The List

So, as you saw below, the 101 things in 1001 days challenge was issued to me by a good friend, and while it has taken me a fairly long time to come up with my list of things, I am now pretty happy with it. I think most of these goals are achievable within the time frame. While I'm only posting it now, I've done some of these things already, so I'm starting my countdown on April 1, 2008, which gives me until December 28, 2010 to scratch everything off my list. I'll keep you posted!



1. Write this list and make it public (August 2008)

Un-measurable Goals

2. Forgive myself for past mistakes and let go of the guilt

Family and Relationships

3. Visit Collin, wherever he is (he came home :-) )
4. Visit Jeff Bassett
5. Blog once a month
6. Email one friend a month
7. Write Grandma every three months
8. Spend a weekend at the cottage with my parents (done a couple of times now)
9. Play hockey or soccer with my sister (done last winter - hockey)
10. Clear the air with a certain friend (August 2008)
11. Have lunch with Leah (I'm going to count tea)
12. Visit Chris Med and Jenn (done a couple of times, most recently summer 2009)
13. Buy Keith a really good birthday present
14. Clear the air with another certain friend (done as best I can)

In the Kitchen

15. Make "Hot Pot"
16. Make homemade pasta
17. Make ice cream
18. Try a new recipe every month
19. Make pickles
20. Make homemade granola
21. Make homemade bread once a month
22. Keep a food diary for two weeks

Around the House

23. Help a friend with home repairs
24. Redo bathroom
25. Replace fence (summer 2008)
26. Fix ice dams
27. Repaint carport and trim
28. Repair eavestroughs

Travel and camping

29. Do another longer bike trip (solo)
30. Travel overseas à la backpacking / hostelling
31. Do a solo canoe camp
32. Introduce a friend to canoe camping
33. Do a bike trip with Dad
34. Sleep outside without a tent

Health and Activity

35. Run a 10km race
36. Cross-country ski in Gatineau Park
37. Do 20 pushups and situps 3 times a week for two months
38. Go skiing every winter
39. Do a triathlon (summer/fall 2008)
40. Play baseball during the summers (2008,2009)
41. Stop taking my happy pills (June 2008)
42. Take a curling lesson

Environment

43. Use only cloth bags
44. Cycle to work from May to October
45. Volunteer at Re-cycles Bike Coop once a month for a summer

Good for the Soul

46. Make a list of 100 things that make me happy
47. Take a yoga class
48. Write another song
49. See a sunrise
50. Don't bite my nails for one week
51. Write a list of 100 things to keep
52. Move out of my parents' basement (April 2008)

Civic Engagement

53. Write a letter to my MP
54. Write a letter to my MPP
55. Write a letter to my city councilor
56. Write a letter to the editor

Creativity and Culture

57. Write a short story
58. Learn 10 new songs on the guitar
59. See 12 movies at the Bytowne / Mayfair
60. Go to one concert a year at the Black Sheep Inn
61. Only watch sports on TV
62. Read 12 books a year – 6 fiction, 6 non-fiction
63. Read 3 classic novels
64. Watch three classic movies
65. Learn "One Great City" on the guitar

Purely Practical

66. Learn the basics of weather systems
67. Take a course on bike repair
68. Get to bed at a decent hour for one whole month
69. Get my boating license
70. Take a CPR/First Aid Course
71. Prep for death
72. Learn to tie a tie
73. Get a pair of black dress pants (April 2008)

Career

74. Work in a high school (2008-09 school year)
75. Take a basketball coaching course (August 2008)
76. Update teaching portfolio
77. Decide whether to take FSL level I (decided - nope)
78. Decide if I'll stay in teaching or not (decided - also nope)
79. Coach a basketball team each year (2008)
80. Get my certification levels for elementary and secondary (2009)

Financial

81. Donate 1.7% of my income to charity (pretax, for those who care)
82. File my taxes on time
83. Go back to keeping good track of my finances

Just for Fun

84. Host a poker night
85. Go geocaching
86. Play hockey on a community rink (winter 08-09)
87. Host a dinner party
88. Go tobogganing
89. Have a nap in a hammock
90. Make two digital picture albums
91. Make a physical picture album
92. Make 10 mixed CDs
93. Go rock climbing
94. Spend a day at a beach (The Hague, 2009)
95. Scuba dive once a summer
96. Learn to juggle
97. Learn to shuffle cards properly
98. Learn to play poker
99. Play bridge
100. Go to a Carleton Ravens game each year
101. Go to a Can-Am baseball game each year (done for 2008)

101 in 1001

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.

Some common goal setting tips:

1. Be decisive. Know exactly what you want, why you want it, and how you plan to achieve it.

2. Stay Focussed. Any goal requires sustained focus from beginning to end. Constantly evaluate your progress.

3. Welcome Failure. Frequently, very little is learned from a venture that did not experience failure in some form. Failure presents the opportunity to learn and makes the success more worthy.

