An Update on my 101.

If you're not familiar, the “101 Goals in 1,001 Days” concept is a self-challenge to complete realistic tasks within a set period of time.

I love list-making, so I hopped onto this idea not long after I first heard of it through friend/PR colleague/former Bunko-member Nicole.

As I work my way through my own list, though, I see more chances to grow and to have something to strive for beyond my typical goals. A fun but unexpected side effect is being able to look at these aspirations as I see them now, and then look back to see how I view them once they're completed.

I'd love to make one of these every 1,001 days just so I can compare how my goals (and I) change with time. I don’t really expect to complete all 101 items by the 1,001st day, but I hope to complete as many as I can. I will try to start updating my list more often -- I began the challenge about a year ago on 10/17/08, and my end date is 7/15/10.

Here's the list (as of tonight, #30 inspired me to get goin' with the updates):

Bold tasks are completed. Italicized tasks are in progress.

1. Organize the (many) books I own and resell, donate, share and/or shelve them. Attractively.


2. Obtain a copy of and read the Johnson family history compiled by my Aunt Troy & Co. years ago.


3. Get settled into a church home in Baton Rouge.


4. Work on my APR (Accreditation in Public Relations) certification.


5. Sing at least once a day. This is something I love to do but often forget brings me big joy.


6. Organize, scan and share the (many) hard copies of photos I own.


7. Move all MySpace blogs over to Blogspot.


8. Find a worthy cause in the city I'm in and devote time and energy to it.


9. Make a living will.


10. Write letters to each of my parents' brothers and sisters thanking them for their contributions to my life and history. (Daddy has five brothers and five sisters. One of his brothers passed away last weekend, so I will write a letter to his children; Mother has three brothers.)


11. Send Christmas cards, and mail them by December 10.


12. Send at least one non-occasion-related card per month.


13. Exercise at least 3 times a week.


14. Lose 10 pounds.


15. Keep it off for one month.


16. Walk a mile in Central Park.


17. Go to at least one professional association meeting per month.


18. Write an article and have it published.


19. Plant herbs, help those herbs live, then cook with them and/or share them.


20. Clean the boxes out of the garage.


21. Take swimming lessons.


22. When friends say, "What? You never saw such-and-such movie?," make a note of the movie and see it within the month. Current movies to see are: Sixteen Candles, Pulp Fiction, Fight Club, The Big Lebowski, Royal Tennenbaums, Being John Malkovich, Big (all the way through), Big Fish, The Wedding Singer, Rain Man


23. Read at least one non-fiction book per month. (Yep, I was an English major, but this is tough for me. I do love my chick lit.)


24. Visit the acclaimed St. Francisville, Louisiana, take the camera, and savor the day and the beauty.


25. Host a (small, rebekah-sized) gathering at my (small, rebekah-sized) townhouse.


26. Wear hats. In public. Even if I'm the only one doing it.


27. Finish a special project for a special someone. (The project and recipient will remain a secret until the gift is complete.)


28. Give the gift.


29. Clean out my car at least once a month.


30. Take tennis lessons.


31. Get a makeover and practice new makeup tips on an ordinary day.


32. Cut out carbs after 3pm.


33. Do not miss one kickboxing class (held weekly at my gym) for one month, starting the first Monday that I am able to breathe and move like a normal person.


34. Go to Highland Road's Observatory some night and watch the stars.


35. Give blood as often as permissible…after eating breakfast, of course.


36. Pick back up my old tradition of adopting an angel at Christmas.


37. Sort, purge and organize cassette tapes. (Yes, cassette tapes. I was born in ’76. Work with me.)


38. Write letters to three of my favorite college professors -- Dr. Joan Fitch, Dr. David Fitch, and Jeanne Ezell.


39. Sell, transfer to hard drive, share and/or organize CDs effectively and neatly.


40. Host a picnic for friends with food that I made, not food that I bought.


41. Take dance lessons for a month. Jitterbug, ballroom, salsa – the possibilities are endless!


42. Pay for the person behind me in line.


43. Stop gnawing at my nails. (Yes, they’re fake. I know. It’s bad.)


44. Right a wrong.


45. Blog five things I am thankful for each week.


46. Visit at least one farmer's market a month.


47. Take my lunch to work at least twice a week. (Weeks containing lunch meetings can be exceptions, and leftovers can count.)


