I’ve neglected this blog the past few months. Work has been crazy and interesting – I finally got a promotion to research assistant (and a raise!) and I’m project leader on an inpatient study that we’re running for NASA. On top of my usual study recruitment, data analysis, and general lab work. Also, planned and executed another Philadelphia Twestival this past week.

On the 101/1001 project front, I’ve been making slow, mostly unconscious effort. Tomorrow is 2 years left on the project, so I figured I should update my progress

1. Read 100 books. – I’m 24 books into the 100. I’ve been making an effort to step up how quickly I read my Bookswimbooks, so I don’t see this being a problem at all. Besides, reading makes me happy and less stressed. If you want to follow what I’m reading, follow me on Goodreads.

2. Find 10 new vegetarian recipes I can cook for regular meals. – I’m at 3.5 for this. I found a great homemade Sloppy Joe recipe that both the husband and I enjoy – ground beef for his, shredded portabello mushroom for mine (the husband gets props for that idea!). I’ve also rediscovered my recipe for Baked Veggie Stew with Biscuits. For Valentine’s Day, I made homemade calzones for us, which worked pretty well. The dough needs a bit of tweaking, but it’s almost there; having the time to let it rise is the biggest issue on a non-weekend evening. Yesterday, I tried to make lasagna for myself for the first time ever – which tastes fine, just doesn’t stay together very well since I can’t eat ricotta or tofu. I’ve seen suggestions of using mashed potatoes as a substitute, so I may try that at some point (thus the 0.5 for this one, it works but not quite).

6. Complete a 365 day photo challenge. – I started this on January 1 of this year, and I’m all caught up at the moment. There have been a few weeks where I’ve gotten a week behind and then taken a bunch of pictures to catch up, which is sorta of cheating, but I’m allowing myself that bit of leeway. I’m taking macro-type shots with my iPhone. It’s been teaching me A LOT about lighting and about ways to prop the phone/camera to get steady shots. If you want to check them out (though they are kinda crappy), they are up on Flickr.

12. Make an investment. – I opened an IRA with the bank my savings account is with, and it will automatically transfer $100/month from my savings over to the IRA, which is enough for right now according to their retirement savings calculator thing. I set that up this past month.

20. See a lunar eclipse. – The husband and I got up early on December 21 and took the camera & tripod out into the courtyard of our building to see the lunar eclipse. It was amazing. None of the pictures really came out, the shutter speed was too slow and the moon moved in that time and all the pictures were blurry.

22. Bake something new every month. – I haven’t been really keeping this up, though I really should. I miss baking. Doesn’t help with my waistline though.

27. Join Postcrossing.com and send 10 postcards. – Joined, have postcards, still haven’t sent any, need to get on that.

28. Pay off all credit card debt. – Still working on this, paying the “pay this amount to pay off in 3 years” amount instead of the minimum payments, and I’m no longer charging anything to any of my cards.

52. Beat 5 video games. – Still only 1/5. Only beat Fairytale Fights, though still working on PuzzleQuest.

67. Make a list of 100 books I would like to read. – Done since I keep having more books that I want to read than I can add to my Bookswim queue and Bookswim will only allow 100 books on your queue at a time. Therefore, I perpetually have a list of 100 books I’d like to read, at least for the time being. This is ever-changing, so I’m just going to call it good enough that it is on there.

72. Watch every James Bond film. – We’re at 15/22 on this. Still have 7 more to watch!

74. Create a 4 generation family history tree. – Realized I had this already done on Ancestry.com!

91. Walk 10,000 steps a day, 5 days a week, for a month. – I’ve been keeping this up (most days) since last September. I’m so proud of myself! My fibro doc and my gyno have both been impressed as well.

Days left: 731/1001
Tasks Completed: 12/101
Tasks in progress: 11/101

I think over the next week I’m going to sit down and edit my list some – some things I don’t think will be feasible, and might need to change. Need to work more on all the writing goals on there as well!

