TCB, yo

Now that I am employed and no longer living the life of a layabout and good-time Charlie, I'm realizing a couple of things:
1. My free time has become much more precious
2. I need to stop wasting so much of it in order to do the things I really want to do
3. This working thing kind of sucks.

Obviously, I already knew about #3, due to the fact that I have, indeed, worked before. But damn, I enjoyed the schedule of a student. That's 90% of the reason I started that PhD back in the day--too bad that wasn't enough to put up with the bitchiness of academia. And honestly, I knew about #1 and #2 before too, and I've long been putting in half-hearted efforts toward using my time more wisely.

Kevin and I have talked about this quite a bit, and we decided to get rid of our satellite TV. In the northwoods area, this means we can't watch TV at all. It's been surprisingly easy to adjust and the only thing I really miss is watching the news in the morning before work. NPR has filled that gap in to some extent, and it's worth it to know that we will never again blow an entire exceptionally lazy and ill-advised evening watching a 2-hr season recap of "The Real Housewives of New Jersey", despite never having watched, nor having any interest in watching, the show itself.

However, the loss of the ability to get sucked into an evening of "Seinfeld" reruns has not quite had the transformative effect on my goals and focus as I might have hoped. I'm on the Internet less and that helps too, but I decided that what I really needed to do was the 101 Things in 1001 Days project. If you haven't heard of it, it's pretty self-explanatory. If you want more info, google it. I ain't wikipedia.

I've just about completed my list. Some of it's pretty lofty, much of it is fairly mundane. My deadline is June 11, 2013. Below is the list, with an explanation if it's suitable; the stuff that's too personal to share just has a dash in its place. These are supposed to be quantifiable goals, but not all of them are. I figure I'll know when/if I've accomplished them.

