the great 48... part two

So, I posted the first 27 tasks to accomplish this year, 2014... here are the remaining 21 out of The Great 48... things to do this year:

And in no particular order...

(28) Love more.  Kinda spelled this out in my "finding my pike place" post earlier. 

(29)  Learn how to spell certain words that always screw me up... notably, "occasionally" and "itinerary"  (these words are only spelled right at this point because I used spellcheck).

Did you hear that Nicki Minaj and Mariah Carey are gone from American Idol?  Its gone from a decent show back in the day to a guilty pleasure by now, but I think we might (30) take another crack at American Idol this year.  Maybe.

(31) Give grace before its asked of me.  (32) Ask for grace before its required.

This is a big deal for those who know me personally... but I'd like to (33) take a weekend vacation trip this year somewhere besides Walt Disney World.   Yes, I'm d$, and no, no one has taken over my mind.  Just something different.



If the sight of Mickey Waffles doesn't get you excited
about your Disney Vacation, then you're dead inside.

Speaking of Disney... to promote the fact I'm a Disney Travel Planner, I had planned to (34) do a Disney Open House at my home last fall, and was unable to get it together... so this year?  I'd like to do at least two.  And that goes along with my plan to (35) be certified for Universal Parks as well.

Oh, and of course, (36) plan a lot more magic for a lot more people. 

Ah, our home.  The Cabana.  We love our home, yet like many of you who have children, we've let it get away from us here and there.  My fellow blogger and friend Jamie Harper wrote an excellent piece on "simplifying life" and much of it is all about her home.  And in fact, I was emailing The Lovely Steph Leann today about (37) our plans for a clean sweep of our house.

Let's just get rid of stuff. Sure, there is stuff we can sell, and yeah, there is stuff we can donate... but some of it?  Let's just chunk it.  If I don't miss it until I come across it, then I won't miss it when its gone.  Get 'er done.

Two main things to focus on, two main goals, with the first being (38) getting some pictures on our wall... secondly, I really want to (39) get to our garage, and a large part of that are the pictures I have in binders on shelves in our garage.  Not just any pictures, but pics from my childhood, albums I grabbed from back home after my grandmother--the woman who raised me, that is--passed on.  My goal is (40) to scan these pics, then send them to the appropriate family members so that they can do what they will with them... some of these pictures are 30, 40, even 50 years old, so I want to make sure they are preserved with me, and then passed off correctly.

(41) Do something extraordinary.  Like what? I have no idea.  But something. 

(42) Take Campbell to the park on a regular basis.  Not now, of course, but soon, when its warmer.

(43) Pay off the car.  My car.  Red Robin.  We were debt free before we signed the purchasing papers in November of 2011, and we'll be debt free again (aside from the house) as soon as we get it paid.

(44) Hand write some letters to people.  Not just email, or sign my name to a card, but hand write.  Who does that anymore?

(45) Find a few days here and there throughout 2014, and just unplug from everything, especially social media.  This dude had a remarkable 25 day fast from media... not sure I could do that... but maybe a few days? 

My tenth wedding anniversary is this year, in February.  The Lovely Steph Leann, let's (46) do something fun.  Doesn't have to be expensive, but lets make it memorable.  Whaddaya say?

And hey, (47) the podcast is coming back!  We took December off, to retool a bit, step back, reassess and all that... and if you have never heard it, and most of you haven't, its a great chance to jump onboard.  We call it The Movie Picture Show, and its three guys who love and watch movies, and we talk about them.  Sounds boring?  Nah, I think its pretty funny.  www.thedeucecast.com for info.

The Deucecast Studios, home of the Movie Picture Show

And finally... something I've always wanted to do, but just never have...

(48) I'd like to buy lunch for someone in the military.  You know, seeing someone in uniform sitting across a restaurant and tell the server, "I'd like to get theirs, but please don't tell them who.  Just tell them someone said thank you."

So there you go.  I initially said 38 things... but I found 48 things I wanted to make sure that I got done in 2014.  You are welcome to ask me about them and see where I am...

(20K words in January... total of 2,856 words down, 17,144 to go...)

the great 48... part one

I recently turned 38 years old.  Do your Alabama math correctly... (carry the one... add the four... minus the... uh... and divide by pi... I love pie... coconut pie from  Full Moon BBQ is the best... and their cookies are... what?  Oh...) and that's 2 years from 40. 

So here I am.  38 years old.  And there's been a lot that has happened in my 38 years, and yet, a lot more to do.  Oh, don't worry, I'm not getting all sentimental in my old age, but I do know
that I'm turning into a Toby Keith song... I ain't as good as I once was, but I'm as good once as I ever was...

Anyway, here are 38 things I want to do in the year 2014... because in August, I'll be 39.  Yeesh.

Did I say 38?  I ended up listing 48 things... because I couldn't condense.   And all of these things will be done under the umbrella of being someone who is Purposeful in what I do, Investing in those around me, Kind to those around me and Encouraging to everyone.

And these are in no particular order...

(1) Every time I am at a register, I will say hello to the cashier, and ask them how their day is.  Be it a gas station attendant, someone at Wal-Mart, or a big friendly smile at Publix, where shopping is a pleasure.  Every time... because cashiers are people too. 

