January Pregress Report.

Since the whole point of the blog is to add a level of accountability to the 101 in 2011, I thought I would do an end of the month progress report each month to let everyone know what I’d been working on. After all, some of these are going to be ongoing throughout the course of the year while some will happen once and be over & done with. So, here is what I’ve been working on this month:

1. Wear mascara every day. I have worn mascara to work every day. The weekends and odd days off I’ve been lax. It’s hard to motivate myself to put on mascara when I know I’m just going to spend the day running errands covered in baby drool.

2. Fit into MY wedding band; 3. Get weight down to 170lbs; 4. Fit into/buy a pair of knee high black zip up boots; 5. Fit into pre-pregnancy pants again; 72. Run a mile. These five can all fall under the umbrella heading of “lose weight and get into shape.” Back in September, when I returned to work, I returned to Weight Watchers. As of Thursday, January 27^th, I’ve lost my first 10 pounds – not an easy task when you’re always hungry because of nursing.  Additionally, today I purchased the Just Dance 2 video game for the Wii – which is so much fun it doesn’t even feel like a cardio workout, until, of course, I’m gasping for breath after the fourth song in a row! And Monday, I start my workout routine with Sunny. Sunny is a woman I work with – she runs. I would like to run but don’t even know where to begin. I asked her if she would coach/train me. I think she’s more excited for this than I am! But I’m glad to have the guidance of someone who’s so physically fit and passionate about being so.

6. Read at least 12 novels – 1 a month.  I recently disclosed my list of 20 independent reading novels to my classes. Several of them are novels I’ve never read before. I’m half way through Laura Esquivel’s Like Water for Chocolate…which I’m LOVING so far. Thanks to Kelly for the recommendation.

8. Read at least 1 article in Time magazine each week.  I haven’t been as steadfast about this as I should be…but I just finished this week’s cover story about Tiger Moms/Amy Chua’s memoir about parenting her two daughters. http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,2043313,00.html  I think I know a book I’d like to tackle for #7!

10. See all of the best picture nominees from the 2011 Oscars. I’ve printed the list of the 10 Best Picture nominees and the nice people at Netflix have delivered Christopher Nolan’s Inception to us. Now, if we could only (a) get M to bed early enough and (b) stay up late enough ourselves we could actually watch it!.

 16. Start a blog. I feel like this one is self-explanatory.

17. Blog about meeting each of my 101 goals. This one, too.

31. Go back to church. Attend mass at the same church every Sunday for at least 4 weeks. Our friend Jess signs the 9:00 AM mass at the Catholic church in our town. Last Sunday, we went to the mass she signs. We will be there again tomorrow. It made for a lovely Sunday morning…and I’m eager for tomorrow, too.

32. Play softball with the Mixed Nuts again.  Sadly, this one will not happen, as the Mixed Nuts are not going to be reforming this year. So, I’m a little stumped about how to handle this one…should I just cross it off and make a new #32 or should I just accept the fact that there will be some items that I just won’t complete? I’d love your feedback on how to deal with this one…

34. Organize recipe folder – computerize files or put into easy to access binder.  I have a lovely binder that is bursting at the seams with page protectors – each one lovingly caressing a well-worn page from the tattered recipe folder that lived in our junk drawer for years. Today I even started going through my collection of cookbooks and photocopying the recipes that I like from them to add them to the binder. This way, I can get rid of all those cookbooks that I hold onto for 1 or 2 recipes.

45. Take M to RI. We have begun looking at flights and places to stay.

49. Find someone to make a quilt of some of M’s baby clothes. Thank you to this month’s Parent’s Magazine for this little gem: http://www.quiltkeepsake.com/

54. Develop a menu of 45 staple dishes.  See #34. I consider this one a work in progress.

68. Make a swear jar - .25 cents per curse. All the money goes into M’s bank account. See the blog post from January 8^th.  I’m embarrassed to say that there are a lot of dollars in there.

74. Learn the alphabet in sign language. Jess says I can cross this one off, but I beg to differ. I’m familiar with the alphabet, but I’m still working on it…I practice a little here & there.

83. Make Mondays meatless. Marrakesh Stew (with enough leftover to freeze and have the following Monday) and cheese strata – yum! This Monday will be frittata.

98. Become an active alumni of Pi Phi – reinstate membership. I wrote to the alumna coordinator who told me I need to write a letter to Grand Council asking for reinstatement. I plan to write that letter by the end of this week.

So, that’s what I’ve been up to this month. I’m really looking forward to reading some good books and seeing some good movies in February!