This blog started as a list of 45 things to do before I turned 45 years old. I'm about 44 and a half and...well...I've done some of these things. But the truth is, some of these things are just burdens to me. I'm not really interested in a few of these. I think that I may have put them on my list just to add to my list. In fact, creating this list has proved to be the most daunting task of all.
And then there's the very possible reality that I won't accomplish some of these things. What happens then? Will I feel guilt? Defeat? Shame?
So, this list needs a REAL update. I hereby do officially absolve myself of the burden of some of these things which have now become chores instead of "Bucket List" type tasks.
The List
1. Lose at least 45 pounds. Keep working on this! I'll probably be working on this forever!
2. Finish reading Dante's Divine Comedy. Keep working on this because it is something that I REALLY want to do and... be done with this stupid thing!
3. Finish reading the books on my nightstand:
A Land Remembered DONE!
Follow the River DONE
Winning at Losing Keep working on this! It's a smallish book.
Cigar City DONE!
Sea Glass DONE!
Who Let the Dogs Out DONE!
and all of the magazines and catalogs I've hoarded. Keep working on this! I've allowed all of my subscriptions to run out and only have about 8 magazines left in the whole house.
4. Finish the Dalmatian quilt I started about 10 years ago. Keep working on this! The lame truth is that I do this in my guest room and it makes a huge mess and I hate leaving the mess but I hate cleaning it up and I'm currently working on a puzzle in the guest room and...and...and...I'll do the quilt later.
5.Swim with manatees at Crystal River. Honestly, I don't really care about this much. I have so much fun paddle boarding in the water in front of my house. I've seen manatee, sea turtles, dolphins... and I just don't care about going to Crystal River to swim in water that is roped off from the manatees. So, I'm leaving this on just in case. On second thought....nah. It's gone.
6. Stand up paddle board launched from the shoreline in front of my house. DONE!
7. Kayak in Tampa Bay. DONE!
8. Give up coffee, sugar, artificial foods for a certain period of time. I'm going to call this one "DONE". I wrote this too vaguely. I have given up coffee for over a year. I no longer use sweetener in coffee/tea. But the "best" thing that I did that is kind of in this vein is to give up shampoo, conditioner, and toothpaste! As of this moment, I haven't used shampoo or conditioner in a few months and I'm currently washing my hair with water only. There's gobs of blogs out there about this so I'm not going to do my own. I've stopped using store bought toothpaste too. I use a mixture of coconut oil and baking soda.
10. Shoot a gun, bow and arrow. DONE!
11. Be binge free for a certain number of days. Again, I wrote this one too vaguely. I'll probably be working on this forever! I am getting some what better at walking away from the 4th slice of pizza, the extra serving of pasta... (But, ice cream, yogurt, cake, tortilla chips, handfuls of nuts..not so much.) When I wrote this I think my biggest issue was extra bowls of cereal. Now that is something I've stopped! I haven't had a bowl of cereal in A-G-E-S!!!
12. Go to OA and get a sponsor. I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with OA. The meeting that I was attending wasn't my type of people. But, that was the meeting that worked for me as far as location and time. The phone-in meetings are "good" except that I often zone out/lose focus and basically NEVER share anything. I went through a lot of the "steps" and read the literature. But, the most helpful OA type thing that I do is read OA and Food Addict Facebook pages. As far as getting a sponsor, I think that the typical "find someone who has what you want" is a real challenge when I don't attend meetings regularly. So, I'm OK with doing what I'm doing and just leaving it at that. And running many of the cliché one-liners over and over on a loop in my head. Plus my husband has become like a sponsor for me and that is better than some stranger.
13. Floss daily for a certain period of time. Keep working on this! With my no toothpaste discovery came oil pulling and a water pick. I still floss, water pick, and oil pull but the problem is that I don't do any one of those with a set in stone regularity. Some days I do all three, some days, just the oil pulling, some days nothing, etc. So, I'll keep working on this!
