When Husband J and I visited Buffalo, New York last year we were supposed try to hop over the border for a quick 36 hour or so visit to my family in Toronto. I haven’t seen many of them in over 20 years, which is downright ridiculous considering how close Toronto is to New York (it’s a one hour flight from NYC).

Husband J and I had our passports ready, and we went off to LaGuardia Airport to leave on our U.S. Airways flight last Memorial Day weekend. We were a half hour from boarding when our flight got cancelled. It was a bright sunny day, and everything seemed to be going fine in terms of flights leaving. The airline gave no reason why our flight got cancelled. Remind me to stay away from U.S. Airways, if I can.

We hemmed and hawed about whether to continue our weekend trip. Part of the reason we wanted to go at this time was because my friend was pregnant (She gave birth to a beautiful baby girl a few months later). We figured it would be easier to visit that weekend than when they had a newborn. With such little time, it seemed that we would have to ax our time in Toronto. I was a sad panda. It pained me to have to tell my family that I wasn’t going to be able to see them after all that time.

Apparently, this is the fourth (or more instance) Husband J has almost gone to Canada. Between work and weekends away, each time he’s tried to go to our neighbor to the North, something gets cancelled or botched.

I’ve decided to name Husband J’s string of bad luck with trips to Canada as the Canada Curse. Even though we didn’t make it to Canada, it might be for the best. We are going to plan a long weekend that will focus solely on going to Toronto so that we can give this exciting city AND my family the attention and time they deserve.

For now, the closest Husband J has gotten to Canada was drinking some Molson and Labatt’s beer (think Canadian Bud Light) and staring at the Canadian side of Niagara Falls.

By the way, check out posts about my time in Buffalo, New York here.

I know that many of you are starting off the year and this week with resolutions. I sorta don’t do resoutions anymore but primarily do goals. I feel like you can start great habits at any time, but I do like to set goals at the beginning of the year. At the same time, I recognize that setting too many goals for one year can be overwhelming. I don’t know about you, but last year flew by so quickly. I looked up, and it was Thanksgiving!

A while back I had read about 101 things in 1,001 days lists from some blogger friends. I thought it was a great idea. I specifically like the fact that I don’t have to finish everything in one year. I have over 2 1/2 years to do them. The last time I made a list like this, I thought it was really helpful in figuring out some of the things that I want to do for myself more often or will help propel me forward. Some of the goals are easily reachable and others are things that I am hoping I can accomplish. In general, it was harder to come up with 101 things than I thought. Who knew?

Anyway, here’s my list. They’re annotated ’cause I’m verbose like that. Are any of these on your list of goals for this year? Does anyone out there have a 101 things in 1,001 days list? By the way, I didn’t include all of them. In some instances they are marked as private.

Food, Cooking, Eating & Dining

1. Bake a pie from scratch including making my own crust

2. Bake brownies from scratch

3. Master a cake recipe from scratch

4. Master a cookie recipe from scratch

5. Learn to make an omelet (I’ve never made an omelet!)

6. Make my own ice cream

7. Take a knife skills course (I really need to learn how to chop and dice better!)

8. Buy all fruits and veggies from the farmers’ market for two months (0/2)

9. Use up beans, spices and other special items in “pantry” (Do you have those dry goods that you need to finish off? I do!)

10. Cook at least one Caribbean food dinner once per week for 6 months (0/24)

11. Eat a meal in each of NYC’s five boroughs in one year (I usually eat in three of the five but the Bronx and Staten Island will be a challenge! Any recs in those boroughs?)

12. Eat only raw foods for one day (It can’t just be living on salads either)

13. Leave a 100% tip

Get Organized

14. Back up photos and video that are on my laptop (I know, I know….)

15. Revise/create a will (There’s kinda one in existence, but….)

16. Create an organization system for physical addresses, e-mail addresses and business cards

17. Get my own personal stationary (I have some but not with my hyphenated married name)

18. Sell or donate wedding dress (I’ve been married for over two years! I should be ashamed of myself. It’s not like I was in love with my dress.)