A friend of mine commented about starting her own personal blog on Twitter today, so I actually remembered to come over here and update my own. I’ve mostly just been working on lots of reports for NASA and the NSBRI (the biomedical research arm of NASA), with a lovely weekend at Podcamp Philly thrown in there. Last weekend was also great in that the husband and I spent Saturday with our best friends and their almost 7-month old son (who is absolutely adorable), and then Sunday was spent at the Philadelphia Zoo, which was Boo at the Zoo, so there were lots of adorable children in Halloween costumes as well as animals playing with pumpkins and Legos.

On the 101/1001 front, unconscious progress has been made. I haven’t been consciously working on the list, but I’m still chugging along on things I’ve integrated into my daily life, such as walking 10,000 steps a day, paying off my credit cards, and reading more books. I’ve read 13 out of 100 books – Perfect Match by Jodi Picoult, The Sinner by Tess Gerritsen (book 3 of the Rizzoli and Isles series) and A Cook’s Tour by Anthony Bourdain. I’m waiting for Bookswim (where I rent books from, Netflix-style) to get the 4th Rizzoli book in stock to get my next package of books to read. I’ve been walking 10,000 steps a day as many days as I can, I’m once again on the 4th week of trying to do it 5 days a week. I had some fibro flares that got in the way. We’re up to 15 out of 22 Bond movies. I think we actually have the rest of them at home, we just need to watch them. Fall TV ramping up has gotten in the way a bit. I have a 100 books on my Bookswim pool list, so I have 100 books I want to read listed, I’ll have to port them over here at some point. I’m still working on my credit cards, haven’t sent anything to Postcrossing yet, and still am working on Puzzlequest. I’m on level 40, there are at least 50 levels. Also, need to bake something new for this month, so I need to get on that in the next few days.

And I’ve started podcasting again! One episode up so far, and we’re recording episode 2 this week. Head over to Girls Gone Geek to check it out

Time to find a recipe for something to bake in the next few days!

Almost 2 and a half months into my 101/1001 challenge!

I’ve completed 7 challenges. The most recent one was not logging into Facebook for a week while we were on vacation in San Diego.

I’ve read 10 books out of the 100 I’m shooting for goal #2. I’ve read: The Surgeon by Tess Gerritsen (the TV series Rizzoli & Isles is based on this book series), I Feel Bad about My Neck: And Other Thoughts about Being a Woman by Nora Ephron (which was a little too simplistic and negative for me), The Apprentice by Tess Gerritsen (Book 2 of the series), Julie and Julia: My Year of Cooking Dangerously (the movie was much better, surprisingly), The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman (read during my day of jury duty), and My Sister’s Keeper by Jodi Picoult. I’ve been powering through books lately, and it feels good.

Still working on baking something new every month (#22). In August, I made Dark Cherry Bundt cake that was pretty tasty. Last week I made Plum Tea bread, which was more cake-like, and okay. So September has been taken care of for this goal.

I still need to send my 1st Postcrossing card (#27), am still paying off my credit card debt slowly but surely (#28), and haven’t had time to work more on digital scrapbooking (#29). I’m still working on PuzzleQuest, so working on beating that game (goal #52).

My pool on Bookswim (which is where I rent my books from) is approaching 100, so it’s pretty much my work-in-progress for the list of 100 books I want to read (goal #67). Kevin and I are still going through all the James Bond movies. We’re up to 13 out of the 22 for me. Live and Let Die is waiting at home from Netflix, so will make some more headway soon on goal #72.

The goal I’m working the hardest on, I think, is walking 10,000 steps each weekday for a month. I’m on week 4 this week, I’m so proud of myself! I’m definitely going to keep this up even once the month is up.

So 7/101 complete, 10/101 in progress. I think I’m making good headway on getting through all 101 in the 1001 days!

