a month and a half in one update

I've still been doing my 101 in 1001, just not updating for various reasons. So now I am trying to make up for that by remember what I've done. ish?!

39. so far, so good.

52. I am more than certain something was done for this in August but I can't find it, let alone remember what I ate. I ate a chicken tandoori sandwich for September. I had read it on the menu and thought it sounded scary but a friend was recommending it so I got it. It's actually pretty good.

55. I have no caffeinated beverages at my place in my name (roommate does have some tazo tea however). I usually take a Viverian each day when I wake up and that usually does the trick. I do sometimes get a soda from the vending machine but still, if I am only drinking that one a day, then I am still on target. (psst, it's usually a Dr. Pepper or Pepsi... damn Pepsi deals with amazon are so tempting!)

67. I dropped my bag off after hours and therefore did not get a receipt to take a photo of. but I did donate a bag of pants that I had not worn in ages. I had been telling myself for too long that I might want to ware those pants one day. Well, that day never came and perhaps someone else can wear them.

as usual, my green items are still progressing. I ended up having a few cavities when I had my check up at the dentist and basically that was the big wake up call in terms of improving my dental health. Not only did I have to deal with half my mouth being numb but I had to take time out of my schedule to travel up to Northern VA to get the cavities filled. It was all and all something I would not want to do again if I can prevent it.

My current roommate is all about recycling. This makes it so much easier, because we have a separate can just for the recycling at our place.

ok, so not as much in this update as I would hope. I did not send a birthday package out for September. Combination of money and school made it the last thing on my mind. I might try to send two this month to make up for it.

55. During the summer, another police aide mentioned how he was using no-doz instead of drinking soda. it's the caffiene without the sugar and other stuff a soda has. I was a little hesistant to use caffeine pills for personal reasons but I remembered someone mentioned some herbal caffeine pill. I was unable to get the name of it because the friend couldn't remember it, but I'm starting to get into the habit of taking one viveran a day and then not drinking any soda. I've been doing this for four days now. Let's see how long I last this way.

64. Did the August one the first week because I knew this month would be hectic. I'm just now making the post due to computer difficulties.

77. Read two more books, including Breaking Dawn. I'm disappointed the series is now over, because I can see the perfect opportunity for another book considering how this one ended.

78. After camp this year, I learned this may no longer be possible. The deer in question has been around for a long time. No one saw her this year at camp. We think that she might have finally passed, due to age.

84. I have a secret in mind, now to figure out how I want it to look and figure out the best wording. I had the wording down, but since I thought of it during a camp sleepover I was supervising and after we turned the lights off, I was unable to grab my notebook to jot it down.

Monday, I went to Moe's Southwest Grill and split a burrito with a friend. The stuff put on the burrito would have not been my first choice since I've never tried it but I went for it anyway. Consider this my food for the month that I didn't think I'd like. Additionally, I tried a V8 Fusion (mix of vegetable and fruit juices), also something I was nervous to try but glad I did. Now people won't bop my on the head!

Sent a birthday package for July!

And I think that's it since last time. Still working on the green items.

learn about food: items 53, 54, general update

53. Learn to cook/bake at least 5 things every two months
this is one that i'm still slacking on, more due to the fact i don't allow myself enough time for a real meals or make a list before going to the grocery store for food i might need. i am going to try to learn to make five things before this month ends, but if i don't, well then poo.

54. Learn 5 foods or habits every two months that put me at greater risk for diabetes.
i chose to put this on my list since both my grandmothers have/had diabetes, diagnosed within the last five years. with it running on both sides of my family, it only seems common sense to take precautions. so here are my five for the months of June and July 2008.

1. Eat lots of vegetables and fruits. Try picking from the rainbow of colors available to maximize variety.
2. Choose water and calorie-free "diet" drinks instead of regular soda, fruit punch, sweet tea and other sugar-sweetened drinks.
3. Choose non-fat dairy such as skim milk, non-fat yogurt and non-fat cheese.
4. Cut back on high calorie snack foods and desserts like chips, cookies, cakes, and full-fat ice cream.
5. Eat non-starchy vegetables such as spinach, carrots, broccoli or green beans with meals.

still working on the list of things that make me happy. what's been hard is finding the words and trying to think of different things. some things i've thought of are too similar in my opinion. also, a bad habit of mine, i think of stuff when i don't have the ability to write them down (thinking of stuff behind the driver's seat is one of the worst times!) the problems i'm having with this i can also foresee myself having with the list of things about friends. i'm debating on if i'll cut back the numbers or not for this reason.

finally, an update on the caffeine addiction. i had a friend suggest i do my actions in reverse. i only drink sodas with caffeine because i get a headache if i don't. i drink the soda(s) as soon as i can after waking up. the suggestion was i don't drink the soda until i feel the headaches coming on. i'm still debating if i should try this. headaches suck and knowing my luck, they will probably happen at the worst time possible. right now, i'm failing at this one on my list. summer has been laid back and i'm not as closely monitoring my food/drink intakes as i should. ^^;

last week, i saw The Incredible Hulk in theaters with Sharda, then two days ago, I watched Across the Universe on my laptop. two movies down!