19. Scan old photos

20. Prepare an emergency kit for the apartment and for personal use (In case the world ends in 2012 )

21. Create 10 Itunes Playlists, of which 2 must be for running (0/10)

22. Clean out that godawful drawer under the sink (You know you have a drawer like that, too)

Fun

23. Learn to knit

24. Take a beginners capoeira course

25. Take a modern dance class workshop (I’ve had my eye one one for a few months)

26. Attend a ballet performance

27. Attend a live music event once per month for a year (0/12)

28. Go to an art museum or art gallery once per month for a year (0/12)

29. Go to a professional American football game (I’ve been to pro “soccer” games before)

30. Start and run my own fantasy football league (I love fantasy football a little too much. My team was horrible this year!)

31. Do a book reading project with at least 5 assigned books for 2012 and 2013 (0/2) (I started the project for this year yesterday. I’ll be sharing soon)

32. Get a facial

33. Do something special on 12/12/12

Health & Fitness

34. Learn how to do pilates and add it to my workout routine

35. Go to the actual gym at least 3 times per week for 6 months (0/72) (I have no problems working out regularly. HOWEVER, when it’s winter, I will find every excuse to pop in a workout video and not go to my gym, which isn’t even that far away in the first place. I’m bad, and I don’t want to waste money.)

36. Run 1 hour on the treadmill

37. Run a 10K

38. Run a half marathon

39. Get mile time under 10 minutes (I’m slow but at least I’m trying)

40. Run on the street two times per week for 4 months (0/32) (Running on the street makes me feel self-conscious. I don’t know why.)

41. Find out my blood type (Again, this is a bit ridiculous that I haven’t done/don’t know this.)

42. Do a Reset Week once per quarter for a year (0/4) (I actually started one yesterday. I’ll explain what that is in a separate post)

Personal (These are definitely TMI)

43. PRIVATE

44. PRIVATE

Financial

45. Quarterly finacial meetings with Husband J for the duration of the 1,001 days (0/8)

Travel

46. Travel internationally alone again (I have some ideas already, but I am not sure where or how yet)

47. Travel with BFF

48. Do a volunteer travel trip

49. Go on a weekend ski trip

50. Visit family in Toronto, Canada

51. Visit three U.S. states I’ve never been to before (I must leave the airport and driving through does not count)

52. Do Trip Advisor reviews for all hotels I’ve stayed or will stay in from 2011 until the end of the 1,001 days

53. Renew/re-obtain my Antiguan passport (This is a whole other story)

54. Play mas in Antigua’s carnival

Personal Development

55. Get a makeup lesson (I can barely apply makeup correctly…barely)

56. Get a better camera (DSLR or otherwise) and learn how to use it

57. Print and frame an engagement and a wedding photo

58. No internet for a weekend

59. Write a hand written letter to a friend just because

60. Send hand written notes to 5 new people that I meet while networking + follow-up within 6 months

61. No TV for one month (It’s easy to do this during the summer when nothing is on anyway)

62. Do Happy Black Woman’s 31 Day Reset (This is a great blog, and it’s not just for Black women. It’s for anyone who is into personal development, goal setting, entrepreneurship and living life authentically. Check her out!)

63. Do a language exchange (for Spanish or maybe Portuguese?)

64. Write 5 year goals

65. Write 10 year goals

66. Write a personal mission statement

Buy

67. Buy a designer dress or outfit (Why not? I don’t own anything designer)

68. Buy sexy lingerie

Helping Others

69. Find a volunteer program to participate for one full cycle or however long the organization requires me (Volunteering has been such a big part of my life over the years, and during the past few years, I haven’t done anything. That needs to stop).

70. Join the board of a small non-profit

71. Get involved in a local community civic group

72. Buy a composter and start composting on the balcony

73. Do an anonymous favor/donation that will personally affect one person or family

74. Donate books that I don’t want or need

Family

75. Take my goddaughter somewhere at least once per quarter for a year (0/4)

76. Work with goddaughter to find a summer program/activity/job each summer until she finishes high school (0/3)

77. Call or e-mail my cousins at least once per month for a year (0/12)

Professional

78. PRIVATE

79. Join a professional network/professional group in my interest area

80. Beef up my profile on Linked In

81. PRIVATE

82. Continue training for my secret project (That’s the only way to describe it)

Blogging & Social Media

83. Redesign Try Anything Once

84. Learn WordPress (I feel like one of the few people in the world who doesn’t use WordPress or at least know how to use it)

