Get Ready to Run

While visiting with my sister over the holidays, she (a seasoned distance runner) suggested that I try one of the Disney marathons when I check that item off my list.  So I did some research and I think that I have chosen to run the Disneyland half marathon September 4-6 in Anaheim.  Registration opens February 10 so if any of you are interested in joining me, mark your calendars~  I would love to have some company.

Now I just have to figure out how to finish.

Time with Grandma

While staying in Oregon for the holidays, I had the opportunity to stop for an afternoon and visit with my 99-year-old grandma.  She is such a neat lady.  One of my sisters and the kids joined me and we spent some time catching up and reviewing wedding pictures.  It reminded me of the weekends and holidays that we would spend with Grandma when we were younger and get to play games with her and play with her huge cat.  It's been a long time since then and yet it all just comes rushing back when you walk in the door.

Grandma showed us how she has been keeping busy making some beautiful quilts for her church.  Then she surprised us by offering my sister and I each one of her handmade quilts.  They were all so beautiful that it was difficult to decide.  I ultimately chose the one that has some of the same fabric in it as the one Grandma made us for our wedding.  It is so beautiful that I am going to hang it on the wall as artwork rather than risk it being damaged on a bed.  It's a family heirloom that I will treasure forever.

FaLaLaLaLa LaLa LaLAAAAA!

Here's a shot of our crowd of carolers.  We all walked up and down the street for a while then piled in the back of the truck and made some select stops at friends' homes.  It was a fun night with some great friends.  I'm glad to have nice folks who can carry a tune to help hide my voice when I hit the high notes :)

What's up, Doc?

Check another one off the list-  Hubby and I both made appointments with a local doctor and had our physicals this week.  I did a little blood work too, to check my levels and as it turns out, I'm a little low on vitamin D.  Otherwise, I'm good to go.  So if you see me being lazy, tell me I have no excuse!

While in his office, I asked doc to freeze that darn wart on my toe again, hoping to get a jump on another line item.  I'm whittling down the list!

Setting Up Another List Item

Today I signed up the kiddos for skiing lessons.  The lessons start in January and go through February.  This should make it easier to accomplish that item when the holidays are over.

Preparations

It was a great opportunity to get a sale price on some art supplies so on Black Friday I picked up a HUGE easel and some paints and brushes.  Now I am waiting on inspiration for that huge picture.

2 in One Weekend!

Well that was a great start!

Hubby took me out for my birthday and we finished two of the 40 things on the list.  We headed south to San Diego and stayed overnight.  While we were there we went to see "Wicked" and got to enjoy a 7-course meal at "Nobu", which is a Japanese restaurant in the Hard Rock Hotel in the Gaslamp district in San Diego.  My hubby is the BEST!!! 

Here's some cool pictures of our evening:

 My Mango martini and Dave's Sapporo while we wait.

COURSE 1) Yellowtail with cilantro, jalapenos and Yusu sauce

COURSE 2) Ahi (Yellowfin) tuna with peanut vinaigrette on greens

COURSE 3) Flute with cilantro and spicy sauce

COURSE 4) My cucumber martini (not picture: tempura shrimp)

COURSE 5) blackened Alaskan white cod

COURSE 6)Sushi platter with King Salmon, Crab, eel and tuna rolls

 COURSE 7)Our first dessert: The ice cream one tasted like a carmel delight girlscout cookie.  It was called Pandan Kishimen.  It's a Pandan Crepe, Cocounut Praline Crunch, and Toasted Coconut Sorbet.  The second dessert:  It was like a dense brownie with chocolate chip ice cream and a tea cookie.  They call it Araguani 72% Chocolate Fondant Cake, Sesame Crisp, and Green Tea Matcha White Chocolate Gelato.

This was the lobby in the hotel where we stayed called the US Grant.

Why a Blog?

So you may be asking "Why bother blogging this?"

The answer is three-fold:
1) In the process of completing each of these items, I mention it to folks.  They often later ask how its going.  This is a way of keeping folks updated.
2) I'm getting old.  I won't remember it all.  It's for my own posterity.
3) I am hoping that when friends see my list they will be interested in helping me get it completed so they may pick one to help out on and get my butt motivated.

