101 things in 1001 days

There was a video I saw awhile ago where they asked people of all ages what advice they would give to someone younger. It starts with the youngest person being interviewed and ends with the oldest. One thing I couldn't help noticing was that most of the older people tended to give advice about doing the stuff you want to do now and not putting things off. Recently, I've been feeling inspired by Bev's 40 before 40 and Risha's 101 things in 1001 days lists and I loved the idea of doing something similar. Sort of like a short term bucket list. Initially coming up with 101 things was quite hard so I ended up looking at other people's lists for some inspiration but I have been trying to choose things that are relevant to me.

I'll be starting in February as January is almost over at this stage. So 1001 days from then would be October 29th 2022.. At that stage I'll go back over my list and see what percentage I accomplished! Ideally at least 90%. Realistically maybe only 70%. As you'll see I tried to put a mixture of easy and difficult to accomplish tasks in there.

I've divided my list into categories.

Health & Well being

1. Exercise more (ideas- swimming, dancing)
2. Eat 2-5 portions of vegetables a day 
3. Get eyes tested again to see if eyesight has worsened
4. Get skin checked for moles
5. Flu vaccine
6. Check all vaccines are up to date
7. Train for a 5k
8. Do a 5k run
9. Cut out dairy for at least 2 weeks
10. Cut out processed sugar for a month (or at the very least go a week without eating dessert)
11. Dentist checkup and teeth cleaning

House
12. Hang more paintings and photographs
13. Declutter our entrance hall
14. Declutter our bedroom
15. Declutter Mini's room
16. Declutter attic
17. Declutter basement
18. Declutter living room
19. Declutter kitchen
20. Get rid of old clothes
21. Tidy up bathroom cabinets and find better ways of storing things
22. Plant some flowers
23. Create a vegetable patch

Self improvements /style
24. Update my style
25. Get a makeover
26. Try out several new hairstyles
27. Read some self help books
28. Improve my upper body strength. Not sure what a good goal here is. Would be cool if I were able to swing from monkey bars at a playground or do a decent number of push ups without collapsing(10?)

Family
29. Take Mini to local swimming pool once a month to get her used to the water and teach her about water safety
30. Get a yearly zoo pass and use it
31. Create a photo book /milestone book
32. Reduce screen time - no phone during mealtimes
33. Connect with family abroad more often
34. Get professional photographs taken
35. Bring Mini to a kid friendly museum
36. Bring Mini to an aquarium

Marriage
37. Take a class together
38. Try to have a regular date night
39. Write a love letter
40. Read a book about marriage together
41. Celebrate our wedding anniversary
42. Try 5 new-to-us restaurants for dates

Travel
43. Go on a holiday by the beach
44. Visit Barcelona
45. Go on a trip away with friends
46. Visit other parts of Germany I haven't seen yet such as Hamburg
47. Travel to other parts of Ireland
48. Go camping or glamping

Fun
49. Get a massage
50. Get a facial
51. Go for afternoon tea
52. Take more photos
53. Make pancakes
54. Bake scones
55. Build a snowman
56. Bake and decorate a cake
57. Create some artwork/crafts. I used to enjoy painting when I was a child but now I can't even remember the last time I painted or took on a creative project
58. Sort of random but I've always loved the idea of dressing up like I was from another decade - 1920s or 1950s probably being my favourite looks. Would be a fun photo shoot
59. Go to a show /play
60. Plan a party for someone else

Blog
61. Write a featured blog article
62. Update old posts and labels
63. Post at least twice a month
64. Finish and publish posts in my drafts folder
65. Join in more blogging challenges
66. Write at least one MicroblogMonday post a month
67. Post pictures of recent meals I've enjoyed
68. Get my blog or part of it printed as a hardcover photobook

Hobbies / skills
69. Read at least 15 books
70. Write a short story
71. Submit my writing somewhere, e.g short story competition
72. Learn how to cook a turkey and make stuffing for Christmas dinner
73. Try 10 new recipes
74. Create a family recipe book ideally with photos
75. Get some driving practice in Germany
76. Do something that scares me (eg. public speaking) /get out of my comfort zone
77. Watch 5 films in German
78. Read 3 books in German
79. Learn a new skill (e.g. dress making/ cake decorating/ photography)
80. Take a class
81. Learn 100 new German words - write down new words or phases into a notebook

Friends
82. Get in touch with some old friends
83. Host a dinner party
84. Host a game night
85. Mail someone a birthday card
86. Have friends over for brunch
87. Throw a birthday party
88. Send a card to someone “just because”
89. Send someone flowers
90. Skype a friend abroad

Making an impact
91. Donate to at least 3 charities
92. Offer my time to help others
93. Give away old stuff to charity
94. Use less plastic
95. Throw a clothes swap party
96. Vote
97. Use bamboo toothbrushes
98. Write to a politician about something I feel strongly about or campaign

Admin
99. Write a Will
100. Scan old photos so I have digital copies
101. Save old photos to a hard-drive or buy storage space online for photos and keep them all in one place

We can't all have marriages like the Obamas #MicroblogMonday

Would you believe I'm still not finished reading Michelle Obama's book, Becoming? I first mentioned it back in October. The thing is I have been really enjoying it and I am almost at the end of it by now, it's just been so hard to find time to sit down and read without interruptions. Anyway I need to finish it soon as my book club have already started reading The Testaments by Margaret Atwood.

There's a section in the book where Michelle talks about the now famous date with Obama where they flew to New York for dinner and a show which caused some controversy among their opponents. Anyway she writes about how much they enjoy each other's company and conversations and constantly erupt into laughter when together. The day I read that passage hubby and I had just been squabbling about some household thing as usual. I presume other couples also have countless silly arguments about things around the house - who hasn't put their laundry away? why haven't these dirty plates been put into the dishwasher? I could easily go on but you get the idea.

There are many times when hubby tells long stories about work while I'm barely paying attention. I know he often doesn't listen to me a lot of the time either since I end up having to repeat myself. This just felt like a stark comparison when I imagined the Obamas sitting there during their dinner dates finding each other totally fascinating! They seem to have a strong happy marriage which I admire.

Recently when hubby and I did finally get a moment to ourselves we ended up talking about how parenting a young child means our minds always seem to be distracted and elsewhere a lot of the time! It's rare to have opportunities to give something our sole focus (apart from when we are in work). So I think (and hope) that it's pretty normal that these days we don't have a perfect marriage like the Obamas but hopefully one day again in the future we will!