969 Days to Go

Last Week's Priority Goals

1. Hit the 6,000-word mark in my screenplay.
2. Complete both freelance editing projects on my current plate.
3. Finish "Catcher in the Rye."
4. Catalog movies.
5. Visit the farmers' market.
6. Foodblog recipe from last weekend.
   

Last Week's Secondary Goals

1. Write a blog post.
2. Organize office.
3. Meal plan.
4. Another 101 recipe.

I actually am sitting close to 10,000 words on my screenplay as of Sunday afternoon, so things are moving along quite nicely.

I managed to get one of my freelance projects done, but I still need to finish the one that's been sitting on my plate for probably three or four weeks now. I've been wanting to write my own stuff so much lately that I have had nearly zero motivation to edit someone else's. But I need to get down to business on this. No excuses this week! I managed to give one night over to my freelance work last week and still make great progress on my own writing, so I can do it again this week!

I now have pretty much our entire media library catalogued (thank you, Google Docs). This was a good step because now I know I've got several DVDs I want to sell which means extra cash in my pocket, which is always nice.

I got my fourth recipe foodblogged. Go check it out.

And onto next weeks' goals:

This Week's Priority Goals

1. Hit the 14,000-word mark in my screenplay.
2. Complete my remaining freelance editing project.
3. Meal plan.
   
4. Visit the farmers' market.
   
5. Status Update with Jordan
   
6. 101 Recipe No. 5
   

This Week's Secondary Goals

1. Organize office.
2. Finish (or come close to finishing) LOTR: Return of the King.
   

971 Days to Go

Last Week's Priority Goals

1. Get 1,000 words written for new screenplay.
2. Consolidate U.S. Bank accounts.
3. Write two more profiles from e-mail interviews.
4. Read "The Catcher in the Rye."
5. Write a blog post.
6. Complete another recipe from my 101 Recipes List.
7. Schedule a hot stone massage for my stay at a very nice hotel/spa/casino in Vegas at the end of September (spa appointments must be made a month in advance).
   

Last Week's Secondary Goals

1. Practice my violin.
2. Catalog books.
3. Organize office.

I actually managed to get to nearly 3,000 words in my screenplay last week, and I should hit 6,000 today with no problem. I'm really working on adopting Jerry Seinfeld's chain method, and it's done a good job keeping motivated to write this week (even on Tuesday when I'd already worked a total of 14 hours between my "real" job and freelance).

I'd also nearly finished The Catcher in the Rye last week, but I've been so swamped this week that I literally finished it about 10 minutes ago. So I'm a few days behind on my reading schedule, but I should have no trouble making that up in the next several months. Next up is Part III of The Lord of the Rings, a.k.a. The Return of the King.

I'm tabling getting my U.S. bank accounts consolidated for the moment. In practical terms, I've done it since nearly all our money is at ING now. It's just a matter of actually getting them closed. But since keeping them open is not hurting anything, I'm going to move that down on my list of priorities.

Oh, and the really exciting goal accomplished from last week is that I have officially scheduled my hot stone massage at the Red Rock Hotel, Spa and Casino in Las Vegas! It's going to be pricey at $160 for 50 minutes, but I figure I'm going to be getting the best of the best in Vegas, right? The optimist in me is thinking I'll be able to get up $160 in the casino, thus making the experience free, but the realist in me is planning on being out $160 but with very relaxed muscles.

I also invested in a Moleskine notebook this week, which has been awesome. So, despite not posting this week's goals, I did at least get some written down. You know it's been a crazy week when you can't even get your goals posted until Friday, but here they are finally, straight from Tuesday's Moleskine entry.

---

This Week's Priority Goals

1. Hit the 6,000-word mark in my screenplay.
2. Complete both freelance editing projects on my current plate.
3. Finish "Catcher in the Rye."
4. Catalog movies.
5. Visit the farmers' market.
6. Foodblog recipe from last weekend.
   

