Remember back in the day when 101 in 1001 lists were all that? I tabled mine long ago because I found about a year and a half into it that I wasn’t quite the ding-dong I was when I wrote the list. I found myself older, wiser, and completely unwilling to even attempt throwing a back handspring.

Even though I abandoned the list, it’s not like I haven’t been goal-centric or open to trying new things. Not in the least! Heck, my past six months have shown that to not be the case. But now I figure with my life all a-changin’, there’s no time like the present to think of some things I want to knock out in the next few years.

Even if 31-year-old Jo thinks that 29-year-old Jo is a ding-dong, there’s no back handspring anywhere on this list.

In alphabetical order, now:

(001) Fall in love.
(002) File my 2007 taxes. Whoops.
(003) File my 2008 taxes. Whoops, again.
(004) Find a local cause to become involved with.
(005) Finish a crossword puzzle. 06/18/2009 — It was one of those really easy celeb-based ones in a magazine, but it still counts. Done and done!
(006) Finish a NaNoWriMo.
(007) Finish writing one of the books I’ve started writing.
(008) Fly in for Chicago’s Pride weekend (2009). 06/28/2009 — Yay! My boys!
(009) Frame Bit’s cowboy boots photo.
(010) Get and keep a tan. Seriously. Summer 2009 — I kept it up. We’ll see how long it lasts…
(011) Get my hair cut in an actual style. (Bangs don’t count.) 06/02/2009 — Mel at Cut and Co. in Kingwood does good work on those inverted bobs.

(012) Get prescription sunglasses. 05/21/2010 — They’ll be here in a week. Whee!
(013) Give a shampoo mohawk.
(014) Give advice to myself in the past.
(015) Give blood.
(016) Go ahead and cancel that stupid MySpace account.
(017) Go on a dress-up date.
(018) Go skinny dipping.
(019) Go snorkeling.
(020) Help a stranger. 09/15/2009 — I gave directions to some Chicago tourists on places to shop and eat in the area.
(021) Help someone else make fitness a priority. 05/2010 — A friend has embarked on this for six weeks now, and there’s no sign of shopping. She’s even just started training for a 5k! Yahoo!
(022) Host a swap.
(023) Kiss someone under mistletoe.
(024) Learn how to surf.
(025) Learn how to swim for real.
(026) Learn to drive a motorcycle. 05/2010 — And I was good at it, too!
(027) Learn to drive a stick shift with some proficiency.
(028) Learn to play golf.
(029) Live out of the country for at least a month.
(030) Mail a secret to Post Secret.
(031) Make a career change.
(032) Make it into the news. (Nothing scandalous.)
(033) Make my maa accept her birthday present.
(034) Make S’mores.
(035) Move into non-temporary housing/do something to not feel so displaced. — 11/01/2009 — I have a new place, new furniture, and matching hangers.
(036) Move my homes into a trust, and do some legit estate planning.
(037) Move my parents’ homes into a trust also.
(038) Muscle up: 10 unassisted dips. 06/2010 — Without training, I did more than this the other day.
(039) Muscle up: 10 unassisted pullups/chinups.
(040) Muscle up: 100 pounds bench press.
(041) Muscle up: 100 pushups.
(042) Order a singing telegram for a friend.
(043) Organize my childhood photos.
(044) Overdose on blackberries.
(045) Own a car I actually like. 10/08/2009 — I bought a super-cute Honda CRV, and it’s BLUE!
(046) Paint a room purple.
(047) Pet a friendly dog, and make a real effort to not be afraid of him or her. 06/08/2009 — Ollie and I stopped to pet puppies outside PetSmart.
(048) Purchase myself some real jewelry. — 11/21/2009 — I’ve been eyeing/stalking a pair of earrings and a necklace, and I finally spent the cash on it.
(049) Purchase one of those hammered silver Mexican art pieces.
(050) Query Oxygen, Fitness, and Shape magazines for freelance work.
(051) Read 10,000 pages in one year. 10/10/2009 — Done pretty easily, even considering my reading hiatus all summer long.
(052) Read a book on US history.
(053) Refinance my Chicago condo. 06/2010 — I sold it instead!
(054) Remain a CGMC donor. 07/16/2009 — They ask, and I send money.
(055) Remove people from my phone and address book who no longer need to be there.
(056) Restart my science blog.
(057) Ride a helicopter.
(058) Ride a zipline.
(059) Run an 8-minute mile.
(060) Run another race with Catie.
(061) Run another half marathon.
(062) Run with the Olympic torch.
(063) Scare the crap out of myself. 07/28/2009 — I sent an email saying exactly what I thought and felt about a situation. This quite possibly changed the rest of my life. UPDATE: 08/2009 — Ha ha ha ha. Le sigh.
(064) See a volcano.
(065) Send a friend a gift for no reason. 05/2010 — Carla got a box of Chicago goodies.
(066) Send a package to a soldier. 06/2009 — I sent my cousin a package to Iraq. Be safe, Richie!
(067) Send someone flowers. 06/05/2009 — Catie got some ‘Happy Friday’ flowers.
(068) Serve on the board of directors somewhere.
(069) Shoot a gun. 07/31/2009 — Yeah, it was a BB gun. It still counts.
(070) Spend New Year’s Eve somewhere exotic.
(071) Spend the day at the lake. 07/22/2009 — I met Jenna and the kids at Canyon Lake for the afternoon.
(072) Stand under a waterfall.
(073) Start a book club. (It’s really a drinking club. Just don’t tell anyone’s husbands!)
(074) Straighten my teeth. 06/10/2009 — I got a retainer to straighten up my front four teeth. And insurance covered 80% of it! Yahoo!
(075) Take a last-minute vacation.
(076) Take a photo in front of the Alamo. 06/06/2009 — Amber, Martin, Grace, Ollie, and I trekked out there.
(077) Take a really tourist-heavy tour in my own city.
(078) Take a self-defense class.
(079) Take a writing workshop.
(080) Take an ASL class.
(081) Take my nephew on vacation. 06/25/2009 — Branden and I flew to Chicago, and we had a great time!
(082) Take my niece on vacation.
(083) Take my niece and nephew somewhere they want to go that I have no interest in. 08/02/2009 — I took the kids to see the second Night at the Museum movie. Meh.
(084) Take photos in a photo booth. 06/09/2009 — I took the kids to Amy’s for ice cream, and they had a booth. We made scary faces, Boy got too close to the camera, I squished their heads together, and we smiled.
(085) Teach GED math classes again. 10/2009 — I tutored someone privately. She was mere points away from passing, which was a 30-point improvement!
(086) Teach gymnastics again.
(087) Throw a kick-ass backyard BBQ.
(088) Throw/give away 101 things that are taking up space. 07/30/2009 — I didn’t count the items, but there was A LOT that I gave and threw away.
(089) Try out for a dance team/company.
(090) Try rock climbing.
(091) Vacation with Uncle Pete and Aunt April.
(092) Visit a winery.
(093) Visit Catalina Island.
(094) Visit San Francisco.
(095) Visit the Caribbean again.
(096) Visit the Grand Canyon. 04/2010 — I took my parents there for their birthdays.
(097) Visit Washington DC.
(098) Watch Kyle play baseball.
(099) Wear jeans one size smaller than what I’m in now. 07/2009 — I bought a pair of khaki shorts, wore them a few weeks, then had to buy a size smaller. They aren’t jeans, but they count. UPDATE: 05/2010 — I wear stupidly small jeans these days.
(100) Write a fan letter.
(101) Write a letter to a teacher from before college.

Start date: Friday, June 5, 2009
End date: Thursday, March 2, 2012