This mid-year progress report is a bit late, but better late than never. In reviewing my progress, it looks like I have a bit more to go and I could use your help!
1. Take 30 pictures with 30 giant animals
So far I have taken pictures with 10
giant animals… I think. You can check my progress and the photographic evidence
here. Clearly I still
have a lot more to go, so if you’d like to show me where your favorite giant
animal is, let’s go! I’ll bring the coffee and the camera, you should bring
some funny jokes and car jams.
2. Give 30 $30 tips on bills that are less than
$30
5/19 – South Wedge Diner. Our waitress
followed us because she thought I forgot my money on the table. When I told her
that the money was her tip, she told my nieces “You’re auntie is so nice. You
make sure to give her lots of hugs and kisses” to which my nieces responded
“Aunt Steph doesn’t like hugs and kisses. We’re not allow to hug of kiss her.”
5/24 – Ice Cream Jubilee. The ice
cream server was the nicest, happiest person I have encountered in a very long
time. She was super patient with me as I tasted EVERY flavor ice cream in the
joint, told me that calories are just “flavor points” – the more calories a
food has, the more flavor it has, so I should just be excited about lots of
calories, and she even jumped in a selfie with me and Julia. I loved her and
she 100% deserved the $30.
6/9 – South Wedge Diner. Every month I
meet my friend Del for breakfast at an ugly hour of the morning. We have the
same waitress every time who is incredibly chipper and sweet for such a gross
morning hour. She knows us, knows our order, and refills my coffee cup like
every 5 minutes which I appreciate more than I can express.
6/17 – Schallers. This place is my
favorite quick bite burger joint. The guy who took my order at the counter was
polite and patient with my niece (who decided she only wanted to whisper her
order). He was just a nice guy and something in me made me feel like I should
leave him a $30 tip. The feeling was so strong that when I saw I only had $22,
I didn’t give up. I asked my mom, brother in law, and sister if they had cash
until I had $30. When I gave it to the kid he seemed shocked and then tried to
give it back and told me he wasn’t allowed to take tips. At this point I told
him to put it in his pocket and when he hesitated, every woman in my family
brought out their pressing charm and forced him to accept it. Later when he saw
my mom in line for ice cream he told her to thank me again, that he never gets
tips, and to tell me “God bless you.” It seemed to really have impacted him and
I’m so glad.
7/20 – Friendly’s. I went to
Friendly’s because I heard that there were new ice cream sundae flavors, so I
decided my nieces and I need to go to try them out. The waitress was a
perfectly fine waitress, but then I saw the “Crowd Pleaser” sundae which
includes a ridiculous amount of ice cream and toppings and asked “How much
would you hate us if we ordered the crowd pleaser?” To my surprise she said
“Not at all! People rarely order them and they’re really fun to make!” I was
thinking a mammoth sundae would be obnoxious, but she seemed excited about it
and was very patient with my nieces as they took forever to decide what ice cream and toppings to get. She
totally earned that $30 tip.
9/2 – Scotts at the Public Market. Jo
has been serving me my ham, egg, and cheese breakfast sandwich every Saturday for
more years than I can count. She has been with me through countless boyfriends
and even during my single times at the market. She’s served me in sweltering
heat and in the freezing cold. I have no idea how she is always so cheerful,
but I love her for it and refuse to let anyone else serve me. I finally gave
her the $30 tip she deserved and it felt so right. The next week when I ordered
my sandwich, she refused to let me pay, and when I insisted, she threatened to
hurt me if I didn’t just roll away. I love her.
I have a lot more $30 tips to go and a
lot of friends who I don’t spend enough time with, so I hope someone reading
this will reach out and say “Hey Stephanie, let’s go grab an ice cream at my
favorite place so we can catch up and you can tip $30!”
3. Find out if I have abs
Still have not been found.
As of 6/22, the whole world seems to
know that I have not yet found my abs. If you don’t know what I’m talking about
then you don’t’ watch the news and I am so thankful for that.
8/5 – Abs have still not been found. I
do have a calorie counter on my phone which is supposed to help in this quest,
but I might not be doing this right. I type in “girl scout cookie” and it says 70
calories per cookie, so I’m all like “Yeah, I only had one Mr. Calorie Counter”
as I eat seven. I also firmly believe that I don’t have to count anything I eat
if I don’t eat a scientifically measurable amount. A “handful” of chocolate
Chex Mix? Doesn’t count. Does ice cream count? Not if you only have a “smidge.”
So, yeah, all of this to say, I’m not sure if abs will ever be found on me.
11/12 – Abs are still MIA. I have been
doing 15 minutes of yoga a day, for like, the past 10 tens. I have no idea
where these abs might be.
4. Dress as a cat all day. Go in public.
7/2 – I dressed up as a cat for a
shtick at Ari’s wedding, but it wasn’t all day. Can I get half credit?
10/31 – I dressed like a cat on
Halloween, but I didn’t feel good and I was having a rough day and I ended up
rolling up and down Hudson Avenue in a full cat onesie in broad daylight around
a bunch of people giving me weird looks. Then I went home and found out I was on the
wrong antibiotics. I got the right meds the next day, but I think I need a redo
on the cat thing.
