With 233 Days Left......

Omg that SO isn't a lot of days at ALL!!! So I really need to re-org here, don't I? Well here's a snapshot of what's happening at this very moment:

16 on-going tasks
6 tasks near completion
17 tasks I still need to start
8 complete re-vamps

Minus the on-going ones, that's 31 tasks I need to complete in the next 7+ months!! And they're all pretty hefty ones at that. I put together a table and a rough schedule, however, and all I need to do is stick with it. And as I mentioned, I found 8 tasks that need revamping...a couple I have to change altogether! Why? Not necessarily because of time, but rather, because of money. I'm not sure if anyone has heard, but the economy is a ginormous dumpster of broken spirits and tattered dreams. So I will have to adjust the list accordingly...

#12 - Participate in 26 things Photograph Project five times
Ok, so I can't blame this one on the economy as photography is relatively free. I have to blame time. Coming up with 26 really great photos to put into a theme is so much harder than it sounds! I'm determined to do something though. I started one, which I could try to finish. In the meantime, however, I'm going to try and come up with an ABCs of Milwaukee by late April.


#46 - Make a total of 50 recipes from cookbooks
Hmmm, ok once again, a time issue (man! I really was hoping the economy would be an easy target!) More of a preference issue?? See, obviously I make four new recipes every month. But I've noticed that I find recipes better suited to me via online sources. I'll try to crack open a book, but in the end I always turn to the internet. One big reason is on sites like allrecipes.com, people comment and make great suggestions on ways to tweak the recipe. I love that! Anyway, I've decided to cut the number from 50 to 25. Right now I'm at 22, and while I could definitely squeeze 28 more recipes into the next 8 months, ALL via book will be annoying. So on that note, to makes things more difficult, the last three recipes will HAVE to be gourmet, with a high level of difficulty. I've been cooking seriously for a couple years now and should be able to attempt them!

#52 - Splurge on an expensive pair of heels/sandals
I have officially decided to take up running. I was super inspired by Mandsi's 5K back in October, and the only thing preventing me since then was the god-awful Wisconsin Winter...which is now coming to an end! I found a really great Beginners schedule which involves a lot of walking interspersed with the running. 10 Week Stage 1 takes you to 44 minutes of near-consistent running, while 10 Week Stage 2 takes you to a consistent full 60 minutes. With determination and various forms of motivation, I could seriously do this! One form of motivation is a nice expensive pair of running shoes! I'm going to stop into PRO this week...they personally help you find a shoe based on all sorts of customized criteria, which will be extremely helpful to a beginner! I may ALSO start, oh yes, YET another blog (my third?) devoted to the running as that'll be great motivation.

#63 - Return to NYC or go to Boston
This will be impossible. Originally I had just NYC on the list, but when I found out my friend got into Harvard, I decided to add Boston as that would be more reasonable and likely. Well she's coming home for the summer, so this task is completely out (and better this way because I'll save so much money!) I hate to readjust the entire numbering of this list after all this time, so I'm moving #63 into the Let’s Get Organizized! section and completely changing it to....

#63 - Clean/Re-Org the Entire Apartment
Yowzahs! I've noticed lately, however, that after three plus years of just your basic dusting, vacuuming, and wiping down only obvious surfaces...there is a LOT of gross gross stuff happening in various crevices in that place. And while I'm not planning on moving anytime soon, I think it'd be good to knock off a few hours, or rather weeks, of cleaning...AND packing for that matter...once that happens.

#69 - Donate blood once a season
I've only donated 4 out of 12 times...again, not expensive, mostly a time issue. As in WASTING my time. Wasting my time donating blood that they have to throw away because I can't make it in under 15 minutes. So I'm going to devote 8 hours (one hour for each donation I would've made) of volunteer work. I sort of shudder to think about it though because I have had nothing but bad experiences dealing with the Wisconsin Blood Center personnel. They seem to be incredibly unorganized and their bedside manner is totally less than stellar. So this will be a real challenge I'm guessing. But that's the point of this list, isn't it?

#82 - Increase 401k in ‘09
Some people are saying it would be wise for a young person to add to their 401k now because stocks will be so low and we can afford to be risky. I, however, working in the even RISKIER world of advertising, feel as though I need to plan for the proximate future. So I'm changing this task. I'm putting 1% of my salary into my savings instead. This comes to roughly $25 extra per month. Yes I've missed months Jan and Feb, so I'm going to take a look at my current checking status to see if I can afford the whole $75 (to include March). I should be able to.

#91 - Buy/Learn how to take care of a Bonsai
Alright, so this would be an expensive hobby to get into, and I've already got an expensive hobby happening, particularly when I go into full throttle with this potential Art/Craft show. While I'd love to partake in this hobby one day, something's gotta give. I have absolutely no idea what to replace this one with, however. Particularly something of equal difficulty. I've always wanted to try rock climbing at Turner Hall. Another expensive hobby, but perhaps I could just doing the "Learn-to-Climb" class? I'd be learning something new, like with the Bonsai task.

#97 - Geocache!!!
This was a throw-away as soon as John and I broke up, seeing as he kept the GPS (which is undoubtedly sitting at the bottom of some drawer of his...$100 of mine well spent I say!) In any case, Geocaching requires some level of athletic skill if you really get into the hiking ones, so to couple the new Running Shoes task, I'm going out on a HUGE limb and will use the spring/summer to train for the 8K Al's Run on Oct 10th. Now this is a VERY tall order for someone who has never ran for more than five minutes straight in their lives (no, seriously)...but it's seven months away. That's almost 30 weeks. And if I stick to the aforementioned schedule, I should be able to be very close to running a straight 60 minutes in 20 weeks. I don't know, I have high goals, but you know something? The other day I was asked the question: what's the hardest thing you've accomplished or have yet to accomplish on your list? There are many difficult tasks, ones that have taken time and energy, but nothing next to impossible (says the girl who just replaced a bunch of 'next to impossible' tasks). I mean nothing that truly challenges who I am and could potentially change who I could be! For now, I'm going to try and stick to it. All I can do is try!


I just read that the real marathon starts in the last six miles. I'm in the final quarter of my list now, and I feel that pressure most definitely. It's very much a mental game now of forcing myself to keep at it. This entire list was based on my desire to not only experience life more fully, but more specifically, to become a more organized person. The true test will be these final ~8 months.