101 in 1001 My Second Set of Un-New Year Resolutions

This is my second 101 in 1001 bucket list.  As a list person I love the idea of checking things off, compared to creating one or two resolutions that may or may not happen.

My last 101 in 10001 list was made three years ago (posted here) and was a fun way to reach many goals and push myself to check items off my shorter term bucket list. Although I didn't reach all of my goals, I finished over a third of them which is more than I would have done without this list. The goals that I still want to complete from the last list are peppered in here, but most items are new.  

With us being in lockdown because of COVID-19 right now I focused my list on smaller goals I can achieve right now (and celebrating the little things) as well as bigger plans post pandemic. As with last time, I will continue to check off items as I complete them to keep me accountable and to let me see how far I've come.  I hope this helps to inspire some other people as well

 

1. Read 50 Books✔ ✔(Grown-ups Marian Keyes, ✔Handmaids Tale Graphic Novel, ✔You Love Me, Green Witchcraft✔, If You Tell✔, Jaws Peter Benchley✔, Nothing to See Here Kevin White✔), Heartless✔, The 90's Chuck Klosterman✔,  The Break by Marian Keyes✔, Freaks, Geeks, & Asperger's Syndrome✔, State of the Union✔, A Heart that Works✔, A Good Girls Guide to Murder✔, Heartstoppers 1✔, Heartstoppers 2✔, Heartstoppers 3✔, Heartstoppers 4✔ Where the Crawdad Sings✔, The Hangman✔, Such a Fun Age ✔, Just Like You ✔, Rachel Again✔,  Mother. Wife. Sister. Human. Warrior. Falcon. Yardstick. Turban. Cabbage.✔, The Friendship Cure✔, For You and You Only✔, Eleanor Oliphant is Completely fine.✔, Fair Play✔, Summer Sisters✔ 
2. Donate blood
3. Visit Ireland
4. Drink at the Guinness Brewery
5. Take a clay sculpting class with Jack
6. Write a book of essays based on this blog✔,
7. Pitch the first 10 years of my blog as a book of essays to publishers✔
8. Get my blog book published
9. Successfully complete the license plate game on a road trip (got 48 states on July 2018 road trip)
10. Run an 8KM race
11. Run a 10KM race
12. Complete the Conqueror Virtual Challenge Appalachian Trails✔
13. Complete the Conqueror Virtual Challenge Pacific Coast Trail✔
14. Complete the Conqueror Virtual Challenge Hadrians Wall (in two weeks)
15. Complete the Conqueror Virtual Challenge Mount Everest (in a week)
16. Buy and hang a display for my Virtual Challenge medals✔
17. Learn how to better use photo shop
18. Hike to a frozen waterfall in the winter
19. Grow my business by 20 percent 
20. Attend an overseas family wedding
21. Read the entire Harry Potter series with Molly  
22. Be able to complete a 3 minute plank
23. Learn to do a Kart Wheel
24. Be able to do a headstand (I was able to do these thanks to a regular Hatha Yoga Class in my 20's but have lost it over the years)
25. Take a nature survivalist class
26. Get professional family photos done at least once a year✔✔✔
27. Take an archery class✔
28. Pay off the remainder of our mortgage ✔
29. Send a message in a bottle (with the kids)
30. Attend a blogger conference
31. Visit 3 new MLB stadiums for games (with Chris)
32. Get an updated professional biography photo each year
33. Run a 5KM colour run
34. 10 pieces of mail for a friend in one month to show them I'm thinking of them (one per year)
35. Get an article or short story published in a prominent magazine
36. Enter a fiction writing contest
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
37. Participate in philanthropy that is Molly and Jack's selection✔ (UKRAINE walk with Molly)
38. Complete 31 days to Building a Better Blog (not necessarily in 31 consecutive days)
39. Finish a childhood photo album for both Molly and Jack
40. Have my Multiple Momstrosity blog reach a million hits
41. Post 100 articles with my new site The Canadianna
42. Take a photo of the same view in all four seasons
43. Visit Central America with the kids✔ Costa Rica April 2023
44. Get more photos of the kids with their grandparents 
45. Get more photos of Chris and I with our parents
46. Celebrate a friend with a really expensive bottle of sparkling wine
47. Visit the Redwood forest
48. Redo the basement bathroom✔
49. Visit The Thousand Islands
50. Go ice fishing
51. Run a trail race
52. Treat my family to a themed dinner and a movie ✔ (Young Guns)
53. Go on a family vacation with my cousin and her girlfriend✔
54. Stay overnight at the ice hotel in Quebec
55. Write 150 blog entries about my life with the kids
56. Practice Hatha Yoga for 30 minutes a week (for a consecutive month)
57. Practice Hatha Yoga for 45 minutes a week (for a consecutive month)
58. Practice Hatha Yoga for 60 minutes a week (for a consecutive month)
59. Practice Hatha Yoga for 75 minutes a week (for a consecutive month)
60. Take the kids on vacation to New York City✔
61. Go on an overnight trip just me and Molly
62. Go on an overnight trip just me and Jack
63. Re-paint the upstairs bedrooms✔
64. Fix trim on main floor painting
65. Fix trim on upstairs hallway painting✔
    
