Updates Again: Almost Done!

52. Visit a Texas winery. I just now realized I have TWO number 52s. haha! K and I have been talking about doing a wine tour sometime soon, now I just have to figure out a good place to visit that's close.

53. Learn to use food processor & use more than just the chopping attachment. Watch video that came w/ processor. I used my food processor all the time, but still haven't figured out how to do more than just chop.

54. Do something nice for next door neighbors, even if it is just a holiday card or treat. I don't like one of our neighbors, but maybe I'll do something nice for the others before we move. Or perhaps I'll just bake some treats for our new neighbors to introduce ourselves once we move.

55. Shred junk mail weekly. So far, this is a big fat FAIL. The pile next to the shredder just grows until I'm cleaning the area.

56. Donate to charity yearly. The charity my aunt was running closed its doors this summer, so even though I've donated already to a couple of things, I don't have a favorite new charity yet.

57. Email or call S in MN at least monthly. I am emailing her every couple of months, but I am so bad about calling. Hoping to see her in a couple of weeks.

58. Buy last two silverware place settings. Yep, need to do this. I think I have a Crate & Barrel coupon, too.

59. Use wedding gifts that have never been used, like turkey pan and margarita glasses/pitcher. The turkey pan is really a roasting pan that I've just never used. Time to figure out what I can make in there!

60. Organize & centralize all address & birthday information for family & friends. I've still got info spread out all over the place. . .but most of it is in google contacts. Maybe when we move, I'll send out cards with our new info, and that will inspire me to get organized. Ahh, when we move is going to be such a magically productive time. ;o)

61. Make an extra mortgage payment once a year. (1/2) Our mortgage guy even confirmed that this is a good financial choice!

62. Own diamond earrings. Might buy these as a gift for myself for my next birthday.

63. Get kitty's teeth cleaned. I hate taking kitty to the vet. Probably almost as much as he hates going. I just worry about him being scared and what they're going to do to him, and (since they give him anesthesia for teeth cleaning) if he'll be okay. The doc always reminds us that he needs it when we visit, though, so I need to just get over myself and get it done.

65. Clean & organize desk area and files. Files are fairly organized, desk area is not. This is actually on my (very long) to do list for this weekend.

66. Use new printer at least once a month to prevent cartridges from clogging/drying out. I'm printing like a champ since K got me the wireless thing that allows me to print from my laptop anywhere.

67. Dispose of empty shampoo & conditioner bottles promptly. If it's in the shower with an inch of product at the bottom for more than a week, it should be thrown away. Doing really well with this one, but I think it's a lame goal. Why don't I just throw the almost-empties away when I clean the shower? Who knows.

68. Review personal budget to increase savings. Haven't done a big review yet, but am being more aware of how I'm spending money.

69. Finish MN photo album by end of 6/08. Didn't happen. Maybe I'll finish it before 2009.

70. Develop & implement a better housekeeping plan. Yeah, getting behind and spending a most of the day on a weekend cleaning is not my idea of fun times.

71. Learn enough about native plants and gardening to spruce up landscaping before March 2008. I have been doing a lot of gardening research, but I haven't spruced up the landscaping yet. (Once again, part of the Great House Sale Project of 2008.) I'm partially there. . .I've bought the pots. Right now, I'm waiting to K to remove the roots of some bushes we took out. Then, I can move forward with planting.

72. Get measured & properly fitted for a bra yearly, or after significant weight loss. I did get measured a couple of months ago, and bought a couple of new bras accordingly. Turns out I hadn't changed sizes, so I was really just replacing some old bras.

73. Have makeup professionally done yearly to find products I love & make me feel fabulous. Throw out old blush, eyeshadow, lipstick, etc. that has expired or doesn't really work. I'm almost out of blush, so I'm planning a consult for new stuff soon. After that, I'm weeding out my old stuff. . .especially what seems like hundreds of lipsticks I can't stop myself from buying.

Finally, the huge update is finished! On to smaller--but probably equally boring--updates soon.

Good Thing for Monday:
*I got a library card and checked out a book! I haven't done that since college. I like to buy books that I really want (at Half Price Books or elsewhere), so I can keep them when I really like them. But I realized that more often than not, I'm pretty lukewarm about books I'm reading for my book club. So the library is a perfect solution! I'm reading a library book club book now, and kicking myself for not getting my library card a year ago.

More Updates: Getting Closer

36. Perform 10 random acts of kindness for strangers. I'm normally pretty good about doing little things like letting someone with just a couple of groceries go ahead of me in line, but I feel like I want to do more for these 10 random acts. I need to think about it some more.

