Get a Colonic

I debated about putting this on the list. Actually, at first I didn't; I put something else on that wasn't really attainable. And so when I finally decided to get a colonic, I also decided it was the right thing to do to change the goal I put on this list in its stead.

Without getting into a lot of personal detail, I'll just say that gastrointestinal distress has been a part of my daily life for as long as I can remember. I've always felt ruled by my colon, and I decided that I really need to take control of that and change it.

As it so happens, colon hydrotherapy is a service that is offered at the salon I work at. At first, I was nervous about having such a personal, embarrassing and possibly humiliating service done by a coworker, but I decided to just bite the bullet. After all, I tease my coworkers to no end when they say they don't want to have a bikini wax with me because it would be too embarrassing. I can't be a hypocrite!

While my first time was actually pretty traumatic, after going through it and discussing what is going on with my body and my dietary choices with my service provider, I decided to commit to a series of weekly sessions over eight weeks. Each week got easier, and I also learned a lot about myself, my attitudes toward food, and how to better manage my diet. Plus, in the process I lost six pounds!

Pretty sure this is going to become a regularly monthly part of my preventive health care plan.


Finished Goals: 75/101
Days Left: 178

Heirloom Wedding Dress

You can't see my whole dress because of my flowers, but I just think it's a great picture of my family.  Obviously, Rich and I got married on the beach.  That makes for a dirty dress, which means some professional cleaning was in order.  And if I'm going to get it cleaned, I may as well have it heirloomed.  Not that I have anyone or anything in particular to save it for since I'm not having kids, but maybe one of my nieces will want it or Rich and I will have a re-commitment ceremony or something.  If nothing else, my closet has more room in it and looks better organized...

Finished Goals: 72/101
Days Left: 283

Organize documents on hard drive and Clean out email

This wasn't as difficult as I thought it was going to be.  It took me about two and a half hours or so, and really was just a matter of deleting old documents, downloads and emails I didn't need, and straightening out my file folders.  And since it was so easy, that's really all there is to write too.

Finished Goals: 71/101
Days Left: 287

Submit a picture to Threadless

I have quite a few Threadless shirts. I love them.  When I was playing around on their website one day, I noticed that you could have your own profile and submit pictures to it.  If they like your picture enough, they'll even use it on the shirt page too.

I opened my profile two or three years ago, and I finally just got around to submitting my first picture.  I ordered a hoody for Rich for a holiday gift, and I decided to add a $5 Mystery Tee for myself.  I was nervous because I generally prefer a sure thing, but I was pleasantly surprised when I opened the package and saw this black shirt with a burning man on it, aptly called "Burn."

After a few failed attempts, I finally got the site to accept my picture, and there it is in all its silliness.  Now that I know what you have to do to get your picture on the site, I think I'll be submitting pictures with each new shirt going forward.

Finished Goals: 69/101
Days Left: 290

Leave an inspirational note inside a book for someone to find

I've been reading Catch-22 on Time Magazine's Top 100 English Language Novels list to fulfill one of my other goals.  I got it from the library, and I'm going to return it, so it seemed like the perfect time to get this goal done too.

Since the story is set during WWII, it seemed apt to hide a quote from the time period, and Winston Churchill just seemed like the right guy to draw from.  Can't ever go wrong when you quote a drunk, after all.  So if you check out Catch-22 from the Bucktown-Wicker Park library in Chicago in the next couple of weeks, you might find this in my handwriting:

"Today we may say aloud before an awe-struck world: 'We are still masters of our fate. We are still captain of our souls.'"

Winston Churchill

Finished Goals: 68/101
Days Left: 304

Play a new song in full on the piano

This goal wasn't too difficult to finish.  I found a website with free piano music on it, and I looked for an interesting piece in what I thought would be my skill level.  I haven't played my piano in years, so my actual skill level was a little difficult to assess.  I went with "Intermediate 2" according to the site, and picked a short piece by Mozart. 

I think my neighbors probably hate me now.  I've been playing the same song repeatedly for the last hour and a half.  But I figure it's after 9AM, and they make a lot of noise at all hours of the day and night, so we're far from even.

Finished Goals: 65/101
Days Left: 367

Finish a 5k Race

On Sunday I ran the Bucktown 5k.  I can't believe I did it, and I am so proud of myself!

I was really surprised that it was actually a lot easier than I thought it would be.  On Thursday I took a practice run on the course just to see what it was like and what to expect, and it went pretty well, although not as easy as I had hoped.  Then on Saturday I talked with a client about the race and what to wear, whether or not to bring my headphones, and other bits of info.  She said I wouldn't want my music, that with all of the other people around, it would be a distraction.  My gut told me not to listen to her, but I did anyway.

During the first mile, I was really missing my music, and when I saw the clock at the marker, I was appalled at how slowly I was running -- it read 14:30.  So I picked up the pace.  I am not a 14:30/mile runner!  The next couple of miles actually flew by pretty quickly, and when the finish line was in sight, I peeked at the clock, and it said 34:20.  I decided that I was going to finish before 35 minutes if it killed me, and I sprinted to the end!  It was a fantastic finish to a pretty good first race.

On my way to brunch a little later, I passed by the running store that sponsored the race, and they had the results posted outside.  It took me a good 10 minutes to find my name.  I was looking at all of the runners in the 34 minute finish slot.  As it turns out, my real time was 30:58!  I totally forgot that it took me about 3 minutes to reach the starting line.  My average ended up being 9:58/mile, my fastest mile ever!

Overall, I am extremely pleased with my performance -- so much so that I already registered for my next 5k race on Thanksgiving day and I have decided to start training to run a 10k next.  I just never imagined I would like it so much, and I'm really grateful to the creators of the Couch-to-5k program.  I never could have accomplished this task without it.

Finished Goals: 64/101
Days Left: 376