Don’t worry, I am working tonight, like I do every Wednesday night. I just happen to have some time during the day shift today to pop out a blog post, and I have some 101/1001 progress to report!

2. Read 100 books I finished #4 last night – The Last Lecture. Short, cute, enjoyable. More relatable to me than any Mitch Albom’s stuff along the same vein.

11. Buy a camera My darling husband bought me my first DLSR as a belated wedding present. I haven’t actually received it yet, but he should be bringing it home tonight

22. Bake something new once a month So I did this last month without really realizing it. I started using a new recipe for my standard bread machine bread and it’s delicious.

62. Buy a pedometer Woot.com had a set of nice ones on sale yesterday, so that’s ordered!

95. Update my CV I’m applying for a part time second job, so last night I updated my CV with my last name change and most current abstracts.

6/101 items complete! That actually puts me on track for all of August, though I may try to get ahead a bit so I don’t have to worry about getting behind when the holidays creep up in a few months.

Update on 101/1001 project

Days: 29/1001
Tasks Completed: 2/101
Tasks in progress: 8/101

In progress:
2. Read 100 books Finished book #3, American Wife, which is based on Laura Bush, former First Lady. It’s fiction, but depending how much is based on truth, I can’t believe she married W. I’m currently on book #4, The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch, which is really good.

27. Join Postcrossing.com and send 10 postcards I’ve joined Postcrossing, and Moo was having a sale on postcards (and mentioned Postcrossing in their newsletter), so I ordered some postcards.

28. Pay off all credit card debt Still working on paying the try to pay it off in 3 years amount on each of my cards. This one is going to take most of the challenge, if not all of it to accomplish unless I find a much better paying job.

29. Research and explore online/digital scrapbooking and decide which I want to pursue – and then make scrapbooks I imported wedding photos and started a Scrapblog account last night, haven’t had a chance to play with it yet.

52. Beat 5 video games I’ve been playing lots of Puzzle Quest. I think I’m up to level 25.

72. Watch every James Bond film I’ve watched 10 out of 22. Waiting to get to two of them in our Netflix queue since the older Bond films (at least) aren’t on streaming.

75. Participate in a worldwide cultural item exchange at www.worldswapping.com I made an account on worldswapping, but it looks like no one has been active on there for awhile. This goal may not be achievable and may need to be changed.

83. Save $10 for every task completed I’ve moved $10 for each of the 2 tasks I’ve completed over to my savings account, which right now is going towards saving up for a Mac mini and an iPad to replace my laptop since the Apple Care will be up for it around Halloween. Plus the mini makes more sense since I want to get more seriously into photography, and the iPad would be for traveling and times I would normally bring my laptop.

There was a discussion on the thread about this project on The Nest today how we should be completing one task every 10 days or so to stay caught up, and how most of us have some catching up to do! So here’s one I can knock out:

90. Make a list of cities I want to visit.

San Diego
Seattle
Portland
Chicago
Atlanta
Boston
New Orleans
Dublin
Sydney
Amsterdam
Berlin
Rome
Montreal
Vancouver

So now I’m at 3/101, which is a bit closer to where I should be almost 30 days in!

Number 92 of 101/1001!

