August/september 101 in 1001 days list

This again hasn’t been a good couple of months. Of course the fact that i have worked every single weekend in those two months has not helped. I did work on a few things though so here goes:

2. I did write a blog post. But only one.

3. I have updated my notebook list about 4 times over the past couple of months to try and keep me on track.

9. I did get a night away with Lars for our anniversary.

17. I did get to meet up with a friend in September. I finally got to meet my friend Kerry’s beautiful boys. So not only did I get to catch up with her I got baby snugglies as well. Yay!

20. I met up with my sister.

75. I am up to 22 books now for the year.

List 2

12. I moved a bedside table into the guestroom. It’s really starting to look like a guestroom which is good since Lars’ aunt, uncle and cousin are coming to stay in October. Guess I better get going and get the rest of the room done.

25. I finally got a new dresser. Unfortunately it’s still in the garage since I haventhad time to get it upstairs. Maybe this weekend.

26. New bedside tables in master bedroom. Yay! I’ll post some pics when I get the master all together.

49. We got the exterior trim painted on the kitchen weeekend. Thanks to my husband for taking the initative on getting that done. (I did help.)

53. New sofa in family room. Yay. I love it. Of course the chairs are wrong so they have to be reordered. Boo.

96. My wonderful husband took a table and chairs to goodwill.

That’s all for now. Hopefully I’m able to accomlish more in October.

States I’ve visited/lived in:

Okay, okay.  I stole this from facebook.  But I am really trying to post more often on my blog and I just can’t think of ideas right now.  So I stole this as a post.

Alabama – No

Alaska – No, but really want to as one of my best friends lives there now.

Arizona – Visited several times

Arkansas – No

California - Visited the San Francisco area several times and been in the LA airport a couple of times. 

Colorado - Lived here for 14 years

Connecticut – No

Delaware – No

Florida - No, but I would like to go to the Keys someday and Disney World, of course. 

Georgia – Visited several times as my sister lived in Atlanta for a few years

Hawaii - Visited Maui and the Big Island.  My first trip to Hawaii was actually for my wedding on Maui.  I absolutely love Hawaii and would live there in a heartbeat if I had the chance. 

Idaho - Visited (but really only on my way to Oregon on road trips) 

Illinois - Visited several times while my dad worked in Chicago 

Indiana -Visited once when I was little.   

Iowa – Born and lived there until I was 10.  I still have lots of family there.

Kansas-I may have technically been in Kansas on a trip to Kansas City, but I think we were usually only on the Missouri side of Kansas City. 

Kentucky – Nope

Louisiana – Visited New Orleans several times.  Almost went to Tulane University for Law School.

Maine – Nope

Maryland – No

Massachusetts - No

Michigan – I don’t think so.

Minnesota – When I was a kid, we took vacations there every summer.  I love Minnesota in the summer.

Mississippi – No

Missouri - Been to Kansas City a few times. 

Montana – Yes.  I’ve been through it a few times.

Nebraska – Lived there for about 17 years.  Managed to not become a Nebraska fan the entire time. 

Nevada- Visited Vegas once and been through the state on a road trip once (and will never do another road trip across the state again). 

New Hampshire – No

New Jersey – No 

New Mexico – Visited once on a family trip when we went through the state coming back from a visit to Arizona. 

New York - Visited the state once for a law school moot court competition at Pace University. 

North Carolina- No

North Dakota – I’ve been through Fargo a couple times.

Ohio – I think I went to Ohio on the same trip as Indiana when I was a kid.

Oklahoma - Been through a corner. 

Oregon - Several times and my husband (boyfriend/fiance/husband at the time) lived there for about 2 years while we were together.  We almost moved to Hood River.

Pennsylvania – no 

Rhode Island – No

South Carolina – No

South Dakota – Visited when I was little

Tennessee – No

Texas - Went to a wedding in College Station.  

Utah - Visited Salt Lake City when I was little.  Been through it on road trips since then. 

Vermont – No

Virginia – No 

West Virginia – No

Wisconsin – When I was little.

Wyoming – Been through it and been to Yellowstone a couple times.

Washington- Been to Seattle once and visited sites on the Washington side of the Columbia several times on trips to Hood River, OR.

Confession

With most things, I am not very particular.  However, when it comes to notes, lists, the like, I will admit that I am very particular.  For example, when I was in college, if I thought my class notes were messy, I would rewrite them and when I make a to do list, if it gets messy, I rewrite it.

