40 Before 40 – Update the Fifth

I am very nearly halfway through the year. I feel like my life is settling down into a great routine. Work is going decently. I’ve gotten to spend time with so many friends over the past few month. Alvie is mostly fantastic, and although I miss him when we’re not together, we’re really having a good time when we are together. I hardly ever even feel the need to verbalize my desire to sell him to a traveling carnival anymore (although last night’s bedtime pushed it a bit…kid was wiped out, and a tired Bean is a cranky Bean).

So much trouble, this one...

So much trouble, this one…

I feel like I’m not getting a ton of things checked off my list, but I also feel like I don’t care that much. (Not letting arbitrary goal failure get in the way of my happiness is a life-time goal.)

In the last month…

  1. Host a wine tasting – I had a rosé garden party on the 16th, and it was fun. Pink wine, pink foods, and plenty of people. I failed to take a single picture of anything except the cheese spread.
So many new cheeses for my "drink pink" party!

So many new cheeses for my “drink pink” party!

  1. Become a proficient knife thrower (i.e. hit the target more often than not) – I’ve been practicing! I’m getting pretty adept at getting all the knives to stick to the target! Next…accuracy.
  1. Get back into my DIY habits – I made an utterly fantastic balsamic & vanilla fig jam over the weekend with figs from my tree. I got about two pints of jam and kind of made up a recipe based on other recipes I’d found. It was pretty amazing. I’m looking forward to the next bunch of figs ripening so I can make a larger batch and also write down the recipe as I go. 🙂 My grapes are starting to purple, so there will be some grape jelly in the future, too!
Happy figs, bubbling away!

Happy figs, bubbling away!

  1. Try a new (to me) cheese each month – this continues to be a resounding success. I’m sure I’ve tried at least twelve new cheeses by now, but you know what? I’m going to just keep on keeping on with this one. #overachiever
  1. Get better at self-care. That means eating regularly; exercising regularly; sleeping regularly – this is really coming along. I was averaging well over 9K steps a day by mid-week last week (and a whopping 17K last Thursday) before my poor feet rebelled and became a disgusting, blistered mess. They’re better now, so I’m ready to start getting my mileage back up there again. The walking every day is either benefiting or benefited by my increased sleeping. I’ve been getting an average of 6.75 hours of sleep/night for the last two months! The one area that still needs so much work is the eating. I need to eat regularly (once/day is not regularly) and more healthfully. I started strong today. Overnight oats with bananas and PB for breakfast, homemade dolmas and a peach for lunch…now I just need to keep it going.

In case you care, here’s the history…

Remaining Goals (bolded goals are irrevocably scheduled, italicized ones will likely happen in the next 45 days, and underlined ones are in progress)

  1. Climb a tree
  2. Go ice skating
  3. Go to a book signing
  4. Go to the local nude beach
  5. Take a barre class
  6. Take a dancing class
  7. Take a cooking class
  8. Throw pottery (on a wheel)
  9. Try a pole dancing class at the studio down the street.
  10. Do a boudoir photo session
  11. Do a fun thing with Bean every day of his summer vacation.
  12. Take the Bean fishing
  13. Whale watching
  14. [Redacted]
  15. Become a proficient knife thrower
  16. Become passable in Swedish
  17. Develop a habit of meditation
  18. Learn 100 ASL signs
  19. Perfect the homemade pie crust.
  20. Read one prize-winning (any major prize) book each month
  21. Run a 5K, a 10K and a half marathon. Bonus: run something longer!
  22. Take a good photo and pay to have it framed
  23. Write 150 blog posts
  24. Get a stamp in my passport
  25. Give a $100 tip on an inexpensive meal
  26. Feel good about my fitness level and appearance
  27. Get better at self care.
  28. Meet three ‘in the computer friends’ in real life. (I’m looking at you  Cat, Elizabeth, and…[insert your name here!])
  29. Publish my first book

I need to make some pie, meditate a bit, get my PSM to the west coast, and start running again…

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