85. Do at least 20 blogs posts in one month for TAO

86. Find 10 new travel or food blogs that I like and be active an commenter on those sites

87. Attend at least two different blogging conferences (0/2)

88. PRIVATE

89. Reach 2,500 Twitter Followers (Eh…why not? I’m actually not THAT far from this, but it hasn’t exactly turned into blog traffic, so yeah…)

90. Do 31 Days to a Better Blog exercises

91. Learn Google + (Am I the only one that doesn’t get it?)

92. Post on Tales of a Thirty-Something Nothing at least once per week for a year (0/52)

93. Have a reader meet-up (Would anyone in the NYC area be interested?)

94. PRIVATE

Spiritual

95. PRIVATE

96. PRIVATE

97. PRIVATE

98. read through the Bible completely within a year (I’ve done it in 14 months and not 12)

99. PRIVATE

100. practice stillness/meditation 2 times per week for one month (0/8)

101. Fast for clarity one month (eating only one meal per day) (I‘ve done this before and I have to admit that it was a very powerful month for me)

Set any goals lately? If you have a 101 things in 1,001 days list, I’d love for you to post a link to it in the comments, so we can encourage each other!

We got a really great fruit plate from the Sugar Club, Sugar Ridge‘s main restaurant. By the way, I thought that the food at the Sugar Club was very good for resort food. You should get the daily fruit plate they offer with breakfast as it includes many local favorites.

I’m sure you are familiar with watermelon, mangoes and pineapple, but what about those little green balls? They are called guineps (or quinepas in Spanish).

My uncle and cousins have a fair amount of the usual tropical fruit subjects in their yard.

A papaya tree

Some sugar cane, although it wasn’t in the best of shape. It wasn’t the season for it when we visited anyway. If you ever have a chance to eat fresh sugar cane, I highly recommend it. It’s like sugar juice.

They’ve got a coconut tree, too. I go back and forth about how I feel about the fresh coconut, but I do love the juice or coconut water as it’s called.

I can’t believe I just wrote a whole post on tropical fruit, but I hope you’ve learned a little something new.

Looking innocent

I’m back from our quick trip to the Washington, DC/Northern Virginia area this past weekend. It was nice to see Husband J’s friend, Davey. I actually mentioned him last year.

Most importantly, I FINISHED the Christopher Carter Foundation’s first annual 5K and Fun Run/Walk! It was sooo much harder than I thought it would be. Why? Because of the HILLS. No matter how much I would have worked out in relatively flat Brooklyn, nothing would have prepared me for the approximately four large hills and three plus small ones that I had to jog/run up, BUT I DID IT!

I didn’t walk AT ALL. I actually got a little bummed because people WERE walking. I know that it was a fun run, but I just couldn’t walk my first time out. I had a lot to prove to myself, and I was really thinking about why I was running (for Chris’ memory and for my own personal goals). There were people who would pass me, and I felt sorta dumb, but I knew that I was going at a pace that I could handle even if it was slow as molasses. It didn’t help that I was appreciating some of the many cute houses that I was passing by in Arlington, Virginia. It was such a pretty neighborhood, and we had lots of residents cheering us on.

Seeing the sign for mile three made me VERY happy. I was so happy that my not very good high school sprinter’s kick came through, and I finished really strong (which means I can go faster that I actually do). Here’s some pics that our friend Davey took of me finishing.

We actually ended up doing quite a bit for less than 24 hours in Washington, DC. We took a quick boat ride on the Potomac River with some of Davey’s friends. Even though I had lived there for a short time, I didn’t realize that there was a small boating community in DC.

We also went out for dinner on 14th Street in the Logan Circle area. 14th Street has changed so much in the five years since I left DC. I’m glad to see more dining options in the area. We had a very late, but fun dinner at Masa 14, a Asian-Latin fusion restaurant and lounge. I think it was a good place for me and Husband J. Loud enough to make you feel like you went out without feeling like you actually went out for the night. Hey, we’re old married people.

Well, that was my quick weekend away. How was your weekend?

Runners, what was your first race like?

For all of you, is there a personal, physical or other goal that you were determined to accomplish? What was it?