651 - 655 Fun Things to Do!

651 - Take photographs of things you are considering donating to a charity.  These are plates from my kids' childhood.  They represent many family dinners -- lots of love and laughter.  We only got out the good dishes when company came.  I finally decided to keep the Sesame Street plate and the bunny plate.  I am hoping there is someone out there enjoying their McDonald's plates as much as we did.

652 - Use your cell phone to video when someone is giving an appreciative speech.  I recently went to a wonderful bridal shower and the mother of the bride, the mother-in-law to be, and the sister of the bride all gave short and loving speeches.  I captured all of them and I know they will provide good memories from the shower for the bride.

653 - Help someone learn how to tie their tie.  This is my son Kevin helping my grandson Andrew with his tie.  Photographs like these bring back precious tender moments.

654 - Get a book signed for a loved one.  Keep an eye out for book signings in your area -- you are likely to find just the right book for just the right person dedicated to them by the author.

655 - Do a keyword search on the Internet.  It never fails to amaze me that we can find out information on even the most obscure searches in seconds.  It's like having thousands of libraries available to us 24 hours a day!

642 - 650 Fun Things to Do!

642 - Take a silly photograph whenever you have a chance.  This is my son, Kevin, posing as a tree trunk.  I love it!

643 - Go to a soccer game.  There are kids' soccer games, which have a lot of energy and unexpected plays.  There are also professional soccer games, which are a lot more polished and also very energetic.

644 - Make a list of some of the things you consider to be miracles.  Here are some of mine:  the birth of a baby, bulbs blooming in the Spring, tastebuds, Amish barn building teams, eyeballs, extreme synchronicity, snowflakes up close, airplanes staying up in the sky, boats not sinking, hair growing, the internet, children learning to talk, the ocean, and love!

645 - Attend a concert in a church, and document your adventure!  This is Trinity Cathedral in Cleveland, Ohio presenting Colin Hay, formerly of Men at Work -- a fabulous event!

646 - Use as many discount coupons as possible.  My Dad was a dedicated coupon clipper, so for his birthday one time I clipped coupons for months and stuffed a big box full for his present.  I even had added up the value amounts for a total of over $700.  He was quite impressed!

647 - Twiddle your thumbs!  If you don't know how to do it, ask around, you'll be glad you did.

648 - Go to a movie without knowing anything about it, except that it has been well received.

649 - Choose a favorite quotation to use in your signature block on your emails.  Here is the quote I am using now - "You may be disappointed if you fail, but you are doomed if you don't try." - Beverly Sills

650 - Carve a pumpkin for a fun and traditional Halloween decoration.  This is always fun, but even better if children are involved!

631 - 641 Fun Things to Do!

631 - Fill a laundry basket full of gifts for someone you love.  This is my daughter, Maribeth, and when she and her brother, Kevin, were about 3 and 4 years old, we took a trip in a station wagon to Colorado and back.  I wrapped toys and put them in a laundry basket in the car.  Whenever Kevin and Maribeth got a little restless, they got to open a present.  They still talk about that laundry basket on that trip!  This year I thought it would be fun to fill a laundry basket full of gifts for Maribeth's birthday.  She opened them all day long as we went about her birthday adventures.

632 - Wear a birthday button (see above)  all day on your birthday so you can increase the number of birthday wishes you receive!  You can even find blank buttons at the craft store, and make your own personalized buttons.

633 - Find out what birthday freebies are available in your town and spend the day collecting them!  Maribeth, Nate, and Andrew (grandsons), and I drove all over the Akron area in a "Birthday on Wheels" Subaru participating in lots of birthday giveaways.  This was Maribeth's idea, and she researched the internet to find her free birthday fun.  She got free Krispy Kreme donuts, a grand slam breakfast at Denny's, $20 worth of free bowling, and free frozen yogurt at Menchie's.  It was a birthday celebration that none of us will ever forget!

634 - Think your way through a problem before you tackle it.  Sometimes when I am working on a project around the house, I imagine what it will look like when it is done, and then I take the steps required to make it happen.  You can eliminate a lot of awkwardness by just taking the time to figure out different angles and approaches in advance of your action steps.