1. Getting married
2. Meeting Kevin
3. Graduating with my master’s degree
4. Getting Gracie (my friendly,fat, calico kitty)
5. Moving back to Philadelphia from New Jersey
6. Meeting my best friend’s newborn son
7. Attending Society for Neuroscience meeting
8. Graduating with my dual bachelor’s degrees
9. Being accepted to Jefferson’s neuroscience Ph.D. program
10. Being a co-host on Girls Gone Geek
11. Podcamp Philadelphia
12. Our honeymoon
13. Our vacation to San Francisco last August
14. My brother getting married
15. Kevin proposing
16. Going to London
17. Going to Turkey (twice!)
18. Acting in a one-act as a freshmen in college
19. FIRST Robotics
20. Teaching science for the summer at a charter school
21. Graduating from GSGIS
22. Performing in my high school’s Ren Faire
23. Being on the German Battle of the Brains team
24. Junior Prom
25. After-prom senior year
26. The “surprise” 16th birthday party my friends threw me
27. Battle of the Books team captain in 5th grade
28. TAing AP chemistry
29. Getting my Powerbook G4
30. My best friend’s wedding
31. My 21st birthday celebration my roommates and friends threw me
32. College orientation
33. High school orientation
34. Assistant directing a one act senior year of high school
35. My first Valentine’s Day with Kevin
36. Pi Nu Epsilon in college (co-ed performing arts fraternity)
37. My brother and his then-fiance visiting me
38. My mom visiting me
39. Moving out of my parents’ house
40. My grandparents coming to my master’s graduation
41. Taking Chronoengineering I in college
42. Twestival for charity:water
43. Twestival for Concern
44. Entrepreneur Expo 2009
45. Barcamp Philadelphia 2008
46. Volunteering at the 2004 Virginia FIRST Robotics regional
47. Reconnecting with my cousin as an adult
48. Taking care of my cousin’s kids
49. Being called Aunt Melissa
50. Participating in the Geek is Chic podcastathon
51. Watching my younger cousin row in the Stotesbury Regatta
52. Meeting Liana Lehua IRL
53. My first Christmas with Kevin’s family
54. Spending time in Wildwood, NJ with my ex and his family
55. My best friend from high school’s wedding
56. The community and becoming a moderator on BYDLS.com
57. Attending a Gordon Research Conference
58. Shake Shack & karaoke tweetup in NYC in July 2008
59. Finding the Fibromyalgia and Fatigue Center
60. The bridal shower my friends threw me
61. Being accepted to my current laboratory
62. Attending an NSBRI conference as a first year grad student
63. Being interviewed/courted by the Hopkins circadian rhythms lab for a job
64. Being the photographer for the Virginia Orchid Society
65. Being chosen for the finals at the first Virginia FIRST Robotics regional
66. Winning the Driving Tomorrow’s Technology award at the second Virginia FIRST Robotics Regional
67. Attending FIRST Robotics National championships junior year of high school
68. Attending the premiere of Where the Wild Things Are to benefit the Rosenbach Museum (for free)
69. Getting accepted to GSGIS
70. Getting all As and Bs my first quarter of college when I was convinced I’d failed at least 1 class
71. Getting my first co-op job from a cold call
72. My family telling me that they are proud of me
73. Consolidating all of my student loans in my name, thus being completely separated from my parents financially
74. Attending FIRST Robotics National championships senior year of high school
75. Assistant stage managing a show with Kevin as stage manager
76. Acting in a one-act with Kevin as assistant director and stage manager
77. Falling in love
78. Seeing the original Mark and Roger in RENT for my birthday
79. Waking up next to the love of my life
80. Falling asleep next to the love of my life
81. Being told that I am loved
82. Being recognized for my skills, not because of my gender
83. Realizing I am more than my collection of illnesses
84. Having a doctor actually believe there is more than just stress wrong with me
85. Knowing that I have someone who will be there for me the rest of my life
86. Becoming a member of MENSA
87. Having a custom designed wedding band
88. Trusting someone completely
89. Meeting lovely people via Twitter
90. Meeting lovely people via Wedding Buzz/The Nest
91. Making the leap to an iPhone
92. Presenting my study design to a well-known collaborator
93. Having my grandmother alter my wedding dress
94. Trying on my wedding dress for my mom and my future mother-in-law
95. Spending time with someone for his/her birthday
96. Having my one grandfather give me away at my wedding
97. Dancing with my other grandfather at my wedding
98. Brain lab during medical neuroscience
99. Baking my first multilayer cake
100. Teaching science to 7th graders as a freshmen in college

This weekend was a very homebody weekend for us. Lots of movies, video games, and reading (on my part). We watched Taken on Saturday night, and (500) Days of Summer last night. Taken was a very well done action movie (Kevin loves this movie and had been trying to get me to watch it for awhile). (500) Days of Summer was our current Netflix DVD; it was cute, and not entirely what I expected, but I really liked it. It was romantic, but real.

