586 - 600 Fun Things to Do!

586 - Buy some flower bulbs in a pot to celebrate the arrival of Spring!  It's fun to watch them blossom as they bring happy Spring energy into your home!  You can plant the bulbs in the Fall -- just keep them in a dark place until then.  These are miniature daffodils, my very favorite Spring flower.

587 -  Play a license plate game in the car when you are traveling with friends or family.  In a new game I made up, you take the letters in the license plate and make up a phrase or a sentence with them.  For example, my grandson, Andrew, saw VMD and said, "Violins make destinies".   Other examples are HJH - "Harry jumped high", KLM - "Keep loving me", DON - "Do other names".   It is really fun and interesting to play and makes travel time go fast.

588 - Document a day in photos.  This is especially easy since most of us have cameras in our phone. This is a great way to make your day interesting, and later you will enjoy the memories of that particular day.  I've done this before, and I noticed that including people in the photographs makes everything more fun.

589 - Use your crockpot.  In the morning, put all the ingredients of your recipe into your crockpot and all day long, you will have the happy knowledge that your dinner is already taken care of.  If you leave the house, when you come back home, you will experience delicious smells!  You can also feel smug all day, knowing that many people will be scrambling around to get dinner together that evening.  Not you!!  You are organized, efficient, and smart!

590 -  Before you go to sleep at night, revisit your day in your mind with gratitude from early morning to late at night.  This is how I settle in for sleeping every night.  It is very comforting to have gratitude for the activities of my day -- the people and experiences, expected or unexpected.  I fall asleep in a good mood, and even often wake up feeling grateful.  www.welovegratitude.com is a wonderful gratitude community where gratitudes posted are the basis for a very friendly gratitude community.

590 - Use satin pillowcases.  I recently slept at a friend's house to take care of her dog.  I was glad to see satin pillowcases and even happier when I went to sleep with a very happy head!  I have heard that slipping and sliding is a problem for satin sheets, but when you are using satin pillowcases, there is only luxury and happiness -- no falling on the floor!

591 - Join a choir.  There are all kinds of choirs out there.  And you don't necessarily have to audition for them.  A lot of choirs are looking for enthusiastic people and are willing to help them learn to sing.  My neighbor, Geri, is a faithful Catholic parishioner at her local church.  Her husband, John, not a Catholic, secretly joined her church's choir.  One morning when Geri went to church she looked up and there was John, singing his heart out in the choir!

592 - Take voice lessons.   Many people consider your voice to be an instrument, which can be refined and trained.  This is definitely on my list of things to do!

593 - Ride a horse.  There are stables in most towns that offer horse riding.  I have a friend who had trouble with depression for most of her life.  Then she got a horse, and her depression is gone!!

594 - Taking a shower after really working hard is fabulous!

595 - Watch documentaries.  Lena Dunham, the creator and star of "Girls" loved the book Eloise as a child and said that Eloise was one of the heroes of her life.  She even has an Eloise tattoo.  She met Hilary Knight, the illustrator of the book and developed a terrific relationship with him.  Then Lena did a documentary about him called, "It's Me Hilary" for HBO.  There are even documentary channels on some cable systems.

596 - Get gas at the cheapest price possible.  There are apps which indicate the lowest prices in your area.  My husband, Tom, and I enjoy discussing our gas price achievements!

597 - Give yourself some cooking challenges.  I notice that when I eat out, I choose things that I rarely, if ever, make at home -- pesto,  hummus, quinoa, etc.  So I am devising a list of challenges to see if I can duplicate similar happy restaurant experiences.

598 - Give a wave of thanks to a driver before they let you in a stream of traffic.  This works every time for me, I just start inching in, smiling and waving.  Inevitably, the driver waves back and lets me in.

599 - Use photographs to make cards.  There are blank cards and envelopes readily available at most craft stores.  One time, I took lots of photographs of my fairy rock garden and affixed them to blank cards.  It was fun to send them out because they represented a little bit of a corner of my world.