I don’t know why I do it, I just always have done it.  I think it even goes as far  back to my grade school days when I was learning to write and my teacher would go over my handwriting with a red pen to show the correct way to do it.  When I would get it back, I would go over it and over it with a dark pencil until you couldn’t see the red anymore. 

What brought this up today was that because I hate messy lists, I found myself really, really wanting to redo my  101 in 1001 days list.  To the point where I just HAD to do it.  So I did and now I have 2 lists.  Hopefully I can keep these neat enough so that I don’t have to redo either of them and I can just start another when the time comes.  Unfortunately, I doubt it will happen that way … 1001 days is a long time for me to stick with the same version of list.

July Update to 101 Things In 1001 Days List

Not as good as I hoped, but not too bad either.  Here’s what I accomplished in July:

5.  Overnight trip with my husband.  We went to Oregon for a week and had a wonderful time!  A real vacation was long overdue and was very much enjoyed by both of us.

7.  Visit a waterpark.  My husband and I went to Pirate’s Cove for adult night.  It was so much fun and we were able to act like kids again.  I highly recommend it to anyone.

24/25.  Master bath window.  We finally went ahead and had this replaced and are so happy.  The bathroom is so much cooler now (we got the solar glass) and there are no more bugs coming in through the window.  It is wonderful.  Now I just need to get it painted.

62.  Meeting up with friends.  This month I did the ultimate meet up – I actually attended my 20th high school reunion.  This is definitely the subject of its own blog post, so I will try to post something soon.

63.  Visiting sister.  My sister and I met up in Boulder and spent the day hitting the farmer’s market, art show, lunch and shopping.

66.  Taking pictures.  I did some of this on vacation.  I really enjoy it and need to do it more often.

85.  Work from home.  I was able to do this on the day the master bath window was installed.  Working from home is the best.

86.  Gym.  I was able to make it to the gym at least once this month.  I really have to get better at this.

90.  Blog posts.  I wrote one – but really need to get better at this.

96.  Pedicure.  I got one right before I went to my high school reunion.  Gotta look good.

97.  Daytime recreational reading.  I was able to do some of this on both trips I took this month.  It was wonderful.

That’s all for now.  Wish me luck that I accomplish a whole lot more in August.  We’ve got guests coming to stay with us in October, so it looks like I’ve only got a couple months to get a lot of the house stuff done.

June Update to 101 Things in 1001 Days List:

June was not a good month for me getting things done.  Between a crazy work schedule and a difficult Lasik surgery mid-month, I didn’t seem to have time for much else.  Oh well, I did manage to work on a few things and I am actually making some progress on the list here in July.  Here is what I was able to get done in June:

#62 – I saw and hung out with my sister.

#85 – I did work from home, but since my intent when making the list was not that I would be working from home on the weekends (but rather taking a Mon-Fri day and working from home), I won’t actually consider this one accomplished. 

#86 – I went to the gym with Lars a couple of times this month.  It was good, although I still really hate working out.

#90 – I wrote a blog post, albeit short.  It was still a post.  I definitely need to get better with this.

#93 – I reviewed the list and updated it.

#94 – I read 2, maybe three books this month.  I need to update that list.

#96 – I got a pedicure.  It is one of my most favorite things to do.

I’m finally going to do it

Get Lasik that is.  I’ve only been contemplating it for 2+ years, so it’s definitely about time.  I’m on for tomorrow and starting to get very nervous.

Wish me luck!

May Update to 101 in 1001 list:

Not a great month for me to get stuff accomplished.  Still, I am trying and made at least some progress:

Fix door on entertainment center.  I think this is completely done now.  Yay.

Plant a veggie garden.  I am so excited about this one.  I have a beautiful raised bed and several pots and just can’t wait for everything to get big enough so I can actually eat some of it.  I planted:  corn, beans, carrots, cucumbers, peppers, basil, parsley, broccoli, rhubarb, strawberries, tomatoes, zucchini, summer squash, blueberries, and there there is a huge raspberry plant that was already there.  I can’t wait!

Work from home.  I was able to do this once this past month.  It was wonderful.

Go to the gym.  I actually went twice this month with Lars.  This is a huge accomplishment for me as I really hate going to the gym.  It always feels like such a waste of time. 

Write a blog post.  I’ve actually written 3 this month.  The April update to the list, the May update and my stained glass window that I made.  yay.

Read books.  I think I’ve read about 2 1/2 or 3 1/2 this month.  I need to check and make sure.

That is all for now.  I think June will be a bit better as I have some things planned to get done.