THE LIST - Part 2 of 2

1. Write an E-book.  I have no idea what it will be about but I guess we shall find out.
2. Donate blood twice.  Again, I tend to be "too busy" and forget or not get around to it.  I don't mind doing it and it saves lives.  I should do it more.
3. Go zip-lining.  This is along the same lines as the "Wicked" line item.  I've been wanting to for ages and just can't find anyone to go with me.
4. Get a PCP and complete physical.  I'm getting old, let's face it.  I need a doctor I can go see if anything happens and I don't want it to be the first time we meet.  Plus, I want to make sure I am healthy enough for all of this other nonsense.
5. Fix big toe wart.  When I think wart I picture the nose on a witch and a 1/4" long knob sticking off of it.  But in this case I have a tiny plantar wart under my big toe that I have just been avoiding dealing with.  For a little while I tried to freeze it off myself and then I tried suffocating it by wrapping it in duct tape (my brother-in-law's suggestion).  I even went once to an urgent care and they froze it but it didn't go away and then I got to busy and didn't go back.  So it's time to just DEAL WITH IT.  It doesn't hurt or look hideous or anything but it's time for it to be gone.
6. Catch up through 2015 scrapbooks.  Since we got married I have made 1 or 2 scrapbooks a year.  I am backed up now in 2013 so I have 2+ years to catch up on.
7. Fly an airplane.  My husband asks me every time we go up and I'm just too chicken to take the controls.  It's time to suck it up buttercup.
8. Translate 40 bible verses.  I took Hebrew in college and am fascinated by the different translations and anything that gets me reading my bible is a good thing.  Again, it's just about finding the time.
9. Build a giant sandcastle.  My dad used to do this with us when we were kids and we are going camping at the beach in April so it will be the perfect time to pass on the tradition with my kids.
10. Paint a huge picture.  I like to paint but am not sure how it will go on a large scale.  We shall see.  It may be an epic failure but I'll never know if I don't try.
11. Go on a Moms Night Out.  A girlfriend of mine used to get lots of moms together for a night out to dinner and/or movie and/or dancing.  There would be eight to twenty of us and it was SO fun.  That girlfriend has since moved to another state so it's been a long time since we did one of those nights.  It's hard to get that many moms together at one time so this will take some planning.
12. Be quiet for 30 minutes a day for a week.  No talking, no moving, no TV, no computer, no phone.  Just me sitting still, waiting for God to whisper.
13. Get a GOOD haircut.  For the love of St Pete, why can NO ONE cut my hair??!!  It's been 10 years now that we have lived here and I have yet to find someone I like to cut my locks.  The latest chick cut two layers, one to my ears, one below my shoulders.  Then she tried to fix it by perming it.  The second time I think it was my fault for letting her try again.  I'm willing to pay for it if someone can figure out a style I can live with and not have to spend 45 minutes styling every day.
14. Stop doing something joyless.  Lots of times I do things out of obligation and then keep doing them because I feel like if I don't do it then either it won't get done right or no one else will do it.  Well, let's try stopping that and see what happens.
15. Finish Neiamiah bible study.  Ahem, it started 3 years ago and isn't done.  Whoops.
16. Go Christmas Caroling.  This is SO fun and I haven't done it since high school.  
17. Be honest instead of silent.  I tend to be a people pleaser and when someone upsets me or does something I don't agree with then I don't tell them because I just don't want the confrontation.  Well, I'm going to need to take a deep breath and step out on a limb.
18. Do something spontaneous.  I'm not sure what I mean about this one but I am hoping that it will give me that extra shove into doing something fun or crazy.
19. Be able to do the scorpion yoga pose.  I don't figure it's that hard but it looks cool and it'd be a  neat party trick.
20. Have a mud/paint/jello fight.  Not ALL of them, but pick one.  And do it on a large scale.  Get dirty.  I figure my kids will like helping me with this one.

