101 in 1001... or actually 70 in 625

You know about the 101 things in 1001 days project, right? If not, check out the link. It's a neat way to round up a collection of interesting and fun things to do.

At least, I think it should be. I made my list back in October 0f 2009 with the intent of being finished by July 14, 2012 (my 40th birthday!), and I was surprised by how many of the lists I checked out for ideas had things like:

• floss daily (yawn)
  
• write for an hour every day (almost certainly doomed to failure)
• lose weight (with no indication of how much or any apparent plan)
• write a novel (it's my job now so I don't need it on here. I'll do it anyhow. :)
  

I wanted mine to be more one-off events, flashes of excitement that I can remember afterward rather than things I need to remember to do daily. I have enough of those. :)

Now, while I am rebooting my list, I am keeping the original end date, because I like it. But I don't have 101 things on my list. I'll let you know how many I have at the bottom, once it's assembled. And that is okay!

I know I padded the previous list (and the list before that) to make sure I had exactly 101 things. "But you have to have 101," I kept thinking. Truthfully, it was only last night that I thought, "Actually, you don't. You can have fifty-three or seventy-nine, and if you love them all that's more than enough." So that's what I'm doing!

I am including things that I finished on the previous lists, since I did do them and some of them, frankly, are pretty cool. :)

So, without too much ado (too late :) here's the new list! Italics means in-progress and red means done. Teal means "there's a date assigned to this, so keep an eye on it so you don't miss it!".

As of November 21, 2010: 8 finished, 8 in progress

1. Run a sub-30-minute 5K. This isn't fast for most people, but as my current best is 34:12 it is for me! I have plans that should get me there in March 2011, so we will see.
2. Climb the CN Tower's stairs. There's a climb in the spring for World Wildlife Fund, so I may look into that one.
3. Play laser tag.
4. Buy nothing but essential groceries for two full weeks. This also means *gulp* no Starbucks visits. My one exception is lunch with my sister and running buddy. :)
5. Go vegetarian for a week. Most likely in the summer when the food is freshest.
6. Go to Kuwait to visit T. Try everything, even things I think I won't like. - I did this in January 2010, and I did try everything. I ate Lebanese and Thai food, went snorkeling in the Dubai Aquarium, and generally had an amazing time. I don't think I ever posted a good summary of this, so I am leaving this one active until I do.
7. Pay for someone behind me at a drive-thru.
8. Spend a day at the Royal Ontario Museum.
9. Make croissants again. The recipe I have takes three days but they were delicious.
   
10. Have my mother's bag of golden retriever fur spun then crochet her a hat/mitts/scarf set with fur trim. The yarn has been spun. The scarf is finished and the hat and mitts are in progress. I will be done by November 20th. Or not. By December 4th. :)
    
11. Read "Life of Pi". Somehow this one got past me and I'd like to check it out.
12. Turn the Christmas pillow front Mr. W latch-hooked into an actual pillow or a wall hanging, as I see fit.
13. Go to a rock concert. I got to see Meat Loaf in July 2010. LOVE!
14. Take my camera to three separate family/friend occasions. Take at least one picture and be IN at least one picture at each event. (0/3)
15. Go back to New York. Stay longer this time. Run in Central Park. (Avoid LaGuardia if possible. :)
16. Send someone an anonymous gift, something they really need or want.
17. Make something weird (jam?) in the breadmaker.
18. Stick with "Infinite Jest" for summer 2009, even if it gets strange and difficult. I did this, and it DID get strange and difficult, but I still think about the book often. So glad I persevered!
19. Give twenty strangers a compliment. (1/20)
20. Write 10 encouraging notes and leave them out somewhere in public.(0/10)
21. If the UFC comes to Toronto, do everything legally and financially possible to get tickets.
22. Roll a 6-sided die 1001 times and see whether the results are random or not. If not, use whatever number comes up most often in some way to pick a lottery ticket.
23. Fly first-class.
24. Throw a Christmas party. Bake far too many cookies and revel in the options.
25. Write and mail a fan letter to ultimate fighter Forrest Griffin, referencing that I named the male lead in "Go Small or Go Home" Forrest and that my sister named her cat Griffin. See if he responds.
26. Read a book on Canadian history (non-fiction)
27. Sleep out on the balcony for one night.
28. For one week, wear nothing black (gym clothes excepted since all my shorts/pants are black).
29. See the Arrogant Worms in concert if they're anywhere near us. We've seen them several times but I love them!
    