14. Go without TV for a month. For Lent, I gave up watching "excessive TV" and limited myself to watching Project Runway and NASCAR. I was already watching Project Runway and didn't want to quit part way through and then binge watch once Lent was over. And NASCAR, well, most of the races during the Lenten season were on a rain delay. So, the truth is, I didn't have much racing to watch any way. Now we are more than half way through the racing season and the TV coverage has shifted away from FOX and that's my favorite which means that I don't bother watching/taping the races any longer. So, is this one a "DONE"? Kind of. We are going to England soon and that might be a good just start for a true month with no TV. ???
15.Visit my grandparent's graves. The reason for giving this up is because my thought process has shifted. I love my grandparents! I still do. I've seen their graves. I don't NEED to see that stone again. I NEED to keep them in my heart.
16.Roller skate down Bayshore Blvd. I got rid of my roller skates. They didn't fit and were hugely uncomfortable. So, buh-bye to this "chore".
17.Do a piece of stained glass. I'm letting this one go. I love my sea glass and all of my art and I just don't need another arty hobby! I've got boxes of beads, sea glass, needlepoint, counted cross stitch, coloring books, gardening, writing blogs, writing lessons, cooking, collecting beach treasures...
18. Learn how to French braid. DONE!
19.Do the splits. and 20. Do a head stand. I'm not giving up on these two but ... OK .... Fine ... Back on the list.
19. Do the splits.
20. Do a head stand. Keep
21.Have professional photos made of our family. The truth is, I kinda hate family photos when they're all phony and in some corny location with matchy clothes. And the real truth is I'm a bit of a photo diva. I could point n shoot and use some funky filter. I like the pictures that I take better! I love candid shots and so...off the list!
22. Ride a Segway. DONE!
23. Be a better listener. Keep working on this! I really should sign up for a class or Lumosity or something.
24.Do the NASCAR Experience or at least have my dad do it. Meh.
25. Complete the Sudoku, word search, and crossword puzzles I started but never finished. Keep working on this!
26. What was here?
27. And here?
28. Watch "classic" movies. DONE! I watched movies many weekend mornings...sometimes alone but many times with a fellow early riser and movie buff extraordinaire. I feel pretty learned at this point.
29. Learn to do a really loud whistle. Keep working on this! Stupid whistle. I watched a million YouTube videos and still can't do this with any real skill. My daughter, however, learned how to do it! That's so cool!
30. Bike ride across the state of Florida. Keep working on this! I probably won't do this before I'm 45, but this is something that I'd still like to do and I'm not willing to let this go. My husband and I talk about doing this some times and I do think that we will really do it.
2. Finish reading Dante's Divine Comedy.
3. Finish reading the books on my nightstand: Winning at Losing and all of the magazines and catalogs I've hoarded.
4. Finish the Dalmatian quilt I started about 10 years ago.
5. Be binge free fora certain number of days 30 days. "Binge" defined as mindless hand over fist overeating.
6. Floss daily fora certain period of time 30 days (and hopefully more!).
7. Go without TV for a month.
8. Do the splits.
9. Do a head stand.
10. Be a better listener.
11. Complete the Sudoku, word search, and crossword puzzles I started but never finished.
12. Learn to do a really loud whistle.
13. Bike ride across the state of Florida.
2. Finish reading Dante's Divine Comedy. Keep working on this because it is something that I REALLY want to do and... be done with this stupid thing!
3. Finish reading the books on my nightstand:
A Land Remembered DONE!
Follow the River DONE
Winning at Losing Keep working on this! It's a smallish book.
Cigar City DONE!
Sea Glass DONE!
Who Let the Dogs Out DONE!
and all of the magazines and catalogs I've hoarded. Keep working on this! I've allowed all of my subscriptions to run out and only have about 8 magazines left in the whole house.
4. Finish the Dalmatian quilt I started about 10 years ago. Keep working on this! The lame truth is that I do this in my guest room and it makes a huge mess and I hate leaving the mess but I hate cleaning it up and I'm currently working on a puzzle in the guest room and...and...and...I'll do the quilt later.
