Here is the long awaited, much anguished over, 40 things I want to see, do, or accomplish by the age of 40. I'm not sure how feasible doing all 40 things actually is, since some might negate others, but I'll do my best.
40 X 40 (in no particular order, * are the ones I plan to accomplish this year, Green = In Progress)
1. Visit Australia
2. Finally lose the weight (and maintain it)*
3. Get Published, (any publishing credit will do here)*
4.Run a 5k (actually run it, competitively)*
5. Visit Canada
6. Go see Mount Rushmore
7. Take a zipline tour (I've ziplined, but never on one of these tours) (and I stole this idea because it is a good one)
8. Finish the Ed.D.
9. Run a 10 K*
10. Run a 1/2 Marathon
11. Run a full marathon
12. Get my Master Reading Teacher Certification
13. Go to NYC
14. Visit California (preferably here or here)
15. Go Camping in the Grand Canyon, donkey ride and all (seen it from the top twice, but never from the bottom)
16. Visit the Smithsonian
17. Go Zorbing
18. Pay off all Credit Card Debt
19. Pay off the House (not sure how I will do this with all the travel I have planned)
20. Spend a Thanksgiving (or two) volunteering.
21. Visit Seattle
22. Visit Alaska (might be able to mark 21 and 22 off with one trip)
23. Throw a surprise party for someone.
24. Learn another Language (most likely Spanish)
25. Have an all out spa day
26. Build THE closet (#4 is most like what I want)
27. Take a pottery class (you know with the wheel and all)
28. Visit the Ozarks
29. Have a totally organic raised bed garden
30.Build a fort in the backyard*
31. Add a bathroom on the down stairs (we NEED a guest bathroom down here)
32. Kitchen reno, (I swear some dorm rooms have bigger kitchens than I do)
33. wind tunneling
34. Trapeze School
35. Anonymously buy someone's dinner (like choose a random family at a restaurant and pay for their meal)
36. Take a Wine Tasting Class
37. Wear a bathing suit in public (Making #'s 38 and 2 a prerequisite)
38. ELECTROLYSIS (I'm of German decent and that is all I will say)
39. Become a Child Advocate
40. Visit Europe (with the kids this time)
And there you have it, a list (comprised mostly of travel, ambitions and personal dares) that I will work towards until MARCH 3, 2017
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Nothing says 'I love you' like roses from Wal-Mart
Today is my 11 year wedding anniversary. I can't spend much time with the hubs today because of his work schedule, but I am totally okay with that. After 11 years of being married I am more than happy to have a few evenings alone on the couch, even if it falls on my anniversary. Typically we don't buy each other gifts due to this date's close proximity to Christmas. We are often too gun shy with the cash to do anything big. Occasionally we go to my favorite place for a nice dinner, but since I am trying to be mostly meatless now even that is not going to happen. sigh.
Despite our lackluster idea of celebration I did wake up to a dozen roses and a very sweet card. I mean nothing says "hey guess what, we've been married for 11 years" like a dozen roses from the wal-mart. Despite my extreme and deep loathing of all things wal-mart, I will accept tokens of affection purchased from the depths of Hell.
Really it didn't matter to me what he bought or where he bought it, the fact that the man still loves me so unconditionally makes me wax sentimental. Seriously, I'm a terrible wife, prone to sweeping periods of depression, and sporadic weight gain, I go on manic kicks of (insert current project here) that I completely expect everyone to cater to, I bitch non-stop about the ridiculous amount of laundry produced by my cohabitant and offspring, I say yes when I mean no, and no when I mean yes, I occasionally wonder (out-loud) what might have been if I had in fact chosen door number two so many years ago, my ambitions and expectations have changed more than I care to admit, I have nontraditional views on marriage and monogamy, and often I respond to "I Love You" with "thank you" at least 3 times more than the obvious "I Love You Too." Yet he is still here, keeping me in check, humoring me with lengthy conversations, shrugging off any outburst or tirade with an "are you done now?" calling me out when he can tell that I think I'm above whatever situation I am in, and really, truly not giving a second thought to my sub-par physique.
I am lucky, I know that I am.
Despite all my flaws, I still got a card today that said "I have loved you for 15 years, and I will love you for the rest of my life" and to that I say, "Thank you."
Despite our lackluster idea of celebration I did wake up to a dozen roses and a very sweet card. I mean nothing says "hey guess what, we've been married for 11 years" like a dozen roses from the wal-mart. Despite my extreme and deep loathing of all things wal-mart, I will accept tokens of affection purchased from the depths of Hell.
