Friday, December 31, 2010

December 31st, 2010

Well, we are closing in on the end of 2010 ... and we've got less than a week to go on our 101 list! So, here's a few updates:

Item #32: I've set everything in motion. We'll have a credit card paid off on Monday. We've not made as much progress as fast as I would've liked ... but then again, in the last 1001 days, we've had more than $20,000 in unexpected costs, between massive dental work & needing to add a national adoption agency into the mix. Did I mention the downpayment for a new car & a car payment every month for the first time in years? No wonder we're pinched tight! I want to take stock of where we are on our credit cards & choose another one to pay off & cut up!

Item #69: We've faithfully sat in the living room every day. Usually it's at night & accompanied by listening to music or to Black Jack Justice. If I'd been faster in the brainpan, I'd've been doing crocheting at the same time!

Item #81: We're ALMOST done with the last bottle of shower gel. Let me just say I will never EVER buy shower gel or body wash again. We just do NOT use the stuff. Soap works just fine, thank'ee. As often as we get the stuff in gift form, it's more than often enough!

Item #97: We'll see how much revenue comes in on Monday and Wednesday ... but given the fact I've drained the account dry to pull off Item #32, I don't think we'll be able to get H a new coat. Who knows? We'll see where things are at on Thursday!

We'll tally up the numbers when we wrap things up. And we're thinking about doing this again, but in a pared down version. Maybe 51 in 501. We kind of lost momentum at the half-way point, so we think if we halved it, we'd keep the energy moving. We'll also look over the things we didn't do, to determine if we still want to do them or if we're directing our lives elsewhere.

Saturday, December 25, 2010

December 25th, 2010

Not very long until we run out of time!

Item #69
: We've been spending time in the living room every evening. It gives us a chance to have some tea & listen to Black Jack Justice. We're quite enjoying this ritual!
Item #95: Done! We stayed under budget!
Item #96: My friend Kim bought me a lovely winter coat for Christmas ... now, I'm thinking maybe we should use some of the pennies saved from the Christmas budget to buy one for H! Then we could cross this item off the list, too!

Sunday, December 5, 2010

December 5th, 2010

33 days remain in our 1001 days. Can you believe it? It's very hard for us to believe, that's for sure. So, it's down to the wire & we're taking stock of the items we have yet to do.

#3: Not gonna happen. This was kind of a stretch, anyway, 'cause I don't like crab.
#9, 10, 11, and 13: Won't be travelling to any of these spots in the next month.
#15: We might make it to Starved Rock. Totally depends on weather.
#22: Powerwashing in winter is generally not doable.
#32: We are so close to paying off a credit card. SO close. I just don't know if we can close that gap fast enough. We've had an awful lot of unanticipated expenses. And an extra $10,000 in adoption related fees. And $12,000 worth of dental work. Yeah.
#34: I think we can do this one, H doesn't.
#38, 39: Again, not traveling to these spots anytime soon. I am thinking I may cross off 39, though. We made several attempts & finally wound up in a different section of WI. Does that count?
#40: 1,000,000 grains of rice is a lot. We gave up on this when we saw how long it was taking to accumulate. I may round it out to 100,000 grains, just for good measure.
#45: Hey, we actually did this one ... just didn't find any new blades we wanted.
#46: We kept checking for classes, but Brookfield Zoo seems to have discontinued adult classes, unfortunately. I'll cross this one off. We tried, dammit.
#48: We might luck out & see Northern Lights here at home. But I doubt it.
#61: We did this one yesterday! We had a fabulous time, too, with Chef Luca Corrazzina!
Chef Luca Corazzina
#65, 66: More travel ones we can't meet. Since we went full bore on the adoption process, our traveling has been dramatically reduced.
#68: H just informed me he can't tolerate to scale his computer use back this much. I was prepared to try, but he doesn't want to give it an effort.
#69: We're going to tackle this one right now, and we'll get in just under the wire!! We'll enjoy spending more time in the living room with visitors & the Christmas tree! And maybe I can try to secretly get him to read the Bible. And we'll cross off that item, too.
#77: No funds to buy bookcases, sadly.
#81: We are almost done with this one ... just have to make up a conscious effort to use up the rest of the shower gel/body wash. I am still amazed we're working on this one almost 3 years later! We apparently just do NOT use up this stuff very fast!
#87: We went to only one location where he wore his snazzy shoes. He really needs to wear them more often. For as much as he spent on them, they need to get some more wear, that's for sure. Dang.
#89: H informs me that he is unwilling to learn banjo if he has to drive very far, so although we've located a place that teaches, it's too far for him to trek. This one is checked off!
#95: We are very close to having our holiday shopping completed & it looks like for 3 years in a row, we'll be coming in at/under budget.
#97: Like the bookcases, I don't think this is in our future. Too many other places for our money to go. And taking a $5 hit for the incomplete item is way cheaper than a coat.