This Week's Secondary Goals

1. Write a blog post.
2. Organize office.
3. Meal plan.
4. Another 101 recipe.
   

984 Days to Go

Last Week's Goals

1. Get to the 4000-word mark in my 2007 ScriptFrenzy screenplay. (Not done, but other creative progress made.)
   
2. Write two more profiles from e-mail interviews for my in-progress article. (Not done. No excuses.)
   
3. Consolidate our U.S. Bank accounts. (Not done. My half day went to more important things, like hanging out with my mom and my sisters.)
   
4. Finish reading LOTR: The Two Towers. (Completed!)
   
5. Have a status update with Jordan. (Completed!)
   
6. Write two blog posts at my regular blog. (Completed!)

Other Accomplishments

1. Jordan and I spent the afternoon reading and chatting at a coffee shop, thus fulfilling Month No. 1 for No. 16 on the Creativity section of my list.
2. I volunteered at the soup kitchen again, and this time my youngest sister, Kate, came along for the ride.
3. This isn't on my list, but I've started helping my mom and one of her friends coach a soccer team of 4- to 5-year-old girls. This, as I'm sure you can imagine, has been an adventure. Kate's helping with that, too.
4. I did some research and outlining for a different screenplay that's taken over my brain than what I had originally intended for my belated 2007 ScriptFrenzy script. So, now I have two screenplays I want to write. I think I'll concentrate on the one that's taken over my brain for now and try to get some actual scenes written this week.
   
5. I vacuumed. To those to whom this seems trivial, I can only defend myself by pointing out that you had not seen the carpet.
   

Priority Goals for This Week

1. Get 1,000 words written for new screenplay.
2. Consolidate U.S. Bank accounts.
3. Write two more profiles from e-mail interviews.
4. Read "The Catcher in the Rye."
5. Write a blog post.
6. Complete another recipe from my 101 Recipes List.
7. Schedule a hot stone massage for my stay at a very nice hotel/spa/casino in Vegas at the end of September (spa appointments must be made a month in advance).
   

Secondary Goals for This Week

1. Practice my violin.
2. Catalog books.
3. Organize office.
   

991 Days to Go

I feel like I didn't really get much accomplished this past week as far as 101 progress, but I was unusually busy, so I suppose that's some consolation.

We started attending a new church last Sunday. The music was great (which is no surprise, considering the phenomenally talented Kirt Mosier [a.k.a. orchestra director at Lee's Summit West High School] is the worship minister), and the sermon was pretty good. But the thing that impressed me most was the invitation for anyone who was interested to go volunteer at a soup kitchen in Kansas City on Monday. I'll admit it was hesitant because I (1) was new to the church, (2) would be going by myself with a bunch of people I didn't know, and (3) already commited to seeing some old friends Monday night. But I'd been asking God for an opportunity like this for some time now, and I knew I needed to go, despite being fairly far outside my comfort zone. Plus I kept telling myself I'd get to cross something off my 101 list, which I realize is selfish, but sometimes we need a little something to get us over the hump. So, I went. There were a ton of volunteers there this past Monday, and it was a lighter than usual crowd, so I didn't feel like I got to contribute as much as I would have liked. However, the church is taking a group down every Monday for the foreseeable future, so I should have plenty of opportunities to help out. At some point I'd like to take the camera with me and document the event, but I figure I better get a little more experience there first.

I just posted my first mission101 foodblog over at this site's sister blog, so go check it out. That meal coupled with lunch out with Jordan's parents last Sunday makes me 1 for 33 for having dinner with the families once a month.

I transferred most of my paycheck this month to my Electric Orange account, which means I should have a few extra bucks at the end of the month thanks to the interest I'll be accruing. And free money rocks. :-) I also balanced our budget two weeks in a row, and I should have time tomorrow to balance it for this week.

