So Long 2009, Bring On TWENTY TEN

This morning I got an email from Lisa Call listing her 100 accomplishments for 2009 and thought to myself, I can do this, I should do this. So while I lay in bed recovering from a cold that doesn't seem to want to leave my body I started composing this list in my head and below is the result. I am in awe of Lisa's list and all her incredible feats and realized that my own accomplishments would make me proud as well. It's a great way to look back and fully appreciate all the things one person does in a year and also to think about what goals to set for the coming year.

100 Accomplishments for 2009

1. Chose the word CHOICE as my word of intention for 2009. No more resolutions for me!
2. Attended a weekend retreat called Uplevel Your Life with Christine Kane in North Carolina in March on my birthday weekend.
3. Got over my fear (temporarily) of flying and flew to Charlotte, NC then rented a car and drove to Asheville for the retreat.
4. Made the decision, after many starts and stops, to register for this workshop.
5. Called my friend Christine in Asheville after not speaking with her for at least 10 years.
6. Spent several days in Asheville with Christine & her family who I hadn't seen for 20 years!
7. Drove 3 hours to visit my oldest friend Debbie near Greensboro after the retreat was over and had a fun time. She's lived there for 8 years and this is my first visit.
8. Ordered the Uplevel Your Life workbook upon returning home and started integrating new habits into my life.
9. Began the difficult transition of merging my long time employer into another organization.
10. Drove for 13 hours with my brother Mike to be there for my mother's 80th birthday.
11. Broke off a love relationship that had gone on too long and wasn't working.
12. Taught a new project to my mixed media collage class every Friday morning minus holidays, 1 sick day and 1 personal day. That's 48 times, I think.
13. Starting in late August, taught a new craft class every Monday morning at the senior center of my new employer.
14. Organized and ran four all day workshops of crafts for seniors. All items will be donated to charities.
15. Taught my very first Found Object class and loved it. The finished sculptures will be exhibited from February through April at Hudson Guild Gallery 2.
16. Taught Wrapped Wire and Beaded Jewelry for the first time.
17. Took Julie Balzer's wonderful Journal Quilt class at City Quilter 2 times.
18. Started knitting again after a year long absence.
19. Vowed to not buy any more yarn until I made a big dent in my current stash. Only had one slip up here. Shhh, don't tell anyone.
20. Wrote 45 songs!
21. Committed to working on my songs more and playing them regularly.
22. Performed 10 of my songs at Logos Bookstore, in the garden.
23. Performed my songs at Banjo Jim's open mics three times.
24. Studied with Alex Forbes,  a wonderful songwriting coach.
25. Registered for a day long songwriting workshop that Alex is hosting for her students on January 30th.
26. Read about and worked on my performance anxiety.
27. Bought a beautiful new guitar, a Martin DC-1E.
28. Practiced more and improved my guitar playing.
29. Decided to make a CD of my music. Will start working on this in the next few months.
30. Opened a page on Reverb Nation and MySpace but still can't figure out how to upload my music. One of my goals for 2010.
31. Celebrated 23 years of sobriety.
32. Donated 7 boxes of books and countless bags of stuff to the thrift shop.
33. Donated 4 boxes of books to the library.
34. Cleaned up my studio so I could get in there and work again.
35. Started making jewelry again after a long absence.
36. Had a solo show at Hudson Guild Gallery 2 for two months in the fall.
37. Made 11 brand new pieces for this show.
38. Exhibited a total of 56 pieces of artwork made in the past three years.
39. Sold 7 pieces, several to collectors who already own my work.
40. Added two new collectors to my mailing list.
41. Displayed a photo of my late husband in the living room for the first time in almost 7 years. Couldn't look at his photos prior to that without crying or feeling very sad.
42. Got through the 7th anniversary of his death without falling apart or being totally depressed.
43. Moved all my art supplies out of my bedroom and into my studio (with the exception of my jewelry making supplies).
