forty for 40

It's my birthday! I think Daniel wanted me to be conscious for every minute of it, so he made an effort to wake up several times in the middle of the night crying and not wanting to lie down. Teething, maybe; hopefully he's not sick. I got a blessed hour to myself this morning — Steve stayed home with Daniel while I went to the chiropractor and stopped off for a Starbucks on the way home. Now he's off to work, and it's just the two of us with no real plans for spending our day. Tonight, Steve and I are leaving Daniel with a babysitter and going out to dinner — I wanted to start my 40s out with a real date. Which reminds me: At some point today, I need to wash my hair and maybe even shave my legs. (!)

I wasn't really planning to do this again — make a "life list" — but when I started thinking about things I hope to do in the next year, the ideas came together more easily than I thought. Some of these are no-brainers — things I'd do anyway, already on my to-do list — and others are so out of my control that they're really just hopes more than goals. Most of them fall in between. I did pretty well on last year's list, all things considered, so we'll see how things go this year.

1. Have a (healthy) baby! Done!

2. Have a successful VBAC. Done!

3. Come out cancer-free on all my CT scans. :-(

4. Still be breastfeeding on my next birthday (or for six months at least). :-(

5. Take a family trip to Oregon.

6. Replace the dining room light fixture.

7. Replace the light fixtures in all the bedrooms.

8. Get the trees in our back yard trimmed and shaped. Done!

9. Fit back into my pre-pregnancy jeans. Done!

10. Give away my maternity clothes, or consign them. Done!

11. Watch all this year's Oscar-nominated movies.

12. Get my FICO score.

13. Find a special Christmas ornament for our 2008 tree — probably a new baby one.

14. Learn to make the flourless chocolate torte that Marc makes, now that I know where to find the recipe.

15. Read to Daniel every day.

16. Take a trip (or two) to the North Shore. Done!

17. Keep flossing my teeth every day.Ha.

18. Buy a storage box for my photo CDs. Done!

19. Send out Christmas cards to everyone on our list.

20. Send out birth announcements when the baby is born. Done!

21. Spend $400 or less a month on groceries. (This is what we budget for, and we always go over. Perhaps that's a sign we should revise the budget.)

22. Send birthday cards on time.

23. Take an ECFE class with Steve and Daniel. Done!

24. Sign Daniel up for another Music Together class. Done!

25. Have professional photos taken of the new baby and Daniel. Done!

26. Order copies of our credit reports and make sure they are accurate.

27. Save up enough money to buy this lens or this lens for my camera. I don't care so much about this one now. I have two great lenses, and I would be happy just to keep using them more.

28. Keep writing my monthly column. Done!

29. Come up with five good story ideas in a new market I haven't written for, and send out five good query letters (even if I get five rejection letters back).

30. Get a babysitter and go on a date with Steve once a month (with some understandable leeway right after the baby is born).

31. Say no when asked to be on committees. Done!

32. Start doing yoga again. Probably not going to happen. How about if I change this to qi gong?

33. Send thank-you notes promptly. Maybe not promptly, but I'm working on it.

34. Do something special with Steve to celebrate our five-year anniversary. Done!

35. Make time to spend with friends.

36. Interview high school seniors in the area who are applying to Columbia. Done!

37. Master the art of taking an infant and a toddler on outings. Hmm...

38. Finish Daniel's baby book.

39. Start a college fund for the new baby. Done!

40. Don't sweat it if I don't do all the things on this list!