Third Quarter Report 2015

This year in general hasn’t been one for “BIG” adventures. Instead, it’s been a great year for getting lots and lots of little things done, especially ones I had been putting off. So while I can’t say that this year has been momentous or earth-shattering, it’s clearly been very successful.

Goals from my 101 Things to Do Before You Die List:

#8 Sell a piece of art (and realize my childhood dream, which is #28 on the 40/40 list): Still nothing. Dang.

#46 Scuba Diving (#9 on 40/40): Diving in Florida and hanging with Manatees.

#51 Learn Another Language (#5 on the 40/40 list): I studied and practiced German 76 days this year, but that was almost all in the first quarter. It was fun at first but then it got hard and I got frustrated. It’s really difficult to push through the frustrating part when you are doing it all on your own without any external motivator.

#52 Read the Greatest Books Ever Written (#7 on the 40/40 list): My original goal for the year was to read 2 on the list, go to one Shakespeare play, and then just try to read more in general (specifically I set my goal at 24 for the year). I went to see Measure for Measure and I’ve finished Moby Dick and The Name of the Rose, both on THE list. So far I have read 202 days and completed 33 books, meaning I totally surpassed my goal for the year: I Was Told There’d Be Cake, No Country for Old Men, Sense and Sensibility, Rules of Attraction, Insurgent, Allegiant, The Fault in Our Stars, The Kite Runner, Swamplandia!, The Fourth Hand, The Girl’s Guide to Hunting and Fishing, Fear of Flying, The Maze Runner, The Scorch Trials, Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day, Ella Enchanted, The Magicians, The Magician King, The Magician’s Land, Reached, Dark Places, Sharp Objects, The Martian, Morvern Callar, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, Slaughterhouse-Five, The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, The Girl Who Fell from the Sky, Middlesex, Thirteen Reasons Why, and A Walk in the Woods. I’m currently reading Life of Pi.

#64 Drive a Car at Top Speed (#34 on the 40/40): Nothing on this so far.

#72 Have Enough Money to Do All the Things on This List: I’ve been doing some grant writing contract work, which I enjoy. There are also some interesting things happening in the background on this goal that I’m quite excited about. When there are more concrete plans, I’ll be sure to share!

#84 Learn to Ski (#32 on the 40/40 list): Went skiing in March and actually had a good time! This was my fourth year and I decided to take a lesson because I wasn’t getting any better. I feel like I’m much more in control now, which makes all the difference in the world. I feel comfortable now so now I can enjoy it!

#99 Confess (#37 on 40/40): Nothing yet.

#100 Reach 100 Years of Age: This goal was just to continue be healthy, work out, eat less processed foods, use natural products. Just generally continuing to do this so…yay!

Goals from my 40 Before I’m 40 List:

#1 Be Able to Do a Pull Up: I worked with a personal trainer for a number of months but the place I was going to wasn’t terribly convenient so I abandoned that after awhile. Now I’m doing Krav Maga and Yoga, both of which seem to be working well in building upper body strength. I can do so many push-ups now! But I really need to supplement with weight training. I’m also not working out in general as much as I once was so I really need to improve that. So far this year I have only worked out 84 days; that only averages out to a little more than twice a week and for the last few years my average has been 3 times a week.

#2 Send Cards Regularly: I’m actually doing this! Some cards have arrived late but it’s the thought that counts! And I’ll just improve upon that next year.

#8 Watch all of the Oscar Best Picture Winners: I mostly finished this. I only have 4 left but they aren’t available through Netflix. Looks like I’m going to have to actually buy them. :(

#11 Learn to Rock Climb: The two local organizations that typically have group trips to Pilot Mountain aren’t doing them this year. So I don’t know what to do about this.

#12 Take Cooking Classes: I took four cake decorating classes this year and detailed that experience here.

#18 Watch the Top 250 IMDB List: My original goal was to try for 15 this year. So far I’ve only seen 6 but I’ve been concentrating on the Oscar list so I don’t feel too badly about that. Also, I’ve just been watching a LOT of movies this year; including the Oscar winners and the ones on the IMDB list, I’ve seen 86 new movies this year. 

#29 Pay off student loan debt: Continued! I’m making progress! At the rate I’m currently at, I should have it paid off in about a year and a half.

#35 Visit all of the NC Breweries: This year’s goal was to visit 10, and I’ve visited 13 already, with several new ones having opened nearby and soon to be visited. The ones for 2015 so far are: Southern Pines Brewery, Railhouse Brewery, Duck Rabbit Brewery, Huske Hardware Brewery, Pig Pounder Brewery, Gibb’s Hundred Brewery, Lost Province Brewery, Blackjack Brewing, Bull City Ciderworks, Small Batch Beer Company, Preyer Brewing, Neuse River Brewery, Bull Durham Brewing Company, and Good Hops Brewing. I’m sure I’ll visit a few more before the end of the year!

#36 Learn How to Belly Dance: This goal is just to continue to take classes and I plan to take one this fall.

From the Sports List:

#18 Attend a rugby game (and learn the rules): DONE!

#19 Attend a cricket game (and learn the rules): Nothing yet

Other things I’ve done so far this year:

• I brewed my first batch of full grain and made a brown ale that was ridiculously high in alcohol. I made a second batch of pale ale that was pretty much non-alcoholic beer. So I have some consistency issues…
• Ate live mealworms
• Sent 17 PostCrossing cards
• Went to the mountains and climbed Calloway Peak, the “other” peak on Grandfather Mountain
• Continued to get rid of more stuff by selling things on eBay, doing consignment, or just generally giving away to Goodwill.
• Completed a questionnaire as part of the ongoing cancer study I’m a part of
• I checked off four new states: Texas (and went to Austin City Limits), Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Illinois (that post is coming soon).
• I visited Sears Tower (Willis Tower)
• Went river tubing for the first time; also first time being caught outside in a thunderstorm :)
• Went to a really awesome stargazing event and actually saw the craters of the moon and the rings on Saturn
• Went to the National Zoo and saw my first Panda
• I stayed on a private yacht in Charleston, SC during the worst flooding there in literally centuries. So while I didn’t get to see any of Charleston (downtown was closed, and even the interstates were beginning to flood by the time we left, resulting in a 4 hour trip turning into an 8 hour detour), it was still really awesome to say I’ve stayed on a “yacht”! 
• Went horseback riding for the first time and had a great time. 

And a bunch of concerts, beer related events, and just generally having fun and enjoying life! One more quarter left in 2015!