Camera Phone App

Learn 100 uses for my phone and use them. Feature 2: CAMERA This is nice, because my trusty 35MM-single-lens-reflex camera finally broke after 30 years. Usually I turn my camera over to anyone who happens to be with me to snap the photos. Since nearly everyone but me knows how to do this I simply asked one of the moms attending the Halloween Story time event that Jasmine and I pulled off this morning for swarms of kids and parents how to make it a snapshot and not a movie. So now I know. I went around snapping lots of photos. My next hurdle is learning how to upload them to FB and to my blogs. Yippeee!

Bathroom to Stadium Converter Kit

Listen to all my cassette tapes, tossing most and transferring keepers to cd over the next 1001 days. I have a cassette player in my bathroom. It is the "hardware" part of my converter kit. I have hundreds of cassettes loaded with parenting advice, relationships advice, educational advice, motivational advice. You get my drift. They're the "software" part of my converter kit. I have a set of dry-erase markers on the counter and a huge mirror on the wall. The combination of which becomes my hard-drive memory vault. All I have to do is press PLAY. Sometimes pause and rewind and play. It turns my grooming time into my happy hour. I mean my happy half hour. Maybe my happy fifteen minutes. Gotta love it.

Going Postal

Write my parents a letter every week over the next 1001 days. Write the immediate family members who do not live under my roof once a week. Last night my teenage daughter popped in the DVD based on the Terry Pratchett "Discworld" novel GOING POSTAL. This was our second time watching this totally Steampunk film and we are enjoying it every bit as much this round as the first. It's a story about reviving the postal system because the "clack" system is now a monopoly giving poor service at rising rates. One of the persuasive arguments the new postmaster used to attract customers to a service in which the public had lost all confidence was that a letter can be "sealed with a kiss" or something can be tucked into an envelope along with the letter. That may seem ridiculously sentimental, but I think there is some sort of power in touching something that you know someone dear to you has touched. For instance, I have a letter which my grandmother wrote and when I read it I know it was her hand that held the pen that placed the words upon the page. Her penmanship is an extension of herself. She folded the pages and inserted them into the envelope. When I hold that letter I connect in some way through time and space and even beyond the veil of this world to her. All that being said, I have found it to be increasingly easy to find thoughts to share with my parents. I am enjoying writing these letters. Who knows how long I will have the pleasure of their company? I visit with them on the phone frequently, but as my daughter once observed while visiting them -- there is a palpable energy when the post is delivered. All other activities stop whilst the pilgrimage to the mail is made. I was thinking that a weekly e-mail to my family members would suffice, so I have picked up that baton once again, having set it aside for the past six months. However, last night it occurred to me that I should send along a card or letter once in awhile. To one of them I got a fun large-tip felt pen and some 5x7 note cards. I wrote some things I love, notice, or appreciate about that person and then took some craft scissors which were at hand and snipped them into "thought bites". Then I turned them all over and wrote the lyrics to a song on the backs. This person will be able to enjoy the thoughts and then piece together the song. It was very fun and I hope will be equally well received. To another family member I shared some thoughts on a hand-crafted card I unearthed from my collection. While I was at it I wrote thank you cards to three friends I'd heard from this week. It is so nice to connect with these wonderful friends.

A Sunday Stroll and an Android Phone App

spend at least 15 minutes outdoors on 365 of 1001 days, preferably with someone else. Yesterday's walk home from church with my 16-year-old daughter and then our nearly hour-long-stroll with her dog brought to mind Elizabeth Bennett's walk with Fitzwilliam Darcy which produced a proposal of marriage AND an affirmative reply. It was simply heavenly! It was the sort of afternoon that begged to be walked in. If I could I would describe for you the smells of the different fallen leaves and the delicious rustling sound they made when they were thick upon the path. Julia stood in as photographer, taking some pictures with my phone. When I manage to get them uploaded to this post I will have accomplished part of another of my 101in1001 -- to learn 100 phone apps and apply them. Speaking of phone app's... the other night I applied myself to selecting hymns for Sacrament meeting for Nov. and Dec. I was in my favorite reading spot--on my bed leaning up against my pillows, sitting atop my bedspread/comforter and snuggled under my favorite wrap (an old-style slippery sleeping bag which is wine colored on one side and autumn gold on the other which lies flat when unzipped) -- so I didn't want to get up and fetch a calendar. "I'll bet there's a calendar on my phone," thinks I and sure enough -- there is! So I brought it up, figured out how to navigate it and even to add events. Hooray for me!

