Just 101 More Things

Mid-January Update

2011-01-16T16:51:00.000-08:00

Much happy dancing around my house as #42 on the list was accomplished. Have to give my husband a lot of credit for this as he arranged from some driving lessons.

January, 2011 update

2011-01-07T18:42:00.000-08:00

I'm making minimal progress on this list. Most of it seems to be in the reading and needlework areas. I completed a 100-book challenge and actually read/listened to 114 books in 2010. I completed a long-time WIP, the Keep Me Sampler in July. It's time to get moving on a few other things.

July 22 update

2010-07-22T12:42:00.000-07:00

I've accomplished a few more things:

#44 We finally visited the Barnes Foundation in Merion, PA. The artwork is being moved to Philadelphia next summer so we wanted to see the current museum before it closed. As it was, only 19 of the 24 galleries were open which was actually fine since I was on visual overload. It was almost like Duck, Duck, Goose, except that it was Renoir, Renoir, Cezanne. Dr. Barnes acquire 181 Renoir paintings for his collection and we saw many of them. My daughter and I also went to an exhibit of late Renoir paintings at the Philadelphia Art Museum a few days later. It was a good exhibit, but we were so glad we saw the Barnes.

#30 I joined a group of women who are raising funds and will be building a house for Habitat for Humanity.

May 1, 2010 Update

2010-05-01T09:37:00.000-07:00

I've been chipping away at a few of my goals

#4 I've now read 20 books from the mountainous stacks in closets, on top of the TV in my bedroom, under my bed, etc.

#5 16 needlework projects have been completed

#7 Petit Sampling Etui (or the Project from Hell--read about it on my other blog) has been finished. Well, almost

#43 My daughter has become a licensed driver! I should give most of the credit for this to my husband who contacted the driving school and got her out on the road. But I did supervise quite a few trips to and from school and will never be the same again.

#58 Went to the Stone Rose in Conshohocken which is excellent. Also tried the Gypsy Saloon in West Conshohocken. Good food, but noisy. I went to a bridal shower at Yangming in Rosemont and didn't think the food was anything special, although everyone who had eaten there before said the crabcake is great. And I finally went to P.F. Chang's. We just had appetizers, so I may have to go back to try an entree.

#59 Took a class from Betsy Morgan with my sampler guild in April

#82 My daughter and I went to Colorado to visit my 91 year old aunt in March.

#83 My sister and her husband stayed overnight with us enroute from Anapolis to Long Island.

#87 Finally did the paperwork to renew the license and I got it in the mail today!

December, 2009

2009-12-31T06:47:00.000-08:00

Here's my progress during the last month.

#4 I read 2 more books from my shelves to bring the total to 14

#5 I've now completed 14 needlework projects

#34 The money market account is balanced! There was quite a large difference between what I thought was in the account and what the bank thought. I could never find the mistake which I'm sure was mine and finally put enough money in the account to balance it. One thing off my list!!!

#50 I got the H1N1 shot

#64 We used the china for Thanksgiving dinner

#77 Christmas cards count!

#95 I'm going to count the beautiful necklace my husband got me for Christmas.

November update #1

2009-11-01T15:08:00.000-08:00

#19 The photo for this quilt is here

#17 And the photo for this quilt is here

#20 This quilt is also done. Picture to follow

October, 2009 update

2009-10-13T17:11:00.000-07:00

#18 I got my son's quilt back from the quilter and sewed down the binding. You can see a picture
here

#19 I also got my daughter's quilt back and have the binding done. No picture yet.

#30 I tried to volunteer in the office for Habitat, but they had too many volunteers for that particular job. Good for them!

September update #2

2009-09-13T14:30:00.000-07:00

#58 We were invited out to lunch and went to the Marathon Grill on Spruce Street near Rittenhouse Square. I hadn't been in the city for quite awhile and it's a beautiful day so this was a treat. The restaurant was good, but noisy. I can recommend the egg white omelot with wild mushrooms and goat cheese.

September update

2009-09-07T04:09:00.001-07:00

#4 I read 6 of my own books in August. Those long flights to and from LA were wonderful as I get on a plane, put my nose in a book and do not look up until the wheels hit the tarmac. The best of the stack was Beautiful Lies by Lisa Unger. It's a great thriller. I also read Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides and just didn't care for it. The whole runaway scene at the end turned me off.