I'm planning on devoting more time this week to catch up on my Creativity and Organization tasks. Here are my goals for this week:

1. Get to the 4000-word mark in my 2007 ScriptFrenzy screenplay.
2. Write two more profiles from e-mail interviews for my in-progress article.
   
3. Consolidate our U.S. Bank accounts.
4. Finish reading LOTR: The Two Towers.
5. Have a status update with Jordan.
6. Write two blog posts at my regular blog.

My Husband Rocks

I can cross off one more item on my list thanks to my super-awesome husband. He bought me a one-year subscription to www.apstylebook.com, meaning I basically have an online, up-to-date, searchable AP Stylebook at my fingertips any time I'm at a computer.

Also, check out my new blog post at formerlyditty.blogspot.com. That makes 65 more blog posts to go in the next 1,000 days.

Day One: August 1, 2007

The countdown has begun...

I've already crossed two items off my list.

Under the God section (see sidebar), we've decided to try out a new church. I recently found out that I cannot be a member at our current church because I was baptized as an infant (and do not feel led to be baptized again). While that would not been the deciding factor for whether or not we stayed, the fact that we cannot be involved in any ministries other than volunteering for Kindness Outreach was unfortunately the proverbial final straw. We're not leaving on bad terms or anything (at least not on our end). We simply feel that we need to be at a church where we can give back. So we're moving on. I'm excited about trying out the new church this weekend; it'll be nice to be able to really focus on God while at church and not have the membership issue hanging over my head.

Secondly, under the Culture/Food/Wine section, you can note that I've crossed off "Find a French pen pal and converse regularly." I signed up at Polyglot about a month ago and was almost immediately connected with not one, but TWO pen pals, with whom I've been conversing ever since. Obviously, if our regular correspondence falls by the wayside, I'll have to un-cross this, but for now, it feels good to be 1.98 percent through my mission.

Cheers,
Sarah

The Recipes

I've got 71 recipes up at our Mission 101 Recipes Foodblog. Go check them out, and feel free to leave suggestions!

Coming up the first week of August will be Suprêmes de Volaille à l'Écossaise avec Pointes d'Asperges au Beurre (which is the fancy and French way of saying "Chicken Breasts with Diced Aromatic Vegetables and Cream served with Buttered Asparagus Tips") from Mastering the Art of French Cooking.

My 101 Books

I've only got about 94 books so far, and these are very much subject to change. The ones in purple are also part of my 24 Books in One Year challenge. Suggestions, as always, are welcome.

Title Author Fahrenheit 451 Ray Bradbury LOTR: The Two Towers JRR Tolkien Catcher in the Rye JD Salinger LOTR: Return of the King JRR Tolkien Grapes of Wrath John Steinbeck 1984 George Orwell A Christmas Carol Charles Dickens Little Women Louisa May Alcott Le Petit Prince Antoine de Saint-Exupéry Animal Farm George Orwell The Nanny Diaries Emma Mclaughlin and Nicola Kraus Lolita Vladimir Nabokov About a Boy Nick Hornby The Wives of Henry VIII Antonia Fraser The Screwtape Letters CS Lewis Citizen Girl Emma Mclaughlin and Nicola Kraus All Quiet on the Western Front EM Remarque The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich Tim Ferriss Wuthering Heights Emily Brontë

A Clockwork Orange Anthony Burgess Memoirs of a Geisha Arthur Golden Night Elie Weisel Middlesex: A Novel Jeffrey Eugenides Tess of the D'urbevilles Thomas Hardy Water for Elephants: A Novel Sara Gruen They Don’t Teach Corporate in College: A Twenty-Something’s Guide to the Business World Alexandra Levit A Wrinkle in Time Madeleine L'Engle Notes From Underground Fyodor Dostoevsky The Complete Brothers Grimm Fairy Tales The Brothers Grimm Notre Dame de Paris Victor Hugo The Dollhouse Murders Betty Ren Wright Emma Jane Austen Eragon Christopher Paolini Eldest Christopher Paolini Inheritance Christopher Paolini Cyrano de Bergerac Edmond Rostand The Red Badge of Courage Stephen Crane The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Robert Louis Stevenson Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH Robert C. O'Brien

