36. Eat one piece of fruit a day for 7 days

My original intent was to include some things on my list that would be easy to check off. Imagine my surprise when I realized that close to two weeks in, I've checked off exactly one thing. Some of these goals, like eating a piece of fruit a day, were meant to inspire a habit. While completing this task was easy, I know it's not going to become a habit. I did, however, discover something: I find fruit inconvenient, meaning that generally I can't really cook with it. However, it just so happened that we had Community Cycles over for a planning day the Sunday before last and we quartered a bunch of oranges as part of the breakfast. Most did not get eaten, so I ate them throughout the week in an effort to check off #36. Already cut up and on a big plate taking up space in the middle of my fridge, this task proved remarkably easy. It was convenient and most of the fruit I like--oranges, pineapple, mango--aren't.

So, if I were a nutritionist or health food magazine columnist, I'd tell me to plan ahead and prep fruit at the beginning of the week. It's a relatively simple change for someone whose diet is already pretty healthy. And perhaps that's what I most resent: the big changes don't apply to me. Those "10 things you can do for a healthier lifestyle or to lose 10 pounds" lists piss me off. Cut out sweets, do 20 minutes of exercise--even walking--a day, include veggies in every meal, cut back on saturated fats...uh-huh, no sweets at all, I ride my bike everywhere (Imagine my delight when I read about a guy in the NYTimes who decided to start riding the 2 miles--2 miles!!!--to work everyday and lost 15 pounds in 2 months), I don't eat saturated fats, and I eat vegetables in every meal--even breakfast. Everyday. Do I really have to worry about fruit too? Maybe I should adopt some (of those) bad habits so I can quit them and reap the benefits.

Or maybe I should just suck it up and eat some damn fruit--while I start thinking about the other 100 things I committed myself to.

35. Make at least One Recipe from Each Cookbook We Own

Thus begins a daunting task:

1080 Recipes-"Fried Garbanzo Beans"
Fresh from the Vegetarian Slowcooker-"French White Bean and Cabbage Soup" and "Almost Irish Stew"
How it All Vegan- "Sarah's Awesome Chili"
My Kitchen in Spain-"Fried Land Fish" and "Rice with Partridge"
Skinny Bitch in the Kitch-"Dream Bars"
Vegan with a Vengeance-"Tofu Ricotta" and "White Bean and Roasted Garlic Soup"
Yellow Rose Recipes-"Raw Corn Salsa," "Aloha Bread," "Spinach Chickpea Dip," and "Nacho Sauce"

101 Things in 1001 Days

The Mission:
Complete 101 preset tasks in a period of 1001 days.

The Criteria:
Tasks must be specific (ie. no ambiguity in the wording) with a result that is either measurable or clearly defined. Tasks must also be realistic and stretching (ie. represent some amount of work on my part).

Why 1001 Days?
Many people have created lists in the past - frequently simple goals such as New Year's resolutions. The key to beating procrastination is to set a deadline that is realistic. 1001 Days (about 2.75 years) is a better period of time than a year, because it allows you several seasons to complete the tasks, which is better for organising and timing some tasks such as overseas trips or outdoor activities.

Click here for more information.

Start Date: 01 August 2008
End Date: 29 April 2011

Money:
1. Pay off credit cards
2. Save $5000
3. Get renter’s insurance (Completed 01.10)
4. (Re)Subscribe to the magazines I read (Completed 12.08)
5. Donate money to a charity (Completed 12.16.08)
6. Set up the direct deposit for the joint account (Completed 09.08)
7. Get my credit rating
8. Keep track of all the money I spend for a month (Completed 01.31.10)
9. Create a budget (Began 02.10)