On the front step

Enjoy 15 minutes outdoors 365 times in the next 1001 days. I wonder if yesterday's several hours on my porch step qualifies for 4 times? I went to a summer reading workshop with a co-worker yesterday, leaving before anyone else was awake. I decided to leave all my keys at home, knowing that Julia did not have school today and neither did Jasmine have work. SURELY THEY WOULD BE AT HOME TO LET ME IN, thought I. I also left my cell phone with Julia so she could conduct whatever business she needed with her friends regarding plans for tomorrow's day-date and dance. I took a book along to read, knowing I would probably not need it. It turns out the book was a life-saver. When I got home the door was locked and no one except the dog at home. It was a beautiful day, however, so I planted myself on the front step and proceeded to read my book on "Raising Lifelong Learners" by Lucy Calkins. I read and read and read and read. I stood up, kneeled, and sat some more. I was on the last chapter and it was getting cool and the light was beginning to fade. I said a quick prayer, "Heavenly Father, if it wouldn't be an inconvenience, please prompt Jasmine and Julia to come home." After a few minutes I thought I'd try breaking into the house the way both my girls have done on occasion. I found, to my dismay, that I don't have the strength to do this! Luckily, they pulled up at just the moment I discovered this. As it turns out, they must have headed home the minute I offered that little prayer!!!!

Apple Bread Pudding

Try 20 new-to-me breakfast recipes.

 A week ago I recklessly bought three loaves of bread, despite my teenage daughter's urging against this. I prefer not to freeze bread, as it seems the texture changes. The plan was to use ALL THREE LOAVES before the insidious appearance of a mold spot.

Easy, thought I. I had signed up to take one loaf to a local event, leaving only two for our little household of three to consume. It's fall now so I cherished visions of whole-grain toast smothered in real butter and topped with jam, cinnamon sugar, brown sugar, or honey. For lunches we could enjoy grilled cheese sandwiches with soup. What could possibly be better? (I tend to giddy-ness on grocery days -- I so love being surrounded by all those possibilities).

It turns out there was PLENTY of bread at the local event, so I whisked my donated loaf away as I exited, as I planned to take a huge pot of home-made chili and that loaf of bread to share with my sister's family in the next day or two. Didn't happen.

Still, I wasn't worried. That is, until yesterday when I noticed a tiny spot of mold on two slices. I retrieved the culprits and broke them up into the dog's dish. Whew! We had tuna sandwiches for lunch and those slices were fine.

It was time to strategize. I have two back-up plans for stale bread. Plan 1: french toast. Plan 2: bread pudding. I pulled out my binder of breakfast recipes and found this one, for which I had ALL the ingredients EXCEPT the chunky applesauce.

No worries -- I pulled out my well-worn copy of "Peanuts Cook Book" and turned to page 48 to "Lucy's Applesauce Pie". An added bonus for selecting this breakfast meal was I could use some of the apples a co-worker had given me! Apple Bread Pudding 10 slices Italian or French bread, cubed, divided 1 jar (25 oz) chunky applesauce 1/3 tsp. ground nutmeg 2 eggs 2 cups milk 1/2 c. sugar 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract 1/8 tsp. ground cinnamon Whipped topping, optional Place half of the bread cubes in a greased 11x7x2" baking dish. Spoon applesauce over bread; sprinkle with nutmeg. Top with remaining bread. In a bowl, whisk the eggs, milk, sugar and vanilla. Pour over bread. Sprinkle with cinnamon. Bake, uncovered, at 325 for 50-60 min. or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean. Serve with whipped topping, if desired. Yield: 8-10

If you don't have chunky applesauce on hand you can make your own! 5 med. apples, peeled and cored 1/2 c. sugar 1/4 c. water 1/2 tsp. cinnamon dash of salt. Slice apples into a med. saucepan. Add water, sugar, cinnamon and salt. Cook (covered and stirry frequently) until water is gone--being careful not to burn the apples. Stir until most lumps are gone. I prepared the applesauce last night and combined all the ingredients as directed (except I used a blender to combine the milk, eggs, sugar and spices), covered the dish with plastic wrap and slipped it into the refrigerator.