#60: I guess we can cross this off once we know how much we're donating for the incomplete items, right? Right now, it looks like 17 of our 101 items will be undone. So, we'll be donating $85 somewhere.

Monday, September 13, 2010

September 13, 2010

It's a long overdue update!! We've been quite preoccupied with the process of shifting our adoption plans to work with a new agency. More expensive, but also hopefully a higher degree of success. If you're so inclined, help us fund the adoption through purchasing an item in one of our online auctions or sales:

my eBay store (stamps, some gaming items, a silk scarf)
My half.com store (books, movies, music, games) -- I've now got over 500 items for sale! YAY!
My amazon.com storefront (books) -- I've got over 30 items for sale, now.

Okay, back to our 101 list!

#32 - we've stalled out on paying off a credit card, as all of our money is being funneled into the new adoption process. Hopefully we can still get this item done!

#38 - H is now saying he really doesn't have any interest in this item. His mom was talking it up big time when we put it on the list, but now it doesn't hold as much appeal to us. We still might see it in October if we're already in Milwaukee, though.

#39 - We canceled our plans for a weekend getaway ... saving those pennies ... so this one may not work out after all.

#61 - We've signed up for a class at a fabulous restaurant, in December!

#81 - we have 1.5 bottles of body wash/shower gel left, but all of the lotion is gone!

#94 - we're calling this one done. I finally got someone who had some closet know-how to look at it & install the rollers. It's still not fixed to my satisfaction, but we're now learning that the way the thing was hung in the first place may be the problem!!

#97 - new winter coats may loom on the horizon ... but if I lose another 20 pounds, I may fit into the gorgeous long brown, hooded coat gifted to me by a friend! I'll count that as "new" to me, IF I can wear it with a sweater underneath & button it closed comfortably!!

Sunday, July 25, 2010

July 25, 2010

We're looking at the remainder of our list & are contemplating
#9 - we didn't specify the type of cruise. Maybe a dinner cruise counts?
#32 - we are doggedly pursuing this one & hopefully will have it paid off in the fall
#38 - we may visit the museum on our way through Milwaukee in either August or October
#39 - turns out the B&B we were so fond of in Madison is full up during the time we wanted to book it, so we're thinking one in southern WI should count towards this item instead
#46 - the classes we thought were so cool aren't being offered anymore, so this may be a dead end!
#61 - we've found 5 places to take various cooking classes!
#81 - we have 1.5 bottles of body wash/shower gel left & 1.5 tubes of lotion left!!!
#87 - we tried to book an experience at the Ritz Carlton, but they were full up
#95 - we're making a LOT of jams, sauces, and pickles this summer, so we should be able to stick within our holiday budget!

Sunday, May 9, 2010

May 8, 2010

Yosemite Valley

Item #47: Visit Yosemite. Done.

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

April 14, 2010

Item #28: We planned an Easter Egg Hunt & decided it definitely counts for this item. FUN!!

Item #52: Yes, we officially completed three months' of having one night a week where we didn't use computers or TV. H just about went insane & declared this was the worst idea ever. I thought it was a real challenge, but cool!

Item #76: We have a new car!!! We bought a 2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid. This'll make completing #32 a bit of a challenge, but we'll do what we can do accomplish that as well! It'll just be a reminder to eat in ... and maybe we'll start joining Meatless Mondays.