Really it didn't matter to me what he bought or where he bought it, the fact that the man still loves me so unconditionally makes me wax sentimental. Seriously, I'm a terrible wife, prone to sweeping periods of depression, and sporadic weight gain, I go on manic kicks of (insert current project here) that I completely expect everyone to cater to, I bitch non-stop about the ridiculous amount of laundry produced by my cohabitant and offspring, I say yes when I mean no, and no when I mean yes, I occasionally wonder (out-loud) what might have been if I had in fact chosen door number two so many years ago, my ambitions and expectations have changed more than I care to admit, I have nontraditional views on marriage and monogamy, and often I respond to "I Love You" with "thank you" at least 3 times more than the obvious "I Love You Too." Yet he is still here, keeping me in check, humoring me with lengthy conversations, shrugging off any outburst or tirade with an "are you done now?" calling me out when he can tell that I think I'm above whatever situation I am in, and really, truly not giving a second thought to my sub-par physique.
I am lucky, I know that I am.
Despite all my flaws, I still got a card today that said "I have loved you for 15 years, and I will love you for the rest of my life" and to that I say, "Thank you."
Saturday, January 9, 2010
7 on 7 (really on 9)
As promised (mostly to myself) I'm reporting my progress on achieving my resolutions. Last night I was reminded, by my 8 year old that "last year we all made resolutions, and never thought about them again." Yes kid, I know I'm a failure as a mom, got it!
Any way, here's just a quick update (I mean because really, it has only been a week).
1. Healthy BMI...I joined a biggest Loser competition at work, we'll see how that goes.
2. Take better care of my health...This is really boring, but I do have a check-up scheduled for the 20th of this month.
3. Pay off debt, well we are working on this. I put us on a budget, and have a lot of money going into savings to be put on our debt at the end of each month. This month, however, it will all be going to pay our property taxes and for some emergency plumbing and pool repairs.
4. Take care of my relationships, not yet addressed....
5. Run in competitive races...I have been training with my neighbor for our first 5k of this year (mar. 6)
6. Acknowledge B-days....(happy birthday if today is your day)....check
7. Get organized....I have been working on this, but since I'm the only person in the house that thinks this is important, it is an uphill battle. I"m seriously considering asking for a consultation with a professional organizer as one of my birthday gifts.
As for the 40 before 40, I'm still working on that, it's harder than you might think!
Any way, here's just a quick update (I mean because really, it has only been a week).
1. Healthy BMI...I joined a biggest Loser competition at work, we'll see how that goes.
2. Take better care of my health...This is really boring, but I do have a check-up scheduled for the 20th of this month.
3. Pay off debt, well we are working on this. I put us on a budget, and have a lot of money going into savings to be put on our debt at the end of each month. This month, however, it will all be going to pay our property taxes and for some emergency plumbing and pool repairs.
4. Take care of my relationships, not yet addressed....
5. Run in competitive races...I have been training with my neighbor for our first 5k of this year (mar. 6)
6. Acknowledge B-days....(happy birthday if today is your day)....check
7. Get organized....I have been working on this, but since I'm the only person in the house that thinks this is important, it is an uphill battle. I"m seriously considering asking for a consultation with a professional organizer as one of my birthday gifts.
As for the 40 before 40, I'm still working on that, it's harder than you might think!
Friday, January 8, 2010
Resolution Review
Will post later! I was up late watching the game, you know the one where Colt McCoy pussed out, and Alabama beat the true freshmen, 2nd string quarterback! Will update on my resolutions (all 7 days of them) this afternoon.
Friday, January 1, 2010
Resolutions....UGH
Okay, I'm doing this, AGAIN. The resolutions I've come up with are not very original (at least according to USA.gov, but .....whatever!) I'm trying to put them in positive terms e.g "I will" instead of "I won't" I"m not really sure why other than it seems like the thing to do.
So here goes.
I will:
1. Finally get down to a healthy BMI. Which will probably mean losing at least 50 pounds, but I guess I won't really know until I get there.
2. Take better care of my health via, cholesterol checks, dental exams, and get a physical (not just the v-jay checkup).
3. Pay off at least $25,000 of our debt (this requires some cooperation from the Hub, but he says he is on board)
4. Take care of my relationships, e.g. return phone calls, make an effort to spend time with the people that I have lost touch with. Yes you, you know who you are.
5. Run (not walk) in at least 3 competitive races, one of which will be a 10 K. (this one is a repeat of last year, which was a FAIL for me)
6. Acknowledge birthdays and important dates for the people in my life (I'm stealing this one from Monike)
7. Get organized (I may be genetically predisposed to disorganization)
and that's it. 7 is A lot of resolutions for someone who never sticks to anything, but if you notice many of them are interconnected , so sticking to one will help achieve some of the others. Also, I will update my progress (or *ahem* lack thereof) on these resolutions on the 7th of every month. Even if I am failing miserably, I'm still gonna fess up.
I'm also working on a list of 40 things I want to accomplish before I'm 40, and those will take the place of new year's resolutions for the next 7 or so years! I'll post them soon.
