40 Before 41 Final Recap

I turned 41 three weeks ago. I'm a little slow to do a final tally, but let's see how this all turned out, shall we?


1. Read 50 books in one calendar year.DONE! See here.

2. Finish my master’s degree. DONE!

3. Lose 25 lbs. DONE! (Although I may have gained a few back...)

4. Take an advanced calligraphy class. DONE (ish)! I'm taking a beginner's class at the end of this month and that studio is just started to offer intermediate classes, so my hope is that once I get my feet wet at the studio with the beginner's class, I'll take the intermediate one!

5. Post at least eight times per month on my blog. DONE!

6. Complete the Couch to 5K program. DONE! See here.

7. Hang out with my friends more often (or talk more often to those I can’t hang out with more due to geography.) I'm only half crossing this one out. I did a lot more with my friends in 2012 and I'm really happy about that. I still need to work on calling those I can't see that often.

8. Have one room in our basement finished. We have moved things from the basement to the attic (while sorting out at the same time.) We've gotten some recommendations for electricians. We're moving...s..l..o..w..l..y (still...)

9. Revisit horseback riding (which I haven’t done some since summer camp in elementary school). DONE! I took four lessons.

10. Go on vacation again to Rehoboth Beach, DE. DONE- twice!

11. Buy a houseplant and nurture it so that it will live for at least one month. (I’m setting my sights low.) Newest plan -- I ordered "Houseplants for Dummies" from eBay. Once I have that in my hot little hands, I'll take the plunge.

12. Watch Netflix movies within two weeks. DONE! See here.

13. Have a gathering of friends at our house. Um, no. This summer. I promise.

14. Drink only one soda per day. DONE! I have maybe 4-5 per week, and it's diet/caffeine-free.

15. Go on a vacation with my mom. We've decided on Savannah, GA, so we just need to make the plans!

16. Play tennis with my husband at least twice. I asked...he didn't take me up. This summer.

17. Go parasailing. Hopefully this fall (yes, which will be after I turn 41) in Aruba.

18. Join the technology revolution and get an iPhone. Check!

19. Go through the plastic tubs of photos from my grandparents’ house and scan the ones I want to have copies of. Sort of did this when my Granddad passed away, but didn't do a thorough job.

20. Create a photo wall of family pics in the front entryway. I'm still collecting ideas for this on Pinterest.

21. Take a cooking class. Still checking community colleges and adult ed.

22. Finish an entire game of Monopoly. Should've done it over Christmas when my stepson was here.

23. Get up early on Black Friday and go shopping. DONE (ish)! I made the day after Christmas MY Black Friday. See here.

24. Go to a Bon Jovi concert. Tickets have been PURCHASED!!!!!!! (So, yeah, I really shouldn't cross out until I've actually attended the concert, but I'm 41, I can do what I want.) I'm so excited! Going with John, a high school friend and her husband, and another high school friend and her sister. I just found out through the miracle that is Facebook that four other classmates are going as well. Whoo hoo!!!

25. Follow through with my cleaning schedule for an entire month. Cleaning is the bane of my existence. I'm *really* going to try to follow through for at least a week.

26. If #3 is not accomplished, at least go down one pant size. DONE!

27. Exercise enough so that I do not have to take pills for high cholesterol anymore. Had it checked last month. It was up a tad, but Dr. agreed to re-check in three months and if it's down or steady I can reduce my meds!!!

28. Go to a professional development event, i.e., ALA. Hmmm...Seattle or Anaheim? Probably not. However, in 2016, ALA will be back in Boston.

29. Turn in a school assignment a whole day before it’s due. DONE!

30. Try downhill skiing. Still thinking about it.

31. Go out for tapas. Still need to find a local Tapas restaurant.

32. Put money into savings each month. Working on.

33. Get the entire “Bones” series from Netflix and watch them all! Have watched the first two episodes of Season 1. Just not feeling it...

34. Join a book club. Help me out peeps! Anyone know of one near me???

35. Do SOMETHING with my wedding dress. Help me out again peeps! Anyone know of a talented seamstress near me??? I have an idea in mind.