600 - Use a pedometer when you walk for exercise, or even for the whole day.  There are many wrist devises on the market now that track your steps and gather even more information.

Only 400 more fun things to do to reach my goal of 1,000!  Yippee yo yo YO!  Many thanks to Crystal Belle at www.creativespiritualwomen for issuing a writing challenge that inspired me to post these fun things today.

571 - 585 Fun Things to Do!

571 - If you live in a location with four seasons, take a photo of your car after you have had it washed  while it is still clean and sparkling.   In the Winter, cars get covered with so much salt and dirt that they are almost unrecognizable.  Here is "Molly Also" after a refreshing ride through a local car wash.  Hooray!

572 - Whistle, all by yourself, or with a tune that is playing.  Remember that you have a musical instrument handy at all times.  We had a mail carrier who used to whistle all the time, even in the rain.  Needless to say, Cecil was beloved in the neighborhood for his whistling and his friendly nature.

573 - Surprise an old friend with a phone call.  Prepare to be appreciated!

574 - If the food is particularly good in a restaurant, send your compliments to the chef.  They work hard for long hours at a time, and a sincere "thank you" is very welcome.

575 - Inspire someone who is having a rough time with a prayer, poem, or a kind message.

576 - Send a product manufacturer a complimentary letter, or call their 800 number.  Your feedback is very important to them -- good or bad!

577 - Polish shoes for someone you care about.

578 - If you have a difficult event coming up, plan something fun soon afterwards.  Every time you think about your dreaded root canal, you can also remember that you are going to have a great time at a terrific concert within days of your ordeal!

579 - Take a well-deserved shower after some hard work.  You will probably enjoy some wet smiles!

580 - Save your favorite page-a-day calendar sheets and use them to make fun and unusual greeting cards.  

581 - Get up 15 minutes early so you can take your time and enjoy the beginning of your day.

582 - Leave quotes or affirmations on strips of colored paper around the house to find unexpectedly.  Usually you will find them exactly when you need them!  Here's an example, "We're all Bozos on the bus, so we might as well sit back and enjoy the ride." - Wavy Gravy

583 - Get an orchid that requires only three ice cubes a week for maintenance.  I always wanted to have orchids, especially in the Winter, but I was scared that I would kill them.  Imagine my delight when I saw a beautiful display or orchids with a sign that said, "Just 3 Ice Cubes a Week".  If you prefer, you can water with 1/4 cup of water.  They last for months, and can be coaxed into blooming again with a little care.

584 - Take photographs of people with their pets.  This is a wonderful idea for a gift.  Or you can sneak some photographs of their pets by themselves.  One year, I snuck my sister Barb's dogs out to have photos taken with Santa.  She was surprised and happy to receive her doggy Santa photos.

585 - Get a pedometer to keep track of the distances you have covered while walking or running.  There are devices now that track each step, with 10,000 steps a day being the goal.  My son and his family are all trying for 10,000 steps a day, so they have a friendly competition that helps spur them on.

   

561 - 570 Fun Things to Do!

561 - Have a Sunday newspaper festival!  Recently, I got a Sunday New York Times at a local book store.  Since we already get the Akron Beacon Journal and the Cleveland Plain Dealer, I had a real newspaper jamboree!  It was so much fun to get so many different perspectives and to appreciate so many topics and styles of writing.  As a result of all this newspaper happiness, I am now a Sunday New York Times subscriber.   Sometimes it takes me until Tuesday to get through all the papers, but I have a great time!

562 - Make a list of simple things that make you happy.  I got this idea when I was going around in a big revolving door and feeling happy about it.  Other simple things that make me happy:

a hard boiled egg
a good rock
interesting light outdoors
any sock monkey
making lots of green lights in a row
interesting bumper stickers

563 - Write each day's best event in an engagement calendar.  At the end of the month, you can review the highlights of the interesting things you did and even pick out the best one!

