My 1001 Days

Technically, I still have five more days to accomplish some of the tasks I set myself, but frankly, I just don’t see it happening. Don’t get me wrong. I actually did complete a lot of them. Unfortunately, with moving 2,000 miles across the country  and the timing of some(getting pregnant) seriously impeding my ability to train for and do others (climb the Incline), I’m just not going to make it.

But I would like to look at what I have accomplished and what I didn’t and what I discovered about myself in the process. I promise, I won’t go through all 101 Things.

My first goal was to read 50 of the books on the list of 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die… and they couldn’t be books I’d already read (otherwise I’d have topped 50 before I even started). I almost made it with this one. I’m on #43 (Doctor Zhivago) as we speak. Honestly, if we didn’t have TV, I probably would have finished this. Or if the library at Ft. Carson had more Dickens. As it is, the last time I was there I looked for some Dickens I hadn’t read… the only books they have are Oliver Twist, and A Christmas Carol. That doesn’t do me much good since I’ve read both of those. So instead I got Look Homeward, Angel by Thomas Wolfe and Doctor Zhivago. I couldn’t even finish the first one. I tried, I really did. But Eugene Gant is an even bigger Mary Sue than Bella Swan and Wolfe is not impressed with his own intelligence that I really couldn’t take anymore. It took me weeks to get even halfway through it and by that point I couldn’t read more than a few pages at a time. If he used the words ‘Rabelaisian’ or ‘inchoate’ one more time I was going to throw the book through the window. Someone really should have given him a thesaurus for Christmas. But in terms of what I learned about myself… Well, I learned that I really like Dickens. I also loved Tolstoy, which probably shouldn’t come as a complete shock. I tend to like the Russians. I’m also very judgmental about authors if they put too much of themselves into the story… especially if it’s a terrible story.

My second goal was to watch all the movies on AFI’s "100 Years, 100 Movies" list. I only watched 37 of them. Admittedly, it’s probably still a good idea. But there were a lot of gangster films on there. I think it says a lot about the reality of the American Dream when even in film the only way to achieve it is through illegal activities.

I haven’t bought a house or adopted a dog, but those are both things that will have to wait. When I wrote this list, I was living a very different life and neither of those is practical when you’re in the Army. I know I’m not, but Alan is and that means the whole family is too. I’ve started neither a compost pile nor a vegetable garden… largely because we live in an apartment complex with no yard. Being pregnant I can’t tour the local wine country or take a wine tasting class. I’m now 2,000 miles from the Equine Massage class I wanted to take in Connecticut. And it’s damn near impossible to find showings of Rocky Horror Picture Show around here.

I did build a snowman. I gave up soda for 60 days. I made a skirt. I’ve tried five new restaurants and gone 72 hours without getting on a computer. I grew my hair out to its natural color (and then dyed it again) and I’ve seen 5 states that I never would have visited under normal circumstances (and I’d prefer not to visit most of them ever again. I’m talking to you, Kansas). Most importantly, I’ve gotten pregnant.

So what if I didn’t accomplish everything. There’s always another 1001 days as soon as this set’s over.

I am still working on cooking my way through an entire cookbook. I may even try some recipes that include pork or ham. I’ve been enjoying bacon since I’ve gotten pregnant, so maybe my aversion to all things swine has abated. I’ve decided to use The Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook for this goal. I’ve already tried a number of recipes and they’ve all come out delicious, so I trust them. I used three for dinner last night and made homemade English muffins earlier in the week. Honestly, when you think about bread, it’s amazing that the same basic set of ingredients can combine in enough ways that different breads taste drastically different from one another. Random and weird, I know, but these are the things that cross my generally bored mind.

~Liz