The Accidental Goal

I knocked another one off the list. Not even on purpose. #8 - Hug someone instead of fighting with them. Done. I didn't even realize it until the next day. Didn't start the hug with the intention of completing a goal. But I did it... and it was probably a good call.

Also completed #50 - Dance in the rain. Jamie called me from outside work to show me a rainbow and though she swore it was the biggest one she had ever seen... I was happier with the misty weather.

The Giant Catch-Up Post

OK. While it might seem like I have been a total slacker and have abandoned my Day Zero Project... I assure you I have not. I have, however, been very busy with Thanksgiving, Christmas, Subscription Prep, and being a bit slammed (but it's a good thing) at work. So I haven't blogged my adventures.

Let's take a moment to breathe and catch up on the neat things I have done.

#10 - Drop a $20 bill in a tip jar. - Oh lovely people of Starbucks on 436 and Howell Branch who have dealt with my early morning crankiness that would later give way to a caffeine induced joy and optimism... I am sure I owe you more than that.

#12 - Give flowers to someone having a rough week. - Y'know... having flowers delivered through one of those online sites is freakin expensive! I opted for an unnaturally bright bunch from the grocery store that I was able to ninja deliver on my own.

#19 - Cook a turkey - God bless you, Alton Brown for your wonderfully easy and incredibly delicious turkey recipe. Thanksgiving was a success! Though my mother seemed skeptical of abandoning the long-established "cook it in a bag" method, Thanksgiving was a success and she has since passed the recipe along. I even overheard (over heard! thus, not saying it for my benefit) my father telling someone it was the best turkey he ever had. Score!

#24 - Send a secret in to Post Secret - This one... not as exciting as I thought it would be. Maybe I need to try again. Something more secret-like.

#37 - Attend a midnight release/premiere - Yes, I froze my butt off waiting for the midnight drop of World of Warcraft - Cataclysm. And I do mean froze as that night the temperature in Orlando dropped to the low 30s. Now, I could have escaped inside to the Game Stop to wait... but that was pretty full of... nerds. I am kind of over making claims that I am not a nerd (clearly I am) but at least I am a high functioning nerd. The people inside... not so much.

#52 - Don't log into Facebook for a week - This one was a little rough. Only because the email notifications of people tagging me in things and posting on my wall kept appearing in my inbox and I didn't know what was showing up. It's the curiosity that killed me. Other than that... didn't really miss it that much. Maybe if I disabled the notification emails I could actually lead a Facebook free existence.

#69 - Buy a lottery ticket - I only play lotto in Virginia. I don't know why. And I also only play Mega Millions when it is over 100 mil. Christmas allotted me this opportunity. I bought a ticket from a less than friendly Kroger customer service rep named Karen. I did not win. I will blame her.

#81 - Run a 5k - This one was big. Having never run more than a quarter mile without stopping, I trained for this for 2 months. I used the 5k 101 podcast training program from running mate media. You can download it free from itunes and I wish I had more thumbs so I could give it about 83 thumbs up. I stayed motivated, I improved dramatically, and on a chilly early morning in December I drove to SeaWorld with Brooke and Jamie to complete my first 5k. AND I saw Santa Shamu. It was pretty awesome.

#98 - Get a new email address - I moved to gmail. Well... I use the term "moved" loosely. I'm still working on converting everything. But all my bills come to gmail now!

That's it for the moment. There are still ongoing projects I am working on.

I am growing a bit bored with my picture a day and am a full month behind in posting right now but... I am still working on it. I'm also having some trouble with getting through the Oscar Winners list. There are some that I am just not looking forward to. Mutiny on the Bounty has been sitting on my shelf for a couple weeks. Meh.

For right now - my time period is 85% done and my list is 85% done. I am on schedule and I am still excited.

Back In Business!

The Day Zero Project website is back up and running! Hurrah. This means I will be able to keep better track of what I am doing and that some blogs are on the horizon for projects I have tackled in the past couple months. I have quite a bit of catching up to do...

Meh.

I'm frustrated with the world tonight. A little angry at society.

I decided I needed a cannoli on the way home from work this evening. (I know, shocking, Gina wanted dessert food.) As I was leaving the little Italian place a lady approached me in the parking lot asking for help. She told me her sister had been in a car accident in Tampa and was in the hospital and she was trying to get there but was out of gas and out of money to get any. I told her I didn't have any cash on me - which is the truth - and kept walking.

The thing is, if I thought it was true... that she really was in this predicament... I probably would have stopped by the closest ATM to get her some money. Because really, what's 20 bucks to me when it could be getting someone to see a loved one in trouble?