5. Go on vacation alone.
I’ve been thinking about where to go,
but beyond that, no progress. Any ideas?
6. Karaoke Jagged Edge/Rev Run’s “Let’s Get
Married”
I have sang this in the office,
rolling through airports, and at nightclubs whenever it comes on, but as for
karaoke, not yet.
6/22 – I did sing this a few times
while I was in police custody for 10 hours in D.C., but there was no karaoke
machine, so I don’t think it counts.
7. Try 30 different burgers and rate them. Bonus
if I can get 30 different people to buy me the burgers.
See Burger Rating System and all rated
burgers here.
I swear I’ve eaten 30 burgers by now,
but I ate so many I couldn’t keep up with writing about them. The only solution
is to eat more.
8. Unplug for an entire day.
No progress. But I did go on a women’s
retreat with ladies from my church where I looked at my phone a lot less than
usual and didn’t watch any T.V. So it was like practicing for the real Unplug
day!
7/7 – I went without my phone while in
police custody for about 8 hours. I think that should count as practice at
least.
9. Give 30 things away.
4/24 – Gave away a book bag filled
with stuff to a person on the street.
4/25 – Gave away a bag of clothes to a
coworker.
5/7 – Gave away a bag of clothes to
our church collection for refugees.
5/21 – Gave another bag of clothes
away to our church collection for refugees.
7/22 – Gave my nieces two cups covered
in smiley faces.
October – Gave away tons of clothes,
food, and other goods to Puerto Rico
October – Gave my sister & brother
in law one of my cars.
*I need to step up my game on this. Who
wants my stuff?
10. Spend a
whole weekend with my mom
6/1 – Booked a 5 night, 4 day stay at
an all-inclusive resort in Mexico for me and my mom. She’s really excited about
it.
August – We did it and we survived!
Read about it here.
11. Bake
something without a mix
No Progress.
12. Pay off 3
big debts
5/1 – (1). Finished paying off my
manual wheelchair! I got the chair in October and have been paying off the bill
of over $2500 ever since then (that was just my copay…).
September – (2) In 2015 or 16, I tried
to help my then boyfriend build credit and get on his feet by cosigning on a
car for him. But then we broke up, I learned my lesson, and I suddenly had a
second car. I asked my sister & brother in law if they’d drive it around
because I didn’t need a sedan for any reason, and they kindly took it on. With
this 30 before 30 goal I was especially motivated to budget to pay the car off,
and I am proud to say with solid budgeting, selling a few things on Letgo, and
drinking less Dunkin Donuts, in September I finished paying the car off! After
paying it off, I was happy to give the car to my sister and Rob since they use
it and take care of it, and are incredibly helpful in my life (catsitter extraordinaires!)
and always supportive of me.
One more debt to go!!! I am debating
between trying to pay off my car (the one I drive) or my credit card. I am
leaning towards my card, because I feel like paying off my credit card
completely won’t feel as awesome because the moment I use it to buy groceries
the balance will no longer be zero.
Whichever I choose, I know I will love
it because I find paying my bills to be very cathartic. When I’m stressed, I
get online and pay bills and it makes me feel better. I don’t care what the pop
songs say, being financially responsible is SO much better than going to the
club instead of paying rent.
13. Do a
headstand
No progress. Need more zen. And
balance.
14. Keep a plant
alive for 6 months.
5/1 - I have begun asking people what
kinds of plants can last with minimal care/an irresponsible plant mom. Some
ladies on my church retreat suggested I try a spider plant or an air plant. An
air plant apparently just lives on air and this sounds very appealing to me. No
plant has been adopted yet.
5/7 – Bought a Banzai tree and named
him Fernando. I picked him because he looks resilient and hearty. Plus he came
with a stone that says peace, so maybe that will help me to find zen. Anyway,
so far he hasn’t died. He looks tough and I think he can handle my
neglect.
5/23 – Fernando is still alive.
6/9 – I bought 2 hanging plants from
the market on May 21st. They died. Fernando is still going though.
7/22 – My cats keep trying to eat
Fernando and he doesn’t exactly look as chipper as he used to, but I think he’s
still kicking.
11/6 – Okay, so I forgot about
Fernando even though he lives in my living room. But I remembered him today and
gave him LOTS of extra water to make up for not watering him for months!!
 |
| This is what Fernando looks like today, November 12, 2017. |
15. Build
something.
I went to Home Depot to buy supplies
to build a book shelf, but now I’m thinking I don’t have the skill set for this
and should have gone for something simpler.
16. Go to a bar
alone.
5/10 – I tried to semi do this. I was
going to meet Katie out, but she had a meeting she needed to go to, so I
figured I would go to the bar early and wait for her and that would count as
being alone. For about 20 minutes I sat in my car hesitating. Finally, I got
out, rolled to the bar, and when I got inside I found out there was a step to
get up to the bar. What the fuck. So basically, this has not been accomplished.
17. Take a class
on something creative, like cooking or knitting.
No progress. Please suggest something
for me! Better yet, is there a creative class you want to take or that you
teach? Let me know! I’d love to go with you!!
