A foot and some bowling balls.

One of my goals on my "101 in 1001" was to get out more. Sadly, even though the time was up in September, I have not updated my 101 and therefore failed to reach my goals. However, on the upside...I did reach many of the actual listed goals including the one to get out more. The actual listed goals that pertain to getting out (and their results) are as follows:

66. Get out of the house at least one of my days off. (Quit being such a homebody.)

I really did quit being such a homebody, although I still crave staying at home over going out. Changing to dayshift sent much of this goal into hyperdrive as people in my life realized I was now available for social activities. I started out keeping to myself, then started getting out more, then crawled halfway back into my shell. So I do get out much more than I did, but still not as much as I could. It's a nice compromise.


67. Go to my friends's houses instead of always expecting them to come here.

I'm doing better at this. Really I am. Sort of.


68. Go shopping at least once a month.

Hahahahahaha....I can barely go grocery shopping once a month. I do get gas every week if that counts. I seriously hate shopping and online shopping does not help me meet this goal at all. LOL. Fail.


69. Remember my friends's birthdays and actually get them something.

Gosh, I suck at this.


70. See more of my grandchildren by going to their houses more often. (they don't live close.)

I'm doing pretty good with this one. It helps that I now have weekends off. I no longer have to plan and take flex time to spend time with the grandkids. This has helped tremendously and it's nice to be able to go get Trenton more than once in awhile, which means I also go get Isaac and sometimes Logan.


71. Travel to Oregon to meet my online friend.

I never did this. I did however take a trip with my friend Chris and while on our trip we did stop in to meet a mutual online friend that lives in Idaho.


75. Go to see the Grand Canyon.

On a later list I changed this to "Go to visit Chris in Saskatchewan, because I knew I was really going to get to do that and wasn't sure that I could fit both of those goals into 1001 days. (for expense reasons) But guess what? I did! Chris came down to visit me this year and we took a road trip that included two goals on this section of the list...Highway 101 and going to the Grand Canyon and we also got Route 66 in on the deal! SWEET!


76. Take a trip from Laurie's to New York.

Because of all my other trips, I haven't gone back to Maryland. I will have to put that on my new list when I make it. So that is a Fail.


77. Actually do the tourist thing when I'm at Laurie's and go see the
museums in Washington, D.C.

See above answer.


78. Visit Jen and Jay.

I so wanted to visit Jen and Jay while they were in Germany. Alas, they didn't stay there long enough. Now they are in Korea. I failed at this one, but I might be able to go visit while they are still in Korea. I will probably put that on my new list.


79. Drive Highway 101 down the coast again.

I did this (with Chris) and I have pictures which I will eventually post. I promise.


80. Take (or work on) a cruise.

Can you believe it? I did this one too. I took a cruise rather than get a job on one. It was a trains, planes, automobiles and ship year.

So there you have it. Some goals met. Some not. Oh...and here is the foot and the bowling balls. These pictures were taken on a day trip that I took with my friend, Becky, over to Point Defiance and the waterfront. These were at a little plant nursery in North Tacoma. The guy had these bowling balls all through his outdoor nursery, which was a little neglected, but interesting in many ways. So now you know what to do with your old bowling ball...make it lawn decor.

Do I want to fly?

This site was called to my attention today. I'm wondering if I want to try it or just keep doing my one hour a day plan. My plan works pretty similar to hers but maybe it would be nice to have the group motivation angle. I wonder if maybe I should change my plan to 15 minutes a day or 30 minutes a day. Some days, out of the three hours I set as a goal in my plan, I can only do one or two. There are various reasons for this.
For instance:
Today I didn't even do one hour at anything. Here is what sabotaged me.
1. David called after work last night and asked me to come over so we could discuss something.
I went over and they had an issue they wanted me to help them figure out. We did that and then visited while I held the baby. We ended up talking until 2:30am. That got me home at 3am. By the time I wound down I didn't get to sleep until almost 4.
I woke up around 7:30. (probably because of habit, since I used to get up each day at that time before Jeren got his truck.)
I played on the computer until I fell back asleep about 8.
Keri called somewhere in the middle of my sleep. I fell back asleep again and slept until 11am.
That only leaves me three hours until time to start getting ready for work.
I got coffee and did my hour on the computer.
I realized that I have to go do some banking stuff. That means I have to leave at 2 instead of 3.
That means I need to get in the shower as soon as I'm done with this blog.
That means my only accomplishment today was my exercise because if I have to eliminate hours I eliminate by importance. My exercise is more important to me than housework, yardwork or other tasks.
So today my hour a day (three hours) plan didn't work. I have a couple of days like this a week. Sometimes more.
Still, I am getting things done. Just not anything much in the last three days. I have trouble on the weekends because Jeren is here. It makes it harder when there is someone around.