THE LIST - Part 1 of 2

1. Be able to do the splits.  I was able to do them in High School and College when I ran on the track team but have lost my flexibility since then.
2. Wear a sequin dress.  I have worn plenty of fancy dresses in my time, but it's been quite a while since I had the occasion to wear somethin' sparkly.
3. Go snow skiing with my kids.  I learned to ski as a kid and we live where it snows.  Why have I not done this?
4. Rent a houseboat.  I have heard tales from friends of how fun they are but never got to try it out myself.
5. Go on a motorcycle trip with hubby.  He has suggested this for a while now and we used to own a Honda street bike but since having kids we don't have motorcycles anymore.  It sounds exciting to go on a little trip with just the two of us and whatever we can fit in our packs on the open road.
6. Get a henna tattoo.  Originally I had a REAL tattoo on the list, but then I don't want to be 80 and wonder "what the heck was I thinking?"
7. Eat a 7 course meal.  We had a conversation a while back about how extravagant this sounds.  What exactly is included in those 7 courses?  Where do you find such a thing served?  I don't know but I intend to find out.
8. See the stage show "Wicked".  I have read all of the books in the series.  I have asked my husband and my girlfriends to take me or go with me every time it has come to town and somehow just haven't made the time.  
9. Complete a half-marathon.  This one isn't so much to win the darn thing (who runs that long?) but to be ABLE to do it and unfortunately the only way to prove that is to do it.  Let's get one things straight - I am not a distance runner.  I sprint fast, but nothing over a lap.  13 miles is a ridiculously long time to run.  Why not complete a full marathon you ask?  I am crazy but not stupid.  I hiked 16 miles one day and lost a toenail over it.  Plus, in the event of zombie apocalypse, I doubt I need to run farther than 1/4 mile anyway.
10. Have lobster in Connecticut.  There's some background necessary for you to understand this: I was born in Groton, CT.  I left at 2 years old and haven't been back since.  My dad, a navy veteran, has some great stories about how delicious the lobster hoagies are in New England.  I figure it's been 37 years so it's about time I go back and try them out.
11. Weigh under 140 lbs.  It's not unmanagable.  I am currently 150-155 lbs. (depending on the time of day) and at 5'8", it's a reasonable BMI, but I know that for a long time I was in the 140 range and it was also a reasonable BMI.  It's not "thin" but it's healthy.  I figure if I'm training for a half marathon it won't be too hard to drop a few pounds.
12. Stand in the Atlantic Ocean.  The only time I've been to the east coast since I was 2 was a trip to Atlanta, Georgia for NASCAR and we never made it to the ocean.  We are planning a trip in August for Washington DC so this shouldn't be too hard.
13. Write a letter to my 13-year-old self.  There are things I didn't believe back then that seem so obvious now.  It's hard to believe it's been 26 years.
14. Write a letter to my 60-year-old self.  Where will I be?  What will my life be like?  Will I remember how blessed I am now?  It'll be a fun present to myself in 20 years.
15. Raft or kayak on a river with my kids.  We could go white water rafting or kayaking down the Colorado but whatever we pick, I enjoyed doing it and would like to share the experience with my kids.  Really, it's a reminder to spend time with them because so many times life gets away from me.
16. Host a dinner party.  My hubby is a fuddy-duddy.  His favorite line is "I don't like people."  So to get him to agree to any kind of social gathering, let alone one at our house, is a small miracle.  I can count on one hand the grown-up parties (we aren't talking 3-year-old elmo parties) that we have had at our house since we moved here 10 years ago. I am hoping that having it on my list will help convince him that it's an okay idea.
17. Spend time with my grandma.  She is 99 years old this year.  I'm not sure what we will do, probably just spend time catching up, but she is so sweet and I rarely get to see her since she lives 18 hours away.  I'm hoping that this will be a reminder to make time for her.
18. Toss out clothes that I don't/shouldn't wear.  I see pictures of myself sometimes and think "Why didn't anyone tell me I looked like that?!?"  Part of this problem will be finding someone to give constructive criticism without being mean.
19. Make a new friend.  It's not that I don't know folks.  I know plenty of folks.  But sometimes I tend to close myself off to people because it's...well, easier.  Friends take some work but in my experience are almost always worth the effort if you choose to exert it.  I just need that little reminder to keep myself open.
20. Pay for a stranger at a restaurant.  You never know what kind of blessing you can be on someone when they don't have to feel obligated to repay a kindness.  I imagine when the time comes I will know who to bless.  God has a way of nudging us when the time is right.

How It All Started

There's a guy I worked this last year who was retiring and told me "It's time to go do all of those things we have wanted to do but not had the time."  My brain instantly went to the sad fact that, at his age, how could he possibly finish it all?  The natural progression of my thought process then was to how I was going to be turning 39 in November.  To the average, middle-aged, Joe, 39-years-old may not seem like a big deal.  But for some reason, to me, it was... is.

The rotten thought occurred to me that this is my last year "in my 30s".  For whatever reason, call it mid-life crisis, call it media agism, call it whatever you want, I feel like I need to seize the moment.  I have reflected on things that I want to do and haven't done yet.  Some are big, some small, and others are just nagging.  The list has started to compile in my brain and I have quickly realized that there are so many things on the list of "I'll do it someday" that I couldn't name them all off the top of my head.  So the idea was born - make a list.  Since I would be turning 40, it seemed appropriate to put 40 of the things in my brain onto my list.  I mean, it's a year, I can't do them all.  Forty things seems pretty ambitious but do-able.  Plus, it just sounds plain-'ol FUN.


Now, let me preface this list with the statement that this project is NOT some "fix my life" excursion.  I have nothing to "fix" per-say.  Things are great here in our little slice of Eden.  Jesus loves me.  My family is healthy.  I am happy.  I get to spend time with my kids and husband and work when I want to.  In short, I am blessed.  I wouldn't change a thing about life thus far.  HOWEVER, I don't want to be 80 and be finally getting around to doing those things I never did.  So it's not some urgent imperative that I finish this entire project but it'd sure be cool if I did.