HAPPY 2010!
So here goes.
I will:
1. Finally get down to a healthy BMI. Which will probably mean losing at least 50 pounds, but I guess I won't really know until I get there.
2. Take better care of my health via, cholesterol checks, dental exams, and get a physical (not just the v-jay checkup).
3. Pay off at least $25,000 of our debt (this requires some cooperation from the Hub, but he says he is on board)
4. Take care of my relationships, e.g. return phone calls, make an effort to spend time with the people that I have lost touch with. Yes you, you know who you are.
5. Run (not walk) in at least 3 competitive races, one of which will be a 10 K. (this one is a repeat of last year, which was a FAIL for me)
6. Acknowledge birthdays and important dates for the people in my life (I'm stealing this one from Monike)
7. Get organized (I may be genetically predisposed to disorganization)
and that's it. 7 is A lot of resolutions for someone who never sticks to anything, but if you notice many of them are interconnected , so sticking to one will help achieve some of the others. Also, I will update my progress (or *ahem* lack thereof) on these resolutions on the 7th of every month. Even if I am failing miserably, I'm still gonna fess up.
I'm also working on a list of 40 things I want to accomplish before I'm 40, and those will take the place of new year's resolutions for the next 7 or so years! I'll post them soon.
HAPPY 2010!
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Eat my Meat
Be forewarned that this post is not so exciting!
Okay so I "gave up " meat for the month of December (except for the 1/2 piece of bacon I had on 12/26 and the Quarter pounder I ordered from McDonald's on 12/27 without even thinking, but I'm choosing not to count either of those transgressions) and it wasn't really all that hard. I have never been a big meat eater, though I really LOVE fajitas and chick-fil-a (just not at the same time). I even spent a couple years in college living in a vegetarian (among other things) co-op, which is where I really learned to love cooking, so giving up meat isn't really all that big of a sacrifice for me. Having said all that, I don't know that I will be able to fully commit to a meatless life right away because I'm just not good enough with food to know how to go completely without it.
Some of my hangups are, going out to eat and finding easy and tasty sources of meatless lean protein.
Starting with the former, we go out to eat WAYYYYYYYYY too much. If I'm being honest I bet I eat about 15 meals a week from restaurants (mostly breakfast from Starbucks, lunch from various sources and an occasional dinner out). A lot of restaurants do have vegetarian options, but they are so greasy and cheesy and otherwise chock full o' fat that I think I'd just rather order a chicken breast and get it over with. Assuming I am going to stick to my New year's resolutions (which I will post later) my going out to eat should drastically reduce almost immediately. It is a big assumption considering 2009's resolution FAIL, but I'll think positive......for once.
Now to the latter, finding sources of lean protein. Another of my new year's resolutions will have to do with my diet (an original concept I know) so I do need to focus on finding meat alternatives. I'm not super keen on filling my diet full of soy products, though I will eat some. From what I can tell the jury is still out on the risk/benefit analysis of soy consumption, so I don't want to go crazy with the tofu and soy meats. I know there are other, meat free sources of lean protein, but I need to do some research to learn how to incorporate them into my diet. I do think I will end up eating chicken a few times a week until I can come up with something better.
As to the reasons why I'm trying to go meat free, well there are a few of those...
1. Reducing meat consumption is an easy way to go green, assuming you can replace meat with less carbon-costly foods. This is my weakest reason, I know, but a reason nonetheless.
2. I guess I've jumped on the Pollan band wagon (In defense of food, The Omnivore's Dilemma, and Food Inc.) and have learned a little too much about the meat industry, and the way the animals and workers are treated to continue, to eat meat with reckless abandon. (yes, reckless abandon is how I approach most eating endeavors)
3. Possibly most important to me, I like the way removing meat from my diet, reduces my food options. I really like food and rarely limit myself to eating only what I need for sustenance, so choosing to go meatless most of the time helps me to stop and really think about what I am eating.
And there you have it... Resolutions to come.
Okay so I "gave up " meat for the month of December (except for the 1/2 piece of bacon I had on 12/26 and the Quarter pounder I ordered from McDonald's on 12/27 without even thinking, but I'm choosing not to count either of those transgressions) and it wasn't really all that hard. I have never been a big meat eater, though I really LOVE fajitas and chick-fil-a (just not at the same time). I even spent a couple years in college living in a vegetarian (among other things) co-op, which is where I really learned to love cooking, so giving up meat isn't really all that big of a sacrifice for me. Having said all that, I don't know that I will be able to fully commit to a meatless life right away because I'm just not good enough with food to know how to go completely without it.
Some of my hangups are, going out to eat and finding easy and tasty sources of meatless lean protein.