I'm still working on it, but I'm wondering if I should join the flylady program and do smaller increments. It is a fun forum. It is free unless you buy stuff from the store. (I personally want the timer. I don't like my current one.)
I think it would make things a little more manageable and if it feels too slow to me I can just up my pace or use the extra time on my yard. I really want a garden this year with more than just tomatoes.
I like the part about dressing to the shoes. I have used that tactic for years. You get a lot more done if you dress and put on shoes. Just trust me on this one. She has that on her page and I can tell you from experience that it is very true. And those foam shoes do NOT work for me. It has to be lace-up or a work style shoe or boot. You WILL get more done if you have on good sturdy shoes. I put my shoes on my feet first thing, unless I exercise first. Then I put them on immediately after.

There's really only one hitch to her program.
I just can't decide if I really want to shine my sink everyday.
Everyday.
But I'm thinking about it.

Mission 101 progress report.

I originally posted my Mission 101 list here, so I thought I'd post the update here, also.

I so need to update my 101 things list, but I've been working so hard on trying to accomplish some of the goals, that I really haven't had time. In addition to that, I am much too busy playing silly farming games when I do sit down at the computer.
I've been making some pretty good progress in my yard and that is saying a lot. I'm sure I could do a lot more if:
A. I wasn't so tired all the time.
B. I didn't have a computer.
C. I had never started playing Farm Town and other facsimiles.
D. I was younger. (I could do a lot more at 52 than I can at 59.)
E. I made lists and stuck to them. ( I make lists. I really do. I never look at them once they are written.)
F. I was retired and could stay home all day.

Even so, I am making pretty good progress and it's been a pretty good summer. I've noticed however that my social goals are quite lacking in accomplishment. When I take a vacation from my job, I take it to work on my house and yard. I need to learn how to take a vacation to do nothing except go places and see people.

I accidentally saw a good friend of mine in making a simple decision about where to go for lunch. But seeing friends should be planned or included in plans, not accidental. I'm working on that. I have gotten better at getting together with people, but it's a slow process for me. I'm a hermit by nature. I know to some people I seem really social. Even when I take social ability type tests or quizzes I am often labeled an extrovert, but really, I'm not. I answer the questions with what I actually do instead of what I would like to do. When you have kids, you have to learn to be social and include others in your life. That's just how it is. So even though I've learned how to cope and even be fun in social situations, I am by nature a loner and a recluse. (in other words, God gave me kids for a reason?) Who knows? But someday I would still love to live alone.

I have been able to get together with my grandkids more. I also am still working on going to my friends sometimes instead of always wanting them to come here. In other words, getting out of the house. I have a date with my nephew in September sometime to go on a photo shooting drive. I will probably include my friend, Jewel, in that if I can. It will depend on her work schedule and his. I've been taking photos like mad. I love my new camera but already want a newer one. Probably in part because I was duped in getting that one. NEVER do business with TVs Depot. NEVER! It's a fair warning, so heed it!

I was supposed to be blogging regularly and also reading new blogs and commenting. One of the problems I have with that is my name I think. When I click the "next blog" button on Blogspot it sends me to blogs written in Spanish. I think they are basing that on assumptions because of my last name, which is actually Filipino. It's frustrating for me and I give up. Maybe I will just start picking out blogs on my friends's reading list or go to Nablopomo's site and pick some. I really don't have the time to read blogs, though. Or, more accurately, I can't stay awake long enough to read and comment on more than one blog. But I will work on this. I did make comments in both my "t-shirt surgery" community and my 100_Snapshots community, so that counts. I also made some progress on my list and I'm almost done with the first list in 100_Snapshots.

