36. Knit an item of clothing (not an accessory)

Moving towards success!  I am knitting a cardigan for my sister.

I joined ravelry.com, online knitting/crochet community.  Its kind of like facebook for craft nerds.  However, its been a turning point in my knitting – suddenly I have access to thousands of patterns (most free), and tons of advice.

I’m constantly knitting new things and learning new techniques, and I’m about to get started on some baby clothes.  I really do love knitting!

I’ll post a photo when I’ve finished the cardigan, but its a Christmas present, so hopefully it will be very soon.

65. Switch from Chai to green tea at work

Progress report:  I am doing pretty well at this item.  Over the past three weeks I have reduced to one Chai a week.  I think what is making this easier is my unwillingness to consume soy milk other than Bonsoy; the cafe’s liberal (and unwanted) use of cinnamon; and the ridiculous drop in value of the Australian dollar.  This last factor has exponentially increased the cost of our big China-Mongolia-Russia-Germany trip and so saving is important.  Sadly all the money I’ve saved on a daily Chai, I spent at the newly opened book outlet store across the road from work.  Damn.

I have a few new things happening – red mittens for Amanda for Christmas, a knitting project for my sister for Christmas and possibly one for my other sister too, and a hooded scarf I am almost finished.

This week it is my aim to swim once, finish my last assessment of the year by 5pm Wednesday (once again, I’ve written 300 words here in 3 minutes and 300 on my report in 2 days), finish the scarf, and buy one set of thermals.  If I get these tasks done, I will be happy.  Oh and research which Murakami books I haven’t yet read and source them … ahh money, you tempt me so.

143 navy showers

I’m really becoming a big fan of having a navy shower once a week!

To clarify: a navy shower is a shower where you only turn on the water minimally, to wet your body and then to rinse it.  The term literally comes from the navy, where there is limited supplies of fresh water.  It is an amazing way to save water.

We don’t even pay for our water as we live in an apartment, and that means that we could be lazy and apathetic and just have long, water wasting showers.  But I always make an effort to do the best possible action for the environment.  When we moved in, I bought a timer so that we could ensure our showers are under 4 minutes.

I am starting to look for ways to save water in other places too.  We always wash our clothes on the shortest cycle in the machine, but I might try to find a way to convince Glen that we don’t need to wash everything that has been worn for 6 hours!

101 in 1001

I figured I would give this another go, after how disastrous it turned out last time (as in, complete lack of success!).  Now that my life is a little more settled, I think it will probably be okay.  So what is 101 in 1001?  It is simply the mother of all to-do lists, and we all know how I like my lists!  These 101 tasks (or so far, 73), have a to-do date by the 24 July 2011.

You think its satisfying to cross things off a regular list?  Try crossing them off a 101 list!  I’ll add posts as I finish each thing, preferably with photos so I have ‘proof’.  This is something I really enjoy, if anyone else starts a list, let me know as there might be things we can do together.

And so we begin …

Life goals
1. Buy a home
2. Marry (completed November 2 2009)
3. Start family (or have plans to do so)
4. Have started or have plans for veggies/food sustainability
5. Join group to continue activism once moved
6. Create a kids DVD library (approx 10 DVDs)- 2/10 so far
7. Create a kids book library (approx 50 books) – about 15/50 so far
8. Organise the study (completed November 15 2009)
9. Borrow or buy second hand books for approximately 75% of my reading (0/11)
10. Take a navy shower once a week (52/143)

Mind
11. Complete my Masters (3/8)
12. Read entire collection of Murakami
13. Read entire collection of Austen
14. Read all the Harry Potter books sequentially and without interruption (completed August 2009)
15. See all films with AFI awards since 2002

Body
16. Achieve 100% dietary veganism by mid 2009 (end of 2009)
17. Achieve 100% food additive freedom by end 2009
18. Achieve 100% cosmetic veganism and synthetic chemical freedom by 2011
19. Eat raw one week per month for three months
20. Toughen soles on feet (be able to walk around any urban landscape barefoot)
21. Lose 10kg
22. <reserved>
23. <reserved>
24. Swim 50 (Croydon) laps in 30 minutes or 100 in an hour
25. Work up to a full day bush walk
26. Return to boxing and go once a week for 3 months
27. Re-learn to rollerblade
28. Play a game of tennis
29. Finish a 31 day workout
30. Grow my hair and do something different
31. Walk every street in between Burwood and the City, between the western railway and Parramatta Road
32. Eat 7 servings of veggies and 3 of fruit a day for a month (0/30-31)

Spirit
33. Climb a tree
34. Build a sandcastle
35. Play in the rain
36. Knit an item of clothing (completed March 2009)
37. Teach someone to knit
38. Learn to sew
39. Learn to crochet
40. Learn to embroider (completed July 2009)
41. Learn to felt
42. Bake all the varieties of cupcake in VCTOTW
43. Cook all recipes from Veganomicon
44. Cook all recipes from Vegan with a Vengeance
45. Make 5 chutneys/relishes
46. Make my own BBQ sauce
47. Swim at the beach
48. Win the highest awards in Nintendogs and collect all items
49. Set up an ultimate garden in Viva Pinata
50. Play Sims enough for a character to die of old age (completed September 2009)
51. Complete several activities from ”The Creative Family”
52. Make my own greeting cards 100% by mid 2009 (completed August 2009)
53. Fill my piggy bank and bank all the coins (completed April 2009)
54. Set up my fish tank
55. Catch a train beyond the CityRail network
56. See a movie I would really like to see in Gold Class
57. Send 10 handwritten letters
58. Visit Nanna in Adelaide
59. Remove songs I don’t like from my iPod and rate everything
60. Make pasta from scratch
61. Provide card readings for a friend
62. Visit somewhere new in NSW
63. Visit somewhere new in SA
64. Visit somewhere new in Victoria
65. Switch from Chai to green tea at work
66. Make my own Chai mix at home
67. Hold a tea party
68. Try a new fruit or vegetable every month
69. Purchase wooden or Waldorf toys in Germany (completed January 2009)
70. Climb part of the Great Wall (completed December 2008)
71. Drink vodka in Russia (completed many times in January 2009)
72. See a castle in Europe (completed January 28 2009)
73. Start yearbooks for different projects – craft, cooking, house, garden – from 2009