I’m 34 today. I have to admit that I’ve been saying I’m 34 for months now, because I’ve officially arrived at a time in life where how old you are becomes a bit irrelevant.
But I’m 34 and while it doesn’t seem like a big deal, I like an excuse to make a list. Seriously, I love lists. Love them. I make several each day, for work, for our life, for events…my birthday shouldn’t be any different. And for someone who so loves making lists, I’m sorta amazed that I never make them for my birthday. And I’m going to pick 34 things to do, for obvious reasons, but they need to be things with heft since 34 isn’t a whole lot to do in a year. I should be able to hack it, right? Some of these will be altruistic, some of them totally selfish, a couple will probably be pretty lame.
So here goes:
The 34 Things To Do Before 35
1) Get pregnant. This seems like a gimmie, but yeah. And it probably shouldn’t be on a to-do list, but there it is. We haven’t been active in this pursuit since February – well, officially, ahem, wink wink – but I’ve got one more “Let’s make sure this is what it is” test and then we go and see an RE to start getting to the bottom of things.
2) Plant a garden in the yard. I mean, a REAL one. A serious one. I’m going for raised beds, serious plants. We have tons of room in our yard, and after watching Food, Inc., it’s hard for me not to be a little more proactive about where we’re getting our food.
3) Choosier food choices. OK, so I’ve said that Scott and I made a decision last year to spend our money on our food. We eat organic options when they’re available, and avoid dairy and meats with antibiotics…you know the drill. Most of this seems like common sense to us. But then, yeah, we watched Food, Inc. and the humanitarian implications that come with not being mindful of where we’re getting our foods? That was as deplorable as the conditions in which our food is produced. My goal is to spend our food dollars locally, organically and in-season as much as possible.
4) Finish another triathlon. I finished the Danskin tri in 2003. That was SEVEN years ago. I did a half marathon this year. The triathlon seems like cake in comparison. Of course I need to find a pool, but swimming is my strongest of all three sports. I’ve got till August 22nd. I’m all over it. I know this seem silly since I want to get pregnant, but I said the same thing about the half-marathon and had I let the chance of getting pregnant stop me, I wouldn’t have done it. I’ll cross that bridge if I get to it. I also will need a new bike. Gah.
5) Do more yoga. I like who I am when I do yoga, even just 20 minutes worth.
6) Take a vacation with my husband. It’s been almost a year since we’ve taken a trip, which is no big deal, but we could at least use a weekend. Or a week in Cancun. Which is what we’re aiming for.
7) Continue to work on the obsessive stuff. It’s hard, but it’s worth it. In the few short weeks that I’ve been applying these practices into my life, I’ve already had so many lights flip on that I’m ashamed that I’ve been walking around in the dark this long.
8 ) Get better about returning e-mails. I don’t know why so many of you keep writing to me, as I suck as getting back to people right away. You’re all so kind and warm and generous – seriously. I blame it on being at a computer and two Blackberries all day. I get home, sometimes I just crash. Gotta work on this.
9) Send birthday cards. This also means 10) Obtain and write down everyone’s birthday.
11) Stop being such a nag. I am uptight and naggy. My poor husband, I don’t know how he handles it. I need to chill the heck out. If the bed isn’t made or the dishes are piled up, the world won’t end.
12) Read our weekly Economist from front to back (mostly) every week. Sometimes that thing is just a behemoth and getting through it feels like a part-time job. Still. A woman cannot rely on the Trib, CNN.com, the NYT and Newsweek alone.
13) Paint and recarpet the three-season room and back porch.
14) Money managing. Now that we’re out of debt – sans that mortgage and a small student loan – we’ve got extra money that we’re putting aside. With Scott still being out of work, we’re obviously not putting away as much as we did, but we’re hopeful he’ll be working again soon. When that happens, I’d like to do something with our non-emergency money that actually makes us money. We have a couple of IRAs and my 401(k), but I imagine it’s time to do something a bit more aggressive. Or something.
15) Take a class. I need to do something after work other than just collapse and sleep. I still want to learn how to knit.
16) Sponsor at least two families at Christmas. Every year, through our church, Scott and I sponsor a family’s Christmas. There is no reason why we couldn’t do two.
17) Volunteer with Night Ministry again. My old job kept me from keeping that commitment and I had to quit. My new job embraces volunteerism a bit more warmly so there isn’t an excuse for me not putting this back on my calendar.
18) Catch the earlier train. I’m always at work before 9 a.m., but I could use about 20 extra minutes to ground myself for the day, before things get nutty. It means getting out the door 15 minutes earlier. I can find this.
19) Say “when.” I drink about once or twice a week. Mostly a couple of glasses of wine. Or a martini. But when I get together with friends, I have one or two more than I need. And so it’s not as though I’m getting sloshed or anything, but I’m at an age where one extra glass of wine, or one extra martini means I’m tired and slow the next day. It’s hard to realize that you just don’t metabolize alcohol the way you used to. I mean that literally. It’s hard and painful and usually means a lot of Diet Coke, something I gave up drinking with any sort of regularity a long time ago.
20) Remodel the bathrooms. Or at least tear down the awful wallpaper. The fixtures in our bathrooms are pretty cheap, and a big remodel will be needed for both, one of which will probably include a bigger remodel of the upstairs. Dare to dream.
21) Finalize will and life insurance. We need better life insurance. And a will that wasn’t done on a template on my computer.
22) Buy a new car. We just paid off our car, so of course I want a new one. It’s six years old, and it’s small, and my client is Chevy and I am in love with the new Equinox. And I’ve driven the total souped up version, which is the one I must have. I promised Scott, though, that we could wait until the Fall. It will be a long, hot summer.
23) Learn how to cook some new meals. I make most of our stuff from Clean Eating magazine, and anything that seems to go well together. Once a week, I should try something new. That takes some patience and skill.
24) More Glin time. The dog deserves more walks. I’m just saying. That big yard is great, but she loves a good walk.
25) Real bedding and linens. I don’t want to reveal the state of our towels and bedsheets. They’re fine, but perhaps it’s time to invest in a few more items.
26) Volunteer in the neighborhood. We just joined our local group, so this shouldn’t be too hard, but I really do want to meet some people in the area.
27) Go a week without spending money. I don’t mean on bills or gas or whatever, but on random things we just don’t need. 28) Give the money we don’t spend to a local charity.
29) Blog at least three times a week. We’ll see how this goes.
30) Hold my tongue. Oh, the gossipy mutterings that come from my mouth. So, so sad.
31) Make French fries. This seemed as good as any goal. Tastier, too.
32) Go on one of Margaret’s tours. Also bring people with me!
33) Finish using all of my Bikram and yoga pass classes. I have nine classes coming to me. This would help kill #5, too.
34) Relax. I take life way too seriously. Seriously.