18. Learn a new
skill and show it off on my 30th Birthday!
No progress.
19. Complete 30
acts of kindness to show my appreciation for others
5/8 – (1). My coworker Mary works
ridiculously hard and is a wonderful coworker and friend. I found out she’s
been watching Netflix on her tablet because she didn’t know how to make it go
to her T.V. I felt that Mary worked way too hard to not be able to go home and
binge watch trashy tv on her actual television, so I bought her a chromecast to
show my appreciation for all that she does and to help her relax when she
finally does get away from work.
5/10 & 5/11 – (2) & (3). I
regularly collaborate with two people in the City of Rochester to help make
Rochester a more accessible and welcoming city for disabled people. We always
joke that I’m part of the City’s team and that we need matching outfits. To
show them how much I appreciate them both as humans and as advocates for the
Disability Community within the City’s Administration, I got them both really
cute mugs with the Rochester flower that say “Home.” I got myself one too so
that we can have matching cups and show we’re all on the same team J
6/21 – (4) Staci is one of my fellow
Directors at work and she works her butt off. She cares so much about the
people we serve and goes above and beyond to support me and my team all the
time. When I’m stressed, she lets me vent. When we need to throw together a
protest or action at the last minute, she’ll always help us to make protest
signs, load the bus, and do anything else we need. I don’t know if this woman
ever sleeps. Lately things have just been piling up, so I sent her purple
flowers in hopes that they would brighten her day.
7/22 – (5) My neighbors, Charles and
Rose, have kindly been working on my yard in their spare time. I didn’t ask
them, and they may just be doing it because they’re sick of having a scumbag
neighbor with a gross yard, but I truly appreciate their time and effort. To
show them my appreciation I gave them a hanging pot of flowers that I am sure
they will be much more successful at keeping alive than I was.
Sometime in August (6) My sister is
always amazing to me, so when I took my niece out shipping for the day, we
picked out a lovely lipstick for Danielle at Sephora as a token of my
appreciation for all she does for me.
Sometime in September (7). My
beautiful friend Hannah is such a loving person and a great mom. She regularly
makes time to have lunch or dinner with me and gives such real, down to earth,
loving advice. She was pregnant with baby #4 (and the first girl!!) so I
decided to bring her flowers to her home to brighten her spirits in her last
weeks of pregnancy.
20. Throw a
dinner party.
No progress. Anyone want to come over
for dinner? I’ll make pizza rolls and cheap wine!!!
21. Go to a
country that I’ve never been to.
Okay, hear me out. I have technically
gone to Mexico before because I went to Cozumel, but I never went to
continental Mexico before, so I’m counting my trip to Solidaridad, Mexico with
my mom as going to a country that I’ve never been to.
22. Get a
facial.
No progress. I’m kind of afraid to do
this.
23. Learn how to
change a tire.
No progress.
24. Buy a crop
top. Wear it in public.
5/17 – After telling some of our ADAPT
teens about this goal, one of them gave me a crop top and told me to wear it
during our party on our last night in D.C. I hesitantly wore it around the
hotel and my ADAPT family. This was a good practice run, but I don’t think it
counts as actually wearing it in public.
5/26 – I took the crop top that I
borrowed from a teenager to Atlantic City with me. I wore it the first day we
were there for the entire evening and night. I strolled along the boardwalk in
it, I ate Mexican in it, and I danced at an 80’s club in it. I didn’t feel one
bit insecure. I’m really happy I made this a goal and accomplished it so
quickly. I thought I would be super insecure about this and look terrible, but
I felt great and might even get my own crop top after I return this one to its
rightful owner.
6/22 – The day after I was arrested in
D.C. for fighting to save Medicaid and protect the lives and liberty of
disabled Americans, I received a message that read “You really went hard on
that ‘wear a crop top in public goal, didn’t you?’” I laughed so much. I am
actually still laughing. This goal is beyond complete now.
 |
| Me going hard on my crop top goal. |
25. Cook a meal
without a recipe and buy all the ingredients myself.
I am excellent at looking up recipes
and then not following them, but I have not yet tried to cook a meal without
having a recipe to barely follow though.
26. Learn to
meditate without falling asleep.
6/9 - I took a CLE (required classes
for lawyers to keep their license) called “The Mindful Lawyer: Meditation in
the Practice of Law.” My goal was to: 1. Get required CLE credits, and 2. Learn
how to meditate without falling asleep. I tried staring at a raisin as
meditation and I still don’t get it. I tried a few other forms meditation too.
I also fell asleep for a minute. SO close.
11/6 – In the past 4 days, I have
meditated every day for 5 minutes and NOT fallen asleep!!
27. Help someone
else check off something on their list.
No progress. Do you need help with
your list? Let me know! I’ll help J
28. Make a list of
1095 things I am grateful for (or 3 things per day for 365 days!).
Lots
of Progress! I’ve got a journal bursting with things I’ve been grateful for and
I love going back and reading them. I think everyone should do this!
29. Go on an
incredible 30th birthday best friend vacation.
No progress.
30. Throw
a fabulous 30th birthday party!
No progress.
