99 Things in 99 Days Deadline!

99 Things in 99 Days

I didn't complete my list. However I did accomplish a lot. So instead of focusing on what I didn't do, I'm going to list everything I did get done.

1. Get snowblower fixed - my roommate worked on it and had it running. Of course for the first snow, it didn't work. I'm still counting it.

2. Put bridesmaid dress on ebay - didn't sell.

3. Put jeans on ebay - sold!

4. Put black leather jacket on ebay - sold!

5. Put brown leather jacket on ebay - didn't sell, donated it.

6. Enter Silos and Smokestacks photo contest - received a second place and two honorable mentions.

7. Enter APTA photo contest - entered but haven't heard anything yet.

8. Plant buck rose - hope it survives the winter.

9. Take in yard waste.

10. Finish egg shaped flower garden.

11. Finish floor by front door.

12. Fill holes on kitchen wall.

13. Weed flower garden along south side of yard.

14. Weed flower garden along back of house.

15. Read about dishwasher maintenance.

16. Clean coils on refrigerator.

17. Weed garden by garage.

18. Mulch garden by garage.

19. Donate glasses.

20. Recycle ink jet cartridge.

21. Fill holes in living room.

22. Clean bathroom window.

23. Weather strip bathroom window.

24. Clean bedroom window.

25. Weather strip bedroom window.

26. Put light weight coat on ebay - didn't sell, donated it.

27. Divide geranium one.

28. Divide geranium two.

29. Move garden pots to shed.

30. Move hose to shed.

31. Buy place tickets to Phoenix.

32. Recycle cell phone battery.

33. Purchase cable hangers.

34. Install cable hangers.

35. Price new baseboards for kitchen.

36. Clean refrigerator.

37. Clean office window.

38. Weather strip office window.

39. Use up frozen veggies in freezer.

40. Hang window frame.

41. Replant geranium.

42. Clean sliding doors.

43. Put 3 mil wetsuit on ebay - didn't sell.

44. Exchange hood.

45. Borrow ladder from Eric and Lisa.

46. Remove front screen and install glass door.

47. Make path in back garden.

48. Change furnace filter - September.

49. Change furnace filter - November.

50. Empty gas from lawn mower.

51. Take cutting from house plants.

52. Buy birthday gift for dad.

53. Use Jax gift card.

54. Clean dishwasher.

55. Call Allstate about roadside coverage.

56. Call Mediacom about lowering cable/Internet bill - monthly bill reduced $50!!!!

57. Check on books at Firehouse books.

58. Get oil change.

59. Get car door fixed.

60. Clean intake vent in hallway and living room.

61. Clean rags at laundromat.

62. Clean out dehumidifier.

63. Clean off garage work bench.

64. Dust bathroom blinds.

65. Fix baseboard by tub.

66. Purchase Christmas gifts.

67. Go through 14 magazines and get rid of them.

68. Vacuum car.

69. Write AND send Christmas cards.

70. Scrape paint from laundry room window.

71. Clean laundry room windows.

72. Dispose of fire extinguisher.

73. Clean under refrigerator.

74. Clean under stove.

75. Get rid of matches.
76. Check with NWA about miles to Phoenix.

Some lessons learned regarding a list such as this. First, I typically do well with short term goals such as this. I find that the challenge keeps me motivated and focused. So even though I didn't complete my list in the designated 99 days, I will definitely be doing this again.

Second, I really need to put more thought into what goes on the list. Rather than hurrying to create the list in 30 minutes because I thought it would be cool to come up 99 things to do in 99 days on 9/9/09 and I started the list at about 11:20pm, I really need to think about what's important AND realistic.

Third, I should really try and group items together. Again, if I put more thought into the list to begin with, I should be able to group like items together so they're easier to find.

All in all, this was a good experience and I'm proud of what I've accomplished. Some of the items I completed have been bugging me for months (years) and it feels great to finally be done with them.

I think I will work on a list to start on January 1.

4 Digits

I just made it below the $10,000 on my credit card debt!

Current credit card debt - $9055!

Snow Day!

I work for a transit system in the midwest and for the second time in the 18 years (omg that's depressing) that I've worked there, we didn't run service due to weather. So how did I spend my day off? Obviously I did a little shoveling, just enough to get cars in/out of the driveway. There's still a lot of snow to move but we're not snowed in. Most of the day, however, was spent cleaning. For some reason, my unexpected day off motivated me to tackle a couple of projects that I've been meaning to do. In fact, I can check off a few items from the To Do list.

Cleaned the refrigerator - pulled out shelves and washed them.

Cleaned refrigerator coils.

Cleaned under the refrigerator.

Cleaned the microwave.

Cleaned under the stove.

Cleaned the kitchen trash can lid.

Cleaned the intake vent covers in the hallway and living room (as in removed them and washed them.)

Swept the kitchen and bathroom.

Mopped the kitchen and bathroom.

Vacuumed.

Did laundry.

I probably got more done at home than I would have at work.

Turkey Trot

At about 11:30pm the night before Thanksgiving, I decide to see if there is a Turkey Trot close by. Sure enough, there's one at 8:30am the next morning. So I set my alarm for 6:00am so I have enough time to drive there (it's about a 35 minute drive) and get registered. My alarm went off at 6am and despite the fact that I slept like crap, I manage to get up, get ready and go. Now you need to keep in mind that I'm, a) not a morning person, b) really dislike being cold, c) not a morning person, yet somehow I still got my butt out of bed to go pay someone else so I can go run, in the cold, at 8:30am.

I arrive at registration with plenty of time. I fill out the form, check off the 5K, pay my money, get my number and timing chip and start to head out to claim my t-shirt. As I'm walking over to the t-shirt table, I notice the bottom of my number reads "5 Mile". WTF! It's a 5 mile run not a 5K. I head back to the registration to let them know I registered for the wrong race. They were very nice and explained that both the 5 mile and 2 mile races have the same start time and follow the same route for the first mile. All I need to do is simply follow the 2 mile route when the two races split. I also didn't need to worry about getting a new number, I can just use the one I already had for the 5 mile. The registration cost was the same for both so I wasn't out any money.

I left the registration desk again, feeling a little relieved that it was so easy but also a little disappointed because 2 miles wasn't really that long. I really wanted a nice 3.2 mile run. The 2 miler simply wouldn't burn enough calories to properly prepare for the upcoming food of the day.

So the race is about to start and I'm dutifully way in the back with the rest of the 2 milers. When the race starts, we all slowly make our way up to the start line and officially begin the race. After just under a mile, I can see up ahead that the two routes are about to split. The whole time I've been running I've been going back and forth in my mind about which race to follow. Finally when I get to the point where I have to chose, I look at the people who are running the 5 mile race and realize I can keep up with them. They weren't all hardcore runners. In fact, quite a few were walking.

My official time was 54:38. I just barely made it into the 10 minute mile range (10:56).