#52, #60, #61, #74, #93, #95

Haven't updated for a while, but things are getting done!

#52 is done--drink water with one meal a day every day for a month. In fact, I've stopped buying my usual 2-or-more-12-packs-a-week of diet soda and instead have been drinking water from my Brita filter. True, I still buy a couple of 20-ouncers every week, but there have been entire days where I've had nothing to drink but water--and a few years ago (heck, a few months ago!) I would have thought that unthinkable!

#60 is still in process, but I'm calling it done--I have grown and successfully harvested two tomato plants. The ones I got free as seedlings from work all died, but I bought two Better Bush plants from the local K-Mart and they're now taller than hip-height and have produced probably a dozen tomatoes and are still flowering. Not bad for my first attempt at gardening.

I've done #61--visit the Farmer's Market--three or four times since the start of summer and I'd even go so far as to call it part of my weekly routine now. I get some cash from the ATM and head over to the State Farmer's Market after work and buy a week' s worth of veggies--usually tomatoes, onions, and potatoes, but sometimes others as well. It's cheaper than the grocery store and way tastier.

Progress towards #74--order 5 things from a restaurant menu that I haven't tried before. One of my coworkers has taken me twice now to a Mediterranean-style restaurant for lunch, and the first time I wussed out and got a turkey sandwich. The second time I tried some strange things I've never eaten before--like fava beans. Weird...

#93--wow, has it really been that long since I updated?--is done. I went back to Salem College for my first-year reunion during the last weekend of April. It was fun, but definitely a reminder of how different my life is now.

Progress towards #95--donate blood two times. I donated blood this past Thursday (7/17/2008), and I was petrified that they weren't going to let me do it because of my blood pressure or my pulse or temperature, but it went fine. I can donate again on September 11.

Mmmkay, I think that's all this time around...

#51, #14, #6, #10, #12, #74, #64

I iz quite bored, so it's time for some updatten.

I didn't quite make it all the way through #51--eating breakfast every day for a month. I got up to three weeks, and then my sleep cycle went wonky and I wasn't awake to eat breakfast. I'm back up to 10 days in a row, though.

On the book front--I read Darkness Visible, which is on the Modern Library's list of 100 Greatest Non-Fiction Books, so that's one towards #14. When I review it for Novels Under 200 Pages, it'll also count toward #6. It also counts toward #10 (20 biographies/autobiographies), but I think I'll only count it if I need to--I'm also not counting Nickeled and Dimed.

While I haven't started anything resembling an outline for a novel (#4), I did have a really good week a few weeks ago when I had a ton of ideas for little things within a novel. I wrote them all down in a notebook so I'll have them for later.

I bought a copy of Leaves of Grass, so that's a step towards #12 (reading it).

Got one towards #74 (order 5 things at restaurants that I haven't tried before). My parents and I went to Applebee's the other night, and I ordered an orange chicken bowl. I wasn't particularly hungry, which may have contributed to my feelings that it was just okay. It was much better when I refried the rice and heated up the chicken the next day. Not something I'd order unless I was in the mood for it, but still--glad I tried it.

My parents went to the beach for a week a couple of weeks ago, so I've got quite a few things for #64--learn a new recipe every month. I made sesame chicken, egg rolls, potato skins with cheese and bacon, and I think something else that escapes me...anyway, I took pictures, and will get them up later, when I'm feeling less lazy.