40 Before 40 Update

Today's my birthday.  36.  Let's not dwell on that number for too long.

Last year I wrote a 40 Before 40 post.  It only seems natural that this list should be revisited each year for a little self-evaluation. 

If I've done the math correctly, I need to accomplish at least 8 each year. 

Here goes nothing....

1. Catch up on my kids' scrapbooks. {Progress made....but definitely not 'caught up'.}


2. Exercise faithfully. No more four weeks on, three weeks off. There is a reason no one markets that routine. {Ummmm.....Does 2 weeks on, two weeks off count?}

3. Go on vacation for an entire week with just my immediate family, and not because work sent us.

4. Read 5 classics recommended by my classic literature fanatic friend. {Shoot, now I have to read more than one per year.}

5. Go snow skiing for the 2nd time. The first time was okay, but everyone says you have to go a second time to really enjoy it.

6. Take my children to a professional football or baseball game. {DONE!! Colorado Rockies vs. Chicago Cubs - last summer.}

7. Visit at least half of the States. So far I think I've only been to 15.

8. Develop and keep up a habit of drinking 6-8 glasses of water each day.

9. Landscape - or better yet, hire someone - to landscape our front yard.

10. Begin and maintain a well-tended garden. {DONE!! Does 'maintain' mean more than one year? I'm gonna say no.}

11. Go through the entire house, basement included, room by room, throw out junk, and organize everything.

12.  Go to the Mall of America.

13. Complete a family scrapbook - One that my husband and I actually appear in.

14. Read the Bible through in a year. I started this year, but at the rate I am going, I may hit the New Testament in 5 years.

15. See the Grand Canyon.

16. Get my Master's Degree. {Started....but many years left.}

17. Repaint all the walls in my house.

18. Remember my friends' and family members' birthdays by sending cards, calling, or at least sending emails. {Not bad this year.  If I'm desperate, I could say DONE!}

19. Get new living room furniture.

20. Teach, by example, my kids to volunteer and think of others more.

21. Eat less sugar. {On again, off again.}

22. Begin recycling and keep it up faithfully. {DONE!!}

23. Relearn to play the piano well. {I have decided the easiest way to do this is to keep playing the songs my son plays as he progresses through each level.  I have successfully mastered Level 2.}  :-)

24. See Niagara Falls.

25. Make a family recipe book. I come from a family, and married into a family, with slews of amazing cooks. It would be sad not to pretend that I like to cook and document all of their fabulous recipes.

26. Still be taking girls' weekends. {So far, so good.}

27. Lay on a beach. Since we love going to the lake, let me qualify this by saying a beach at the local reservoir does not count. I should not be able to see land on the other side of the water.

28. Write an adoption book for my son.

29. Have my entire wardrobe be in a single digit size for the first time since I was twelve years old.

30. Go on a mission trip, preferably a family mission trip.

31. Tell my kids everyday that I love them. {Unless I don't see or talk to them....}

32.  Spend more time putting others before myself. {I should have made these a bit more measurable!}

33. Consistently do family devotions.

34. Visit my brother in Oregon.

35. Lead a workshop at a Teacher Convention.

36. Be able to run a 5K.

37. Try more food that ends with -ese....Chinese....Japanese.....

38. Spend an entire weekend at home without kids.

39. Water ski for more than a minute without screaming. {What was I thinking??}

40. Practice saying "forty" so I don't pass out when the day arrives. {No way....}


Shoot. 

Not even close to 8.

And was I thinking I was going to win the lottery to do all that traveling? 

There's always next year....