So where am I on my top goals so far?

2. Get down to a size 8 and keep it - working on it, slow going though since I have that lovely 'over 40' female metabolism. Doing my own version of the Jorge Cruise over40 diet.

8. Knit sweaters for DH and for DD - Need to figure out what to knit… will have to chat with DH & DD about this!

11. Learn to play/sing 12 new songs on my guitar - not moving, probably would help if I picked some songs first

16. Complete house declutter - VERY slow going. I made a list of items to freecycle, and I've got the upstairs hallway lined up with DD's old clothes that need to get sorted/dispositioned. So some progress but slow.

31. Gather recipes to create a 'go to' list - started gathering recipes, should get a binder to put them in, right?

13. Learn to speak and read Portuguese- um, probably should go find something I can work on while in my daily commute

36. Learn to play poker - need to corner my friend J to teach me!

20. Reconnect with at least 5 old friends - will use Xmas cards to start this process. Will be seeing one old friend this weekend!

So - some progress but VERY slow. I'll try and stop here once in a while to do the 'plan' and 'check' parts from the plan-do-check-act cycle (yeah that's the quality engineer in my coming out, LOL!)

So I thought it might be useful to group my 50 things into 'categories' to help me prioritize what I work on next, here's my stab at sorting, and I've picked one item from each list to 'prioritize' (ie try first). If I picked more than one that means that either one's fine as my first 'action'.


Health
2. Get down to a size 8 and keep it
3. Learn how to bellydance
4. Try out some kind of martial arts
5. Get "Michelle Obama" arms 
15. Fit into my skinny black dress
17. Go biking with DH & DD
18. Go hiking 
19. Try rock climbing
21. Take some kind of dance class (jazz/ tap/ etc)
34. Snorkel or scuba dive
42. Learn reiki


Travel - no priority right now
6. Visit Puerto Rico and EXPLORE
9. Visit Spain 
25. Visit the Redwoods in California
26. Go to Montreal/ Quebec
27. Return to Bonaire


Craft
8. Knit sweaters for DH and for DD
33. Try watercolor painting


Music/creative
7. Learn to play "Claire de Lune"
11. Learn to play/sing 12 new songs on my guitar
22. Make stained glass
40. Make photo albums of DD's pictures - or photobooks?
50. Write a story or a song


Home stuff
12. Redecorate my whole house
16. Complete house declutter
44. Create an herb garden - something pretty and functional
45. Learn how to trim blueberry bushes


Food
23. Cook Beef Wellington. From scratch.
28. Cook Armenian foods
29. Make Cuban black bean soup from scratch
30. Organize my recipes
31. Gather recipes to create a 'go to' list
32. Create a weekly/ monthly recipe plan
46. Find the bestest blueberry muffin recipe
47. Create or find recipes of puertorican vegetarian food
48. Make puertorican pasteles from scratch
49. Make Baklava from scratch


Language/learning
13. Learn to speak and read Portuguese
14. Learn some French or Italian
24. Become a storyteller.


Just for fun
1. Get a pair of HOT HOT pumps - perhaps a pair of expensive HOT pumps?
35. Play in a casino. With real money.
36. Learn to play poker
37. Private goal #1 (not for family viewing... eeck!)
38. Private goal #2 (ditto!!!)


Connections
10. Go help in a Soup Kitchen
20. Reconnect with at least 5 old friends
39. Develop tradition with DD around exploring new places together (DH can tag along too)
41. Take a good hard look at my career/ goals/ persponal development
43. Learn to read Tarot cards - *really* read them, not just read from the booklet

First Post

So I decided to start a journey today... a journey to discover 50 shades of me as I get ready for my 50th birthday in 2 years from today. 


A journey to what, precisely? How about a journey to new experiences? How about starting this journey with a list of things to try before I hit 50? Just something to have fun with. Something I can look back on and celebrate doing 2 years from now. And if I get done even a tenth of it I'll consider this experiment a success.


I don't want to live with regrets - I shoulda, coulda tried doing "this or that". And if I don't get to the whole list, meh, no biggie - the point is to get further than where I am today!


So without further ado, here's ze list of things I'd like achieve and/or try, in no particular order:


1. Get a pair of HOT HOT pumps - perhaps a pair of expensive HOT pumps?
2. Get down to a size 8 and keep it
3. Learn how to bellydance
4. Try out some kind of martial arts
5. Get "Michelle Obama" arms 
6. Visit Puerto Rico and EXPLORE
7. Learn to play "Claire de Lune"
8. Knit sweaters for DH and for DD
9. Visit Spain 
10. Go help in a Soup Kitchen
11. Learn to play/sing 12 new songs on my guitar
12. Redecorate my whole house
13. Learn to speak and read Portuguese
14. Learn some French or Italian
15. Fit into my skinny black dress
16. Complete house declutter
17. Go biking with DH & DD
18. Go hiking 
19. Try rock climbing
20. Reconnect with at least 5 old friends
21. Take some kind of dance class (jazz/ tap/ etc)
22. Make stained glass
23. Cook Beef Wellington. From scratch.
24. Become a storyteller.
25. Visit the Redwoods in California
26. Go to Montreal/ Quebec
27. Return to Bonaire
28. Cook Armenian foods
29. Make Cuban black bean soup from scratch
30. Organize my recipes
31. Gather recipes to create a 'go to' list
32. Create a weekly/ monthly recipe plan
33. Try watercolor painting
34. Snorkel or scuba dive
35. Play in a casino. With real money.
36. Learn to play poker
37. Private goal #1 (not for family viewing... eeck!)
38. Private goal #2 (ditto!!!)
39. Develop tradition with DD around exploring new places together (DH can tag along too)
40. Make photo albums of DD's pictures - or photobooks?
41. Take a good hard look at my career/ goals/ persponal development
42. Learn reiki
43. Learn to read Tarot cards - *really* read them, not just read from the booklet
44. Create an herb garden - something pretty and functional
45. Learn how to trim blueberry bushes
46. Find the bestest blueberry muffin recipe
47. Create or find recipes of puertorican vegetarian food
48. Make puertorican pasteles from scratch
49. Make Baklava from scratch
50. Write a story or a song


Now comes the hard part - execution! Bwahahaha, someone warn my husband!!!