Starting with the former, we go out to eat WAYYYYYYYYY too much. If I'm being honest I bet I eat about 15 meals a week from restaurants (mostly breakfast from Starbucks, lunch from various sources and an occasional dinner out). A lot of restaurants do have vegetarian options, but they are so greasy and cheesy and otherwise chock full o' fat that I think I'd just rather order a chicken breast and get it over with. Assuming I am going to stick to my New year's resolutions (which I will post later) my going out to eat should drastically reduce almost immediately. It is a big assumption considering 2009's resolution FAIL, but I'll think positive......for once.
Now to the latter, finding sources of lean protein. Another of my new year's resolutions will have to do with my diet (an original concept I know) so I do need to focus on finding meat alternatives. I'm not super keen on filling my diet full of soy products, though I will eat some. From what I can tell the jury is still out on the risk/benefit analysis of soy consumption, so I don't want to go crazy with the tofu and soy meats. I know there are other, meat free sources of lean protein, but I need to do some research to learn how to incorporate them into my diet. I do think I will end up eating chicken a few times a week until I can come up with something better.
As to the reasons why I'm trying to go meat free, well there are a few of those...
1. Reducing meat consumption is an easy way to go green, assuming you can replace meat with less carbon-costly foods. This is my weakest reason, I know, but a reason nonetheless.
2. I guess I've jumped on the Pollan band wagon (In defense of food, The Omnivore's Dilemma, and Food Inc.) and have learned a little too much about the meat industry, and the way the animals and workers are treated to continue, to eat meat with reckless abandon. (yes, reckless abandon is how I approach most eating endeavors)
3. Possibly most important to me, I like the way removing meat from my diet, reduces my food options. I really like food and rarely limit myself to eating only what I need for sustenance, so choosing to go meatless most of the time helps me to stop and really think about what I am eating.
And there you have it... Resolutions to come.
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
The Week of Suck & Resolutions
Welcome to The Week of Suck, Dec 26- Dec 31, No it doesn't mean what my husband wishes it did, but rather, it's quite possibly the worst week of the entire year because everything, well, sucks.
Christmas is over, and even if you weren't let down by lame gifts, whiny kids and asshole relatives, the exhale from all the Christmas anticipation is rather high on the suck list. Add to that the fake merriment of the impending new year, which I'm sorry, is just a lot of fuss over nothing in particular, and the upcoming month of January with weather that is mostly crappy and cold and you have a recipe for a pretty crappy few days.
Rather high my list of reason why the week after Xmas sucks is all the talk of new year's resolutions. I mean really, goals that begin on some symbolic date that we have senselessly attached way too much meaning to, are no more accomplishable (did I just make up a word?) than goals that begin on any other arbitrary date. Why are so many of us so willing to subscribe to such a stupid ritual??? Well I don't have the answer to that, but I'm sure if you go back 12 months on this blog you will see that I set some resolutions this past Jan. and well, since I can't even remember what they were I guess I don't have to tell you how successful I was in achieving them..... Maybe I'm bitter, maybe I am using sarcasm to hide the disappointment I feel about not achieving the goals I set for myself, maybe I'm getting crotchety in my old age, or maybe I'm just practical and straightforward about my own participation in something that I see as pointless.
Nevertheless, I will once again attempt to, try to, resolve to make changes in myself, if not for any other reason that to try to participate more fully in this human experience....
As for what my resolutions will be, well I'll have to get back to you on that one, but rest assured, I will.... I know you will be on the edge of your seat until then.
Christmas is over, and even if you weren't let down by lame gifts, whiny kids and asshole relatives, the exhale from all the Christmas anticipation is rather high on the suck list. Add to that the fake merriment of the impending new year, which I'm sorry, is just a lot of fuss over nothing in particular, and the upcoming month of January with weather that is mostly crappy and cold and you have a recipe for a pretty crappy few days.
Rather high my list of reason why the week after Xmas sucks is all the talk of new year's resolutions. I mean really, goals that begin on some symbolic date that we have senselessly attached way too much meaning to, are no more accomplishable (did I just make up a word?) than goals that begin on any other arbitrary date. Why are so many of us so willing to subscribe to such a stupid ritual??? Well I don't have the answer to that, but I'm sure if you go back 12 months on this blog you will see that I set some resolutions this past Jan. and well, since I can't even remember what they were I guess I don't have to tell you how successful I was in achieving them..... Maybe I'm bitter, maybe I am using sarcasm to hide the disappointment I feel about not achieving the goals I set for myself, maybe I'm getting crotchety in my old age, or maybe I'm just practical and straightforward about my own participation in something that I see as pointless.
Nevertheless, I will once again attempt to, try to, resolve to make changes in myself, if not for any other reason that to try to participate more fully in this human experience....
As for what my resolutions will be, well I'll have to get back to you on that one, but rest assured, I will.... I know you will be on the edge of your seat until then.
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