30. See Meat Loaf in concert if he's anywhere near us. Done July 2010, but if he comes back I'll go again! :)
31. Go to a performance of "The Messiah" at Christmas.
32. Create a playlist to pump me up, one to relax me, and one for when I'm feeling doubtful about my ability to carry on. (0/3)
33. Write my parents a gratitude letter.
34. Make pizza from scratch, using the bread machine for the crust. I did this in July 2009 as part of my first list and now I do it at least twice a month. We love it!
35. Try ten new recipes. (2/10)
36. Go an entire day, including at least some time in public, without speaking, (Writing notes is acceptable if necessary.) See how it feels to be completely silent.
37. Go to three new-to-me restaurants (chain restaurants do NOT count). (0/3)
38. Make a $25 loan at www.kiva.org.
39. Read "The Last Lecture" by Randy Pausch. (Done Sept 2010 - I absolutely adored the beginning of the book. As I went on, though, I began to feel the advice was a bit more formulaic than the beginning had suggested it would be. Still, I enjoyed it!)
40. Read a novel a day for one full week. (7/7) Done November 20 to 26, 2009. Tiring but a lot of fun!
41. Reread "The Fountainhead" by Ayn Rand. Done January 2010 on the way to Kuwait. My favorite quote by far is... "How do you always manage to decide?" "How do you let others decide for you?" I so don't want to let others decide for me.
42. See the "Body Worlds" exhibit at the Science Centre. (real body parts!) Take Mr. W if he'll go, or find some other sucker... err... buddy, or go alone if need be. Completed with HM, November 26, 2009. Fascinating!
43. Watch all six Rocky movies over a weekend. (long weekend? :) (0/6)
44. Watch the polar bears at the zoo on a particularly cold day.
45. Write my autobiography, just for my own reference and not for public consumption. Update annually on or around my birthday.
46. Run a half marathon in less than two hours and twenty minutes. (Current best: 2:40) This is "in progress" as I'm working on my training plan. Task #1, the faster 5K, is also helping prepare me for this one.
    
47. Eat an apple a day for 28 days.
48. Do 5-10 minutes daily of posture-correcting exercises for 28 days.
49. Sew myself an infinity dress (http://www.rostitchery.com/infinity-dress.html) from the pink fabric in my cupboard that I don't remember why I bought. Make its straps extra-wide (check out http://www.dessy.com/wrap-dress/ for pictures of something similar with wide straps) so it's nearly short-sleeved.
50. Take sixty photos of the same place (a small pond near my house), one each week, then make them into a video to show how the place changes over time.
51. Build a snowman. Drink hot chocolate afterwards.
52. Write 20 meaningful thank you cards.
53. Watch 26 movies, one for each letter of the alphabet. Up to five can be ones I've seen before.
54. Write a letter to myself by November 14th, to be opened July 14, 2011. (Written Nov 14th.)
    
55. Read the previous "letter to myself", then write a new one to be opened July 14, 2012.
56. Read the previous "letter to myself", then write a new one to be opened when I turn 50, July 14, 2022.
    
57. Participate in NaBloPoMo in November 2010.
58. Answer the 50 Questions That Will Free Your Mind. Share at least a few answers on the blog.
59. Go treetop trekking again. It was ridiculously fun!
60. Leave twenty of my business cards out in public (one at a time, obviously :). (0/20)
61. Watch the first season of "Mad Men" on DVD. See if I want to watch the rest. (I've never seen an episode but I hear it's fabulous.)
62. Do the 31 day blog challenge. It doesn't have to be done in 31 days.
    
63. Make my own butter once. See how it compares to store-bought.
64. Read "Living Oprah: My One-year Experiment to Walk the Walk of the Queen of Talk" by Robyn Okrant. Just saw it on someone else's list and it looks fascinating.
65. Have a closet and dresser that contain ONLY clothes I love. (finished November 14, 2010.)
    
66. Leave an outrageous tip for outstanding service.
    
67. Leave my last print copy of "Seven Exes Are Eight Too Many" in the Toronto airport before I go to Florida in December 2010, after first registering it with BookCrossing.com. Hope it ends up somewhere cool. :)
    
68. Do not dye my hair before July 14, 2011, and maybe not even then. It's about 65% gray at the moment, I estimate, and I want to see what it looks like, so this task is to remind me to hold on and not give in to the dye!
69. Say yes to everything I'm offered (providing it's not illegal - fattening is okay :) from May 22-28, 2011 (randomly selected week).
    
70. Plan and do something amazing for my 40th birthday.

There it is! I have seventy items. :) I will add more if I feel like it as I go along but it's not required.

It turns out that it's 625 days from today until the end of this. So I guess I have 70 things in 625 days. But I'll just call it "101 in 1001". Has a better ring to it. :)

I will post regular updates on this, because they help keep me moving forward. If you decide to make a list of your own, let me know. I'd love to see it! :)

Can you think of anything cool I should add?