4. Write down your goals. It clarifies your thinking and reinforces your commitment.

5. Keep your goals in sight. Review them frequently, and ensure that they are always at the forefront of your thinking.

Start Date: April 1, 2008

End Date: December 28, 2010

Update

Hello intrepid readers, if any of you still remain. I recognize it has been many moons since I last posted (to be precise, 17 new moons), but I am endeavouring to get back into this here blogosphere.

So, what's new? Well, I finished off my teaching degree in New Brunswick and then moved back to Ottawa (less dramatically than my trip eastward) to begin hunting for teaching work. While provincial premiers have announced that they intend to make moving from one province to another for work that requires certification, such as teaching, I was unfortunately not part of that movement.

In brief, I wanted to teach in the Ottawa Carleton District School Board. I contacted them and they told I needed to apply for an employee number, but to do that I needed to have my Ontario College of Teacher's certification. But to have that I needed to have my New Brunswick teaching certification. But to have that I needed to have graduated (not just had my classes end, but actually wait for the commencement ceremony). As my classes only ended at the end of June and my commencement wasn't until late July, this did not bode well for being ready to teach by September.

And that's pretty much how it worked out - it took me until mid-October to even be *allowed* to try and work in Ottawa. More than a little frustrating. Anyhow, after a bit of time supply teaching, I fell into a maternity coverage position teaching grade 7 and 8 science, language arts and geography/history. All in French. Oui. Moi qui ne parles pas souvent le francais avais besoin de le parler chaque jour, pour toute la journee. Fortunately, as the year went on, the rust fell away and I did okay. I still wouldn't be happy having me teach language arts, but I think I did the science justice. I had a much better time working with this age group than I ever thought possible and the option of working long-term in grade 7 and 8 is now on the table, which was not the case going into the year.

However, this fall I'm euphamistically calling myself an unrestricted free agent, again looking for work. This time I would like to try the high school level to get a feel for both levels and then figure out which I like best. What job postings there are will be coming out next week, so I'm updating my resume and keeping my fingers crossed.

Oh, and as far as living arrangements go, after probably a little too long of staying with my parents (the rent was good and with daily work locations a bit uncertain it was helpful), I am now living with my friend e-J, in an attempt to recapture our halcyon days of youth, when we were proud card-carrying members of the House of Ill Repute in Guelph, Ontario (actually, and this will matter to very, very few of you, I still *am* a card-carrying member of the Certified Llama Herders Association "Sheep yes, llamas no"). Anyhow, e-J is a gracious landlord and I'm enjoying my time here. Should a permanent teaching position come my way, I would probably look for something else, but in the meantime, I'm quite happy here.

So, rather depressingly, I have now summarized the last 16 months of my life in 5 paragraphs, but I'll write that off to efficiency as opposed to a lack of meaning. I'm aiming to keep this blog updated more frequently now, so hopefully it will attract back a reader or two - if you do drop by, leave a little comment so I know I'm writing for someone, even if you comment anonymously!

Keith was right

Keith always says that we shouldn’t worry, because things will turn out in the end. While this long-term approach does not earn the support of John Maynard Keynes (“In the long-run, we’re all dead”), it has served me well and I find it important to remember Keith’s words in times of stress and trouble. His faith that things will work out always seems to be rewarded, so who am I to question him?

The past couple of days has shows Keith’s maxim to be true. As some of you may know, I own a house in Ottawa and have rented it out for the past two years and have been trying to do so again this year. Until this weekend I’d been having trouble, which was causing some stress (financial and otherwise – you know when those things just hang over your head?)

But Thursday I got an email from an interested party who wanted to come see the place and he was prepared to fly up from Toronto to see it. As I have been umpiring many baseball games as part of the Ontario Summer Games, I wasn’t immediately free, so I set an appointment at noon on Saturday, which shouldn’t have been an issue, given my last game would be done by 11 at the latest.

But Friday night fate, or as I call him: Chris Jones, reared his ugly head and fogged (yes fogged) out the last three innings of a baseball game with implications for the morning games I was to do. I was now faced with rescheduled games bumping my end time back to possibly as late as 2pm, and a prospective tenant who was flying into Ottawa at 11 and leaving again at 4! I went to sleep a bit nervous.

But in the morning, Keith began to be right. An early phone call informed me the games had all been sorted out and we were back on schedule. Then my game was a sweet, tight, well-played affair that ended in just over two hours, leaving me free to go over to the house plenty early to cut the lawn. The guy showed up, liked the house and only had one concern – he wanted in a bit before September 1 if he could. Problem was, I couldn’t find any current tenants to see what their story was. So we drove around for a bit to see the neighbourhood. Upon our return there was a strange pickup truck on the lawn. I entered the house and it was the basement tenant moving out! Today! The guy signed on the spot. Not only that, but he’s just starting in med school in Ottawa, so if I treat him nice, maybe he’ll stay for four years.

Anyhow, I just wanted to say thanks to Keith for keeping me sane in times of stress. Now, if only what he said holds true for teaching jobs as well J