When I worked at Parisian Corporate, I made sure I got to know the people who weren't wearing suits and dresses... the janitors, the cashiers at the café, the warehouse workers.  I got their names, gave them mine, and always treated them with kindness and respect.  As a result, I was treated well, was given special treatment and favor and it was great.  At my new job, (2) I'd like to get to know the non-cube dwellers as well.  Not for favor or privilege, but because I can. 

I really need to (3) lose weight... I know, I know, its so easy to say, and that's what everyone says, but like, 30 pounds.  For now, (4) I'll drink at least one bottle of water per day.  I am used to drinking at least one, sometimes two or three Cokes per day, or at least an equivalent of a soda like that.  One bottle of water may not be a lot... but its a start.

I want to (5) have lunch with people.  Where I can sit across a table, share a meal, and ask how they are doing.  I'm not going to put a number on it, not like "20 lunches!" but I do want to do it frequently, at least two to three times per month.

I also will (6) talk on the phone a bit more.  And this, I can do once per week.  Perhaps reach out to, via phone or even something like Facebook Messenger, to someone I haven't talked to in a long, long time.  Just to ask one question: "How are you doing?"

We have a tradition here at The Cabana of (7) sending birthday and anniversary cards.  We think we'll keep doing that, but I need to be better at it... I sometimes forget and get them out late.  I'd rather be early. 

The Lovely Steph Leann and I are avid movie watchers... we love watching flicks at home and in the theater, as well as TV watchers.  Currently, we are trying to finish (8) Once Upon a Time on DVD, and then we'll move on to the next thing.  I want to make sure that (9) nightly, we are spending a little time together.  Even if its for one episode, or just a 30 minute block of time for something, but nightly.

Did you know she does Creative Memories scrapbooking?  You probably did, and that's sorta a misnomer now, because CM is going through some restructuring, so who knows what it will look like in the coming months.

Essential Oils.  Looks like voodoo.  Feels like Awesome.
Works like Incredible

She is involved, however, it Essential Oils.  Don't ask me how they work, they just do.  And with this burgeoning business she has going, I am definitely (10) going to support her fully in it, anyway that I can...

(11) Pray more.  We are regular church attenders, but its so difficult on Sunday mornings, because--as many of you know--it takes more time to get a toddler ready than just the two of us.  So I'm going to make a concerted effort to (12) get our family up on Sundays.

(13) A more consistent quiet time definitely wouldn't hurt, either.  Let's make this one a priority.

My goal for 2013 was to see 100 movies for the first time this year.  I watched "We're The Millers" last week, my 100th film of the year... currently, I'm at 109, so for 2014?  (14) 125 movies.  That's the goal. 

I also had a goal of 25 books this year... I just finished book number 28 today, Adam Carolla's "Not Taco Bell Material".   I want to (15) bump up that goal to 35 next year... I'm in the middle of one now, but I'm not sure if I should finish it by tomorrow and have my 2013 total be 27 books, or finish in on Wednesday, so I'll have book number 1 for 2014.  Hmm.

Feel like I should have read this ages ago.  No
time like the present year to do it.

About the books, I need to (16) look at some classics too... books that are on my list for 2014 include "The Great Gatsby"... "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland"... "The Wonderful World of Oz"... "Anne of Green Gables"... and a re-reading of "To Kill a Mockingbird".

At some point, watch three movies with The Lovely Steph Leann.  Not just any three movies, but three movies I've been avoiding... (17) "Gone with the Wind"... (18) "The Way We Were"... and (19) I'll give her the final choice.  Do I want to watch these movies?  No.  But they are important to her, two of her all time favorites, and its time I shared with her these experiences.   And jokes kept at a minimum.

And yes, I'm on the final steps of (20) posting my 500 favorite films of all time.  I've been going back and forth on this since 2007... I'm not kidding, either.  The first list I made, I was struggling because "Enchanted" was a new movie and wasn't sure where to rank it because of its newness... so this has got to finally be posted. 

(21) Blog more.  I have no end to the appreciation for you, the reader who consistently checks this page.  And if I can blog more, there's more for you to read.  In fact, I just signed up for (22) Jeff Goins' 500 Words A Day Challenge for January.   To which I knew there would be days I couldn't write every single day, so I figured 500 words per day equaled 15,000 words for the month, I'd just do that.  Or, up the ante, which I did, to 20,000 words.  What am I thinking?  Sheesh.

Besides the blog, I have a more specific writing project in mind. I hate to say "write a book" because I've said it before and not gotten very far... perhaps you know all about my idea, but even so, I'm not going to discuss here just yet. I want to (23) get a little further down the line with it before I start talking it up even more.

I'd also like (24) guest post on some blogs.  And have some people (25) guest post on mine... are you a writer?  Who cares.  I want you to write for me. 

One more thing about the blog... I'm about 50 posts away from 1000... but I really need to (26) go back and edit, renovate and yes, even delete some old posts.  This will be a work in progress for a long, long time.   And maybe even (27) add a page to my blog of my favorite posts, some to share with some of you, new Coffee Drinkers...

(so, to keep this post from being too long... not that I'm long winded or anything... click here for the remainder of The Great 48)

(1388 words here, 2022 words so far.  17,978 to go...)