I made this …

I am actually kind of proud of this.  It’s definitely not perfect, and I can point out all the flaws in it, but, I made it all by myself and it actually turned out good enough to be part of our family room decor.  It’s really huge (36×17) but I think once we get it hung, it will fit the window really well.

April Update to 101 in 1001 Days

I think I’ve decided that the best way to work with this type of list is to at least do a once a month “update” to the list so I can keep myself on track.  So here goes:

Travel Related:

Since DH and I took a trip in April, I could technically count off 3 items:  #s 3, 5, and 10.  Since that feels like cheating, I’ll just count 2 of them:  #5 – Take an overnight trip with Lars at least 4 times per year (this is the first one for this year); and #10 – Travel to the Ocean.

Home Related:

#33 – Fix door on entertainment center.  I fixed one of them (the only one I knew was broken), but of course now the other one is broken as well.  I’ll get that fixed this month and then cross this completely off the list.

#35 – Buy Furniture for dining room (Table and Chairs).  DONE!  I finally got a really nice set from Crate and Barrel and am very happy with how they look.  Yay!!!

#46 – Organize my craft room.  This isn’t completed yet, but I have made some good progress.  I can at least walk around in there and I am starting to be able to find things.  With this next weekend looking rainy, I may just get a whole bunch more accomplished this weekend.

#47 – Set up storage cabinet in storage room.  DONE!

#54 – Shred documents in pile in office.  DONE!  (Of course, I will probably have another pile her soon, so I am afraid this may be an ongoing task)

#56 – Clean out magazines.  IN PROGRESS.

#62 – See sister at least 12 times per year.  This is an ongoing task, but I can say that I actually saw her 2 times this month.  Yay!

#65 – Take pictures at least one per month.  This is an ongoing task, but I did take quite a few pictures while we were on vacation this month.  I can’t wait to download them and see how they look.

#85 – Work from home one day per month.  DONE!  I had an excuse as I was getting the house professionally cleaned, but at least I was home rather than at the office – Yay!!!

#90 – Write 101 blog posts.  I actually did one this month.  (This one right here I will have to count towards the May tasks, since it is May 1.)

#94 – Read 50 books per year.  I am not quite there yet, but I did finish 2 this month (Definitely Dead and All Together Dead) and am currently in the middle of 2 more.

#96  Get a pedicure 6 times per year.  I got one before we went on vacation.  Yay!!!

I think that’s all for April.  Not bad.  Now that things are hopefully a little calmer at work (knock on wood), I’m hoping to make even more progress in May.

Feeling like a failure at the friend game

I feel like such a failure at the “friend-making” game.

It is so hard to make friends as an adult.  Actually, it has always been hard for me to make friends.  I’ve always been one of those girls that is “friends” with everyone, including the “popular” people, but I’ve always been the one on the fringe.  Like the one who sat at the popular table, but at the end of the table and always knew everything that was going on (the gossip, the parties, etc.) but never really was directly involved.  Back then, I always felt like a loser.

As an adult, I feel very much the same way.  For example, I made some “friends” through an online group.  Many of them I have met in real life and many I really felt like I could be good friends with them.  However, recently, I really feel like an outsider, and like I’m not good enough, and often wonder whether the “connection” I felt with any of these women previously was actually real, or whether it was just in my head.  Again, I just feel like I did back when I was younger – lonely and not really good enough for friends.  I know it’s silly – I need to just let things go and not worry about whether anyone likes me or not.  But sometimes I just can’t help it and I feel like the loser I was when I was younger.

It is just so hard to make friends as an adult.  I had some friends from law school that I loved, but we have all seemed to go our separate ways – some moving out of state, some having children.  The same with a group of friends I used to be in another group with.  I still really love some of my “online friends” but it is just so hard sometimes to translate that into real life friendships.  I just always feel like an outsider.  I am still that insecure girl, who is always so scared whether someone is going to like me that I either just avoid trying, or I try, but second guess anything and everything I do, and just am too quiet in person to really make friends. 

Throw in the husband, the job and the house and it just makes everything harder.  I generally work so much that when I do have free time, I just want to veg out or have so much to do around the house or just generally want to hang out with my husband.  And then it ends up that if I do decide to meet up with friends, I feel guilty I am not doing something else, and if I do something else, I feel guilty that I’m not out there making friends.  And trying to make “couples friends” so that my husband and I have a couple to hang out with – I havent figured out how to do that one either.

I just wish I knew what to do.  Sometimes it gets really lonely being me but I wonder if maybe this isjust the way I am meant to be.