We now have 28 items remaining on our list. And I am confident 18 of those will be done by our deadline!

Sunday, March 28, 2010

March 28, 2010

Item #28: We are hosting our 11 year old nephew and 7 year old niece for Easter & are thinking of planning out an Easter Egg Hunt, which is just as good as a treasure hunt, in our considered options. If we can pull it off, we'll be done with this item!

Item #52: H is doing cartwheels to be done with this item. It was much harder for him than it was for me, to spend 1 evening a week without TV or computer. I tried to get him to agree to do #68 or#69 & he said, "No way! I'll pay the $5!" LOL!

Item #76: H's car is just about ready to give up the ghost. We're doing some test driving & research & will probably have this item checked off in the next couple of months.

Monday, March 22, 2010

March 22, 2010

Item #52: One Saturday night remaining, with no TV and no computers, and we have plans to take our good friend out for her birthday, so this'll be super easy. We've learned that barring ourselves from TV & computer does, indeed, encourage us to foster other skill sets & interests (making granola bars, looking through scrapbook albums, curling up together to read, etc.) ... but when we want to look up something, like weather or a movie time & use the TV or computer as a TOOL, that's when it really hurts!!

Item #85: I sent a 4th care package out today, this one to my cousin, Ava. She's keen to try her hand at scrapbooking, so I sent her a funky journal & a bunch of stuff to play with! This item is now DONE.

Item #99: We tried out The Patio. Which is our 30th and final new restaurant to try! It's been an interesting journey. About 1/4th of the restaurants we would actively seek out again ... but 2 of those have already closed, permanently! Just encourages us to CARPE DIEM!

Saturday, March 13, 2010

March 13th 2010

We tried Webber Grill today for lunch which is item #99 on our list. That makes 29 out of 30 new restaurants! Only 1 left!

The meal itself was so-so, the service was...well we weren't even acknowledged for the first 10 minutes of being seated, and then even though we were no longer looking at our menus, and they were placed at the farthest end of the table from us, the waitress still came over and said, "can I start you off with a drink, or give you more time to choose?" *sigh*.

Needless to say, we're not going to go back any time soon :P


ALSO tonight we we will be almost completed with item #52, as there will only be two weeks left!

Friday, March 5, 2010

March 3, 2010

Item #99: We tried Flat Top Grill. Food was great. Service was great. Rowdy noisy groups of tween and teen kids was not. Not the restaurant's fault. We'll go back when it's not peak hours, though, so we can actually hear ourselves converse. 2 more restaurants to go.

Monday, March 1, 2010

March 1, 2010

Item #52: We're making good progress with the no TV, no computer thing. We need to finish out the rest of the month, and we'll have this one checked off. It's interesting, seeing what kinds of things we do when we are forbidden from watching TV or doing stuff on the computer. It really does result in some new adventures and some quality time together!

Item #81: We are about 1 bottle away from using up all of our lotion. We still have a fair amount of body wash and shower gel. We now know just how much stuff we use in the course of an average year. It really isn't that much!!!

Item #97: Just waiting for cash flow hiccups to be resolved & then I think we're heading to Lands End to buy new winter coats!

Monday, February 15, 2010

February 15, 2010

Item #16: We visited the Art Institute, which has been on our list since it's inception. We enjoyed the impressionists & the sculpture gallery ... but were sorely disappointed to learn that the entire arms & armor exhibit has been replaced with Indian art!!! Only 2 pieces of the entire collection remain on display. There went my best chance to get my nephew to go to the museum! I have always loved that exhibit & will miss it sorely.

Item #52: Spent another Saturday night with no TV & no computers ... but it was a near thing,
because we forgot all about it, as we were in The City for an overnight stay in a hotel. Good thing we didn't watch the Olympics ... we would've had to have started all over again!!!

Item #99: Three new restaurants for us to report trying: Wow Bao, Park Grill, & Cooper's Hawk Winery & Restaurant. I think we'd happily go back to all three!!

Saturday, February 6, 2010

February 6, 2010

Item #2: We successfully completed this item! H says it has been the hardest on thus far, but I recall how many times we attempted our "no swearing" item & failed!!! We celebrated by going out to Five Guys on Thursday. It was heavenly.