Work/School:
10. Find a dissertation chair
11. Finish proposal (Completed 12.02.08)
12. Finish Dissertation
13. Rework 1150, including a daily schedule
14. Plan rhetorical criticism course, including a daily schedule (Completed 8.28.08)
15. Keep a teaching journal (at least one entry a week)
16. Clean and organize office
17. Write a teaching philosophy
18. Update CV (Completed 8.25.08)
19. Graduate!!!!
20. Create a website
21. Submit to flowTV
22. Read one new pedagogical article a month
23. Complete a national job search

Travel:
24. Go bike camping
25. Get a stamp in my passport
26. Visit another place in Colorado (outside the Denver area) (Completed 12.09)
27. Take one leisurely fun trip with Josh (for no other reason than to go somewhere)
28. Take a trip by train

Food:
29. Develop a vegan eclair
30. Make tamales (one attempt)
31. Make vegan apple fritters
32. Eat raw for one whole day
33. Try one new food I’ve never tried before (Completed 8.20.08)
34. Join a CSA
35. Make at least one recipe from each cookbook we own (Began 08.08)
36. Eat one piece of fruit a day for 7 days (Completed 8.09.10)
37. Live off the food in our cupboards/freezer for one week (no shopping at all)
38. Put together a cookzine

Health:
39. Take a daily multivitamin for 30 days (Completed 10.08)
40. Do a half-marathon
41. Set a PR in the Mud Run
42. Run the Bolder Boulder
43. Run 3 times a week for 6 months
44. Run a 7:30 mile
45. Join a softball team
46. Lose 7 pounds
47. Lose 10 pounds (Completed 06.09)
48. Get a full physical—blood work and all
49. Cut alcohol consumption by half (Completed 10.08)
50. Get my eyes checked
51. Get my teeth cleaned twice a year

House:
52. Paint the main floor (Began 09.08)
53. Organize the library
54. Organize the pantry (Completed 02.15.10)
55. Go through kitchen, get rid of old/broken items, and make a list of things we need to replace
56. Get rid of (donate/craigslist/ebay) 100 things (7/100)
57. Transplant the mint (FAIL)
58. Reupholster the couch
59. Refinish the coffee table
60. Replant the cat grass
61. Make a piece of art for the house
62. Set up my dartboard (Completed 8.19.08)
63. Plant a garden (Completed Summer 09)

Movies/TV/Books:
64. Watch the movies on my DVR (the ones I recorded from TCM in March) (Replaced DVR 03/09)
65. Watch every movie that won a “Best Picture” Oscar
66. Watch season 1 of Heroes (Completed 12.08)
67. Read 5 books I own, but haven’t read: The Bachman books, Perdido Street Station,
68. Get rid of all the duplicate books we have
69. Read Haunted (Completed 8.20.08)

Random Activities:
70. See all the Charles Haertling houses in Boulder
71. Go to the Denver Modernism Show (Completed 8.18.08)
72. See an opera
73. See Wicked
74. Go snowshoeing
75. Go tubing on Boulder Creek
76. Establish a monthly poker game (Tried 10/08 and 11/08. Failed)
77. Walk the length of the slackline
78. Spa appointment—must include a facial and massage
79. Do a 14’er
80. Try a new sport
81. Try yoga one more time

Bicycling:
82. Upgrade the components on my bike—by myself
83. Learn how to ride a unicycle
84. Do one long ride a month (40+ miles)
85. Clean my bike once a month

Computing:
86. Download the spellcheck for Word (damn MS!) (Completed 02.10)
87. Update address book
88. Put birthdays into calendar with reminders

Photography:
89. Take another class at Mike’s
90. Learn how to use my camera manually
91. Frame one picture I took
92. Get a picture of Pasha with her eyes open—a good picture (Completed 05.16.09)
93. Complete Project 365: A Photo A Day

Personal:
94. Finish the short story
95. Try to get said story published
96. Get a new tattoo (Begun 12/09)
97. Build something...don’t know what, but something.
98. Write a letter/postcard once a month
99. Dress up for Halloween (Completed 10.31.09)
100. Allow someone to take a picture of me in my bathing suit
101. Make a new list of 101 things