It occurred to me the other day that I am just two months away from my birthday and, yet, I am certainly not 5/6 of the way through my annual birthday list. In fact, I’m not ever quite a 1/3 of the way through the list. Now, I could panic. But that’s not what the list is for. In fact, I’ve never completely finished the list. Instead, I decided to pull out the list and check out where things stand. The scratched out items are done. Hooray. The bolded items are well on their way and will likely be crossed out by the time I blow out candles on November 18th. And the other items, well, they aren’t happening right now and likely won’t be happening by November 18th, if I am totally honest (which I tried to be with this once over). For one, I’ve realized that I don’t really need to have items on MY list that impact other people’s lives signficantly or are reliant on other people completely telling me yes (ie: my mom needs to be on board with me cleaning our her attic and she is SO not on board with that. That her attic stresses me out is my problem, not hers.). So that’s a lesson I’ll take forward when I make next year’s list. I’ve also realized that I don’t need any more chores in my life– as a parent, wife, and professional, I have enough responsibilities so this list doesn’t need to be a chorey as it was in years past, it actually needs to be about giving me more of what I want in my life and less “you really should do this as a responsible adult”. There are also a few things on here that will be done by the end of the calendar year but just not my birthday- the timeline is skewed but not the intention, if you will. Given all that, I’m now using this review of the list as a reminder to get cracking and enjoy the stuff I’m really excited about on the list.
Did you make a list this year? How’s it going? Any suggestions for me on items on my list?
1. Learn how to stand up paddle board
2. Organize My Parents’ Attic
3. Organize Mom and Dad’s House
4. Make Art
5. Read 37 Books
6. Create/ Nurture Family Customs and Rituals
7. Create a Perfect Back Porch Space
8. Take Dad to a Panthers Game
9. Treat mom to something special
10. Create More Leisure Time
11. Learn How to Roast a Chicken
12. Take a Personal Retreat
13. Run 6 miles
14. Go to Trapeze School
15. Finish Novel
16. Go Sugar Free for Two Weeks
17. Try Acupuncture
18. Wean Our Possessions
19. Learn to Change Tires on My Car and Bike
20. Spend a Night Away from son with BF
21. Research Adoption Options
22. Learn about College Savings Plans
23. Do some strategic planning for Circle de Luz
24. Have a Backyard Garden
25. Encourage Son to be a Great Eater
26. Go through the Clothes I Own
27. Make a Vision Board
28. Do 10 Days of Real Food
29. Get a new book contract
30. Take a cooking class
31. Clean out our attic
32. Live debt-free (other than mortgage)
33. Go to at least 5 presentations/ readings/ performance
34. Expand cooking repertoire
35. Develop my photography skills
36. Get a new computer
37. Update my professional vision and plan
I’m a new reader of your blog and I noticed that you had 37 items in your list and that one of them was to read 37 books. I’ve been finding a powerful resonance in the number 37 recently, myself — I’ve been posting lists of “37 things I love right now” on my blog the last couple weeks — so I am curious if there’s a particular significance to 37 for you too.
I made a list of 100 things to do this year, at the beginning of the year…and item #100 was “Accomplish 50% of the things on this list”. 😉
Oliver, I just went and checked out your blog for a second— and I love it. I’m going to check it out more but I wanted to answer you. 37 is related to my age– every year, I write a list on my birthday of a number of things (corresponding to how old I’ve just turned) to before my next birthday. So this year’s list was 37. That said, my favorite number is 87. So I think I love uneven numbers in general and 7 in particular. And your #100 on your list makes me so happy– that’s TOTALLY brilliant. Look forward to hearing more from you and reading your blog, too!
Okay, the one that jumped off the page for me was Trapeze School!! Awesome list, Rosie! (And a P.S. to Oliver — #100 on your list IS a stroke of genius!!)