A draft of this post has been sitting around for over year just waiting for its entrance into the world. I wrote it around last year's birthday, but the idea came even before that. Anyway, I hope you like the concept. May it inspire you in one way or another, or just make you laugh at the things you find ridiculous. Either way, I hope you enjoy the journey from last year til this, and may it keep you looking forward to the year ahead...
Last year's birthday was a nice one. Classy through and through. On a Saturday night we went to a chic, classy little Italian place called Apertivo. Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra were playing in the background. The only things missing were my pearls, pumps and a big strong handsome man to dance with. The prosecco and panna cotta were fabulous. Rebecca and Susan were a joy as usual.
Sunday afternoon we hit the town for high tea at the Sofitel, a five star hotel. It was a beautiful affair.
It's part of my nature to delight in beauty. So this birthday tea was perfect.
Since we're on the subject of birthdays, let's get to the purpose of this post. Last year I celebrated my 39th birthday.
This year is the ONE. The one that shall not be named. What to do about it...? It's going to come no matter what, that's inevitable. Some people have parties for the big 4-0 and everyone wears black, as if they are in mourning. THAT is NOT going to happen. But what to do?
Maybe I could have a really BIG party, but no black, AT ALL. I'm thinking all bright colors, everywhere. No black shoes, belts, nothing. And if you've got black hair you've got to wear a turban or cap or something to cover it up. So a huge, bright party. That sounds like fun.
But I also had another idea. How about making a list of 40 goals to accomplish before my 40th year is finished? This is going to be a celebration of life and not a mourning of youth lost. I LOVE IT!!!
Ideas were popping into my head of all sorts of things I could put on my list. I realized though that these can't all be huge monumental things. That's unrealistic. And the items on the list could fall into any number of categories: spiritual growth, travel, books, fitness, etc. When it came down to writing my list, it was actually very hard to come up with 40 things, so I enlisted the help of a few friends.
So here it is: 40 for 40. The list of 40 goals to accomplish before my 40th year is out. In no particular order:
1. Learn to surf.
2. Be debt free. I've got a lingering student loan from my bachelor's degree, that just won't go away. I want to be free.
3. Do 50 push-ups, the real kind. No knees on the ground. As of now I can do at least 10 and probably a few more.
4. See an opera or Broadway show.
5. Use an advent calendar for the Christmas season. This may seem like an old time-y tradition, but I've never done it before and I really like the idea of it.
6. Visit a Dark Sky park and go stargazing. I have a great story about star gazing. I'll save that for the update on this post.
7. Memorize Romans 12 in the Bible. It's an excellent chapter for godly living.
8. Get highlights for my hair. A bucket list item you ask? Well since I've never dyed my hair (except for the time my high school field hockey team made it to the CIF championships and our school colors were red, so you can imagine what happened, but that doesn't count for this list), I think it's worthy of the list.
9. Go hunting with my dad again. I've got some funny hunting stories from my childhood (and adulthood), so why not add another to it?
10. Travel to one place on the travel bucket list: Greece, Morocco, UK or Maldives.
11. Start a garden at our house here in Cambodia.
12. Go four wheeling. We did it as kids. I went bundu bashing in Botswana. It's been way too long.
13. Do the splits.
14. Read a biography.
15. Have a reunion with a friend from the past.
16. Do a couple of touristy things around Phnom Penh.
17. Go ballroom dancing. (or learn how to dance first, I guess)
18. Start or join a book club.
19. Start a food blog. I love to cook and hostess, and my friends have been encouraging me to follow my dreams.
20. Body surf in some fabulous ocean.
21. Start a new Christmas tradition.
22. Visit one of the 7 wonders of the (modern) world (Taj Mahal, Great Wall of China, the Pyramids, Machu Picchu, Christ the Redeemer, Petra or the Colosseum).
23. Re-learn to knit.
24. Cook and hostess a coconut themed meal: a drink, main and dessert. (Or some other theme will do just fine, but I have a thing for coconut)
25. High tea at the fanciest hotel in town.
26. Read a classic.
27. Make my bed every day for a month.
28. Read Shakespeare (something I haven't read before).
29. Read a contemporary book about social justice.
30. Run a 10k.
31. Floss my teeth every night for one whole month straight.
32. Go mountain biking again. I used to love this before I moved to Cambodia.
33. Begin a Master's degree.
34. Stay-cation or pool day at classy hotel downtown.
35. Take a cooking class.
36. Make a cross-country drive across the U.S. There are so many things I haven't seen in my own country.
37. Get a Moroccan tea set and serve mint tea and a some msemen dripping with honey to friends.
38. Make a Christmas card list and begin to send cards out every year.
39. Make a puzzle with the family. There's something so down-home and comforting about this.
40. A BIG, HUGE, ENORMOUS, BRIGHT, COLORFUL PARTY with people that I love. Or something small, quiet, cozy and intimate, which is more my style anyway.
I'm excited about this year and my 40 for 40 project. If nothing else, it will spur on some good times and healthy habits. You'll have to check in a year from now for a final update.
Until then,
I'm excited about this year and my 40 for 40 project. If nothing else, it will spur on some good times and healthy habits. You'll have to check in a year from now for a final update.
Until then,