Somehow I popped awake at 5:30 this morning so I got up to turn on the oven and start it baking. I climbed back into bed and read a chapter from my scriptures before nestling back under the covers for an hour. My daughter has an early morning class so gets up at 6. How nice it was for us to enjoy this hot breakfast together.

Our rating? We thought it would be best served with whipped topping. My mixer broke just last week so that was not an option for us. (We much prefer whipping up our topping from heavy cream to using the stuff from the freezer aisle). We thought a dab of butter would have added a nice flavor and perhaps a bit more cinnamon sugar. We should not have added milk as it was best piping hot with just a bit of heavy cream as a garnish. I think it would have been nice with raisins baked in it. My daughter prefers chocolate chips to raisins.

Here's the Plan

I'm taking a cue from a cousin, who set herself 101 challenges to complete in 1001 days. Doing the math, that's just 10 days per challenge, so to do this I'll have to step up my efforts to a break-neck (for me) pace. Judge me not, dear reader on my list of ambitions. It may seem ridiculous to you. Upon contemplation I realize that life is very short. What a great excuse to get-in-the-saddle of life and "let the ride begin!" My cousin's "start date" was January 1, 2012. My "start date", despite the date on this post, will be today -- October 21, 2013. 1001 days from today will be July 16, 2016 (just a month after my 33rd wedding anniversary).

Upon completion I will BOLD the challenge and date it. I'm thinking in terms of categories based on my father's "Pentagonal Man" diagram. However, since I don't have those notes in hand at the moment I am simply going to brainstorm now and organize later.

Devote 3 NaNoWrMo's to fleshing out my novel starring "Libby-V." *1st through 4th grad *5th through 8th grade *high school

Complete 15 scrapbooks *2008 *2009 *2010 *2011 *2012 *2013 *2014 *2015 *father's family history *mother's family history *Villa -- submit to Browns *Villa Youth -- submit to Browns *mother *father *mother-in-law

Read 100 new-to-me books *10 books I own but have not read *10 biographies *10 classics *10 historical *10 philosophical *10 family-focus *10 personal development *10 business / financial *10 political / global *10 fluff Re-read 10 books I own and love

Try 100 new recipes and create a book of menus, including shopping lists and approximate costs *20 breakfast *20 sides *20 crock-pot *20 treats *20 mains

Create 150 home-school units *50 "Creation-based" spiral curriculum *50 "Old Testament-based" spiral curriculum *50 "Timeline" spiral curriculum Re-read all the TJED library

Complete 10 projects *baby quilt *trio of baby girl outfits *quiet book x 6 * * * * * * *

Complete Young Women's Personal Progress with Julia *Faith *Divine Nature *Individual Worth *Knowledge *Choice and Accountability *Good Works *Integrity *Virtue

Visit 10 places in Idaho and surrounding states that are new to me and my family * * * * * * * * * * 

Achieve 5 significant financial goals *host a family study of Dave Ramsey's Financial Make-over *pay off CC 1 *pay off CC 2 *pay off dentist *re-build savings on a monthly basis (this assumes continuing paying a full 10% tithe and maintaining present level of food storage).

Get to 4 pounds below my lowest weight since moving here and maintain for 6 months.

enjoy 365 sunrises enjoy 365 sunsets
Get a passport
Enter all the journals I kept for my girls onto my www.marmeemoments.blogspot.com blog.
Write to my parents every week.
Scrapbook 101 "gratitudes"
Keep a "business ideas" file, folder, scrapbook, sketch diary, or journal (like Trina's)
Find the family motto I wrote and create a wall-hanging of it
enjoy 15 minutes outdoors with a friend or family member 365 times
Listen to the study guides my dad gave me and circulate them to my sisters and listen to theirs too***
Go through boxes in closet and consolidate / eliminate * * * * * * * * * *
Write to away-from-home family every week.
Make a book that combines my dad's black & white scenic photos and his collection of quotes
Get an internet subscription at home 
Learn 101 uses for my android phone and try them all
Scrapbook 101 things I love about Steve
Listen to all the cassette tapes we own. Transfer "keepers" to cd. Toss the rest.