37. Sincerely thank or compliment someone daily. I'm doing pretty good on this one. I fall into a habit of not being as complimentary (at work and home), so I'm keeping and eye on this item.

38. Plan a party for big birthday. I'll be doing this to celebrate 10/19/09. I need to start brainstorming!

39. Help someone complete an item on their 101 in 1000 list. Anyone need any help? I need to start reading other people's lists more closely!

40. Blog after each item on list is accomplished. Ongoing, and going well.

41. Drink at least 1L of water daily. I am kicking #41's ass. I'm up to drinking at least 50 fl ounces daily (the size of my water bottle)--at a minimum. I can definitely feel a difference when I start to get behind in my water intake. How did I ever NOT drink this much water?

43. Finish home improvement list before Spring 2008. Now I'm hoping to finish the list in the next few weeks to get our house on the market. I'm getting close, although we've had a couple of items added to the list, which isn't helping me finish any sooner.

44. Empty dishwasher before sink fills with dishes, always. (sigh) I'm getting better, but I'm still not where I want to be. I realized my sink is always cleanest when my ILs are in town, because apparently I like to kindof hide out in the kitchen and cleaning out the sink gives me something to do. Growing up, I was taught to leave dirty dishes in the dishwasher. K was taught to leave dirty dishes in the sink. Since we married, he's been pulling me to the dark side, so I'm trying to break BOTH of us of this habit.

45. Take a picture every day for a month. Still planning to do this, still considering getting a better camera--although I do really like my point & shoot.

46. Clean out purse once a month. (3/24) Right, this isn't going to happen. And I've realized I don't need to clean out my purse monthly to feel organized. If I do it every few months, or even every six months, that's fine. I am flagging this item to revise it.

47. Keep car maintenance up to date (inspection, registration, regular maintenance.) I've been doing well on this item, although I need to get my inspection update by the end of this month and my oil changed.

48. Accept compliments gracefully. Upon receiving a compliment, my natural tendency is to say "thank you" but then start rambling on to deflect the compliment. Like if someone tells me "That's a great necklace!" I would say something like "Oh, thanks! It's so old, I barely wear it any more." I am doing a lot better (though still needing improvement) on just saying "thank you" and shutting up.

49. Clean out junk drawers yearly. So far, this hasn't happened. Instead, I think our junk drawers are multiplying.

50. Take a vitamin daily for 30 days straight. I've gotten SOOO close, only to forget and have to re-start the 30 day count. I think I'm on day 28 or 29 of my current count, so this might be it!

52. Find and maintain a good photo back-up system. K bought me an, uh, exterior hard drive thing (? obviously the technical term) and I've backed my pics up once using it. After I back my pics up again, and make sure I know how to access them, I'm crossing this one off the list.

At this rate, maybe I'll finish going through the list by 11/19. . .my thirteenth month anniversary of starting this list. ha! I'm already thinking of ways to revise the two items I'm tossing out, but I want to have some options that will make a positive change in my life, not just another "to do."

Update-A-Thon

Continuing with the updates. . .

(#22) I've started marking vacation photos that I think would be good to print and frame, but I'm going to hold off on actually doing this until we move. I will be totally knocking out my list once we move, it seems!

(#23) Yeah, as it turns out, PNV must have made my eyelashes grow, because I think they're pretty long now and the idea of wearing false eyelashes for some fancy occasion seems silly. I'm going to mark this item as something I want to revise.

(#24) I've been to the gun range with K a grand total of once (pre-list), and he's owned hand guns for like 7 or 8 years now. I feel like I should be confident using a gun if there's going to be one in my house--even thought it's not out or loaded. My brother became a gun fanatic when he married into a family who hunts, so surely between he and K, I will get to the gun range again.

(#26) Still working on finding the perfect panties. I am really liking a gap body bra (I think they call it a t-shirt bra?) that I bought a couple of weeks ago, so that brand/style may work for replacing my old VS bras.

(#27) Making progress on this, with the help of a book and tips from Pioneer Woman.

(#28) So not close to making vacation photo albums, unless you count organizing my digital photo files on my computer into folders. I need more free time!

(#29) Fourth wedding anniversary = November 6th. No photo albums in sight. And K is a graphic designer! I don't want to distract him from other (house) projects by asking for his help on desiging a photo book. . .for now.

(#31) I knew I'd do well on my reading list--I love to read. I tend to read in spurts, though. When I'm really busy, I only seem to find time to skim through magazines and read books for my book club. But I'm ahead of schedule of this task, hooray!