635 - Meet change with change.  If you are having a lot of new things happening in your life, especially if you did not invite them, sometimes it is a good idea to institute some other more welcome changes to balance everything out.

636 - When you are faced with worry in your life, remember this quote -- "It's not that you worry, it's that you care so much." -- Mike Dooley.  One time I was getting ready to go to a conference, and I had a million things to do when this quote appeared in my life.  It was a huge relief to embrace the idea of being someone who cared a lot, instead of being a worrier.   I got all my pre-conference things done with time to spare -- it was amazing!  I still remind myself of that quote whenever I lean in the direction of being worried.

637 - Make fun food for kids.  If you look on the internet, or check the library, you will find all kinds of ideas to make food appealing for children -- pancake sunshines, cupcake ice cream cones, sandwiches cut out with cookie cutters, and more.  Often these creations become a wonderful childhood memory.

638 - If you are thinking something good about someone, you might as well say it.  I read that in an article many years ago, and I really enjoy giving people compliments regularly as a result.  Let no kind word be unspoken!

639 - Frame a favorite quote and give it as a gift.  You can pick a good font on your computer, and print it up yourself.

640 - Ask other people for their favorite books, music, and movies.  This is a great conversation starter, and you might get some really good ideas.

641 - Leave a really big tip once in a while and make someone's day!  I still remember the gentleman who gave me a $1.00 tip when I was a waitress in high school (yes, that does indicate that I was in high school a LONG time ago!).

616 - 630 Fun Things to Do!

616 - Take photographs of footprints in the sand early in the morning before the beach gets too populated.

617 - Put together a model car, truck, airplane or whatever suits your fancy.  Models are available at hobby and craft stores and offer hours of fun and intrigue.

618 - Try weaving -- there are classes available or you can teach yourself.  There are many ways to weave really special projects.  This is a wall hanging I made several years ago, and really enjoyed the whole process.  I even like the crookedness of it!  Weaving is very creative, repetitive, and calming.

619 -  Pick three words to describe yourself.  I am creative, adventuresome, and curious.

620 - Stop watching TV for a day (or even a week).  It is exciting to find time you didn't realize you had.  You might even read a book, try a new recipe, take a walk, or any number of fun things.  I have done this several times, and it is always interesting and freeing.  I am certainly more particular about what I watch on TV now.

621 - Think about all your new beginnings -- every morning when you wake up, watching the dawn, each new hour, the birth of a baby, when you write in a journal, have a meeting, or meet someone new. to name just a few.  We all have many new beginnings in our lives, but sometimes we don't notice their power.

622 - Blow some bubbles!  My grandsons, Andrew and Nate, had a lot of fun with their bubble wands on our recent beach vacation.  Bubbles are also a fun gift to give children or adults.  Who doesn't like bubbles?

623 - Freeze your spending and see how long you can go and how creative you can be without using your money or charge cards.

624 - Have a day of changes -- take new routes while driving, drink tea instead of coffee, call someone you haven't talked to in a long time, try a new restaurant, go to a playground.  I know you can figure out lots of things to make your daily routines different!

625 - When you have something stressful coming up, like a visit to the dentist, or a presentation for work, plan something fun to do after the event.  That way, you can reward yourself and probably even get your challenge done better, in a more relaxing way.

626 - If you are having a job interview, make a list of 10 positive words that employers like to hear:  energy, enthusiasm, creativity, loyalty, innovations -- whatever words come fairly easily to you.  When you are in your job interview, you can interject your power words into the conversation.  The challenge of getting your words in will probably relax you, and the power of the words will impress your interviewer.

627 -  When you get home from the grocery store, cut up your fruits and vegetables and put them in containers.  That way your healthy snacks will be readily available, and you will be less like to grab a bag of chips!

628 - If you like to write, do a coffee shop/cafe hop.  Do some writing prompts at the first stop, then go to another location and write in your journal, after that you can do a essay, commentary, poem, or the beginning of a short story.  You can do any kind of writing in any kind of order.  It is also fun to write descriptions of some of the people you see, which is an interesting writing practice.  If you have a friend who also loves to write, they could participate and you could share your writing with each other.