    
    
    
    
    
66. Renovate our kitchen
67. Redo the sink/vanity & toilet for upstairs bathroom✔
68. Hike at Sleeping Giant Park
69. Hike Tunnel Mountain Banff
70. Hike Johnston Canyon Banff
71. Hike Badlands Trail Dinosaur Provincial Park
72. Hike Stawamus Chief (Squamish) BC
73. Hike Helmcken Falls Rim Trail (Wells Grey Provincial Park) BC
74. Hike the Flowerpot Island Loop✔
75. Hike Warsaw Caves Ontario
76. Visit Newfoundland
77. Hike Torque Mountain Ireland
78. Hike Muckross Abbey Loop Ireland
79. Hike The Divis Ridge Trail Ireland
80. Clear sky full moon canoe paddle The Humber River
81. Visit the Grand Canyon
82. Hike in New Mexico
83. Raise $1000 for a charity with the kids
84. Take the entire family snow shoeing
85. Take a story writing class with Molly
86. Help Jack create his first Stop Motion Short
87. Visit an Alpaca Farm for an overnight✔ 
88. Go to Niagara on the Lake with Chris for a post pandemic 15th Anniversary Celebration
    
    
    
    
    
    
89. Take Molly for High Tea✔
90. Host a dinner party with the kids helping me cook✔✔
91. Try traditional Anishnawbe Food✔
92. Buy a New BBQ✔
93. Learn to expertly BBQ two new recipes
94. Enjoy a winterlit night hike with the family✔
95. Hike Elks Falls Provincial Park BC
96. Submit article pitches to 10 new publications✔✔✔✔
97. Learn to drive stick shift
98. Teach Ted to lay down on command✔ - Thank you for your help with this one Alysha
99. Try a game of golf
100. Create a gratitude jar
101. Take the kids to the top of the CN Tower

My first 101 days of 101 in 1001 - When Resolutions Meet Bucket Lists

I'm a list person.  You should see my day planner, it has hundreds.  There are few things that feel better to me than when I get to cross an item off my to-do list.  Here's the thing - in the everyday, my to-do lists are filled with work and chores and not a lot of big ticket life goal moments, and I wanted to find a way to change that, even if that change was me chipping away at some things a little bit, day by day or month by month.

In December I read an article that really spoke to me about creating a list of 101 things I wanted to accomplish in 1001 days instead of  a more traditional resolution list (check it out in full here).  Yesterday I reached 101 days into this mash up of a bucket list and resolution list and I'm pretty happy with this progress.

Yeah, I know that it's highly unlikely that I'm going to complete every item on this list in less than three years, but I'm going to give it a shot, and for added motivation I thought I'd share what I have managed to complete, to help motivate me to push harder, and what I am planning on tackling next with my next check in being 250 days into my 1001. Some of what I achieved was big, other stuff was smaller tasks, moments, or to-dos that I routinely put off, some is a work in progress that I won't report on until it's complete.

Here's What I've Managed to Cross Off My List So Far - 9 Items

Take the kids to Disney✔ Completed March 2018

This will forever be one of my all time favourite moments, when Molly had to show Cinderella how they both had magic and matching shoes because sparkled high-tops are very royal

Indulge in a scalp massage✔ On February 2, 2018 I had this and it worked wonders on my laptop neck!

Have a pay per view article go viral (and earn me the freelance white whale of $1000)✔ on January 31st, 2018 I broke this record and have received over 2 million hits for this article  

Paint a painting✔ See my blog entry on this here

Run a 12.5 minute mile✔ Completed on February 20, 2018 during mile 3 of a 5 mile run

Walk along the ocean at Myrtle Beach✔ Completed on March 26, 2018

A view from the Myrtle Beach Board Walk on a Blustery Day

Finish Jack's baby book ✔ Completed February 24, 2018

No take out or fast food for a month ✔ Completed on February 28, 2018 and you can read about it here

Take Chris to try Korean BBQ✔ Completed on February 24, 2018

How do you stay motivated to complete your goals?  Stay tuned to find out how I do over the next 149 days this August!

