It’s New Year’s Eve. And we’re staying home. Because we want to.
We’ve been busy the last week: lots of travelling and visiting, lots of lugging around bags of hockey equipment and luggage. This morning, when the three of us were considering our options for tonight (and there were several), Jordan said, “Why don’t we just stay home and relax? We can play.”
The boy is a genius. And when I suggested we make a shopping list and head out for snacks and something sort-of-fancy for dinner he said, “No. No snacks, nothing fancy. I said relax.” See? Brilliant.
Is there a more meaningful way to celebrate the turning of the wheel and new beginnings than with an evening at home, just being together? I don’t think so.

Aside from the hours I spent on the phone today (oops), I’ve been pondering my New Year’s Resolutions, or, rather, my lack of them. And I won’t be making any, either. Instead, I’m spending some time going over my 101 Things in 1001 Days list and crossing off things I’ve finished and making some plans for the things I will tackle next.

If you aren’t familiar with the project, I’ve outlined it here, but basically, you make a list of 101 discreet, measurable goals, and try to finish them in 1001 days. I began my project on October 24, 2004 and will finish on July 22, 2007. As of today, I have 567 days left and 86 items left to complete.

I love this project. 101 Things allows for the smaller things that are meaningful but you just don’t do enough, and for things you’ve always wanted to try just once. By having 1001 days (that’s about 2.75 years) to work with, there is time for the bigger projects and long-term items, and if you miss that opportunuty to watch the sun rise on Easter, all is not lost, you can try again next year.

My lists focusses a lot on getting control of things that fell to the wayside with prolonged illness. When I began this project, there was a promise of better health for the first time in a long time and I wanted to clean up the mess and get my life back on track, but I also wanted to celebrate life and spend time doing things I had been longing to do – like walk the dog in the rain and build a snowfort. My lists reflects a balance of all those things.

This has worked better for me than any list of resolutions has ever done. It isn’t just that I am a work in progress, as we all are, but I feel the progress being made. When I feel stagnant or unproductive, I refer back to my list. When I am choosing among opportunities, I refer to the list. When I need a new life project, I look at the list. I have no doubt that come July 2007, I’ll be preparing another list of 101 Things and I’ll be starting 101 Things in 1001 Days V2.0.

Happy New Year.