#33 and #56 Achieved!

Two more items achieved this month, bringing the grand total to 32/101!

I took some of my hand made cards along to the Stirling Buddhist Group, to sell in order to raise funds for the Abhayaratna Trust, and sell they did!

Also, today I purchased a 6ft Christmas tree - I feel like a proper grown-up now ;o)

The novel is still progressing, I completed NaNoWriMo having written over 70,000 words of it in November. Hopefully I'll have it finished in the next couple of weeks!

A novel in a month, and other works-in-progress

I'm working on a few different items at the moment, which should hopefully lead to a few more being ticked off by the end of the year. I'm taking part in a challenge that was given to all the young Buddhists in the Triratna Buddhist Community to raise £100 per centre for the Abhayaratna trust. I'm making my own Buddhist-themed cards and selling them at our group, which will ultimately lead to me crossing off two items - complete two charity challenges, and sell something I have created.

I'm a few books into the Discworld series and really enjoying them no matter how many times I've read them before! That item shouldn't take me long to complete - there are lots of books but I tend to race through them! I've also just started on the marathon that is watching all my CSI DVDs again! I've decided to start with CSI:NY, which isn't truthfully going from the start of the whole CSI franchise as it was the third one to be created, but I'm going from the start of those series!

And last but by no means least I'm taking part in NaNoWriMo! Check out my profile and novel synopsis here: www.nanowrimo.org/eng/user/671053
This crazy project will hopefully lead me to cross off 'write a novel', and will definitely get the creative juices flowing!

#70: Meet a famous person I admire - Achieved!

Yesterday we went to the Good Food Show Scotland, and I got a couple of recipe books signed by Gregg Wallace and John Torode! I really should have asked them if they could get the BBC to do a vegetarian Masterchef!

More new meals

This month I made shakshuka, a North African dish with peppers, spices and eggs. It looked interesting, but I've got to say neither of us were particularly blown away by it. Never mind, onwards to find more exciting vegetarian dishes!

#27 and #77 - Achieved!

The other week I *finally* received my Girl guiding leadership certificate, so that clears #77 out of the way, and I'm crossing off #27 as well. I've completed all of the work and assessments to get the catering qualification, and of course this is the time that they decide to change the system and get rid of the qualification, replacing it with a resource pack! So I have it in effect.

I used to really enjoy being a Brownie leader. I'm not with a pack at the moment because of time constraints, but I'm definitely considering going back to it!

Food, glorious food!

Meals made in the last few months:

There's a strange thing called pasta pie at the top - ok, but a little dry. The bottom one is courgette frittata, which was much nicer, but a lot of hassle grating the courgettes! That's caught me up for meals in July and August, I need September and October to do in order to keep up with my average of one a month! I've just made soup, but no photos, so I'll take some for my next batch!

October? How did that happen?

Yes 2010 is flying by! It doesn't seem over 9 months since I sat down and wrote this list, half in jest, half in a desire to give myself a new project. I've done fairly well so far, although a lot of the ones I've achieved do seem to be the easiest ones! Still, 27 done so I'm on track to complete 30 by the end of the year as I'd hoped.

Updated recently are.......
#30: Have a house party - I think the gathering I had on my birthday counts, over 15 guests so it definitely constitutes a party.
#82: Become vegetarian - I've been veggie for a few months now and I'm at a stage where I feel comfortable enough to say that's been achieved. And no, I don't miss bacon.
#92: Use my Gourmet Society card 5 times - finally managed to get my money's worth out of this one! It's been good and has helped me find a few nice places to eat in Edinburgh, but I don't think I'll be getting another when this runs out.
#101: Create a blog about my 101 list - Having had this blog for 9 months now I think I can safely tick this one off!

On hold for now......
#16: Get a tattoo - I've just become a platelet donor, and getting a tattoo would stop me donating for a whole year. Get a tattoo, or potentially help to save the lives of 12 cancer patients or over 100 premature babies in a year? Tough choice. So, I'll only do this item if I have to stop donating for another reason.

Quiet on the home front...

Yes things have been a bit quiet on here for a while - I had a very busy summer completing list items, and then have spent a month or so considering whether it's worth continuing with. But, I committed myself to it, and have achieved quite a few so far (nearly a quarter) so I think I can keep on with it! I used my Gourmet Society card for the fourth time today, so I just need one more lunch out with Monica to get that one completed! I'd better make myself a copy of it to keep handy so I don't become complacent! Less than two years to get it finished!

#7, 42, 45, 46, 50, 59, 84, 93 Achieved!

