101 updates

November 07, 2010

101 updates

It seems like a while since i've done one of these and i realised that some readers might not even know what i'm referring to (has it really been that long?) So i'll explain: i decided to join in with a project called '101 things in 1001 days' where you list 101 things you want to achieve or maintain or experience and then cross them off as you do them, hopefully completing them all within 1001 days, which is about 3 years (my finishing date is sometime in October next year) and i'm doing well so far because i have 43 crossed off with another 15 that i'm continually working on, so as long as i step up a bit within the next year and work hard on some of the tricker ones i should get them all done in time!

Recently i have been able to achieve the following items from my list:

#10. Grow a Venus fly trap from scratch and keep it alive this time - i planted one of those little kits again and it grew and seemed to be doing well, then it kind of went a bit brown and crispy like is has before, but i kept watering it and today i saw that it had caught a fly! So i'm marking that down as a success :)

#14. Find out more about alternative health treatments and which ones would benefit me and my children - i have been speaking to some of the therapists and other mummies at the special needs babies group and i have decided to investigate acupuncture/acupressure, chiropractic treatments, cranial massage and homeopathy/aromatherapy (obviously in consultation with the doctors).

#18. Find out more about my thyroid condition - i have done some research in books and on the internet and am going to try the following points: getting a magnetic bracelet to try to help with the tiredness, supplementing the iodine in my diet with seaweed and kelp, asking if i can switch to a different brand to see if that helps.

#24. Try scrapbooking - i have had the book and materials ready to do this for a while but never got round to it, so a couple of weeks ago i decided to start a 'baby' book for each of my children and i have now completed 3 pages in Poppy's book and 1 in each of the boys' books. i might go back and do Poppy's birth page again because it was quite a steep learning curve and by the time i did the boy's birth pages i had improved a lot so now her's looks a bit rubbish in comparison. But i'm glad i made a start and i'm planning to add more pages soon.

#48. Establish family rituals for all the major holidays/celebrations - after Halloween i realised that we have pretty much done this now: for Valentine's day i cook Sir fried eggs on toast for breakfast using the heart shape and i get to have an hour where i call the shots (sexually), for Easter we decorate eggs with felt-tip pens then boil them and have an easter-egg hunt in the garden, for Halloween we dress all the kids up in real cute costumes and decorate the house all spooky and we have feely bowls of goopy substances and a spooky tea with shaped sandwiches and cakes and biscuits and Poppy goes trick or treating, for Christmas we do stocking presents before breakfast and main presents after breakfast and we have Christmas dinner at home with visits to friends and family on boxing day.

#78. Learn more about science - since finding out about William's diagnosis and the fact that he may have problems with some or all of his senses (as we discovered from talking to parents of TS children at the open day in summer), i have been researching senses and how they work in the brain, and i have discovered some useful and interesting stuff (which i'll discuss in more detail in future posts once i am more certain of it).