Whatever happened to my Forty before Forty List

One year ago, I realized that I'd be turning forty, so made up a list of 40 things I wanted to do before I reached that all-important milestone. Here's an update of how I've done:




1) Lose 15 pounds (and keep it off). I actually lost the 15 pounds by last October or so, but I've been hesitant to cross this off because it's a never-ending battle to keep it off!  

2) Eat less processed foods. done!  I'll still buy the occasional bag of Swedish meatballs or frozen gnocchi or canned soup, but for the most part I'm proud to say that I make most of our meals from scratch.  Hey, cheese and crackers and grapes, or pasta with olive oil and mozzarella still counts as scratch, right?  

3) Get a complete health checkup. done!
4) Get a mammogram. done!

5) Get a navel ring (or maybe a tattoo). I have to admit, I chickened out on this.  I still don't think my belly is flat enough to justify drawing attention to it with a navel ring, and although I find myself wanting a tattoo more and more, my fear of scarring (I'm prone to keloids) still stops me. 

6) Visit a new city. done -- San Diego for BlogHer 2011, baby!

7) Visit a new state.  Oooh, so close!  I was invited to a Ford blogging event in Michigan, but had to decline due to scheduling conflicts.  This one is a must-do, so I'll have to plan a trip soon.

8) Visit a new country. We're visiting Belgium this summer, so I'll be crossing this item out soon.  Hey, better late than never.

9) Go on a cruise.  We played around with the idea of an Alaskan cruise, but with trips to the UK and the Philippines planned this year, our budget just couldn't cut it.  Sigh.  

10) Learn to sail.

11) Learn to knit.

12) Buy (and wear) 3-inch (or higher) heels. done!

13) Buy (and wear) a bikini. done!

14) Go to the Exotic Erotic. no longer applicable :(

15) Go on a trip with Alfie on his motorcycle.
16) Go on a trip with Alfie for 4 or more nights.
The closest we came to this was our wedding anniversary trip to Napa Valley in November 2011.  We only stayed 1 night and we didn't take Alfie's bike, so I've decided this doesn't count and will redouble my efforts to accomplish this in the next year or so.

17) Do something with The Pea, just The Pea. done!

18) Do something with Jammy, just Jammy. done!

19) Do something with 3Po, just 3Po. done!

20) Write on the Facebook walls of each of my Facebook friends at least once. I've been diligently greeting my Facebook friends on their birthdays, so I'm going to assume that I've reached even my most distant of Facebook friends by this time!

21) Get my mom and/or dad to join Facebook. done!

22) See elephant seals. This is probably the goal that I'm most frustrated about not completing, because I had our elephant seal walking tour all booked -- then promptly forgot about the whole thing.  I didn't even realize we had missed the tour until a couple of weeks later!  Oh, well, there's always next year.

23) See a whale.  I didn't get to see a whale this year, but we did see some dolphins swimming just off the Santa Cruz harbor on Christmas day. 

24) Spiff up my blog.  Okay, I didn't exactly give either of my blogs a makeover, but I did update my About Me page. 


25) Clean out the kids' old toys. done!
26) Shred all receipts/bills/statements before 2008. done!
27) Get a spa facial. done!

28) Get a decent haircut. done!


28) Get highlights. 

29) Get contact lenses. done -- I got them two days after I turned forty! 

30) Get a new smartphone. done!

31) Find the perfect brownie recipe. done -- this Rocky Road Brownie is a keeper.

32) Find the perfect purse.

33) Find a musician or band that I love. thanks to our Rolling Stone magazine subscription and to The Pea, I actually know and love contemporary artists like LMFAO, Adele, Gotye, and the like.  There's hope for this old fogey yet!

34) Add ten or more new songs to my running playlist. done!

35) Get my kids to like Indian food.  I

36) Get my kids to like eggplant. Even though my kids still claim they don't like eggplant, I've managed to find a way to hide eggplant in dishes that they like!  So I'm going to count this as a moral victory.

37) Figure out the source of the stinky smell in our coat closet.  I never did figure out the source of the smell, but at some point during the year it went away, so either I unknowingly removed or cleaned the offending item, or I just got used to the smell.  Either explanation is fine with me.

38) Beat my sons at Wii Fit Soccer. Never even came close. And I doubt that I ever will.  I think I will file this particular goal under "desperate to prove I'm still hip and cool at 40" and get over it.

39) Volunteer my time with an organization that could use the help. done!

40) Figure out what I want to do in my next decade. Still working on this!