It’s my birthday tomorrow — I’ll be 39 years old. Beachmama turned 39 last month, and used the occasion to make up a little list of what she’d like to accomplish by the time she’s 40. I love this idea! I made a similar list when I turned 29 of things I wanted to do before 30, and it turned into an amazing year, full of fun new hobbies and experiences.
This year, I’m kind of just hoping to accomplish daily showers. However, I will reach for the stars a little bit and list things I actually do wish I could complete before the big four-oh.
1. Acquire some half-decent makeup and learn to put it on.
2. Figure out a back-to-work plan.
3. Sell one thing that I have written.
4. Learn to play three new songs on the guitar that I haven’t touched since I learned to play it, the year I turned 30.
5. Learn to bake a really kick-ass pie.
6. Throw a dinner party — maybe start a new tradition.
7. Create a garden or two in our yard, to share with Gal Smiley.
8. Write a book for the Captain to illustrate.
9. Toilet train Little Miss Sunshine (Dear God, kill me now, Love Lynn xo).
10. Reduce our household garbage to one bag per week.
11. Go on at least two dates with Sir Monkeypants.
12. Have a massive garage sale/charity run, and get rid of everything we don’t need.
13. Learn to play bridge.
14. Improve my French so I can help my immersion kids with their homework.
Seems like a lot…and yet, not enough. Did you know that in her life, Joan Fontaine was an Oscar-winning actress (for Hitchcock’s film Suspicion), a licensed pilot, a champion balloonist, an expert rider, a prize-winning tuna fisherman, a trophy-winning golfer, a Cordon Bleu chef, a licensed interior decorator, and a recipient of the Eleanor Roosevelt Humanitarian Award for her charity work?
I feel like I better get my ass in gear!
TurtleHead 
it’s a good list lynn, a great list in fact! although your list does make me feel a little anxious because i have no idea what i’d put on mine. today mustn’t be the day for me to think like this because i’m seriously struggling to just get through the basic chores around here.
Oh my god, you’re turning 39. I think I just realised that. Where the hell has the time gone?
Comments on your list:
Re: 1 – Lemme know when you’re ready for assistance.
Re: 5 – Talk to LittleSis about that one. Can’t help you there!
Re: 6 – A friend has a dinner party group. They rotate hosting. So that it’s not brutal on the host, you could consider a rotation system where the host rotates but also have a rotating assistant, someone from the group who is not hosting but shows up at the hosts house to help out. You get help *and* some 1-on-1 time. Failing all this, you can host dinner when Mr. Chatty’s parents come back into town next spring. 🙂
Re: 11 – Book us anytime for babysitting. My date is portable, so you won’t to worry about cutting into my social schedule. 🙂
Re: 12 – Ready when you are! I’ve got a pile started. Thanks SO MUCH for letting me borrow your lawn for the event.
Re: 14 – Will email you about this one.
You know what, even if you accomplish just a few of those items, you’ll have done well. I’m also realizing I only have about 7 months till I turn 40…I should start accomplishing a few things!
Oh, and the secret to a really kick-ass pie is lard.
Daily showers sound great. You have to add that to your list or they will never happen. 🙂
That is a great list. Given how organized you are I am sure you will have a speadsheet and target dates for each of them.
The only things on my list are related to personal hygiene and they rarely get accomplished. I may have to strive a bit higher.
I’m already 39. I did the little life-summary thing, but the list is a good idea. I like how they’re mostly significant but not unattainable (other than selling something I write — pretty sure that ain’t never gonna happy) — oh wait, we’re talking about you, not me. I’m feeling like I’ve found a kindred spirit; I’ve recently started playing the piano again, throwing dinner parties, considering courses to give me marketable skills and donating massive amounts of stuff to charity (of course I’d rather die than hold a garage sale, but we can agree to disagree on that, right?)
Happy birthday tomorrow! And if you ever need babysitting really badly, I live in Ottawa too. And I only have two kids, and both are toilet-trained. And my husband’s stayed in the country for a week and a half in a row, so at the moment I’m laughing.
great idea. but i’m with besty-mae, i wouldn’t know what the heck to put on mine. i have about 1/2 a year before i’m 39, so a little time to figure it out.
Happy birthday tomorrow! That sounds like a totally achievable list – other things might be higher priority and thus you might not get everything done, but that’s OK. I spent 2008 doing one new thing every day, and it’s amazing how choosing to concentrate on stuff like that can change your outlook.
I second the comment about lard – it is the secret to an awesome pie.
Great list, put it on your fridge so you don’t forget!
Happy Birthday!!
“5. Learn to bake a really kick-ass pie.”
Me too! Perhaps we should take a pastry class! 🙂
Happy belated birthday!