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Fast Car - Our Fast Food & Take-Out Free Month

One of my bucket list 101 in 1001 goals is to go a month without fast food, delivery or take out.  While I know we're better than a lot of families, I know how easy it can be to order Swiss Chalet or pick up pizza after a long day of work and extra-curriculars.  I also know that my coffee habit can get expensive, so I also counted buying coffee out as a part of the umbrella of fast food, that is unless I had a business coffee meeting (which only happened once this month and I had a black tea with Agave from David's Tea).

I picked February because it's the shortest month of the year, but I feel a need to add in here that Chris suggested that we also practice a dry month (meaning no alcohol) from February 5th to March 9th, with three pre-scheduled "cheat" days for events we booked before taking this leap into healthy living overload - so we really doubled down on our challenges here.

For the most part it wasn't as hard as I thought it would be.  And I'm happy to report that we didn't cheat once.  Here are the highlights (and low lights) of another challenge completed, a month with no fast food.

A picture from the coffee truck I chased all last summer

Day 1: After a particular rough school drop off I wanted to treat myself to a jumbo vat of Tim Hortons Coffee, but I crossed the street so I wouldn't be tempted to head in for a medium double double.  I later over compensated by mainlining coffee at my parents house, but it wasn't take out, so I guess we're good?

Day 2: I purposely ignored a text from a friend who asked if I wanted her to bring me a coffee, so I wouldn't actually have to say no to coffee...just the same a pedicure without my standard double double felt a little wrong.

Day 4: After a long and fun ski trip there's nothing I'd like more than to order some pizza tonight and watch movies.  Instead I hit the grocery store before we even got home to make sure our cupboards were at least somewhat stocked.  We also bought a big jar of hot chocolate mix so the kids won't have to miss out on hot cocoa from Tim Hortons after their skating lessons, and indulged them in purchasing the Timmies brand hot chocolate.

Day 7: After a late work meeting I was asked out for drinks and food, and I politely declined to head home - although it was very tempting.  I was ravenous by the time I hit Dundas West Station at 745PM and McDonald's was right there.  I kept it together and made myself some pasta at home, even though I didn't get to eat it until 830PM....I should get some sort of brownie points for this one. Mmmm...brownies.

Day 10: Today we avoided fast food after going to a hockey game with the kids and after a night out for double date drinks - one of our dry month "cheat days".  This is usually one of the most tempting times to "treat ourselves" to something unhealthy - our partners in crime suggested poutine and we declined.  Instead we went home and made sandwiches (that's not a euphemism)..Sure they weren't the healthiest sandwiches, but it wasn't poutine, a burger, or junk from 7-11.

Day 13: Not being able to grab myself a jumbo coffee during my "long" day of work seems particularly tortuous today.  I don't know why.  This tea just isn't cutting it and I'm too lazy to make myself coffee for one.

Day 14: I just realized that the coffee truck that I was stalking at the fresh market on the Lakeshore all last summer has opened up a pop up shop directly on the route to pick up and drop off the kids at school...I'm crossing my fingers that it's still open come March.

Day 15: The regular delivery offers that come to my email inbox are starting to taunt me, especially since tonight is salmon and salad night in an attempt to be healthier.  It's like they know and have set up an email campaign to win me back.  Actually I'm certain this is how their email subscription works Curses to them and their delicious coupons!

Day 18: Jack asked if we could order in sushi tonight. This is the first time one of the children has complained or noticed our new healthier eating regimen.  I guess this means they're doing better than we are.  So, we've compromised and will take him the first weekend in March when Molly's at a friend's birthday party.

Day 22: I am absolutely exhausted and would love a cup of coffee from Tim Hortons, unfortunately I'm also too lazy to make myself coffee,  So I'll just take a nap instead.

Fresh Tulips, not Fast Food for the win

Day 24: Tonight we went to a restaurant (totally within the rules) for Korean BBQ.  Eating out really felt like a treat and afterwards we went to a fruit market and loaded up on berries, cucumbers, and some fresh tulips.  Pretty happy with our choices right now.

Day 27: Chris is down 4lbs since we started this journey and although the scale has barely budged for me, my pants are feeling a lot looser, and this isn't about weight necessarily, it's about being healthy.