564 - If you are picking up someone on their birthday, decorate the inside of your car.  You can even put signs on the outside that say things like, "Honk!  It's Sam's Birthday".   This is a wonderful, festive, and unusual way to celebrate!

565 - Keep an eye out for vanity license plates.  Sometimes it's a real challenge to decipher what the letters mean.  The best place to do this is in a parking lot when you are walking so you don't get too distracted while driving.  My favorite -- PEACE2U.

566 - Listen carefully when a child explains something.  This is a real privilege, and you might learn something new and unusual!

567 - Take photographs of where you live in all kinds of weather and various kinds of light.

568 - Surprise someone with tickets to a special event.  You could even make it a surprise adventure!

569 - Take photographs from an airplane window.  There are even sunrise and sunset opportunities above the clouds!

570 -  Learn how to knit or crochet, or both!  It is very calming to do interesting repetitive motions, and you can create some great projects!

553 - 560 Fun Things to Do!

554 - When you are going to be shopping in many places to try and find something, take photographs of the items you are considering.  I am looking for a new end table, so  took many photos of the ones that are under consideration.  This way I can take my time and eliminate a lot of confusion

555 - Tip an excellent server extravagantly.  When I was a waitress in high school, a gentleman tipped me more than the bill!   I was thrilled, and I still remember him and how happy that made me feel.   Every once in a while, I leave a giant tip because I know how that can brighten up a day and create a wonderful memory.

556 - If you have to make an important decision, quiet your mind and see if you can get some wise guidance from the Universe.  This has worked for me many times in my life.

557 - Memorize a funny joke and tell it to all kinds of people all day long!  I don't have a good memory for jokes, but I can remember one if I tell it enough times.  What could be more hilarious than a really funny joke -- it lightens everyone up.

558 - Make up your own joke.  Here are some of mine:  What do you eat if you are feeling low?  Cheerios!  What do you eat if you are feeling dumb?  Smarties!  What do you eat if you are feeling broke?  Good and Plenties!  I bet you can think of much better jokes than those.  Give it a try!

559 - Try this for a conversation starter -- "what do you like to do for fun?"   That is much better than "what do you do?" because sometimes a person might not be working or doesn't like their job.  When you ask about fun, most people brighten up and are more than happy to tell you.  You might even get some new ideas of things to do for fun.  I consider this to be my number one research question.

560 - Serve someone you love a meal in bed.  This can be a really romantic way to say, "I love you".  If children are involved, you never know what might be on the tray!  This is a very memorable activity.

548 - 552 Fun Things to Do!

548 - Use photo apps to change your photographs to make them more impressive.  There are a lot of apps out there to play with!  My grandson, Nate, brightened this photo up for me to use as a screen saver on my phone.

549 - Use candles to create an inspired atmosphere.  Whether you are feeling meditative or romantic, one or more candles can really set a mood.

550 - Send cards often to your friends who are having health problems.  It's so frustrating to not be able to cure people you love, but doing the tangible act of sending a card is a wonderful way to let them know you are thinking about them.  It also makes you feel like you have done a little something.

551 - Wear pajamas when you get together with your friends in the evening.  My daughter, Maribeth, was a member of the "Big Boy Club" that used to meet at a local Bob's Big Boy.  The rules were simple -- after 10 p.m., calories didn't count; have salty then sweet foods; and most importantly:  wear pajamas.

552 - Start or join a book club.  This is a wonderful way to get to know people.  As you all share your reactions to various books, your personalities and philosophies are revealed bit by bit in wondrous ways.  Friendships really thrive in a book group setting.   It's also a fun way to widen your reading horizons.  Your book club can meet at a library, other locations, or in private homes.

541 - 547 Fun Things to Do!

541 - Take a series of photographs of the sunrise.  These are some of the photos I took in Ocean City, Maryland last week.  Every morning I got up to greet the sun.  It was a terrific way to start the day.