48. Be able to at least jog the entire weekly Happy's Run.


49. Write out, carefully review, and stick to a disciplined budget for 6 months. (I think I have this in my head, but I hear it's smart to do on paper.)


50. See a Ronald Reagan movie.


51. See a Paul Newman movie.


52. See a Marilyn Monroe movie.


53. Go to a drive-in movie.


54. Learn to make a really good gumbo.


55. Call at least one out-of-town friend each week. Return calls don’t count.


56. Appear as an extra in a film.


57. Save at least 20 un-earmarked dollars per month for six months.


58. Decide on a suitable name for my blog, and share it with friends and family.


59. Reward the idea-giver(s) who helped most with picking this vital name, especially since it’s taken me forever to decide on one. :-)


60. Take a train ride to Kim's.


61. Purge my closet of items I don't feel attractive in. Recruit friends' opinions if necessary!


62. Deliberately accessorize at least once a week.


63. Send at least one piece of mail per month to my nephew.


64. Watch my weight regularly.


65. Learn to make really good cornbread.


66. Participate in at least one kid-related event per month.


67. Make friends with an elderly person I'm not related to, and keep in touch with them.


68. Set dates to visit my sister at least twice a year, and stick to the plan.


69. Cook an entire meal for my parents at least once during each visit to their home. (Holidays and quick work trips could be exceptions, depending on timing and the amount of leftovers in the fridge during holidays, and the amount of time available during work trips.)


70. Paint something on canvas.


71. Handwrite in my journal. (It's been years, thanks to electronic communication and blogging.)


72. Visit or make solid plans to visit at least three states I've never been to. My current unvisited states are: Washington; Oregon; Idaho; Montana; Wyoming; Utah; Arizona; New Mexico; Colorado; Nebraska; N. Dakota; S. Dakota; Kansas; Oklahoma; Minnesota; Iowa; Wisconsin; Michigan; Indiana; Ohio; W. Virginia; Connecticut; Rhode Island; Vermont
    Yikes...what a long list! Longer than I thought. Kind of sad. But repairable!


73. When time to buy new lightbulbs, switch to energy-saving ones.


74. Do one nice thing for someone who will never find out per month.


75. Consciously work on becoming a better listener.


76. Develop a personal career goal outside of my job description and achieve it by November 2009.


77. Drink hot tea instead of coffee at least two mornings per week.


78. Have myself painted (I'm thinking a portrait -- not my actual body -- by a street artist in New Orleans. So not anything too off-the-wall.)


79. Treat myself to a weekend at a Bed & Breakfast with a favorite girl friend.


80. Water my office plant...before it starts looking puny.


81. Free my spaces of clutter at least one a week.


82. Try Vietnamese food. (How did I grow up on the MS Gulf Coast and never try it? IDK. But I intend to correct that.)


83. Learn to make at least three amazing shrimp dishes.


84. Go through old childhood books and toys that are still at my parents' house and relieve my mother of what she doesn’t want (or doesn’t have space) to hang onto.


85. Watch The Godfather movie series with my daddy.


86. Share the HBO John Adams series with my daddy when it's out on DVD.


87. Have someone take posed and candid photographs of my sister and me, when we're dressed for the occasion and feel great about how we look.


88. Read my Bible at least once a week.


89. Attempt to recreate at least three of my parents' favorite childhood dishes.


90. Work on praying throughout the day. (Celestial complaints do not count.)


91. Unless allergy-ridden or planning to be around those who are allergy-ridden, wear perfume, not because of a special occasion, but just because it makes me happy.


92. Get CPR certified.


93. Learn the Heimlich maneuver.


94. Visit friends' churches, including those not in my own denomination.


95. Share digital photos from events with friends and family within two weeks of said event.


96. Save $10 for every completed item on this list, but…


97. Donate $10 for every item not completed at the end of the 1001 days.


98. Obtain an authentic item from Tiffany’s. (I don't have to buy said piece from the actual store -- eBay is ok -- but the accompanying blue box is essential.)


99. Read at least one published book by authors whom I know personally, and especially ones by those whom I’m related to!


100. Don’t text and drive, and try to make this a much-needed, very safe, super-conscientious but oh-so-hard difficult of my overly communicative world.


101. Throw a party on the 1,001st day, Friday July 15, 2011. Don’t tell anyone who doesn’t already know what the party is for.

Start date: 10/17/08

End date: 7/15/10