44. Designed and made a new line of jewelry using vintage mother of pearl buttons and wrapped wire.
45. Displayed and sold my jewelry at Handmade in New York, sponsored by the Ink Pad.
46. Displayed and sold my jewelry at Studio 307, NYC.
47. Worked more on getting my Etsy site up to sell my jewelry and artwork.
48. Posted on my blog after an absence of more than six months.
49. Had a bunch of new comments on my blog.
50. Committed to doing blog posts regularly.
51. Took Stephanie Lee's fabulous online journaling class, Thought Threads.
52. Signed up for Thought Threads again for 2010 and it started today.
53. Celebrated 3 (maybe 4, I've lost track) years of NO TV!
54. Became a Hulu junkie. 
55. Read countless books. A few recent favorites are Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen, Up Island by Anne Rivers Siddons, The Whole World Over by Julia Glass and the Piano Teacher by Janice YK Lee.
56. Made a vow to read less gory mysteries and more novels and to broaden my scope of authors and subject matter.
57. Wrote in my Gratitude Journal more.
58. Wrote more in my journals.
59. Started an art journal.
60. Cured my plantar faciitis, finally, by buying shoe inserts. Thanks Mom!
61. Quietly mourned the loss of Sasha, my beloved Black Russian Terrier.
62. Adjusted to life without Sasha with my 17 year old cat Blue (Mittah).
63. Hugged my cat more.
64. Listened to my favorite radio station, WFUV as much as possible.
65. Attended many concerts including Jonatha Brooke, Rauol Malo, Lindsay Mac, Kelleigh McKenzie, Chris Smither, Natalia Zuckerman, Joseph Arthur and Krishna Das.
66. Bought CD's for new musical interests: Diane Birch, Kelleigh McKenzie and Lindsay Mac. 
67. Discovered Live from Daryl's House (Daryl Hall's very cool music site) on the internet and watched some amazing performances. Thanks Mike.
68. Enjoyed talking to my brother Mike about music: his, mine, other artists.
69. Started a quotation book.
70. Had a nice Christmas with my family.
71. Celebrated my father's 83rd birthday with him and the family.
72. Made a paper and fabric quilt hand printed from found objects.
73. Hung several shows of student work to great acclaim.
74. Joined facebook and have a love/hate relationship that I need to change.
75. Contacted a singing friend from my days in Port Jefferson and we've stayed in touch.
76. Listened to a cassette tape of me singing songs I'd written in my late teens and early twenties and didn't cringe.
77. Registered for a day long workshop with Krishna Das.
78. Bought a new bed.
79. Saw an old flame and realized I didn't love him anymore though I continued to speak with him on the phone even though I knew I should end it. There's just something about this guy that gets me every time we speak. Plan to end it soon. I promise.
80. Pulled myself out of several bouts of down in the dumps and got back on the horse to ride into the sunset with a smile on my face.
81. Made plans for 2010 to be a big year for me by starting to write my goals down.
82. Made a mini journal to draw in with cool colored markers and make patterns.
83. Visited the ASPCA several times in November and December to look for a dog to adopt and left without crying my eyes out.
84. Decided to maybe wait until spring to adopt a new dog.
85. Cleaned my cat's litter box more regularly. I know, gross. 
86. Borrowed books from friends and family or bought cheap at second hand shops instead of paying full price.
87. Didn't blow my paycheck at TJ Max while visiting my family for the holidays.
88. Hung new artwork in my apartment.
89. Was more aware of what I put into my mouth.
90. Was good to myself a bit more than usual.
91. Was kinder to myself.
92. Gave myself a break more.
93. Listened to my intuition more.
94. Was open to trying new things.
95. Laughed more.
96. Cried less.
97. Dealt with my emotions better some of the time.
98. Realized that I am the only one who can make me happy.
99. Picked my word for 2010: COURAGE
100. Picked my backup word for 2010: HAPPY

Well there you have it! Never thought I'd get there. At about 45 or 50 I didn't think I had anything left to add to the list but just kept going and here we are. I am so proud of myself 

for  making this list and so proud of all my accomplishments in 2009. Thank you Lisa Call 

for writing your list and inspiring me to make mine. Now on to my goals for 2010-next post!