101 things make me happy, sort through websites, bdaypackages, ongoing items

I'm starting to work on this item. I intend on keeping the list to myself until I am finished. When I get there, I will post it on here.

The past week, I've been sorting through websites and canceled some accounts. of the accounts, some won't completely clear the databases for another three months (to prevent fraud, they tell me). I will check back on those in three months. Google is my friend and helps me remember.

Also, two weeks ago, I sent a bday package and a week later, received a confirmation it was delivered successfully. yay!

There are a few items on my list that I have changed the font color. Those three items are things that are on going and being done. The three items are improve dental health, keep a steady handwritten journal and recycle.

Eat a food I don't think I'll like at least once a month: June

I went to a friend's house tonight and her boyfriend works at his family's Thai restaurant. he had out on the table of snacks some asparagus wrapped in prosciutto (tastes/looks like uncooked bacon). and remembering this item from the post the other day, decided that would be the item. and so i ate it. i bit of asparagus first and didn't like it but then i ate the rest of it in a single bite and it did taste better with the prosciutto, that taste powered the bitterness of the asparagus. i actually liked it once i had the two together.

once a month slip ups

I check my list every few days, see what I perhaps can tackle while at work. Well, I realized there's a few things that I should be doing every month that I kinda forgot about for June. Didn't go to the Freeman Center at all this month, nor have I tried any new food. I still have time to get the new food thing knocked off but I doubt I'll be making it to the Freeman Center before Monday.

I admit, some of the things I put on my list weren't so much that I want to do them as much as I know I should do them and this is just another way to remind myself of that. Freeman Center is amongst those.

The plan for the next couple of days are to eat a new food and start sorting through the email accounts.

General update

nothing really big has been crossed off the list recently, though a few small items have been works in progress. I've been reading, a lot. I'm currently reading three different books, and was reading a fourth up until yesterday (finished it!). I have gotten myself trained to recycle, though am waiting until the trash bag is filled to take it to the recycling place. I primarily have plastic and cans, though I have a single glass bottle near the others so I remember to take it along. I am also getting better about my dental health, and am brushing my teeth every day (have bad habit of skipping a day...) and even brush twice a day half the week! you know those chore charts for little kids? yeah, I made myself one for various things, including brushing teeth. the reminder on the wall has been working.

Last night, I did a sweep of my closet and pulled all the clothing I haven't worn in too long to justify taking the space. I stopped by a goodwill donation spot today and dropped the bag off. Here's a picture of my receipt (just so I can put some picture on this post)

that's all for now. i'll try to cross some more major things off in the next couple weeks. emphasis on try.

Reddish Knob (29) and Road Trip with Friends (59)

On June 8th, items 29 and 59 were completed. With Lauren and Andrew, the trip to Reddish Knob was made. I had an amazing time, we made a detour instead of taking route 81 straight to Harrisonburg and took Skyline Drive instead. we pulled off many times to at little pull off spots and took the views in. because of the detour as well as hitting some traffic outside of Richmond, we did not spend as much time in Harrisonburg as originally intended. we did drive around the James Madison University campus a little, found some nice garden (Edith Johnson Carrier Arboretum) and found some kids fishing for turtles. we fed ducks and then got back onto the road up to Reddish Knob. we bickered a little about the directions and lack of signs indicating what road we were on but made it in the end. the view was amazingly gorgeous, just like i had remembered.

for the ride back, Andrew and Lauren alternated who drove. Andrew drove to Richmond from Harrisonburg, we made a pit stop at his house, met his mother and then Lauren drove the rest of the way back. the adventure took 14 hours total but was totally worth it.



because of all today's driving, my car now needs to go into the shop for routine inspection. it gets that at 60,000 miles and i added enough with the adventure that it's still roughly 100 miles shy but i'm not waiting. that and from the point we got on Skyline Drive, my light was letting me know to service the engine soon.

i've got a couple photos up, i will add a couple more once I see what Lauren has on her camera.

clarification, i think

it was brought to my attention that items 71 and 81 are pretty much the same thing. (see a meteor shower and seeing a shooting star) while i do agree, i was also thinking, it's possible to see a shooting star outside of a meteor shower. am i correct in thinking that?