Here we go!

Happy New Year! 40 items for my 40th year!!

After reading through the 6,000 ideas in The Wish List by Barbara Ann Kipfer, and adding some of the ideas I already had...drum roll, please!...Here's the list! (I was very surprised to discover that Ms. Kipfer called the items in her book a to do list for life! Apparently, we think a lot alike, but I swear I came up with that idea before I ever even opened her book!) By the way, the list is in no particular order of when the items will be accomplished! Each will just happen as time and finances allow. And, if by chance I'm able to finish the entire list before the end of the year, then I will add some items to finish out the year! :)

(Done!)1. Volunteer at an animal shelter.
(Done!)2. Volunteer at a soup kitchen.
3. Deliver fresh flowers to a nursing home.
4. Read the complete works of Shakespeare.
(Done!)5. Trace my family tree.
6. Make charcoal rubbings of stones in a ghost town graveyard.
(Done! Sort of!)7. Take the train into New Orleans across Lake Pontchartrain on what was once the longest train bridge in the world.
8. Sell my crafts at a craft fair or online.
(Done!)9. Swim in a pool on a cruise ship.
(Done!)10. Stand on the shore and roar back at the ocean as loud as I can.
*(Done!)11. Sleep in a canopied four-poster bed. (Substituted for ride a fire engine.)
(Done!)12. Visit a new museum each month.
(Done!)13. Overtip.
(Done!)14. Attend the Texas State Fair in Dallas, the largest fair in the country.
15. Attain my official "ideal weight".
(Done!)16. Swim with dolphins.
17. Visit George Washington's home at Mount Vernon.
18. See the statue of Edgar Allen Poe in the Bronx, New York.
(Done!)19. Write a thank you letter to someone who influenced me.
(Done!)20. Write a fan letter to my favorite living author.
(Done!)21. Put a message in a bottle and float it out to sea.
(Done!)22. Go to the movies solo.
(Done!)23. Close my eyes, point to a place on a map, and go there.
(Done!)24. Sponsor a needy child.
(Done!)25. Get a professional facial.
(Done!)26. View the Perseid meteor shower in August.
(Done!)27. Eat barbecue at Arthur Bryant's in Kansas City.
28. Visit the site of the witch trials in Salem.
(Done!)29. Wear a propeller beanie for a day.
(Done!)30. Volunteer at a hospice.
(Done!)31. Eat beignets at the Cafe du Monde in New Orleans.
(Done!)32. Bake two dozen chocolate chip cookies and drop them off at a firehouse.
(Done!)33. Wear a gardenia in my hair for a day.
34. Browse through Moe's Bookstore in Berkeley.
(Done!)35. Attend a poetry reading.
36. Visit Bodie ghost town in CA.
(Done!)37. Have my palm read.
(Done!)38. Fire a gun.
39. Ride a Segway.
(Done!)40. Pay the highway toll for the car behind me.

How many goals should I try to accomplish in one year?

I started creating my list of items for my to do list for the year and I began to wonder how many would be enough that it would be a challenge, but not so many that I'll be majorly stressed out instead of having fun. Then it dawned on me that it would be a lot more interesting if other people made the choice for me! (This is a big deal for me because anyone who knows me, knows that I'm a total control freak!) So, I created a survey based on the weeks of the year. Since I'll still be working full-time, I knew trying to do 365 things would be impossible. Therefore, I went with weeks instead and used multiples of 52 for the survey choices that will have me working to accomplish one, two, or three items on the list each week.

Now, before you all go and click the biggest number (not that I'm trying to influence your vote at all!), let me add that I already have a list of 52 things and just those items will keep me very busy! But I really do want input, so the survey is open until 11:59pm on 12/31/09. On New Year's Day, I will post the number of items that got the most votes. I can't wait to see what the outcome will be!

In Preparation for a VERY Busy 2010!

This year I will be turning 40 and, more and more often, I find myself feeling that I've only accomplished a fraction of what I had hoped to by the time I reached that age. One of the many things that I have always been interested in doing is starting a blog, but I hadn't decided what to do it on. Plus, time was a huge factor for me since I spent the last year and a half finishing my master's degree in teaching. However, the other night, I watched the movie Julie & Julia and was inspired to get a blog started. I spent the last few days trying to decide on what it should focus on (because cooking is NOT my thing!) and was reading a book last night that mentioned a book call The Wish List. I'm very big on lists, so I ran out and bought the book today, along with a book on blogging and here I am!