Mission Not Accomplished

I stopped blogging about this 5 years ago, soon after Melinda died.  I couldn't keep my heart in it and life got busier.  Excuses excuses.  I met a few more of these goals, but never cam back to write about them.  If I made the same list today, many of the same goals would still be on there, some of them would be replaced.  This was a useful exercise for focusing my brain on meeting my goals and making me accountable, but since no one really read this but me, it wasn't that reinforcing.  I may revisit this idea again someday.  One problem with it is that over the course of year, your goals change and so to make a ~3 year plan actually caused me to focus on completing my old plan instead of organically evolving my new/ongoing plan.  Instead of a 100 item to do list, I will look at setting some big goals and chronicle my steps to achieving them.  If I do, it won't be here though.  I unknowingly doomed this blog when I named it.

#18 - The First Installment

As I watched the nurse pull the needle out of my arm, I was pleased to know that I had met my goal of 5 units of blood in this 1001 day period I set for myself. But it humbles me to think that this has been but a small drop in the bucket compared to the need that is out there.  Sometimes a person will need a unit or two to get through a rough patch.  Sometimes they'll need 80 or more units, as did my sister-in-law when her liver failed to make clotting factors after metastatic breast cancer took it over.  This 5 units is but the first installment on a debt that I may never be able to repay.  The Red Cross has had to put so many restrictions on who can give blood donations to keep the blood supply safe, that those of us that are still eligible should help when we can.  If you would like to see if you are eligible and find out where you can donate, go to http://www.givelife.org/.

#20 - Going The Extra Mile (and a Half)

This year my entire family joined me on the Race for the Cure.  This is my 3rd 5K during this 101/1001 cycle and I had expected it to be my 4th.  I was not in shape for the Metroparks 5K that I had done for the last 2 years this summer and I skipped it.  This means I need to run 3 next year if I'm going to meet my goal.  We'll see.  I'm going to have to keep my training up through the winter so I can be ready when the weather breaks in the spring.  This was my problem this year. 

I ran most of the 5K, but my feet really started going numb and I had to walk for 5 minutes near the end to get the circulation back in them.  I was able to finish running.  This year the race course looped on itself in such a way that I could go quickly from the finish line to the halfway mark and catch up with my wife and 3 kids who were walking the entire course.  I was able to finish their leg with them (and carry my 4 year old on my shoulders for part of it) which was a real treat.

In my age group I finished 93rd out of 93 racers (1942nd overall) with an official time of 45:02.75, much slower than last year's pace.  The race attracted over 18,000 racers officially and was very inspirational.  Next year I'll be better.

#50 - There When He Needs You

Kids don't come with manuals. It's a cliche, but it's true.  Many authors have attempted to fill in this gap however.  I recently read a book by Dr. Neil Bernstein that I thought was particularly good.  In There When He Needs You, Dr. Bernstein speaks primarily to fathers about raising their sons.  He describes the father-son dynamic as a distinct relationship that is influenced greatly by the previous generation.  In other words, we are influenced by the way we were raised by our fathers when we try to parent our sons.  While his focus is on this dynamic, I imagine this holds true for the mother-daughter relationship too, as well as influences father-daughter and mother-son dynamics.  He is a psychologist who recounts stories of men and their sons and how he helped them, and sometimes couldn't helpthem, work through their issues. 

His top 10 Tips for Dads include:
1) Strike a comfortable balance between career and family.
2) Make peace with your own father.
4) Be "all there" when you're with your son.
8) Acknowledge your own shortcomings and encourage your son to do the same.

The other 6 tips are good too and he fleshes them out well in the chapters.  There is even a chapter that advises mothers in ways to help their husbands become better fathers.  If any of this advice might apply to you, check out this book.

#33 - Infinity. It'll blow your mind.

I thought it would be fun to design a t-shirt.  I'm not much of an artist, so I thought I would come up with some sort of cute saying or deep "bumper sticker" insight.  My wife and I have been enjoying The Big Bang Theory on CBS and the geeky protagonists wear geeky t-shirts.  Being accused of geekiness (or dorkiness?) myself, I decided to try my hand.  I have enjoyed messing with boys about the concept of infinity.  Some of the confusion around the concept is that the symbol (8 on its side) is used to represent the concept, but it is not actually a number.  If you use it in equations like a number, you math comes out all wrong.  I illustrate one example on the shirt.  I may try my hand at a few other.  I'm hosting my shirt at Zazzle.com.  Check it out at Infinity T-shirt.

Status Report at Halftime

About 500 of my 1001 days have gone by and I've been doing some math.  Out of the original 101 items, I have completed 17 of them and partially completed another 11.  Looking at the list with fresh eyes, I know I won't complete all of them by next Christmas.  I'll be satisfied if I get over 50 done and thrilled if I get over 75.  Some of the remainder might make the next list, some of them will be discarded to make way for new goals in my life.  Even since making the list, some new priorities have emerged that have taken some of my time and focus away from completing more of the list, which is OK.  This list was to be a series of guideposts - a place to enumerate some of my goals and some of my dreams.  I have completed all of the travel goals, but I haven't touched the creativity, home, computer, or financial goals - and many of these are important that I get done, like setting up an emergency cash fund and decluttering my house.  Time to get to work.

#49 - Wilderness Medicine Conference

Today I completed a 5-day Conference on Wilderness Medicine.  I have been wanting to attend this conference for years.  Needless to say, wilderness medicine is not covered as a discipline in medical school in St. Louis.  My oldest son is involved in Cub Scouts and I realized that I would eventually be on a remote campout with his pack or troop.  If someone got injured, they'd look at me to provide medical care.  Beyond first aid, my medical skills all center around working in an office or hospital environment, and I felt that I wanted to expand those skills.  This course taught me ways to improvise medical equipment, to decide whether to treat something in the field or evacuate the patient, to prepare for an expedition, and to spend the unexpected night out with simple supplies to provide shelter, water, warmth, and food if necessary.  I learned about many of the hazards that the wilderness exposes us to (hypothermia, overheating, animal attacks, weather, avalanche, etc.) and how to prevent problems or treat the consequences if necessary.  I'm not an expert now, but I have a foundation that I will continue to expand in the future.