So my non-update is sort of an update after all. I will post an update with my list included when it starts to rain again. I have too much to do outside right now to worry about the inside! House cleaning, inside painting, flooring and all that can wait until the weather turns. I don't want to waste the good weather indoors.
Tags: 101 things in 1001 days, accomplishments, getting there, progress report, update

A GOAL completed.

I am so happy. I had an immediate goal that I was determined to complete before my trip to Maryland. I leave for Maryland in a few hours and earlier today I completed it!

1. Mail Gage's quilt.

I am going to revise my list a little but I haven't had time to work on it. I want to combine a couple of things, add a couple of things and change some things to a more measurable packet.
I have gotten some good ideas from how others are tracking their progress.
I plan to do a lot of relaxing in the next week and a half and enjoy not having so much to do for a change. I want to use that relaxation time to accomplish some of the computer related goals. Maybe I won't complete them, but I want to at least get them started.
That's enough of an update for now.



My complete list and duplicate postings of my progress can be found at my World of Words blog.
Hope everyone else is doing well!

101 Things update

I want to get my weekly goals in a manageable package to be able to see what I actually am supposed to be accomplishing. I have been remembering to stretch every morning when I wake up. It might seem like a small thing, but it is amazing how much better I feel just by stretching out my whole body before I get dressed. No more getting up and jumping into my clothes to get Jeren to work. So my weekly goals are the following ones:


10. Ride my excercise bicycle at least three times a week for at least 15 minutes a time.
11. Go back to using my weights at least four times a week.
12. Return to stretching daily.
19. Include seaweed in my diet at least four times a week.
16. Take care of my toenails at least three times a week for the next two months, working toward increasing
it to daily by six months from now. (July 1st.)
58. Post at least one blog a week.
59 Answer the 'Writer's Block" question at least once a week on LiveJournal.
61. Read one new blog each week and leave a comment. (picked at random.)


I also have some things I want to do monthly. They are as follows:

15. Get at least one pedicure a month.
66. Get out of the house at least one of my days off each month. (Quit being such a homebody.)
68. Go shopping at least once a month.
74. Vacuum it out at least once a month. (the car)

I haven't been feeling well for the last five days and have barely gotten out of bed except to go to work. I'm feeling a little better today. I will start my weekly goals in earnest next week. I attempted most of them, but the stretching is the only one I actually completed. I am hoping whatever this is will go away soon. I have zero energy and have to constantly clear my throat. My stomach has been rolling, although I haven't thrown up. I have been running a low-grade fever and have an ear infection. All very annoying. I did answer a "Writer's Block" question on my LiveJournal and I also wrote a blog on my regular blog. I still have a couple of days to find, read and comment on a random blog out there in bloggy land. So, really, I am moving along on my goals. We'll see how I do next week as I start to feel better.

21. The four biographies I picked up at a bag book sale. (2.00 a bag)
a. Frank Sinatra, "His Way"
b. Mary Tyler Moore.
c. Johnny Carlson
d. William Faulkner
I am starting my reading goals with Frank Sinatra's biography. I didn't realize until I took it off the shelf that it is an unauthorized biography. Should be some good reading!


20. Continue to refine my diet as follows:
More fish, less red meat.
More veggies.
As salt-free as possible.
Less starch.
Less coffee, more tea.

I'm working on my diet without trying because of not feeling well. Haha. I'm basically eating almost nothing. I fixed catfish for David and I last week. It was quite delicious and I have more in the freezer, so I'm going to look for some different recipes to use.

101. Be more tolerant of the terrorists. (Kitties).
Yeah. Wish me luck on this one. I hate them most days. They won't stay out of my stuff. I'm seriously considering a large dog kennel (or medium, maybe) to put them in at night so that they sleep instead of terrorizing the house. It's just too much to get up each morning and see stuff all over because they were tearing around unsupervised. I am sure they will meow quite a bit at first, but after a few days they should be used to it. We'll see. My cat, Ginger, sleeps with me, so I'm not sure if she gets in on the fracas or not. She's always asleep on my bed when I wake up to go potty or whatever, so who knows. I just want them to be old and tired now, just like me.
That's my update for now.