Monday, April 30, 2012

40 x 40 - Not a complete Fail

Last week I turned 40, which is really not that traumatic as most people think.  It probably helps that I'm the youngest of 4 kids which means that all of my brothers turned 40 LONG before I did (and, dare I say it, one is even knocking on the door of 50 .. now THAT's old! HA!) I should also mention that all of my sisters-in-law are also older than me so being the last of the group to hit "big" numbers kinda makes it anti-climatic. 

When I first started this blog way back in the day, one of the trends I noticed on other blogs was writing goal lists such as "30 x 30", 40 x40, or even 101 in 1001 (101 goals in 1001 days) so it got me thinking at the time that I had about 1 1/2 years to accomplish 40 things on my to do list.  Now that I'm past that mile stone, I thought I'd do a full recap of what I accomplished, what I didn't, what I couldn't and what I wish I had completed.  This will probably be a slightly long post so skip it if you would like :-)

The Final Update:

1. Make a Rag Quilt - I can honestly say that when I wrote this list I was positive that I would get this done.  Well, that didn't happen.  This is still something I would like to accomplish . . . eventually.

2. Learn to Belly Dance - I never did order the disc I found, not sure why, but I still want to accomplish this eventually too.

3. Take a Ballroom dancing class with my husband - This is just not the time to accomplish this idea.  We live too far from town and with little kids it's hard to do something in the evening.  Maybe someday but I'm ok if it never happens too.

4. Be Completely current on all scrapbooking projects - THIS IS DONE!! WHOO WHOO!!  I still have pages to print but they are done and that is all that matters.  I'm currently working on March 2012.  Yes, you read that right.  I have pages printed through September 2009 and in an album.  The company I use for page prints has a sale twice a year - the next one is in September so I plan on saving money through then and order as many pages as I have money - with the sale I'll be able to get at least 25-30 pages "free". 

5.  Finish my first quilt -- This is done and I love seeing it :-)

6.  Eat in the 1913 Room - This restaurant closed.  I can be honest and say that after looking more at the menu for the place I did not want to go.  Instead we went to Charlie's Crab and loved it. 

7.  Learn to make the perfect cheesecake - This one seemed so easy HA  I just never made one . . .how lame is that??

8.  Reach my goal weight - Oh well.  We can't win them all!!

9.  Read through the Bible in the year - I never made it all the way through but I did make it further than I ever had before. 

10.  Plant a Vegetable garden - Done!!

11.  Can beets, pickles, tomatoes, salsa and jam - Done!

12.  Re-learn Claire Delune on the piano - I did work on this but never spent the time that I really needed to on it.  Practicing piano is just now making it back into the priority list.

13.  Go to a regular seasons Lions Game - Tickets are so expensive . . . one day we'll go!

14.  Go to a bra specialist - Done (guess what, you can do it at home and get the same measurement.  This really wasn't that big of a deal)

15.  Renovate my kitchen from top to bottom - I ended up dividing my kitchen into a few phases and phase one is almost done so I'm counting this as DONE!!!

16.  Put myself on a bone morrow transplant list - still need to do this. 

17.  Attend a Sandy Patty concert - Still waiting for her to come in concert somewhere local.

18.  Walk on the treadmill 4 days a week for three months - I thought about it, does that count???

19.  Be making $1000.00 a month from home - I thought this would be "easy" but everything I've looked into hs not worked.  I'm still working to find that one thing that will help us out!

20.  Take a cooking class - I'm still looking . . ..

21.  Tae a photography class - DONE!

22.  Learn to make jewelry - This is one project I just didn't get into . . I'd still like to do it but right now I have other projects that take my time and money.

23.  Ride on one of the two Great Lake Boats - I looked into this a few times but it just didn't work into our plans .

24.  Take a train to Chicago and stay overnight downtown - this is STILL on the list. 

25.  See Wicked - this one is also STILL on the list!

26.  See the Rockettes live - if they come back to Grand Rapids, I will go!

27.  Watch the Harlem Globetrotters in person -I'm hoping that maybe this coming January we can go - the boys will be big enough to enjoy it now.

28.  Sew an Apron - I got one for Christmas - that was easier than sewing :-)

29.  Cook clean for one week - Tried it. . .well read about it . . not happening HA!

30.  Attend a concert in the Park - Darryl's schedule just hasn't allowed this to happen but I'm hopeful we can do it this coming summer.

31.  Do a sole sensations treatment on my feet - if there is ever a spa in Michigan that does this, I will figure out how to get it done!

32. Join a Book Club - Done!  Not my favorite thing though.

33.  Get a German Shepherd - We still plan to do this - the timing just hasn't been right.

34.  Invite Lisa LaPlante for dinner - I tried; she declined.

35.  Make Three specific photo books - I made some progress on this but it isn't done.

36.  Learn CPR - DONE!

37.  Eat at the longest breakfast table in Battle Creek - I am planning to do it this summer - we have a family party that day but it will only take us about 30 minutes out of our way so I plan on doing both!

38.  Potty Train both of my children - Apparently my boys can read, saw this and said "NO WAY MOM!"   Now I'm just hoping they are out of diapers by the time they leave home :-/

39.  Win a Makeover from one of our local stations - I tried.  many times.

40.  Take my husband to see the Christmas lights and ride the train at Crossroads Village - He did ride the train but we have not make it to see the lights!

So, that's it.  I do plan on writing a new list .. now sure how I will "theme" it yet but I'm working on it . .. something to work towards.  What can I say? I'm a planner!