Racso and the Rats of NIMH Jane Leslie Conly R-T, Margaret, and the Rats of NIMH Jane Leslie Conly Slaughterhouse Five Kurt Vonnegut The Great Gatsby F. Scott Fitzgerald Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone JK Rowling Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets JK Rowling Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban JK Rowling Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire JK Rowling Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix JK Rowling Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince JK Rowling Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows JK Rowling The Scarlet Letter Nathaniel Hawthorne Alice in Wonderland Lewis Carroll The Wind in the Willows Kenneth Graham Great Expectations Charles Dickens The Time Traveller's Wife Audrey Niffenegger David Copperfield Charles Dickens Johnny Got His Gun Dalton Trumbo The Color Purple Alice Walker Love and Louis XIV: The Women in the Life of the Sun King Antonia Fraser

The Stolen Child: A Novel Kevin Donohue The Great Divorce CS Lewis The Chronicles of Narnia CS Lewis The Raw Shark Texts Steven Hall The Shining Stephen King The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America Erik Larson Thunderstruck Erik Larson Mayflower: A Story of Courage, Community, and War Nathaniel Philbrick Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl Anne Frank Angela's Ashes: A Memoir Frank McCourt The Metamorphosis Franz Kafka Dracula Bram Stoker Bunnicula James Howe High Fidelity Nick Hornby The Man in the Iron Mask Alexandre Dumas Madame Bovary Gustave Flaubert Frankenstein Mary Shelley Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Roald Dahl Toilers of the Sea Victor Hugo One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest Ken Kesey

Of Mice and Men John Steinbeck The Turn of the Screw Henry James Breakfast at Tiffany's Truman Capote The Picture of Dorian Gray Oscar Wilde The Time Machine HG Wells The Invisible Man HG Wells A Study in Scarlet Arthur Conan Doyle The Complete Tales of Uncle Remus Joel Chandler Harris The Handmaid's Tale: A Novel Margaret Atwood Grendel John Gardner Never Let Me Go Kazuo Ishiguro Peter Pan JM Barrie Catch-22 Joseph Heller Warrior Soul: The Memoir of a Navy Seal Chuck Pfarrer Made to Stick Chip Heath & Dan heath

A Tentative List

Here you have it: my list of 101 items to complete between Aug. 1, 2007, and April 28, 2010. Next up is my list of 101 books.

Finances

1. Balance budget at least twice a month (preferably weekly).
2. Have $32,000 in savings.
3. Open a Roth IRA.
4. Max out our Roth IRA at least one year.
   
5. Roll over whatever's left of my money from RxCCI (if we ever get it) into the Roth IRA or 401(k).
   
6. Write my will.
7. Open an Electric Orange checking account with ING.
8. Consolidate our U.S. Bank accounts.
   

Health

1. Be able to do a real push-up (instead of a modified one).
2. Run a 5K.
3. Continue working out at least 4x a week most weeks.
4. Start meal planning again and stick with it.
   

Organization

1. Catalog my books and movies.
2. Keep our bedroom clean for at least 30 days straight (0/30).
3. Organize my office.
4. Organize my computer files.
5. Organize my filing cabinet.
6. Get back into my routines for keeping my house presentable.
   

Family

1. Have dinner with our families once a month.
2. Eat at the dining room table at least once a week.
3. Get pregnant.
4. Have monthly "status updates" with Jordan.
5. Plan a family reunion.
6. Research and write out Stewart history (paternal grandmother's side).
7. Send my sister care packages while she's away at college.

Home Improvement

1. Create a reading nook in my office.
2. Get a fence.
3. Get the house painted.
4. Hang a birdfeeder.
5. Hang a birdhouse.
6. Get a birdbath.
7. Paint a room in my house.
8. Paint another room in my house.
9. Plant a vegetable garden.
10. Create a mudroom in the garage.
11. Create rockbed stream in backyard.
    

