“101 in 1001” challenge – June 2011 update

When I started the 101 in 1001 challenge just over a month ago, I wasn’t sure how easy or tough it would be to get things done. It turns out so far, there’s a good reason it’s called a challenge. I’ve made some progress in my first month, but there’s a lot more to be done.

If you’re interested in joining this challenge, stop by Sarsm’s Blog for all the details. There are six of us on board, so you’ll get our support if you sign up:

• Sarsm’s Blog
• The Laughing Housewife
• A matter of choice
• Heroblues
• Mamamash

Here’s a quick update of what I’ve accomplished so far and what I’m struggling with.

1) Grow food plants in the garden (Spring 2011) (0/1)
I’ve planted, things are growing but there’s nothing to gather yet. I hope to cross this task off my list within a month or two, when we’ll be enjoying fresh, organically grown produce.

34) Spend 3 hours a day on writing activities (paid or not) during the week, 2 hours a day on weekends (15/1001)
I struggled with this task at the beginning but I’m starting to dedicate assigned timeslots daily, so I think I’m getting the hang of it.

36) Post once a week to my Perfecting Motherhood blog (7/143)
After neglecting this blog for a while and not posting as often as I wanted to, the task above has helped this one tremendously.

38) Post once a day to my Every Day I See a Cow blog until December 31, 2011 (33/244)
I never run out of materials to post on a daily basis, so you don’t have to bend my arm. Plus I’ve been posting every day for five months, so it’s pretty much a habit now.

39) Post 2 to 4 times a month to my Buy Products From France website (1/72)
There’s obviously room for improvement.

44) Read one book a week (8/143)
This is the task I’m having the most success with. Since I love reading so much, it’s given me permission to do something I enjoy, guilt-free!

47) Read 5 to 7 new books with my kids every week (5/143)
I make sure we visit our local library at least once a week and I order new books through the system to keep our book shelf full. My kids love reading and I enjoy the stories too. My oldest is going to kindergarten in the fall and I hope he gets a nice head start by learning to read on his own this summer.

48) Learn 3 to 5 new words every week and keep a log of them (5/143)
As a non-English native speaker, I’m glad I put this task on the list. How else would I learn new words such as perfidy, gumption and daft? And reading at least one book a week helps me discover new words, so what’s not to like?

50) Update my LinkedIn profile to highlight my writing skills and experience (1/1) – DONE!
This task took only 30 minutes to complete but it sat as an untouched project for two months before I started the “101 in 1001”. It felt very good crossing it off.

54) Spend one-on-one quality time once a week with my oldest (4/143)
55) Spend one-on-one quality time once a week with my youngest (4/143)
This is not always convenient to do but my husband and I are working on it. Even when we all go out together, we sometimes split the family so each kid spends one-on-one time with a parent. I really enjoy these private moments.

56) Establish 2 French-only days a week with my kids, including story time (4/246)
This looks easy but I found out it’s not. Definitely something I need to work on.

57) Cook one large family dish every week (1/143)
58) Make/bake one family dessert every week (3/143)
I love cooking but this task is not going well. Somehow it’s hard to make something everybody will want to eat (I have two picky eaters, my youngest and my husband). I so need help with this one.

74) Email or call my sister at least once a month (1/33)
I sent my sister an email on the last day of May. Pitiful, and not what I want our relationship to be.

87) Get at least 7 hours of sleep every night (15/1001)
This was extremely hard to do the first weeks of the challenge. Reading gets in the way of sleeping. I’m working hard to get in bed earlier so I still have time to read and sleep long enough. Something must be working though since I don’t feel as tired as I used to be.

88) Take my vitamins every day (26/1001)
89) Eat at least one good source of protein every day (28/1001)
I’m glad these two are on the list. They seem simple enough, and yet I do forget sometimes…

90) Drink Diet Coke on weekends only (1/143)
I can’t believe I ever put this on the list!!! I do want to restrict my Diet Coke habit to the weekends, but I love the stuff too much to give it up the rest of the week yet. Argh…

91) Exercise (strenuously) at least 2 times a week (7/246)
I suffer from chronic back pain – this means my pain fluctuates from moderate to severe every day, so strenuous exercise is the last thing on my mind. I’m happy to have accomplished this much so far. My exercise level may not seem strenuous enough to some people, but with my limitations, I’ve exercised more in May than the previous months.

92) Check my blood pressure twice a week (2/246)
I’m not sure why I can’t get this done since I have the blood pressure monitor right at home. Maybe it’s the borderline high numbers that scare me off. And yet, that’s exactly why I should do it. I’m obviously working against my best interest…

I’m not sure I’ve accomplished a lot so far, but I’ve got 32 more months to go!

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