The end of the list...

Goals Set: 3/14/2010 Completion Date: 12/9/2012 I am frightfully close the the end of my 1001 days and I know I won't complete this list. The point was always to keep striving for more than I would otherwise do, and yes, without a doubt, I've done that. On December 10th I will not be embarrassed by what decided wasn't so important after all, and what I didn't quite get to. I'll keep working on the important ones. Here is my update: Academic/Knowledge 1) Earn a Masters Degree - check 2) Work through a first year Chemistry Text - if this list can't make me do it, nothing can 3) Write and maintain a website -check 4) Learn to implement code using a header file -check 5) Compile code w/ a make file -check 6) Use multiple source code files compiled through a make file -check 7) Use a header to input source code from one file to another -check 8) Read and understand a complete work (of any length) by Faulkner -check ------------------------------------------------------------------ (tally later) 9) Read 10 of the National Book Award winners in fiction (0/10) 10) Read 10 of the Pulitzer Prize winners in fiction (0/10) 11) Read 10 of the Modern Library’s 100 Best Nonfiction (0/10) ------------------------------------------------------------------ 12) Have a conversation in Portuguese -check 13) Be able to name all of the U.S. Presidents in order ... TARGET! 14) Become an architecture geek - TARGET! 15) T.A. a graduate level class -check 16) Take a language class -check 17) Present at an academic conference -check Diet/Food 18) Make a batch of freezer jam -check 19) Make Fried Green Tomatoes -check 20) Make a habit of using coupons and planning meals w/ grocery circulars -check 21) Make crackers (via a Mark Bittman recipe) -TARGET 22) Eat a completely vegan diet for one week -check 23) Make baking bread a habit -check (pizza counts!) 24) Stay on calorie budget during one of the BF's trips -check 25) Eat a meal made entirely of things grown in my own garden -lost my chance to garden this summer... sigh... next year Exercise 26) Take a yoga class -check 27) Take an advanced pilates class -check 28) Run a 5K -check 29) Run a faster 5K -check 30) Run a 10K -two weeks! 31) Run a faster 10K -three weeks! 32) Master a tri-cep push-up -5 in a row... got it! 33) Go hiking in the North Cascades - check (if the Chuckanuts count) 34) Work down to 20% body fat (and maintain it for long enough to see if you like it) -wow this turned out to be a low priority for me... just when I feel like I'm making progress I start eating dessert and carbs again 35) Return from a vacation thinner than you left - CHECK! 36) Climb the ND library stairs -TARGET! Travel 37) Visit Glacier National Park - If I don't make it for fall break... it won't happen this year 38) Visit the Devil’s Tower in Wyoming -check 39) Visit Yellowstone National Park -check 40) Visit the U.P. of Michigan - see (37) 41) Travel to Iowa -check! 42) Visit the Field Museum -check! 43) Visit the Art Institute of Chicago -check! 44) Attend a Shakespeare production in Chicago -check! 45) Visit the Smoky Mountains - (see 37 and 40) 46) Visit three East Coast States -umm... 47) Sleep in a tent -check, check, and check 48) Visit a country whose primary language is not English -check 49) Attend a baseball game at Wrigley Field -check 50) Travel to Ohio -umm... 51) Visit a Mound site -nope 52) Visit 10 Presidential Historic Sites -I'm at about 5 since starting the list, I just added Hoover, Eisenhower, and Truman 53) Go on vacation without a car -only if Costa Rica counts (rode tourist shuttles and cabs) Community 54) Visit the Pizza restaurant near Lake Michigan -check and check 55) Visit the Snite Museum -check, but I want to go back 56) Canoe the St. Joseph River (starting from St. Patrick’s Park) -TARGET! 57) Cross Country Ski the ND golf course -nope, and it may not happen... I don't love XC enough 58) Take a local cooking class -check 59) Bike to and around Saint Mary’s College -TARGET 60) Volunteer for a South Bend community program -TARGET -SEVA!!!! 61) Volunteer for the ND Physics Department -check, check, check.... 62) Visit a local winery -check 63) Visit Benton Harbor and Traverse City -TARGET! 64) Make a point to use the local libraries -check (thank you book club!) 65) Judge a science fair -I missed the parade of fairs this spring... I was so busy I didn't push it... this spring for sure 66) Visit Amish Country -check (thanks Mom!) 67) Visit Fernwood Botanical Garden -check and check Household 68) Paint the bathroom -check 69) Develop a successful composting system -check 70) Clean the oven twice (2/3) 71) Grow a crop of corn -check 72) Buy a cactus or other succulent to raise in the house -not a cactus, but i've kept plants alive indoors! 73) Clean and organize the contents of both desks -check 74) Maintain organization of the desks -check 75) Develop and maintain organization systems for all messy zones -check (sorta...) 76) Replace expensive cleaning products with homemade versions -nope... 77) Put in a path and stone patio -nope... 78) Buy a piece of art for the house -nope... 79) Decorate the living room -nope... Financial 80) Pay off student loans -check! 81) Pay off my car loan -check! 82) Organize and fully document my financial information -check! 83) Have an emergency fund of at least two months wages ($3000) -check! 84) Donate money to WWU -TARGET! Odie 85) Train Odie to come when called -check 86) Train Odie to look -nope 87) Train Odie to stay at doorways -check 88) Take Odie to 90% of the pet-friendly parks in the county -TARGET 89) Teach Odie to behave well at outdoor restaurants -nope 90) Take Odie on a vacation -kinda... Personal Challenges 91) Spend a week without the internet -TARGET! 92) Watch no television for one month -check 93) Drive in downtown Chicago -check Miscellaneous 94) Celebrate 3 holidays I have never heard of -hmm... got one coming up... 95) Gather all possessions still at my parents homes -check! 96) Cook dinner for Randy and Peggy -check! 97) Have pants tailored -check! 98) Reconnect w/ an old friend -check! 99) Have wisdom tooth removed -TARGET! 100) Give a thoughtful and random gift to a friend (5 times) -I'm at roughly 3 101) Do not allow yourself to complain of boredom -CHECK Ignoring all of the travel (sigh...), this means I need to go canoeing, make crackers, take Odie to a bunch of parks, do some serious reading, learn those 19th century presidents, make a stab at learning some architecture (I know some...), climb some stairs, get my wisdom tooth pulled, and take Thanksgiving (or Fall) break completely off from the internet. That doesn't sound so bad.

Blogs, Privacy, Maples and Cottonwoods...

So I have a real blog now. That makes this the sad and neglected poor cousin blog. I use Maple Lane for my spouting about goals and little else. The thing is, back in Indiana, I lead a very wonderful life, and I don't care to spend the time to project it to the world. Not because I don't LOVE other people for doing that (I'm looking at you Joanne), but because I've always maintained a strong sense of personal privacy that felt violated by facebook (which I deleted years ago).

Fast forward to this blog:
corn2cottonwoods.wordpress.com
I just realized that both blogs have a tree in the title. I'm from Washington state and I'm a total tree junkie.

So what is the difference? I can't quite say, but I started corn2cottonwoods to share my summer adventures with friends and family. I left the privacy settings wide open (to my screaming sense of shock) with a shrug and a "why not?" I've found myself sharing with the internet world rather happily. I suppose because I feel so lucky to read what others do and say and feel, and I have something to give back.

I continue to use my "goals blog" to say very clearly "I'm not going to wimp out - see!" But I see no use or point in sharing it with anyone in particular. I am VERY grateful for those who have stumbled upon Maple Lane and said something nice and encouraging. I am going to update my list progress very soon. There has indeed been some incremental progress, but it is a tough list in many respects.