Creativity

1. Create one photo essay/collage a year.
2. Edit my 2005 NaNoNovel.
3. Edit my 2006 NaNoNovel.
4. Participate in 2007 NaNoWriMo.
5. Edit my 2007 NaNoNovel.
6. Finish what should have been my 2007 ScriptFrenzy screenplay.
7. Participate in 2008 ScriptFrenzy.
8. Participate in 2008 NaNoWriMo.
9. Edit my 2008 NaNoNovel.
10. Participate in 2009 ScriptFrenzy.
11. Participate in 2009 NaNoWriMo.
12. Edit my 2009 NaNoNovel.
13. Finish knitting the blanket I started in college.
14. Foodblog the 101 recipes Jordan and I cook at sarahs101recipes.blogspot.com.
15. Take a self-portrait.
16. Spend one morning or afternoon a month reading or writing in a coffee shop.
17. Write two blog posts a month.

Adventure

1. Go camping.
2. Go canoeing.
3. Go hiking.
4. Go rock climbing.
5. Go on a group vacation somewhere.
6. Go to a haunted house.
7. Go to Roaring River.
8. Learn how to flyfish.
9. Learn how to drive a stick-shift.
10. Learn how to shoot a gun.
11. Take a self-defense class.
12. Try golfing again.

Culture/Food/Wine

1. Eat at an Irish (American) pub.
2. Find a French pen pal and converse regularly.
3. Go to a museum exhibit.
4. Go to an art exhibit.
5. Go to a wine tasting.
6. Tour a vineyard/winery.
7. Go to Oktoberfest.
8. Go to the St. Patrick's Day Parade.
9. Join a book club.
10. Participate in Shutdown Day.
11. Read 101 books.
12. Visit the farmer's market at least once every two weeks during the months it is open.
13. Vote.
14. Cook a combined 101 new (and potentially challenging) recipes with Jordan.
15. Practice my violin at least once a month.
16. Play my violin in public at least once.
    

Community Service

1. Help teach someone to read.
2. Volunteer at a homeless shelter or soup kitchen.
3. Donate blood (or attempt to) three times.
4. Donate $5 to charity for every item on this list not completed.
   

God

1. Get to the point where I am reading Scripture daily.
2. Decide whether or not to stay at our current church.
3. Stay involved in a small group, regardless of where we end up going to church.
4. Get plugged into an outreach/service ministry, wherever we end up going to church.

Self

1. Take a bath in our jacuzzi at least once every three months.
2. Get a plant at work (and keep it alive).
3. Get a hot stone massage.
4. Create a second 101 list.
   

Business

1. Get business cards printed.
2. Revamp Web site.
3. Get something published.
4. Get a new client.
5. Buy a Chicago Manual of Style.
6. Buy an updated Associated Press Stylebook.
7. Write at least five articles (for sale or not).
8. Go to some sort of freelancing or writers' conference.
   

Creating the List

I have a couple of friends who have taken on the Mission 101 challenge and thus have inspired me to do the same. The idea is to complete 101 predetermined tasks in 1001 days. So, now that I've decided to do this (since it's in the same vein as my 24 Books in One Year goal), I have to actually come up with a list. Consider this my call for suggestions.

Here are some ideas that come to mind quickly.

1. Go camping.
2. Go canoeing.
3. Read 101 books (borrowed from Jon and Rachel).
4. Finish knitting the blanket I've been working on since college.
5. Perhaps watch 101 movies? I can't imagine that would be too difficult!
6. NaNoWriMo 2007, 2008 and 2009.
7. Edit my previously written novels.
8. Finish my screenplay and actually participate in ScriptFrenzy in 2008 & 2009.

What do you think I should do in the next 1001 days? This is your opportunity to contribute to my life for the next 2.75 years, so let's hear your ideas!