I've had a busy summer! Not much internet access what with being away, being on retreat and moving house, so I'm just going to have to update all of these in one go!

So, over the last 6 weeks I've visited various friends, my old school and the Manchester Buddhist Centre. I've been on a retreat at which I was the organiser, and didn't eat any animal-derived products all week. There are a few others that I'm thinking I could have done, but I'm on track to have completed 30 by the end of this year.

One thing I didn't do was cook a new meal in July, but I'll do a couple in August just to balance things up!

#47: Visit Kate - Achieved!

I'm writing this sitting on the futon in Kate's front room, so I can safely say that I've achieved this one! I'm spending the next couple of days here so I'll see if I can achieve any more...

I also used my Gourmet Society card to get us 2 for 1 meals at Pizza Express today, so I can add another one to that tally!

#36: Buy new glasses - Achieved!

Just as I was packing for a visit to friends I received a call from the opticians telling me my new glasses were ready! It may not seem like a big thing, but I always put off getting them replaced as they're so expensive, and for once I've treated myself to some new frames - and not just the cheapest ones in the shop!

#52: Have a picnic on the beach at North Berwick - Achieved!

Well the summer holidays are finally here, giving me 7 weeks of freedom from work and plenty of time to work on my list! So starting as I mean to go on, yesterday him indoors and I headed over to North Berwick with sun cream and picnic blanket, bought some nice baguettes from Paprika and settled ourselves down on the beach! It was quite cloudy at first, but later on the sun came out for a beautiful evening on the sand!

#49: Try soft contacts again - kind of achieved!

Well, I decided I wanted to try soft contact lenses again, having had hard ones for the last 17 years. I thought they would be better for my eyes and that the technology was now more advanced than for the hard contacts.

After speaking to my optician today, however, I've discovered I'm wrong! Soft contacts won't be any better for my eyes, in fact could be worse, and my vision won't be as sharp - I often get comments about how good my sight is, with the contacts in of course! Also because my prescription is pretty high they might not even make them....!

So I'm going to mark this as achieved, even though I haven't physically tried them - I've investigated the possibility and taken the best option for my eyes!

New meal for June!

A bit on the hoof today I decided to try a Spanish tortilla / omelette. I took the recipe mainly from Michel Roux's 'Eggs' book, but switched chorizo for peppers, being veggie and all now! I was very impressed with myself I must say, as was him indoors! Another addition to my veggie chronicles!

#34: Donate money to Free Buddhist Audio - Achieved!

This is something I've been meaning to do for a while but haven't quite been able to, but I've got a bit of spare cash at the moment so some has been donated to Free Buddhist Audio. This site is an amazing resource where you can download a huge variety of talks and guided meditations, as well as all of the Mitra study material, all on a donation only basis. I've used lots of the material from FBA and I thought it was about time to give something back to help keep the site running!

#15: Cook more vegetarian food - Achieved!

I think I can allow myself to tick this one off the list now, because I've declared myself vegetarian! So naturally everything I cook is veggie. I'm not going to tick off 'Become vegetarian' just yet, to give myself a bit of time to become used to veggie-ness and adapt myself fully before I'll consider that one achieved. Still, I'm delighted that I've made it to this stage of my path!

New dish for May

Here is my effort at stuffed peppers with spicy sweet potato chips - very tasty indeed! I'm really enjoying cooking new things, and am pleased that I'm keeping up with one new dish a month, even when I'm crazy busy as I am this month! I think I'll keep playing around with different stuffings for the peppers though!

#48: Learn a new art or craft skill - Achieved!

Whilst at the Sheffield Buddhist Centre at the weekend I learned to make lanterns out of willow switches and tissue paper - quite tricky but worth it for some of the amazing results! This is definitely something I'll be trying again in the future!

#90: Visit the Sheffield Buddhist Centre - Achieved!

At the weekend I attended a Young People's weekend at the Sheffield Buddhist Centre and had a brilliant time! The building and grounds are gorgeous, and I especially like the 'Buddha in the Belfry'! I've continued to make some good friends in this group and hope to be able to get back and see them again soon.

#75: Read 'The Lord of the Rings' - Achieved!

I finally finished LOTR late the other night! My life now feels a little empty without it! I love the films and I've had the book for years and never got around to reading it, but I'm sure this won't be the last time!

New meal for April

Today I decided to have a bit of an experiment and came up with a sweet potato, butternut squash and spinach curry - plenty of chilli and very tasty! It got a massive thumbs up from the resident meat eater too! I'll definitely be adding this one to the veggie cook book!