I was a little bit disgusted, driving away, that someone would tell that kind of sob story just to weasel money out of someone. And I was also a bit disgusted with myself for assuming that's what she was doing.

I am incredibly naive, I know I am. And it has gotten me into trouble before and probably will again. I don't mind that so much. Because I don't mind thinking that the world and the people in it are good and honest. What makes me crazy is that that is not an OK way to be. I shouldn't have to be the one to change my outlook. It's maddening that in order to be smart I have to assume the worst of people, expect that everyone has an ulterior motive, and leave people crying in the middle of a rainy parking lot.

The woman asked me to pray for her sister. I told her I would.

So Elizabeth... if you are legit... I hope you are okay, and that you hang in there, and that you get to see your sister soon. She is trying very hard to get to you.

For the approval of the midnight society... The Tale of the Treacherous Pumpkin

I don't like Halloween. I find it incredibly stressful. Trying to come up with an incredibly clever costume so you can parade around going "look at me, look at me" is so not my cup of tea. But in keeping with the turning over of a new leaf in my life... this year I tried to be festive.

I dressed up (sort of), I went to see Rocky Horror at the movies (not exactly what I expected but 6 down, 95 to go), and I carved a pumpkin. Well... I use the term "carved" loosely.

Awhile ago I Stumbled upon these really cool Martha Stewart celestial pumpkins. And I thought they were really pretty.


So I got rather excited. And lo and behold there was a punkin' carvin' soiree coming up which would provide an excellent time and location to create some Halloween wonderment.

I bought a pumpkin. I bought a carving kit.

Turns out my pumpkin had very little interest in being cut into. By the time I finally got a hole in mine, I had broken the saw from my carving kit and some people were already completely done with their newly lit jack o lanterns. I still had scraping and hole-punching and wiring to do. So I enlisted some help...

(Thank you, Grant. You are the best adopted little brother ever.)

And when the scraping was done, I was offered a screwdriver to help get the holes into the little pumpkin body. This also took some effort.

So Grant enlisted the help of Kate. And then just to make it a group effort...

Mark attacked the decidedly stubborn gourd as well.

Eventually it was ready to go. So I took my time and meticulously wired my little set of Christmas lights all throughout my soon-to-be amazing pumpkin. And nothing could have prepared me for the image that lay before me when we plugged the pumpkin in.

The lights didn't FREAKIN' work!

(Grumble grumble grumble)

Nevertheless, my disappointing pumpkin joined the ranks of all the other awesome ones on the porch.

And that evening I took it home swearing to fix it up right. I bought another set of Christmas lights. I rewired the stupid thing. I set it on my patio. And I plugged it in again. This time it lit up. Hurrah! It took hours of work and the efforts of 4 people to create...

something this lame.

You may have won this battle, Martha Stewart. But the war is far from over!

#51 - Because I Am an Inspiration

So I love my Day Zero Project so much and am so happy with what it is doing for my life... one of the things on my list was to inspire someone to make a list of their own. Mission accomplished and thank you Brooke for jumping in on this kick-ass idea.

In all honesty I hope I can inspire a couple more people... because I believe in this that much. It will be cool if I can. I still have 982 days to go.

More goals coming in on the horizon. Hopefully a Rocky Horror viewing on Halloween, Epcot's Food & Wine on the 8th, and perhaps I will try my hand at something exceptionally challenging... don't complain about anything for a week. Last week (or maybe just the weekend) saw its fair share of angry craziness for no particular reason. People were just abnormally edgy. I attribute it to the full moon. Either way... this week I hope to switch that around... at least for me.

And I Saved $20

One of the items on my list is to put $5 aside every time I complete a task... so with yesterday's homemade, from scratch, no machine needed vanilla bean ice cream... I am up to $20.

The ice cream is good. Reeeeeal good. If only vanilla beens weren't so freakin expensive I would probably make more. Although I could do other flavors as well. A chocolate Kahlua perhaps. Or a cinnamon maple for the lovely autumn weather that is finally showing up. Anyway, I did it. And it was fairly easy.

I'm realizing just how many of my goals are time consuming projects. I can categorize... at least 7 of them as "in progress" right now. But I guess it's good I am starting on them early. And I feel better having these things to focus on.

I'm still loving this project.

And I still kind of feel like I have joined a cult.

I got some not so great news today. And I know my normal reaction would have been to cry or get really angry and panic and shut down. Y'know? Just completely overreact. But I didn't. I just had a moment of "oh, that's annoying... but I'll figure it out and it will be fine." And then I went on my run. I don't know if I can express how cool it is to... recognize yourself changing. I've felt different lately. But now I actually seem to be acting differently too. Proof is reassuring.

It's going to be a really great 1,001 days.