629 - Make a list of the remarkable things that have been invented since you were a child.  Here are some of the things that have impressed me:  microwave ovens, space exploration, computers, smart phones, carpeting made out of recycled plastic bottles, cars that parallel park by themselves, emailing, Facebook, PowerPoint presentations, keyword searches -- I get amazed quite often by new innovations in technology, science, education, and art.

630 - Learn about all the names of the full name for each month:  Blue Moon, Harvest Moon, Strawberry Moon, Flower Moon, and more!  I'll let you have the fun of checking out all the names and their meanings.  Click here:  Full moon names and meanings.

601 - 615 Fun Things to Do!

601 - Use a little red wagon to help you when you garden.  You can carry heavy bags of mulch, gardening tools, fertilizer, and more.  I have used my Radio Flyer™ for many years of happy gardening.

602 - Put out a hummingbird feeder.  Just seeing a hummingbird is a miracle and can brighten up your day.

603 - Make a list of some of your favorite things around your home.  Our environment usually changes over the years, and it's fun to have a reminder of past enjoyments.

604 - Throw a party that includes a scavenger hunt.  This is fun for all ages, and can be done by car to designated places, or even by foot in your neighborhood.  People of all ages enjoy a fun adventure.  My daughter, Maribeth, goes on hikes in our local parks with her nephews, and often makes a scavenger hunt list for them.

605 - Get a Sunday New York Times.  It is full of interesting articles, book reviews, international news, fascinating wedding stories, and more.  Of course, if you are up to a challenge, try the crossword puzzle!

606 - Go to a class reunion and catch up with some of the people you hung around with in your younger youth!  I attended the Firestone High School 50th Class Reunion this past weekend.  We had all kinds of events scheduled for 3 days.  My friend, Jan Booker, and I made the name tags.  It was very tender to think of memories of all of us during that sometimes vulnerable time.  When I was talking to one of my former classmates, I could look at their young face on their name tag, and then look up into their real present self.   There was always a hint of their youthful selves.   It was a wonderful experience.

607 - Use photographs to make cards.  There are blank cards available at most arts and crafts stores, or you can make your own out of folded card stock.  One time I took lots of photographs of my fairy rock garden to use on cards.  It was fun to send out something personal of something that I had created.

608 - Gather new words to spice up your vocabulary.   I was doing an art project with my grandson, Nate, and he said, "Yippee yo yo YO!".  I thought that was terrific, so I asked him if I could keep that phrase and use it.  He told me he would trade for "wowzers", a word I use occasionally.  This word transaction made me very happy!

609 - If you have a project to do, and are having a hard time getting started, just do one thing.  When I do this, I find that after I have done that initial step, everything else falls into place.  I seem to easily know what comes next when I get rolling.

610 - Wave a grateful acknowledgment when trying to nose your car into a lane of traffic.  When I am smiling and waving, I invariably get where I want to go.  Being pre-thanked seems to make drivers more cooperative.

611 - If you are a person who likes paper or crafts, try to find a paper store in your area.  We have a fabulous paper store a short distance away -  Hollo's PaperCraft.    http://hollospapercraft.net  They have paper by the pound in colors you never dreamed possible.  One whole room is devoted to envelopes.  There are drawers and racks of handmade paper.  Bulletin board embellishments and other teacher related items are available.  The inventory is full of all kinds of paper products, and other unexpected odds and ends.  People come in from out of state to visit this amazing store!

612 - Go to a toy store and buy yourself a fun present!

613 - Take a mystery road trip!  Just meander along in your car -- turn right when you feel like it, left on a whim, or stay on one highway for a while.  Stop when the mood strikes you -- at a roadside attraction, an ice cream stand, museum, or an interesting restaurant.  Wander around and explore your state, or be wild and cross a state line!  Just look at a map or program your GPS and you are homeward bound!

614 - Ride a horse.  There are probably places in your area that offer horses to ride, and sometimes even lessons.  I have a friend who bought a rescue horse, and her life is much happier and fulfilling.

615 - Learn to play a harmonica!  There is a local musician, Hal Walker, who plays and teaches harmonica (besides other instruments).  He is wonderfully enthusiastic and teaches his students to yell, "We need more music!  More harmonicas in the streets!"

"We're all Bozos on the bus, we might as well sit back and enjoy the ride."  Wavy Gravy

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.