#2: Walk the Great Wall of China - Achieved!

I've just returned from an amazing week in China! I spent 5 days trekking the Great Wall in aid of CHAS, and I've raised around £1300, it was one of the toughest weeks of my life but I'm so proud of what I achieved! We spent lots of time in the country so I got to see a lot of real China, with a bit of tourist China thrown in at the end! Right, let's plan the next big adventure.....!

This has also helped me get closer to achieving two other items, as I've raised more than half of the £2000 I want to raise for charity, plus visited a new country - 2 more to go!

#83: See the Hairy Bikers live - achieved!

Last night I went through to Glasgow with a friend and we were treated to a hilarious evening of cooking, funny stories and terrible singing. The sight of Dave Myers in a purple spandex leotard, singing "Don't Cry For Me Argentina", is one that I won't be forgetting any time soon! The food smelled great and I'll definitely be trying out some of their curry ideas some time soon!

New meal for March

I'm keeping up with cooking a new dish every month, and with cooking more veggie food because so far they've all been veggie things - in fact as I'm trying to become vegetarian I doubt I'll be cooking new meat dishes!

So here is the offering for March - butternut squash risotto. Very nice indeed! And healthier than the version I used to do with chicken and bacon!

In the pipeline

At the moment there are various items underway - I'm reading The Lord of the Rings, I've completed my book for my Girl Guiding leadership warrant and just waiting for it to be returned, making plans for getting my catering qualification too. We're off to see the Hairy Bikers in a couple of weeks, at their stage show in Glasgow. I've also set about booking a couple of retreats to fulfill a couple of the points on here - a week-long retreat and a vegetarian cooking weekend! Over the summer I'm also hoping to do some of the friend visits, combining them with other things while I'm there. Fingers crossed that I'm still on track to finish 30 by the end of 2010!

Oh, and of course, I'm trekking the Great Wall of China in only 3 weeks' time! Eep!

New meal for February

I made this a couple of weeks ago and I'm just getting around to putting up the photos! So for this month the new thing I cooked was vegetable biryani with red onion and chilli bhajis - mmmm! Very good, and veggie too!

#76: Take Stuart away for a mystery weekend - Achieved!

Last weekend I took Stuart away to York, and managed to keep our destination secret from him until we were at the train station! We had a great time doing touristy stuff, with the Jorvk museum, the dungeon, the castle museum and the art gallery amongst other things! It's a lovely city and made me yearn more for living in the North of England again - but that will be another chapter!

Keep on trucking

Another 2lb down, so am now x-1 stone 9, 6lb altogether. Only another 50 to go to achieve my 4 stone weight loss! It sounds like a lot but I've got another 2 1/2 years to get there, if I do it gradually then it'll hopefully stay off!

#21: Ask for ordination - achieved!

After a truly inspirational weekend at Taraloka with 30 other young women involved in the FWBO/Triratna, I decided to overcome my self doubt and ask for ordination. My letter has been posted to the team at Tiratanaloka and copies written to the order members I am closest to. I'm very excited about taking this next step on my Buddhist path - it'll take a long time but I know it'll be worth it to deepen my practice and bring Buddhism into every aspect of my life! Sadhu!

#25: Give blood - Achieved!

I went to give blood today - one of those things that so many of us say we'll do, yet never get around to! I'm so glad I went, because it was totally painless,I had no problems whatsoever, and now somebody who is ill can benefit. Plus, free Tunnock's teacakes afterwards! Everyone wins! I'll definitely continue giving blood whenever I can, now that I've started you won't stop me!

February already!

One month in and only one item ticked off the list! I'm making plans for several others though, including ask for ordination, give blood, take Stuart away, learn more Qi Gong and visit the Edinburgh Buddhist Centre.
I'm also trying out new veggie recipes, in order to keep trying a new dish every month and work towards becoming vegetarian! Hopefully if I do both of these together then I will gradually change my diet and have a whole host of tasty new things to eat!

#1: Become a Mitra - achieved!

Today I can tick off my first list item! I became a Mitra today, in a ceremony at Dhanakosa, a retreat centre in Balquhidder. It was lovely to make this open commitment to Buddhism and what is now the Triratna Buddhist Community, especially with many members of the sangha around me. I'll upload some photos when I get the opportunity!

I'm so pleased to be marking the first completed item! Hopefully I can get a few more done asap!

Uneventful week?

