#76: Inspire someone else to make a list.

Date Completed:  3/14/2010

I was really excited when my friend Carrie* told me that she made a list. And when I say excited, I mean excited in the way that a parent glows when their child brings home an “A” on a report card! Carrie’s book club, The Heated Readers, is reading “The Next Thing On My List" (a novel by Jill Smolinski) and she’s trying to inspire each of them to create a list - how fun! When Lisa and I envisioned the concept for our list project, one of our hopes was that this would catch on. This blog has been a fun way to introduce the list to all of you. Through the benefit of the Internet, the blog has even reached Australia! We love to see new readers, near and far, so please feel free to pass the link to others. Our Facebook group is open to everyone as well, so please invite your friends to become a fan! We’d love to hear about your lists too.

*Carrie and I met in grade school in Northern MN where we were active in Camp Fire Girls/Bluebirds. These pictures are from field trips. Carrie now lives with her husband in the Phoenix area with their two beautiful girls. How ironic that she moved to AZ and I ended up moving back to MN. Hope you enjoy this blast from the past.

#47: See life through the eyes of a child.

Date Completed:  3/24/2010

I don’t really remember a time when my life was simple - a time when my mind was free of capacity plans, human resource issues, cost-benefit analyses and corporate strategies. At this point in my life, the thought of making decisions such as flavor of ice cream or color of chalk seems so simple...and amazing. On the evening this list item was completed, I played with a six-year old, and life was good. I tossed softballs toward strikes, sorted Lego pieces by color, ate pizza without worrying about carbs or fat grams, and snuggled while watching Wall-E on DVD. It was a reminder that every decision I make – small or large – in some way represents a choice, and based on those choices, I have the ability to prioritize accordingly. Life seems simpler already. So, in the spirit of simple living, here's my favorite SUPER SIMPLE recipe:

Super Bowl Chili

When I made this last, I thought to myself "This is a SUPER bowl of chili!"  So, I changed the name and figured I was allowed to call it anything I wanted because I'm modified the recipe so many times already.  So, below is how *I* make it - not the original recipe:

- Brown 1.5 pounds of 95% lean ground beef (I suppose ground turkey could also be used).  Drain and set aside.

- Chop 4 medium zucchini.  I quarter them into diced cubes, but because I don't like zucchini "nuked", I still keep the pieces sizeable so they don't cook down to nothing.  Then, saute them in olive oil until they are slightly cooked (I don't like them mushy).

- Place cooked ground beef and zucchini in a stock pot and add in the following ingredients:

15oz can of tomato sauce
15oz can of navy beans (rinsed and drained)
15oz can black beans (rinsed and drained)
Two 15oz cans of Italian stewed tomatoes (cut up, including juice)
1/4 cup each, cilantro and parsley
2 T. chili powder
1 T. granulated sugar
1 tsp. sea salt
1 tsp. cumin

- Cover the pot and simmer over medium for about 30 minutes.  At first, it won't seem like there's much juice.  But, if you mix often while simmering, just add the condensation from the lid.  This is not meant to be a thin soup.  It's very hearty and almost more like a stew.

- Serve with various toppings such as shredded cheese, sour cream and tortilla strips.  Some of my friends serve with a side of cornbread or even in a bread bowl.

- When I am just cooking for myself, I tend to half the recipe and I still have plenty of leftovers.  This freezes and thaws well, so you could also make a full batch and freeze extra individual servings.

#15: Think before major purchases.

Date Completed:  3/6/2010

I’m sometimes impulsive with major purchases. OK, I’m often impulsive. I think it’s because I have so little time available for research, negotiations, comparison shopping, etc. I also often have my mind made up from slick marketing techniques or personal references before I even see the item I want to purchase. I recently wanted to upgrade my washer/dryer and really had my mind made up on the Electrolux steam pair – you know, the ones Kelly Ripa advertises? I mean, from the commercials, you’d think these machines could even fold laundry on their own. I was all set to get the Electrolux pair at Lowe’s because the turquoise model even came with a huge rebate. Then, I whipped out my Consumer Reports ratings, went home and checked out the online energy efficiency comparisons, and learned that the newest Whirlpool Duet steam system was comparable, $400 less, and way more energy efficient for water and electricity both. I absolutely love my new Whirlpool set and they work beautifully – I’m done with laundry in half the time of my old Maytag Neptune pair. Oh, and that savings from not buying Electrolux can go to pay the general contractor who needs to come over to move the dryer vent in my laundry room wall! Don’t get me started…there’s always something. Anyway, enjoy the little video below. It’s simple to learn this technique if you practice once or twice. Hint: Don't try to translate - just watch and learn.

#35: Earn 150+ total rewards health points.

Date Completed:  3/22/2010

With all the buzz related to health reform today, I suppose this is a fitting blog post. In an effort to continue to promote healthy lifestyles and wellness, my company offered a health incentive promotion this year, linked to a point system. Any employee who performs selected “health actions” and either achieves test results within clinical practice guidelines, or completes a health education program (if test results were not acceptable), earns points. A total of 75 points equates to a $225 credit toward 2011 healthcare premiums. A total of 150 points equates to $450 off premiums. As always, if it’s even remotely competitive or there’s money on the table, I’m in. So, I completed my six health actions and being somewhat of an overachiever, earned 175 points:

- Wellness visit (25 points)
- Target BMI (50 points)
- Target LDL (25 points)
- Target fasting blood sugar (25 points)
- Target blood pressure (25 points)
- Cervical cancer screening (25 points)

Aside from having to find time in my schedule to tackle each of these, it was a piece of cake…which, incidentally, sounds good right about now.

