101 in 1001: Update 6/3/09

I have been chipping away at my 101 in 1001 list, but haven’t posted much progress since I wrote it way back in March 2008. Here are just a few of the items I’ve been able to scratch off the list:

#2. Buy a car.

Mr. Martini and I moved to Louisville on a Saturday. On Sunday, we tried to go car shopping but the dealerships were closed. We had to get our rental car back by 5 pm on Monday, so we didn’t have much time to do a lot of comparison shopping and test-driving. I’m sure the sales guy could smell that desperation a mile away, but I think we got a good deal on a decent car that gets amazing gas mileage:

#5. Bake something from scratch.

When I wrote that, I had grand ideas about breads or cakes or pies. Instead, I baked cookies. But they were delicious:

#24: Donate Books.

We donated at least 8 paper boxes of books to Open Books Ltd. right before we moved. For those of you in the Chicago area, I cannot recommend these folks highly enough. They came right to our apartment, they carried them to the car, and I feel good knowing that our donation is helping a literacy program in Chicago. They are a great, great service. And, if you’re not in Chicago, they’ll still take your books! Check out the website for details.

#27: Lose 10 pounds.

I’m proud to say that I have completed the first of four of these items from the Obligatory Healthy Section of my list. I am officially down about 13 pounds from my highest weight ever, which is what I was measuring when I started this list. I’d love, love, love to be able to get down another 10 before my family reunion in August and strike off another of these before then. I’m trying my hardest – but that’s an entry for another day.

#58: Sew pillows for living room.

Done! Actually, this is the second set I made, and I really like them:

After those successes, I have to make note of my first major failure. It’s one that cannot be done, because I specified a particular date to do it, and it just didn’t happen.

#85: Cartwheel on July 30 2008 – FAIL!

I was determined to do a cartwheel on each of my birthdays during this 1001 day period, but missed the first one completely. I even allowed myself a grace period of a week, but just couldn’t bring myself to do it. Why? Because I had a job interview scheduled a mere 4 days after my birthday, and figured I didn’t want to wear a cast to it. Because it would be JUST MY LUCK to break my wrist doing a cartwheel right before a job interview.

This year, I think I’ll have a better shot. I’ll be at the beach a few days after my birthday, so the soft sand may make for a softer landing. Or at least I hope so.

Phew! That’s enough updating for one day. I’m going to update the 101 in 1001 page with these updates, as well as a few others, if you’re interested in the minutiae of the list. I have a LOT to do in the next year and a half, by the looks of it. Yowza.