Item #52: Last Saturday night we spent a lot of the time reading ... tonight we have plans to be doing a lot of cooking and baking. We're getting creative for our upcoming week's menus. In addition to wanting to use up things from the freezer, H had dental implant surgery this morning, so for a week, he can't have anything crunchy or hard. It rules out all kinds of foods he truly enjoys, so we're making a lot of things he likes -- pasta & sauce, salsa to go with some quesadillas, fresh cut pineapple, brownies ... chicken barley soup. I expect the time to fly by!

Sunday, January 24, 2010

January 24, 2010

Item #2: We are really missing some foods, now. Tortilla chips. Potato chips. French fries. Those are the big three. Not that we eat them a ton, but every week or two, it's nice to have 'em. We've discovered we aren't hankering for other fried foods, like fried chicken, fried fish, flautas or chimichangas. We'd rather have grilled chicken & fish, and our own homemade burritos or tacos!

Item #52: Last night we spent a chunk of time reading. We also made the mistake of going to Baker's Square on National Pie Day. The place was jammed ... and understaffed. Plus, the food was just tolerable. I think that as we consume fewer preservatives, we become less interested in food that's obviously been sitting around for quite some time. Either that or their quality has gone downhill seriously in the last 6-8 months!

Sunday, January 17, 2010

January 17, 2010

Item #2: We neatly avoided Lay's BBQ potato chips yesterday. I think we were kept in check only the realization that we're halfway through this item & didn't want to have to do a restart.

Item #52: 3rd Saturday with an evening of no computers & no TV. We had a great time. We chatted, listened to music, read books, worked on creative projects (scrapbooking & crocheting for me ... painting & drawing for H), ran some errands (we're now the proud owners of an electric tea kettle of sorts, in the wake of H's destruction of our stovetop model Friday night), and we tried out a new restaurant ...

Item #99: Our 24th new restaurant (of 30) ... Pompei! It wasn't what we were expecting, but it was good. It was arranged kind of like a Corner Bakery, with various stations of pre-made food. I was really hoping for a slice of pepperoni & sausage pizza, but there was none to be had, so I went with a chicken parmesan roll-up type thing. H had Chicken Vesuvius, which he declared delicious!

Sunday, January 10, 2010

January 10, 2010

Item #2: We made a special trip to the store so H would have BAKED tortilla chips to go with my sister-in-law's fabulous guacamole. We're almost a third of the way done with this item!

Item #52: Last night was an easy no-computer, no-TV kind of thing, as we were at my parents' house, where we rarely engage in such things. My mom was a sport, knowing all about our "101 List," and waited to get an iTunes tutorial until Sunday morning. It was quite nice to sit in the living room, with the lights off & the fireplace blazing, especially when it was -4 degrees outside. My clothes smelled like woodsmoke the next morning. Very homey. Makes me wish we had a fireplace of our own!

Sunday, January 3, 2010

January 3, 2010

Item #52: At the two hour mark, H was getting pretty twitchy, but at the end of the night, he proclaimed it had been quite nice to just do things that didn't require computers or TV. From 5 pm, until we went to sleep, we made soup, planned next week's menu, played Monopoly Deal, did dishes, made cookies, played with the cats, had hot cocoa & cookies, lounged in our robes & read. It was quite nice, indeed! Next Saturday, we'll be at my parents during most of that time period, and we typically just chat with them, listen to music, and read, anyway!

Saturday, January 2, 2010

January 2, 2010

First time I've typed out the date as 2010, there.

Item #2: We've agreed to make January the month that we have no deep fried fatty foods. No potato chips. No fries. No tortilla chips. Those are the usual culprits, but we'll be avoiding anything that's been immersed in fat.

Item #52: We talked about this item & decided to change it from Tuesday nights to Saturday nights, as the point of the item was for us to have time to do things with each other & very shortly, I may be working on Tuesday evening, which would kind of cause us to miss the whole point. As I am typing this, it is just now registering for H that it's BOTH no TV and no computer time, after 5 pm, until we go to sleep. This is going to be very interesting. We'll see how tonight goes.