We also finished Fairytale Fights, so 1 out of 5 video games beaten for my list. I also finished reading Evil Genes, so 2 books down, 98 more to go.

I think this week, around all the IRBs and reports I have to do at work, and the fibro doc appointment I have on Wednesday, I’m going to work on some of the list/writing goals on my list. It’ll be something to do while working overnight yet again on Wednesday night if nothing else.

I haven’t completed any of my 101/1001 goals, but I’m working on several of them!

For the read 100 books goal, I finished one book, and started on another. I finished reading The Anglo Files: A Field Guide to the British over the weekend. It was hilarious, very well-written, and enjoyable to read. I’m now reading Evil Genes: Why Rome Fell, Hitler Rose, Enron Failed, and My Sister Stole My Mother’s Boyfriend which is a little more pop culture neuroscience than I thought it would be, but the science seems sound enough. How quickly I finish depends on how much Kevin plays Borderlands over the weekend

For the pay off my credit card debt goal, that’s another one I’m working on. I’ve been paying the amount recommended to pay off each card in 3 years instead of the minimum, and I haven’t been charging anything except my compounding pharmacy prescriptions to my cards for several months. It sucks, but I’m slowly getting the balances down. Anyone know of a compounding pharmacy that takes insurance? That would help immensely.

For the beat 5 video games goal, Kevin and I have been playing Fairytale Fights on the Xbox our awesome friends got us as a wedding present. It’s not really that great of a game, but it’s such a fantastic stress reliever. Slashing demented fairytale characters and getting to skate in their blood is just so cathartic! I’ve also been playing Lego Indiana Jones mostly by myself, but with me working overnight every Wednesday night for the next 6 weeks or so, I don’t really have any just me gaming time (i.e. time when Kevin’s not home and I’m not sleeping). I haven’t played any of the other Lego video games, but I really like the Indiana Jones one. It’s fun and amusing.

For the watch every James Bond film goal, I’ve actually seen several before I started this project. Kevin and I watched On Her Majesty’s Secret Service last night (which was really cheesy and bad). I’ve seen Dr. No, From Russia With Love, Goldfinger, Goldeneye, Tomorrow Never Dies, The World is Not Enough, Die Another Day, Casino Royale, and Quantum of Solace. That’s 10 out of 22. I’m almost halfway there! We don’t have Thunderball or You Only Live Twice on DVD at home, so they’ve been added to our Netflix queue. I do have to say Sean Connery and Daniel Craig are my two favorite Bonds so far.

Hope everyone on the East Coast isn’t melting in the heat wave! Stay hydrated!

Photo taken by Mark Blevis

September 6 and 7 I attended PodCamp Philadelphia and met some fantastic podcasters and bloggers from Philadelphia and around the world. One of the wonderful sessions was given by Canadian Mark Blevis, where he talked about how to enhance your podcast by acting like the band the Police. Mark also talked about his podcast about children’s books called Just One More Book. Being the bibliophile that I am, I recommended he attend the Rosenbach Museum while he was in Philadelphia, as I knew there was a Maurice Sendak exhibit there at the moment. The Rosenbach is a little known Philadelphia treasure, two rowhouses in Center City once owned by two brothers who had a love of books and is converted to a wonderful library and museum. I’d been there once before and fell in love with the place. On Sunday of PodCamp, Mark, myself, and two other great Philly PodCampers rushed over to the Rosenbach during the lunch break, and saw the Sendak exhibit and recorded a podcast in the car. The result is posted on the latest Just One More Book, please listen and enjoy: The Art and Books of Maurice Sendak