40 at 40

Sally: [Crying hysterically] And I'm going to be 40!

Harry: When?

Sally: Someday!

Harry: In eight years!

Sally: But it's there! It's lie a big dead end!

When Harry Met Sally - a movie that I could watch over and over. Alas, Sally's eight years are up for me. In 6 short months I will be 40. All of me is vacillating between 'No big deal, just a number' and AH! What have I done with the last 40 years?' and '40 is the new 30.' All of these things are true and untrue and all of them matter.

To help guide myself through this year I have decided to come up with a 40 at 40 list. I would like to think that I will be able to achieve completing my list by October 22, but realistically I am not sure. But at the end of this process, I think that what I hope to achieve most is to become more of a goal setter/goal conquerer.

The List

 ~ whole30

 ~ 30 days of yoga

 ~ run a 5k

 ~ read a classic novel (Jane Austen)

 ~ blog 4 or more times a week

 ~ sing karaoke

 ~ volunteer

 ~ take a writing class

 ~ finalize our will

 ~ one week of vegetarianism

 ~ get another tattoo

 ~ cross-stitch 19 bookmarks for Christmas

 ~ go geocaching

 ~ pay for a house cleaning the week of my birthday

 ~ combine past 401k’s

 ~ attend a religious service (Hindu, Muslim, Judaism…) different from my own

 ~ watch 5 documentaries

 ~ ask for forgiveness

 ~ send 40 postcards/letters

 ~ become proficient at a Zumba class

 ~ dye a bright color strip in my hair

 ~ watch 40 of the AFI top 100 films (0 of 40)

 ~ watch all seasons of Breaking Bad

 ~ solidify a plan to take the GRE and apply to grad school

 ~ donate blood

 ~ paint the porch

 ~ subscribe to The Week and read it cover to cover

 ~ purge 1/4 of my closet

 ~ visit 4 Iowa waterfalls

 ~ go hiking at 5 state parks (Ledges, Backbone, Pikes Peak, Maquoketa Caves, & Effigy Mounds)

 ~ paddle board

 ~ take the boys horse back riding

 ~ learn to row (join DMRC)

 ~ try Tai Chi

 ~ create a playlist of my 40 favorite songs

 ~ fly a kite

 ~ organize drawer of pictures

 ~ go on a picnic with a basket, bottle of wine and glass glasses

 ~ learn to bake whole wheat bread 

 ~ take time to meditate 

I'm excited to begin this journey and I am excited to blog again. Part of blogging is knowing that my kids will have some semblance of a baby book that they will be able to look back on.