36. Revisit crocheting. This might change to knitting. I've had an offer to teach me!

37. Try 5 new restaurants. DONE! #1: Agave Mexican Bistro. See review here. #2: Wang's Table: Local yocal Chinese restaurant that's actually pretty good. #3: FINS Fish House & amp; Raw Bar: A to-die-for Pear Pomegranate Martini and delectable Swordfish. #4: Birches Bar & Grill at Mohegan Sun. Had a lovely Pomegranate Martini there. #5: Margaritas: OK chain Mexican.

38. Try yoga. DONE! Tried a "flow yoga" class at work. Not sure I'm digging it. May try another.

39. Pay off at least one credit card. DONE!

40. A wild card item—my choice. DONE! OK, so this is going to be weird for most of you. Let me try to explain. You know when you're a teenager and you want NOTHING to do with your parents or what they do, what they like, what they want you to do, etc... OK, so my Dad is kind of a mathematical formula guy. Loves to figure stuff out. Started with an affinity for horse racing and developing a formula to figure out winning horses. Morphed into greyhound racing love. Yeah, so he'd go to the track in his spare time and occasionally ask me to go. Um, hello?!? How uncool. Well, it's carried on for years now. He jokes and says I'm going with him. I vehemently say no. He laughs. I sneer. Until a few weeks ago. I really don't know what came over me or what changed, but I said I *wanted* to go. Yes, *wanted* to go. So, we did. I must say it was rather anti-climactic. I didn't love it and I didn't hate it. We watched a few races. My Dad made his bets. My Mother and I read the program and chose dogs based on their names. (I especially liked the one named after the NCIS character, Tony DiNozzo.) It was what it was.

I still have 20 items outstanding on this list. Those will roll over to the "## before 42" list. I may add a few others that have popped into my head recently. Not bad. I'm fairly impressed with myself.

February...Where'd You Come From?

I can't believe it's already February 18th -- the month is more than half over!

My 41st birthday came and went pretty quietly, as I spent most of it with the stomach bug. It was highly unpleasant! John was very sweet, however, and took care of me.

I've been to Florida and back to visit my parents and had a lovely time. The weather was perfect -- high 60's/low 70's. Some might think that a bit cool, but if Florida was like that everyday, I might consider living there!

I've been in kind of a "blogging funk" of late. I just haven't had anything that's compelled me to write. A friend actually emailed me to say, "Waiting for a new blog post!"

So, here it is, although it's not very exciting and just a mish-mash of various thoughts.

I started reading Terry Francona (former manager of the Boston Red Sox)'s new book, "Francona." (Aptly named, eh?) I'm only a few pages in, but I can tell that this is going to be a "no holds barred" kind of thing.

I also got this book out of the library.

 

 

Buddhism and its tenets have come up in various conversations in my life of late and I'm interested in learning more. I haven't cracked it open yet, but stay tuned.

 

I also brought home a book from my Mom's (see to the right).

 

Three books at once (oh, plus the "Houseplants for Dummies" which I peruse on occasion.) This must be some kind of record for me. More than one book at a time for me is uncharted territory.

 

I watched the season finale of "Downton Abbey" last night. Unreal. That's pretty much all I can say. Not only was I saddened by the ending, but I was also slightly annoyed. I wanted to shake my fist at the TV and yell, "Don't make me stop watching!"

 

While in Florida, my Mom & I discussed a driving trip to Savannah, GA. I'd fly to Jacksonville, pick up my Mom in St. Augustine, and then I'd drive us to Savannah for probably a long weekend. A Mother/Daughter trip is on my 40 Before 41 list (which will soon become my x before 42 list). Looking forward to planning/fleshing it out.

 

While in Florida, we ran into another greyhound (my parents have one) and his name is Ferris. In the brilliant words of his owner, "His name is Ferris, as in Ferris Bueller, because EVERYDAY is his day off!" I thought that was so clever.

 

I usually run the Oscar's pool at work, but as the name of the blog post goes, where'd February come from??? I'm too late. I'll probably just print out ballots for John & I and we can watch and score.

 

As mentioned, this season of "Downton Abbey" is over (boo hoo), but the new season of "Amazing Race" just started (woo hoo). Who am I cheering for? The NHL players, of course! (Because, you know, they don't make enough money.)

 

I'll leave you with this cartoon from the New Yorker:

 

 

photo credit

 

 

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