(#32) So far, so good. I do need to write several thank you notes that are birthday-related, but I plan to work on these in between trick-or-treaters on Friday night. I'm behind! Having a chance to use pretty stationery is a good motivator, though.

(#33) I keep losing and gaining back the same 3 pounds. Current goal: not gaining weight over the holidays, and getting back on track with exercise.

(#34) Actually, I'm going to sell my bike and buy a new one that's easier to ride. Eventually.

(#35) I have a group of girlfriends I grew up with, and after high school, we spread out to different colleges and different lives. But we kept in touch and remained close. After college, we decided to reunite yearly in different locations. That was--wow--about 10 years ago? We met in New Orleans our first year, followed by Sedona, Boston, Portland, Chicago, and Minneapolis. But at some point, our group of gals started getting married and having babies. So a yearly trip became more difficult, or a yearly trip included husbands/boyfriends because we we traveling to someone's wedding. That was so not the same as hanging around in our pajamas and talking about the elementary school days. Now, four of us live in Austin, one gal lives in Houston, and one is in Minneapolis. All but two of us have kids. We were hoping for a get together this year, even if we just gathered in Austin, but so far it hasn't worked out. I really, really hope we can all get together in 2009. It's been too long!

Wednesday Good Things:

*packet of Tylenol in my desk drawer at work. Morning lifesaver!

*news that KXAN is back on Time Warner. Hip Hip Hooray!

*office vending machine re-stocked the bottled Starbucks frappuccino drinks after months of an empty slot. One of those was exactly what I was craving this afternoon. Sweet!

*Hershey's Special Dark Miniatures. (insert Homer Simpson-style drooling) A little Froggi tipped me off to these, and I broke down tonight to buy a bag. SO glad I did. Also glad that I exhibited a little self control and only ate three. New favorite: Special Dark Mr. Goodbar. Mmmmm.

More Updates

I missed my deadline for #6, which was baby M's first birthday in September. What's particularly patethic about missing that deadline is that I started that gift at her mama's baby shower, in the late summer of 2007. Mama A suggested that our close group of girlfriends have a small baby shower with us and our moms (her SIL threw a huge shower for her several weeks earlier), and one of the things we wanted to do at the shower was have everyone write down a funny Mama A story or baby advice, or a nice memory, and make a little booklet for baby M. Except that two of the moms and one of the gals couldn't be there due to last minute emergencies, so we were down to four girls and three moms. Only Mama A's mom brought a note, which she read at the shower. It was a sweet and wonderful message to her only daughter about the upcoming birth of her daughter, and I think everyone else at the party got intimidated. No one else wrote down a message. Well, knowing my friends, I knew I'd need some time to harrass them and nag them until they finished their messages. I'm still missing messages from two of the gals and all of the other moms. I'm thinking about just framing the Grandma A message with a photo for little baby M and calling this one DONE. I'll have to check with the other gals, first, of course.

I've done a great job of using my grocery sacks and cute lunch bag, so I'm glad I was able to cross those items off already.

I am behind on cooking dinner with sides at least once a week, on a weekday! (#9) I should be a lot closer to 50. But, cooking a full dinner during the week just doesn't always happen. I am getting better about planning ahead when I go to the grocery store, so I'm hopeful that by early 2009, I'll be knocking this one out of the park on a regular basis. I've cooked three dinners since I last updated, and I'll add the newest recipe once I retrace my steps and find the link again. I think that I'll stop blogging about every meal I cook, and only blog about the new recipes.

My pile of loose recipes grows. (#10) I have a lot of recipes that are only saved in my computer, so those aren't really an issue. The problem is everything I tear out of Cooking Light, Real Simple, etc. I'm thinking about going with a big binder & clear plastice sleeves for those. I also really need to cull through them and take out the ones I'm really just never going to make.

I can't bring myself to bake bread or yeasty goodies (#11) during the summer--too hot. I'm really intimidated by kneading, though. I saw a tasty-sounding recipe for beer/cheese bread the other day, so I might start out with that option and see if I can baby-step my way toward this goal.

Summer is also too hot to grill (#12). Well, it's too hot for ME to use the grill, because I don't want to have to stand there and feeling like I'm broiling while I wait for my meat to finish. Right now, the weather is ideal for hanging around outside, though. Maybe I'll actually use the grill in 2008! If not, we're definitely looking for a new house to have an awesome outdoor area where I won't mind grilling in, say, December. Or March.

Monday Good Things:

*Sent flowers to a friend whose day need some brightness.

*Wearing the new red panties for the first time, giggling.