542 - Try a week, or even a day, without TV.  You might be surprised at how much time it frees up and what other fun things you can do instead.

543 - Name your Super Powers and let them shine!  We all have things at which we excel -- kindness, lovingness, and compassion are just a few.  You could even start developing a new Super Power to your own advantage and for the benefit of other people.

544 - Take an interesting course online.  There are all kinds of courses available.  Some of them are even free and often you can go at your own speed.

545 - Get your car detailed every once in a while.  It's fun to have an interior that is spotless, just like when you first got it.  If you have an older car, a detail will revive it's spirits.  If you don't want to pay to have someone super clean the inside and/or outside of your car, grab some car cleaning supplies, paper towels, and some cotton swabs and go to town.

546 - Celebrate!  Many occasions can be happily celebrated with a lot of fun and fanfare.  Some balloons and crepe paper streamers make for a great celebratory environment, and you can make signs, have a cake, drinks, and other refreshments.  Once my Dad refused an invitation to our house to celebrate his birthday because he didn't want a lot of fuss.  I promised him it would be low key, and he agreed to come.  So I had a cake that said, THIS IS NOT A CAKE, and had the neighborhood kids come over to sing happy birthday.  He actually relaxed into it all and had a great time.  Thank heavens!

547 - Honor a memory in a tangible way.  Once, when I was having a rough time, my friend, Sally, told me, "Carol, you exist in a purple globe of love!".  That was absolutely the most spirit lifting thing she could have said to me.  Soon after that, I was at an arts and crafts show and saw some gorgeous purple round glass ornaments, so I got one for both of us.  It's a wonderful reminder of our friendship and the way we reach out to each other.

529 - 540 Fun Things to Do!

529 - Pick some fruit at a local farm or orchard.  This is my grandson, Nate, who recently went strawberry picking with my other grandson, Andrew, my daughter, Maribeth, and me.  We filled four buckets of strawberries on our fun expedition.  We had enough for ourselves, and to give away, too.

530 - Save your ticket stubs so you can review them whenever you want to remember the good times you have had.  This is particularly effective when you are feeling a little low.

531 - Take photographs of old buildings in your town before they get torn down.  Everyone's area changes every now and again, and having photos of buildings that were once significant in your life can be very interesting.

532 - Make a list of smells you love.  Here are some of my favorites:  old books, popcorn at a theater, Jergen's hand lotion, onions being sautéed in a pan, clothes when they first come out of a dryer; a newborn baby, Chanel #5, lemons being squeezed, the smell in the air after you have been cleaning, a homegrown rose, gasoline, and the smell of home made fudge.  What are some of your favorite smells?

533 - Write a note or love letter in invisible ink.  Then you will have the fun of explaining what they can do to read it!

534 - Buy a pair of red cowboy boots!  Wearing red cowboy boots makes any occasion special.

535 - Get a variety of fun return address labels.  This is also a very thoughtful and unusual gift.

536 - Attend Little League baseball games.  Even if you do not have a child or grandchild playing, it is really fun to watch the boys and girls as they try their best on the field.  Anything can happen!

537 - Buy a really good paper cutter.  They are not very expensive and are very handy when you need a straight cut or have a lot of paper cutting to do.  I don't know how I would exist in this world without mine.

538 - Get a pen pal.  In these days of so much electronic communication, it is fun to get a personal letter in the mail.  Getting to know someone, especially from a different culture, is a fascinating endeavor.

539 - Go to a drumming circle.  Most drum circles have extra drums and other percussion instruments if you don't have your own.  Being in a drum circle is very powerful, calming and relaxing.  There are drum circles in most communities.

540 - Participate in a murder mystery event.  This is where one or more murders take place in front of your eyes, and then you track clues to see if you can figure out who the murderer is.  Actors portray the characters in the murder mystery.  There is a fun sense of anticipation and camaraderie at these events.  There are even murder mystery games you can buy to play with your friends.