#24 (March): Participate in one volunteer/non-profit activity each month.

Date Completed:  3/13/2010

Lisa and I participated in the March volunteer event together. We helped with the Adaptive Bowling League event hosted by the City of Richfield’s Adaptive Recreation & Learning Exchange (AR&LE). The City of Richfield is a member of a four-city (Bloomington, Eden Prairie, Edina and Richfield) AR&LE cooperative which offers opportunities for people with disabilities to actively participate in recreation, leisure and community education programs. It was another fantastic experience! We were each assigned a lane of bowlers to assist, support and encourage. Bowlers were each unique with physical and/or developmental disabilities and they were so appreciative of the staff and volunteers at the event. We carried bowling balls, assisted bowlers with the adaptive bowling ramps, cheered on the participants, and spent one-on-one time visiting. It really was a neat experience and I wouldn’t have traded my time with Ted, Ian, Derrick and Brian for anything! I’m looking forward to sharing time with them again in the future.

#9: Have a box party (downstairs).

Date Completed:  3/6/2010

An unfinished basement can be a dangerous place – not just because it’s easy to bump into a door frame or stub your toe, but also because with all that extra storage space, you can…well…STORE stuff!  There are plenty of practical items in my basement – a treadmill for icy winter days when I can’t make it to the gym, deck furniture that I bring inside during inclement weather (i.e., six months of the year), extra rolls of paper towels from Costco, items waiting for a garage sale (that's later on the list), etc.  But then, there are the boxes.  Make that “were”. I’m not sure why it still surprises me that I save boxes, especially after my purging event upstairs in January (#8 on THE LIST), but I found enough cardboard recyclables in the basement to have to call my recycling service to get special permission for the next pick-up. To start, there were boxes for the TV, vacuum, toaster, toaster oven (not to be confused with the toaster), water filter, DVD, portable DVD (again, not to be confused with the standard DVD - ugh), computer printer, egg cooker (the most fabulous invention ever that makes perfect hard-boiled eggs every time - a must-have for everyone I've described this to) and clothes steamer.  My new rule is that boxes can only stay for one month after purchase.  Then, they find a home in the recycle bin.  Whew – problem solved!

#38: Read a book, cover to cover

Date Completed:  3/13/2010

I hate reading - I got Dad’s math gene instead. Mom tried over the years to help me balance my left brain analytics with right brain creativity. She did a great job because I love music, dance, theatre, art and other culture. Mom also passed down the gift of editing because she’s a true grammarian whom I’m sure would conjugate verbs just for fun. People have teased me about my “red pen” style of editing, but for some reason, they still come back for more. I suppose that makes me a decent technical writer – brevity is always better – but I never developed a love for reading. Thinking over the past five years, there are only a few books I’ve read completely (in no particular order):

1. Laurie Graff’s You Have to Kiss a Lot of Frogs (I found this in an airport bookstore after a delayed flight when I was consulting - turned out to be great)

2. Laurie Graff’s Looking for Mr. Goodfrog (This is the follow-up to Laurie's other book and I couldn't resist)

3. Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouin’s Skinny Bitch (Yes, I was really vegan for a while)

4. Greg Behrendt and Liz Tuccillo’s He’s Just Not That Into You (This is another airport find and I wanted to read it before seeing the movie - I actually found it better than the movie because it doesn't sugar-coat the truth)

5. Elie Wiesel’s Night (Elie won the Nobel Peace Prize and this book was on Oprah’s book club list - I was completely engaged from cover to cover)

6. Laurie Notaro’s We Thought You Would Be Prettier – True Tales of the Dorkiest Girl Alive (Laurie has made me laugh since 1991 - we went to ASU together and I looked forward to her weekly article in the State Press - some of you may also remember her writing for the New Times)

7. Dr. Laura Schlessinger’s The Proper Care & Feeding of Husbands (You guessed it - airport find - but while I laughed, I actually found some things valuable! Now...if I'd just apply them...)

8. Rae Orion’s Astrology for Dummies (As I type this now, I wonder if that’s really Rae’s given name – nevertheless, an AWESOME read!)

I really enjoyed each of these books – actually, if I didn’t, they wouldn’t be on my short list of those I’ve finsihed! My 2010 goal was Randy Pausch’s The Last Lecture, which I would absolutely recommend to everyone. This book identifies a number of unique individuals who served as mentors and inspiration to Randy – some whom he had pictures of in his office. I wonder how many people (other than me), hung pictures of Randy in their offices after reading this book. I won’t give away any details to those of you who might add this to your book list. I’ll simply leave you with two closing thoughts:

1. "Brick walls are there for a reason. They give us a chance to show how badly we want something.”
2. Buy a box of crayons.

For more information on this book, or to see the video of Randy’s last lecture, visit www.thelastlecture.com.

#5: Introduce closet to reality.

Date Completed:  1/10/2010

I’ll admit it. I love my closet. Don’t confuse that with me loving my wardrobe, though, because that’s not always the case - I just love my space. After the build-out, I used to stand there and close my eyes because the feeling of being organized was so soothing. Everything had a spot…but there was too much “everything”. You would not believe the stupid things I found in my closet – yes, from different DECADES, including sizes I will never see again (thankfully). There were even items still with tags (ugh – don’t get me started). So in true project management style, I divided everything into four categories (keep, return, donate or consign) to make it a manageable effort. Returns went back to their respective stores and donations were picked up by Courage Center. If you’re looking for a nice consignment store chain, I use TurnStyle in Eden Prairie. So for those who didn’t think my closet would stay organized a year post-installation…HA! I win.