#5 I finished 4 more of the needlepoint ornaments in the Countdown to Christmas series. (You can see the series here.) I also finished a crossstitched ornament and the July Bauble from Sam Sarah Designs.

#17-20 I'm a perfectionist and somewhat shy. Both of those things caused me to put off taking quilt tops to a local quilter. But I gathered up my courage and four quilt tops and took them off to her in mid-August. She oohed and aahed over each one, and picking out quilting designs is a whole lot faster than picking out mats and framing. Now I'm just waiting on getting them back so I can stitch down the binding.

#25-26 No, I didn't knit socks or a sweater. I need a whole lot more practice before I tackle those projects, so I drug out the "world's most knitted baby blanket" and put about 20 rows into it before I decided to rip that all out and start again. For probably the 5th or 6th time. My tension is gettin better and there are too many big holes.

#47 I took the Countdown to Christmas ornaments and the Striped Bass into the shops for finishing. The Bass is back already. (Good thing I'm on a 25-project challenge since lots of dollars are going into finishing!) Which brings us to--

#48 I finished 5 projects toward my 25-project challenge started 8-13-09.

#58 We were lured into Maggiano's by an offer to buy one dinner and get one free. This restaurant is in the mall about three miles from my home, and has been for several years, but I'd never gone. I liked the Chicken D (I think that's what it was called) and liked that we got points on Open Table. Sadly, a favorite restaurant, Blush, in Bryn Mawr, closed this month. So did Carmine's Creole Cafe, also in Bryn Mawr, which was on my list of places to try.

#77 and #82 I wrote to each of my sons, sent a sympathy note to a friend and wrote to my Aunt H. at least once.

August

2009-08-02T09:30:00.001-07:00

There's been a little bit of progress toward completing this list.

#4 I read two more of the books I own--both mysteries.

#5 I completed two small canvas ornaments

#53 My husband and I have been walking at least three times per week. Doesn't seem to have made a difference in my weight, but some of my clothes are looser.

#58 I had lunch with a friend at Cake in Chestnut Hill. I'd highly recommend it and in fact, I'm going back there with my daughter on my birthday this month. We had dinner at Capone's for my husband's birthday so he could satisfy his craving for veal parm. Their "Eclipse" cake was fabulous!! My daughter and I shared the crab cakes which were nothing to write home about.

#76 My son is working at an overnight camp, so I try to send him something once a week.

July, 2009 update

2009-07-02T10:08:00.001-07:00

Well, not too bad a start for the first two weeks of this list. We were gone for a few days on vacation so that helped me with #4 and #5 .

#4: I read a mystery that had been on my shelf for awhile and The Perfect Storm. The latter wasn't my usual type of book, but since we were going to New England, I wanted to read something from that area. I got this book from a bookcrosser * and it had also been on my shelf for awhile. The first book went in the bag to take to the Paperback Trader and the second will be given to my son.

#5: I stitched two needlepoint ornaments during the car trip to Rhode Island and a shorter trip to the Poconos to see my son.

Not a whole lot to report, but I do find that having this list posted in a blog makes me look at it frequently. So I should be able to keep these goals in mind and get a few of them accomplished.

*If you decide to join Bookcrossings, tell them sptx referred you.

A New List

2009-06-17T13:19:00.000-07:00

I love lists. It's genetic. I got it from my mother. I often came down in the morning to see her sitting in the kitchen writing out the things she had to do that day. My brother-in-law swears that he once saw "Make list" as the first item she had to do. And my family and I enjoyed a good laugh about it after Mom's funeral service--the minister had chosen the passage from Proverbs that talks about a virtuous woman. One of the verses says "she rises before dawn" and when I was alone with my family, I quoted that but added "and makes a list." (Wonder what my children will be saying about me someday. . .)

Several years ago, the 101 Things in 1000 days (http://www.dayzeroproject.com/) was popular on the bulletin boards I frequent. I loved it--another chance to make a list!! My list will expire on June 18, 2009. Even though I only accomplished 21 things on that list, it didn't stop me from making another. Here's what I hope to do in the next 1000 days.