Seems my list has gone pretty much nowhere this week! The weight loss hasn't got any further, but I've had a lot going on this week and haven't really thought about what's going in my mouth. The first item will be ticked off the list tomorrow however! Very much looking forward to it. Hopefully ticking off one item will inspire me to get a few more done over the next few months!

Down we go!

I'm on my way to the 4 stone weight loss - lost 4lb this week, taking me down to x-1 stone 11! Very pleased about that, just have to keep it up for the next few months! And not put it all back on when I'm using my Gourmet Society card, taking Stuart to Las Iguanas, going to the Noodle Bar with Becky etc etc...!

I've just printed out The List, ready to be stuck onto the fridge so I can keep track of all my good intentions! Only just over a week until I definitely complete my first item - my mitra ceremony will take place on Sat 23rd Jan! Also making plans to complete a few others, taking Stuart away, going to see the Hair Bikers and walking the Cumbria way in the summer. Busy *trying* to train for walking the Great Wall of China in April too! Busy busy! My aim is to get at least 30 list items completed in 2010 - hopefully keeping me on track to finish all 101 by September 2012!

Money tree anyone?

I've realised that in order to complete all of these things I'm going to need to watch the expenditure and combine as many as possible! For now I'm going to focus on #12: Pay off all bank-related debt, and work my way through those items that are either free or at least inexpensive! With that in mind, I think I'm off to start #75: Read The Lord of the Rings!

A weighty task!

Right, if I'm going to come anywhere close to achieving #3: Lose 4 stone, then I guess I'd better document my progress on here! So, weight this morning according to bathroom scales was x stone 1, meaning I have to get down to x-4 stone 1....yes I'm sticking with the x! I'm definitely fond of my food and wine but I've set this challenge so will have to rethink a few habits! Perhaps that means I should cook tonight instead of having takeaway....!

More changes!

I had another look through the list and had a couple that I wasn't sure about, so after a bit of thinking decided to change them. People may think that's cheating, but it's my list! I figured that it made more sense to have items that I was sure I would do my best to achieve, rather than items I wasn't that bothered about. Anyway, people's wants and ambitions change, so it's still a full and challenging list!

New meal for January!

Made homemade pizzas today, quite surprising that I've never done this before, but hey ho, Dominos usually suffices for us! So, spinach and onion for me, onion, peppers and chorizo for the fella, and both well pleased!

#92: Use my Gourmet Society card 10 times

Well today I had a very nice lunch with Monica at The Living Room in Edinburgh - the only problem was that they only had about half of the menu on, and so no veggie options that I wanted! Hmph. This eating veggie lark will be even harder than I thought, but I'm still determined! So 1 use of the card completed, 9 to go!

In a change from our advertised programme...

I have made a couple of changes to my list today, which may seem like cheating but I have my reasons for it. As you can tell from my list, if you didn't already know, I'm a practising Buddhist, and in my efforts to start on #8: Read all of the Buddhist books I own, I have realised that a couple of things need changing.

So, #5: Buy a house has now become #5: Attend day retreats at Dhanakosa whenever possible. The idea of buying a house goes against a lot of my own beliefs, and so I thought it was a nonsensical inclusion when really I'd be just as happy renting property for the remainder of my life. I think keeping it would be bowing a little too much to my social conditioning, and so whilst I'm not ruling out the idea of buying property, it has been replaced in the list by one that is more spiritually beneficial.

The second major change is #82: Learn to cook duck properly, which has undergone a radical about-turn and become #82: Become a vegetarian. Yes, I'm a Buddhist but not a vegetarian, we do exist as nobody's perfect! However, I have just read 'Vegetarianism' by Bodhipaksa cover to cover in less than two hours and was moved to tears by his frank discussions of cruelty in the farming and meat-production industries. Ethically I am all for the principles of vegetarianism, but have trouble with it physically, and up until this point my cravings have won. I'm hoping, however, that as my compassion for animals and my ethical viewpoint grows stronger I will find it much easier to eliminate meat from my diet.

#76: Take Stuart away for a mystery weekend

Today's effort towards the list was to book something for my long weekend in February so I can take 'im indoors away for a couple of nights. All hail the cheapness of lastminute.com! Where are we going? Ah well, only time will tell...

Off we go! #83: See the Hairy Bikers live!

Right, I've got this year off to a good start, and booked a pair of tickets to the Hairy Bikers Big Night Out in Glasgow on 25th March! Very exciting, I LOVE those guys! Great recipes and funny guys! Who knows, I might even be able to do #70: Meet a famous person I admire...!