Tuesday, January 16, 2007

thirty-nine for 39

In honor of my birthday, here are 39 things I hope to do in the next year of my life! It will be fun to look back and see how many of these I actually accomplish. (Last edited on Jan. 1, 2008)

1. Replace the living room drapes. Done in April!

2. Fit into my size 6 jeans. Done! Feb. 4 ... I wore them to a Superbowl party.

3. Walk on the Oregon coast. Didn't happen ... but I'm glad I did make it to Oregon.

4. Take a writing class at the Loft. Didn't happen.

5. Throw a 1-year birthday party for Daniel on Saturday, Aug. 25. Did it!

6. Organize my photo CDs. Sort of done ...

7. Ruthlessly give away clothes that don't fit me anymore (or that I don't love). Getting done ...

8. Buy shelves for the basement/family room and move all our extra stuff onto them (and off the ground). Done in August!

9. Tell the people I love that I love them (more often). I hope I am ...

10. Write, in my journal, five things I'm grateful for each day. Whoa, Nelly. This one ended before the end of January, I'm afraid.

11. Finish reading Jane Austen's Emma, which I started the week before Daniel was born and didn't get back to. Didn't happen.

12. Take Daniel to the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. Jan. 25: Done! (And more than once ...)

13. Floss my teeth every day. So far so good ... give or take a day.

14. Keep eating whole grains instead of white grains. So far so good ...

15. Get pregnant again, this time by accident. :) Yippee!

16. Get dressed before noon most days. :) Piece of cake.

17. Find a Christmas ornament with Steve that represents something we've done in 2007, like we do every year. Done this fall, on our trip to the North Shore. It's a wooden bell, stained orange, crafted by a woodworker named Joseph who lives in a cool house out in the country north of Grand Marais.

18. Make a decision about the whole work/daycare/freelance/stay-at-home question. Done!

19. Frame photos we like and hang them up. More or less done, though this is always a work in progress.

20. Read more poetry. Not really.

21. Get the Mary Grandpre State Fair poster framed and hung in Daniel's room. Didn't happen.

22. Polish up the essays sitting on my computer desktop and submit them to publications that might pay me for them. Started ... but didn't really pursue it.

23. Have date nights with Steve every week, or at least once a month, even if they are at home — just the two of us. Ugh ... this one's tough. But we're working on it.

24. Hang up the carbon monoxide detector. Got it professionally mounted last week.

25. Have friends over for brunch regularly. I guess we did this a few times. Maybe not regularly.

26. Learn to make the flourless chocolate torte that Marc makes, the one that always makes me salivate when he brings it to family gatherings. Didn't happen.

27. Declutter the kitchen and sell or give away tools and appliances I don't use, like the mini-bundt pan. (Or heck, make mini bundt cakes.) Feb. 23: Done! But this remains a work in progress ...

28. Watch Borat, The Queen and every best-picture Oscar nomination. Done.

29. Stop grinding my teeth. Ugh.

30. Get a manicure and pedicure before spring comes. Done!

31. Do something out of the ordinary with highlights. Not really, but now I don't really want to anyway.

32. Take down this year's Christmas tree. Done!

33. Learn to knit. Didn't happen.

34. Open a college savings account for Daniel. Done!

35. Get life insurance policy for myself. (Long story; when we tried to do this last year, I was pregnant and therefore had a perfectly normal amount of sugar in my urine. But the insurance co. would not give us the good rates as a result. And even though my doctor has told them I no longer have sugar in my urine, they won't look at me again until a year after the original urine test. &*%$# insurance bureaucracy!) Done!

36. Drive down the coast highway from San Francisco to L.A. in May while we are in California for a wedding. Done!

37. Donate 10 percent of our income to charity. What with the extra doctor bills, we didn't hit 10 percent by a long shot.

38. Take a trip to the North Shore. Done, done and done!

39. Read the new Harry Potter book. Done!

10 comments:

Monkeymama said...

Happy Birthday!

That looks like a great mix of things to do over the next year!

Anonymous said...

Happy birthday! Susanne and I saw The Queen last weekend and it was excellent. Don't forget the 90-degree finneal idea for your living room curtains. I went to a friend's house today and we noticed two areas where she could use a 90-degree finneal for corner curtains. This friend is actually 39 years old, too!

Ray Mikell said...

And rent a convertible for No. 36, if at all possible. You will never, ever regret the expense.

Soupy said...

YAY! HAPPY BIRTHDAY, EMILIE! CELEBRATE! I love your list - sounds like you will have a busy year and a fun one at that!

EDH said...

Happy birthday! :)

I love your list. Especially #15 - lots of people definitely AREN'T wishing for that!! ;)

Cynthia said...

Happy Birthday Em. I posted something on my blog about your birthday early Tuesday. I had been thinking about you all weekend. I don't know why, but I had.
By the way, I looovvee the 39 thing. I'll have to do that for my 27th birthday when it rolls around in May. (smile)

kristine said...

what a great idea! i might have to steal it! p.s. happy birthday

Christina said...

Hey Em! Happy (belated) birthday! I hope you have a wonderful, blessed year.

By the way, this Tuesday's Oprah examines the mother/career debate. Thought you might want to tune in.

EDH said...

You're almost to your next birthday by now, but I was just perusing this post (because I've been mulling over a list like this myself) and, once again, I am struck by #15. Funny how life works, huh?

Happy Thanksgiving!

Emilie said...

Liz, I was thinking the very same thing as I went through and updated my progress on these. Happy New Year! :)