38 for 38

Today is my birthday.

happycake

One of my favorite things about birthdays is that they are perfect time to reflect and dream and set goals (and I like reflecting and dreaming and setting goals). I’m making a bucket list this year.

  1. Finish the sock club for 2016.
  2. Try something new in knitting – charts, cables, magic loop – SOMETHING.
  3. Go social media free for one month and deactivate my FB account for at least two months.
  4. Have family pictures taken.
  5. Develop proficiency at backing up the boat trailer.
  6. >Get a mole screen.
  7. Take a long weekend for just myself.
  8. Mail one handwritten letter a month.
  9. Smoke no cigarettes. Not one drag. All year. (And then every year. Forever.)
  10. Refrain from chopping my hair into a pixie.
  11. Go to the library at least once a month.
  12. Drink more tea.
  13. Bring back the annual party.
  14. Get all my health indicator numbers within the healthy range.
  15. Make a consultation appointment (and follow through?) for tattoo removal.
  16. Clean out my closet.
  17. Practice unapologetic self confidence.This has been the most important thing I’ve practiced in my 38th year. I have a long, long, long way to go, but I’m so proud of how far I’ve come on this.
  18. Participate in a yarn swap.
  19. Update my list of home projects (and tackle a few of them).
  20. Buy myself fresh cut flowers once a month.
  21. Purge and donate books to the Friends of Library book sale.
  22. Add 3 indoor plants.
  23. Embroider something.
  24. Sew a quilt top. Have it made into a quilt. (Because I know my limits.)
  25. Practice daily gratitude.
  26. Go to Mass.
  27. Find a new pair of running shoes that doesn’t make my foot hurt.
  28. Buy a new purse.
  29. Have a one on one date with Violet.
  30. Have a one on one date with Abram.
  31. Rent a camera lens I’ve been wanting to try.
  32. Remember inertia. Stay active.
  33. Participate in Dry January.
  34. Try a new food.
  35. Have a stargazing date.
  36. Improve my flexibility.h
  37. Celebrate my people.

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  • I’m sorry I missed your birthday! Hope it was a happy one.

    I love your list. As I read down it, I kept thinking: She is my kind of people. This is an interesting way of creating a self-portrait. It’s funny how our aspirations reveal so much of who we are, even as they are about things we want to do (but don’t/haven’t). You have me thinking about what I’d put on such a list myself. Many of the same (or same kinds) of things. Is it OK if I say that #10 so surprised me? But then made me like you all the more. 🙂

    Reply

  • Thanks, Rita. It was a wonderful, low key day and I loved it.

    #10 has always been my guilty pleasure. I LOVED smoking. I just hated being a smoker (if that makes any sense to you, I don’t know) so I didn’t do it often and I tried to keep it hidden. I’ve quit multiple times for specific amounts of time, but I’ve never open ended “I’m going to quit”. I gave it up and February and I’m really missing it. It’s good to remind myself. 🙂

    Reply

    • I’ve never smoked cigarettes, so it’s a hard one for me to understand. When I was in high school, my best friend and her sister smoked clove cigarettes, and I loved the way they smelled. One time, when they left the room, I started to try to take a puff, but they came in and caught me and laughed at me–so I never even inhaled! I’ve always wondered what the appeal of regular cigarettes is. I guess I’ll never know! 🙂

      Reply

  • Happy belated birthday, Kate! I’m glad to hear it was a wonderful day 🙂 .

    I too, love lists like these — to me, they make a person more “real”, if that makes sense, something I think we could use a lot more of online 🙂 . Good luck, Kate — I hope that in a year’s time you see many, many checkmarks!

    Reply