Day 28: Today is the last day.  I am happy to be done, but have learned a lot.  Coffee and convenience are clearly the biggest triggers for me compared to an actual want or dependency on fast food.  I have also realized how lazy I am when it comes to making my own coffee unless I have someone to share it with, and since Chris isn't a coffee drinker, it just hasn't happened.  I'm hoping some of this will stick and help us be more mindful of our choices and to treat myself to some home brew more often.  All the same I'm heading to Little Havana's Coffee pop up immediately following school drop off tomorrow morning and indulging in their Cafe Bon Bon before the pop up shop closes.  Only nine more days until a crisp Sauv Blanc!


To check out my progress on my 101 in 1001 goals (or get inspiration for a list of your own) click here

To get access to the newest posts from Multiple Momstrosity and more on Facebook click here and follow today

Follow Multiple Momstrosity on Twitter @Sarabethbug

The End of the Century - 2014 New Year Resolution Year End

In the beginning of 2014 I set out with a series of resolutions, now that the year is nearly over I thought I'd reflect on how I did.  To take a look at my official resolution list click here.

Photo from camping 2013 courtesy of A.W.

Here's my progress from the last bit of 2014.

Read More Stories to Molly and Jack
Reading becomes a bigger part of Molly and Jack's lives every day which both Chris and I find really exciting.  On weekend days when Jack wakes up earlier than Molly I find myself on the couch with him reading two or three books and taking our time examining little bits of the story and pictures together - it's some of the best one on one time I get with my Jackie Bear.  Each night we get to two or three stories and over the holidays, particularly since Jack's been feeling under the weather, we've had two or three story times a day.  Favourite books right now are Pinkalicious, The Pigeon Needs a Bath and The Duckling Gets a Cookie.

Read More Books For Me
I like to think that the looming December deadline for my Public Relations final thesis was the main culprit behind my lack of extracurricular reading the past few months, except I haven't picked up a book over the holidays either.  With the three (plus) books I read over the past few months I read 20 books this year doubling 2013's 10 which I consider a big win.  Here's what I read recently.

Jennifer, Gwyneth & Me: The Pursuit of Happiness One Celebrity at a Time by Rachel Bertsche - This is a one year journey of self-help where guinea pig Rachel takes on one celebrity at a time where she tries to be fit like Jennifer, a superstar supermom chef like Gwyneth and a stylish fashionista like Sarah-Jessica.  An interesting story with great narrative, but I would have really liked some pictures about the journey and some highlights of what she learned including what habits stuck post-project.

Fan Girl By Rainbow Rowell-  The Queen of Teen showcases a relationship of identical twins in their first year of college.  Moments of brilliance include incorporating an S.E. Hinton's Outsiders reference and some tender real moments between the main characters. It was a solid read, but the ending really felt like a non-ending to me and left me a little underwhelmed.

Adulting, How to become an Adult in 468 Easy(ish) Steps by Kelly Williams Brown  - A nice easy quick read with some items I already knew and forgot and some great tips on not sweating the small stuff, like "Will I care about this in six months, In a year".  I felt about ten years too old to have read this book, but enjoyed it all the same.

My Boyfriend Wrote a Book About Me by Hilary Winston - I really wanted to like this book, but after three solid attempts at it and it sitting in my purse for nearly two months I tapped out.  I just couldn't get into her writing style and expected a lot more humour in this than I got.


Have More Dates With Chris
We've managed a couple of dinners out over the past few months.  Something as simple as an hour or two at a record shop followed by a coffee shop or pub for some great conversation can reconnect us and remind me that we still like each other and why we're together.  It can be hard to remember these things when you're surrounded by two little ones all the time.

Book More "Me" Time
I have been good with getting more "me" time, but it's a tough balance when you also want time with your kids and your spouse.  This will continue to be a priority moving forward.  I have come to the realization that "me" time doesn't always have to occur at a yoga studio, coffee shop or spa, it can be as simple as trying out a new recipe and blasting Adele on a Thursday night, which is something I'm excited to focus on more next year.

I've begun the resolution list for 2015 and will share it in the next few days.  While there are going to be healthful items like "drink more water" I doubt I'll report on that publicly  In 2015 I plan to focus on promoting and publishing my writing elsewhere and putting myself out there.  I also want to use my writing as an inspiration to drive more memories and activities with my family.  This is the first year I've stayed connected with my resolved changes, even when I haven't been so successful and it was an awesome exercise.  What is the best resolution you ever had?  Do you have any planned for 2015?

To view my three month check in click here.

To view my six month check in click here\.

To view my nine month check in click here.