5.
6. Stand up paddle board launched from the shoreline in front of my house. DONE!
7. Kayak in Tampa Bay. DONE!
8. Give up coffee, sugar, artificial foods for a certain period of time. I'm going to call this one "DONE". I wrote this too vaguely. I have given up coffee for over a year. I no longer use sweetener in coffee/tea. But the "best" thing that I did that is kind of in this vein is to give up shampoo, conditioner, and toothpaste! As of this moment, I haven't used shampoo or conditioner in a few months and I'm currently washing my hair with water only. There's gobs of blogs out there about this so I'm not going to do my own. I've stopped using store bought toothpaste too. I use a mixture of coconut oil and baking soda.
10. Shoot a gun, bow and arrow. DONE!
11. Be binge free for a certain number of days. Again, I wrote this one too vaguely. I'll probably be working on this forever! I am getting some what better at walking away from the 4th slice of pizza, the extra serving of pasta... (But, ice cream, yogurt, cake, tortilla chips, handfuls of nuts..not so much.) When I wrote this I think my biggest issue was extra bowls of cereal. Now that is something I've stopped! I haven't had a bowl of cereal in A-G-E-S!!!
12.
13. Floss daily for a certain period of time. Keep working on this! With my no toothpaste discovery came oil pulling and a water pick. I still floss, water pick, and oil pull but the problem is that I don't do any one of those with a set in stone regularity. Some days I do all three, some days, just the oil pulling, some days nothing, etc. So, I'll keep working on this!
14. Go without TV for a month. For Lent, I gave up watching "excessive TV" and limited myself to watching Project Runway and NASCAR. I was already watching Project Runway and didn't want to quit part way through and then binge watch once Lent was over. And NASCAR, well, most of the races during the Lenten season were on a rain delay. So, the truth is, I didn't have much racing to watch any way. Now we are more than half way through the racing season and the TV coverage has shifted away from FOX and that's my favorite which means that I don't bother watching/taping the races any longer. So, is this one a "DONE"? Kind of. We are going to England soon and that might be a good just start for a true month with no TV. ???
15.
16.
17.
18. Learn how to French braid. DONE!
19.
19. Do the splits.
20. Do a head stand. Keep
21.
22. Ride a Segway. DONE!
23. Be a better listener. Keep working on this! I really should sign up for a class or Lumosity or something.
24.
25. Complete the Sudoku, word search, and crossword puzzles I started but never finished. Keep working on this!
26. What was here?
27. And here?
28. Watch "classic" movies. DONE! I watched movies many weekend mornings...sometimes alone but many times with a fellow early riser and movie buff extraordinaire. I feel pretty learned at this point.
29. Learn to do a really loud whistle. Keep working on this! Stupid whistle. I watched a million YouTube videos and still can't do this with any real skill. My daughter, however, learned how to do it! That's so cool!
30. Bike ride across the state of Florida. Keep working on this! I probably won't do this before I'm 45, but this is something that I'd still like to do and I'm not willing to let this go. My husband and I talk about doing this some times and I do think that we will really do it.
The Updated* List
*Done, deleted, and renumbered
1. Lose at least 45 pounds.2. Finish reading Dante's Divine Comedy.
3. Finish reading the books on my nightstand: Winning at Losing and all of the magazines and catalogs I've hoarded.
4. Finish the Dalmatian quilt I started about 10 years ago.
5. Be binge free for
6. Floss daily for
7. Go without TV for a month.
8. Do the splits.
9. Do a head stand.
10. Be a better listener.
11. Complete the Sudoku, word search, and crossword puzzles I started but never finished.
12. Learn to do a really loud whistle.
13. Bike ride across the state of Florida.
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| A Yale lecture series I've watched. |
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| A million hours of listening to the audio book. |
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| And I'm only about 20% done. |
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| I take copious notes! |
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| This is supposed to be fun! |
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| Oh joy! |
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