Hit the Ground Running

I created and began my 101 in 1,001 project at the perfect time. Tomorrow I start THE JOB...well...tomorrow is the county-wide new teacher orientation. Although my assistant principal assured me that Annette Breaux, who is the presenter tomorrow, is actually engaging and worth listening to, so it shouldn't be too bad. Granted, I am the person who has been through five RA and three HD/RD trainings and enjoyed them all, so I love this sort of thing, but I am excited to actually get into my classroom (officially on Monday but will probably go in on Friday).

I figured since I have gotten a pretty great start on my 101 things, I should probably update about it since life is about to get REAL!!

• Completed:
• Cook a Thai dish (Ok, I made a good attempt and I do plan on trying at least once more before the 1,001 days are up, but in case I don't, it counts. It was edible, I swear!)
• Go to the cinema on my own: I went to see Eat, Pray, Love on a complete whim by myself last week. I ran an errand and got caught in some very heavy rain and hell if I was then going to drive back home through that rain!
• Make bread from scratch: Again, I plan on doing this again because although edible, it certainly wasn't something I'd brag about. Not so sure about these food-related goals...something's fishy and usually I'm a good cook!
• In progress:
• Watch 26 movies I've never seen (1/letter of the alphabet): A, E, K, N, S are completed. It's easy to watch movies when you're living in a new place and not getting out much!
• Complete a 365 day photo project: check Facebook, although I do need to update with the pictures on my camera/phone from the last few days.
• Read 100 books: 1 down. 99 to go. I read the book The Next Thing on My List by Jill Smolinski, which I saw at the library and very much judged that by the title -- perfect for the beginning of a list of goals! I recommend it, but keep in mind that there are very few books that I DON'T like...
• Do one thing a month I've never done. Some might say that counting something twice on this list is cheating, but I'm going to say that August's "new thing" is that I went to the movies by myself. It's my list, I make the rules!
• Try 20 new restaurants. 4 out of 20 done. I picked a relatively large number of restaurants given that I just moved to a new place. I think for one week, I've done pretty damn well! And I've enjoyed it. Especially Comfort where the food is simple yet delicious and the bartender knows your name after only one visit. Seriously, come visit me in Richmond and demand that I take it, it might be a little pricey but it's so very worth it!!
• Live by myself for a year.
• Listen to 26 new bands, 1/letter of the alphabet. itunes free download of the week is going to help greatly with this. I've listened to two so far. Nothing super impressive, but I really enjoy finding music this way and usually they go straight to my ipod before I hear it while driving and they make me go "hmm...where did you come from?"
• Listen to Rolling Stone's top 500 Songs of all Time. I am at #462: 'Respect Yourself' The Staple Singers. I'm working my way from #500 to #1. I do own some of these songs and the rest I have been searching for on youtube. I have been successful so far, so hopefully this luck will continue. Buying 500 songs on itunes is a little unrealistic...not to mention the fact that not all of these songs are on itunes, ever heard of a band called the Beatles?? OF COURSE they are all over that top 500 songs, luckily I own many of their songs, at least most that are on the list.
• Put $2 away for each goal completed. There is $6 in my 101 in 1,001 jar. 

As I began furiously making my list of 101 things to do last week, I didn't realize the extent of these things that are multi-step or over a long period of time. Obviously the list isn't meant to be easy, but just look at the comparison between those things that I completed vs. those things that I have begun. I am having fun working on this already and it's kind of cool to be working toward a goal just by picking out a movie at Redbox. I've already watched movies outside what I usually pick because there are a bunch that I've already seen and that's just not allowed! Woohoo for getting outside the box.

And, sorry, no new tattoos to report. Yet.