went out to dinner with the Macys and I got pancakes with syrup and we came back here and had gourmet cupcakes that Lindsey bought for us - I only ate half at least :-). The second time was when we went to Mike and Melanie's house and we had some sweets and I gave myself a pass that day. Okay, technically I "cheated" one more time but it was after supper on the last day of February, we went to Paradise Island and got ice cream. But I decided I did so well all month that I could end it a few hours early. :-)

For March I am going to change it to just no caffeine; I don't drink that much alcohol anyway. I'm still doing intermittent fasting and less than 10g of sugar every day as much as possible but I'm not worrying about not doing it here and there.

20 in 2020

Honestly I haven't given much thought to this list. It was a busy month of appointments and other things. I'm working on the Real Food Mini Challenge and of course I'm always reading.

Also, I heard this suggestion somewhere, that in June you can change 2 of your 20 goals to something else. I like this idea because sometimes things change and you're not able to complete a goal or two (such as my limited knitting time at the moment)

Looking ahead to March:

I started the Real Food Mini Challenge (which is on both my 101 Things List and the 20 in 2020 list) on March 2. So far so good....

• Week 1: 2 servings of fruits/vegetables every meal
• Week 2: No deep fried or fast food (that will be easy, I hardly eat any of that anyway)
• Week 3: No artificial ingredients (should also be relatively easy but we'll see)
• Week 4: No refined sweeteners (ack! even though i'm doing good with <10g of sugar per day, this is NO sugar, not sure if I can do it)
• Week 5: 5-Ingredient rule (should be relatively easy
• Week 6: 100% whole grain (a little more difficult but doable)