1. Study mythology. I've been interested in this for a long time, and it's such a cool way to learn about other cultures. Everyone knows about the Greeks, and a lot of us know the Norse stuff, but how about African? Indonesian? Australian Aboriginal?
2. Learn a new language. I don't know that fluency is realistic, but at least some halting conversational Spanish or French would be nice.
3. Get my Norwegian fluency back. It is shameful how much I've lost, but I know it will come back quickly with a little study.
4. Develop a yoga practice. I'd like to be able to do this on my own, at home, but some classes may be necessary.
5. Pay off at least 1/2 of my credit card debt. Goddamn credit cards.
6. Write a novel. I've got an awesome idea for this, somewhat autobiographical but cooler.
7. Read at least 30 new books. Doesn't sound like much, but it's a good amount and attainable.
8. Get 2/3 of the way through midwifery school. Planning on starting next fall.
9. Finish redo of house interior. We're doing almost every room--ceilings, floors and paint.
10. Knit or crochet one non-accessory item of clothing. Scarves don't count.
11. Find a sport or athletic activity I enjoy and can/will keep doing. Not sure what yet.
12. Go out to the ice caves/sea caves. They're the same thing, just different seasons and walking vs. kayaking. I haven't made it out there yet.
13. Take at least ten pictures a month.
14. Shoot 2 rolls of black-and-white on the A1 every 6 months. Oh, how I love my Canon A1 SLR. It was made in the 60s and has never let me down. I hardly ever use it anymore and I miss photography.
15. Become skilled at IV starts. This is currently kicking my ass. And I don't do well with not doing well.
16. Take a road trip to a different part of the country with Kevin.
17. Become a parent.
18. Attend 5 births. I hope this one works out. I want to have doula-ing be a bigger part of my life.
19. Buy as much food as possible locally. This is getting to be a big issue for me. I think sustainable agriculture is really important, and I want to support it.
20. Create low-care but filled-out flower gardens. Trying to make this house nicer inside and out.
21. Have a successful vegetable garden that produces enough to store.
22. Make different kinds of bread once every month.
23. Study Anishinaabe (Ojibwe) spirituality. I have to confess, I feel very drawn to this. And I'm also very self-conscious and not wanting to be the asshole white girl who co-opts a spiritual practice she thinks is cool. I have good people to help me find my way along the road.
24. Learn the history of this area. I think it's important to know something about the place you live.
25. Enjoy my job as it is, without focusing only on moving on to midwifery. I have a great job. It's not where my heart is, but there is a lot to love about it and I need to appreciate it without just thinking about moving on to the next thing.
26. ---
27. Organize my photos and photo albums. They could currently be described as "a clusterfuck"
28. Catch a walleye.
29. Donate money to 4 different charities. Now that we are not incredibly poor, I want to get in this habit.
30. Go to all of the Apostle Islands.
31. Canoe on the Brule
32. Camp at Amnicon Falls State Park. Not even an hour from here, and it's beautiful.
33. Go to the Keweenaw Peninsula. In the UP. Everyone says it's gorgeous.
34. Stop picking my cuticles. This may prove to be the hardest item on this list.
35. Frame all of our pictures waiting for frames.
36. Make a quilt. A cool one.
37. Stencil a shirt and a skirt. Just a fun project.
38. Make wine.
39.---
40. Make sausage. Sure, it's a little odd, but why not?
41. No gossiping for 2 weeks. I'd like to get out of it entirely, but let's be realistic. Cutting down is a good thing either way.
42. No bitching for a week. Negativity is affecting me more and more as I get older.
43. Learn the constellations.
44. Develop a closer friendship with ---. Just a cool lady I know and like and would like to know better.
45. Take bellydancing classes. I took one before and it's so much fun!
46. ---
47. ---
48. See "Citizen Kane". No, I haven't yet.
49. Focus on the patients, not the workplace. I'm doing this job for them, not the job itself.
50. Get birthday cards out on time.
51. ---
52. Read a book of Mary Oliver poems. I really like the stuff of hers I've read and want to read more.
53. Read Rumi.
54. Go see the Paulding Lights. Google it. They're spooooky.
55. Get up in the middle of the night for a meteor shower.
56. Read "Infinite Jest".
57. Get the 13th Floor Elevators album. Meant to for a long time now.
58. Learn to identify trees.
59. Drink tea 5 times a week. It's good for you.
60. Get Carl Kasell's voice on my home answering machine. If you know, you know, if not, well, you'll have to wait and see.
61. Use the Rollei 3 times. This is Rich's old camera, and it takes really neat pictures and is fun to use.
62. Make a felted hat.
63. ---
64. Learn to make muhammara. It's a roasted red pepper dip and it is delicious. Also it sounds like "hummina hummina."
65. Alter the men's t-shirts I have sitting around. I alter men's shirts to fit my shape and they are super-flattering. It's just a matter of getting it done.
66. Get to know my siblings and their partners better. We've never been close, but they're all pretty cool.
67. Get to know Kevin's brother and his wife better.
68. Hang out with Kevin's cousins. They are fun and interesting people.
69. Learn reiki/healing touch therapy.
70. Blog at least twice a month. Here's one down for September 2010.
71. Learn to competently cross-country ski. As of right now, it is a comedy show.
72. Ski the Book Across the Bay. A nighttime candlelit race from Ashland to Washburn, ending, as so many things in Wisconsin do, in a tent with beer and brats.
73. Replace my non-stick pans with cast iron. The more I hear about Teflon, the more it freaks me out as a cooking material.
74. Finish crocheting my bag of plastic bags. Trust me, it's really cool.
75. Make art/use the things in my craft dresser. I have a dresser full of arts and craft project materials, and they have sat there mostly unused for too long.
76. Buy at least 2 pieces of original art.
77. Spend a couple of hours in one of the used bookstores around here every 6 months. Even if I don't buy anything.
78. Make the project for our 5th anniversary. It's a secret, but it's going to be awesome.
79. Train Shane really well. He's mostly a good boy, but he could use some fine-tuning.
80. Go to the Delta Diner. Awesome restaurant 1/2 hour from here. This will probably happen tomorrow, actually.
81. Get to know --. Another really cool lady that I don't know very well, but want to know better.
82. Spend time with the --s. A couple that we both like a lot. They live kind of far away but it would be worth it to develop more of a friendship with them.
83. Camp on Lake Superior. Like, right on the beach. Doesn't matter where.
84. Take an overnight backpacking trip. I have never done this.
85. Make it to 10 doula meetings a year. And I missed this month's, just this past Monday.
86. Follow through on the things I agree to do. Instead of crapping out largely due to sheer laziness.
87. Talk to B- 4 times a year. One of my oldest friends, and we average twice a year. It should be more.
88. Sew myself 3 items of clothing from scratch.
89. Watch "Deadwood". People tell me it's really good. We'll see about that.
90. Have a date night with Kevin every other week. Even if it's just cards at the Black Cat, I think it's important for us to get out of the house.
91. Go to Madison at least once a year. I miss it.
92. Take the canoe out at least 4 times each season.
93. Learn to identify birds.
94. Have a party. Maybe when the house is done, to show it off?
95. Save at least $5000 in personal savings.
96. ---
97. Send out Christmas cards. I never get around to it.
98. Go to Long Lake. Again, very close to here, supposed to be very nice, never been there.
99. Go hiking in the Chequamegon National Forest.
100. Swim in Lake Superior at least 5 times every summer. Unless it's a freakishly cold summer, because I'm not into torture.
101. Recognize that having a list of goals does not make me an advanced person and refrain from becoming a pain in the ass about this.

That's it. My next 990 (cause I made this list last week) or so days in a nutshell. Here we go.