Update – 20 things to do by 2010

So much for thawing out… *grin*

While the deadline for my “20 things to do by 2010” has long passed, I still feel the need to do a brief update, especially since it stayed in my blog feed as the most recent post for a year and three quarters. First things first – I wrote it after being inspired by the book,”The Next Thing On My List” by Jill Smolinski (something I read for my local book club). A few of us decided to come up with our own list of things we wanted to accomplish (yes, kind of a bucket list) and agreed on the 2010 deadline. Here’s the twenty I came up with, and how each one turned out –

1. Visit America’s Stonehenge – Nope, still haven’t made it there, but I’m hoping we can sometime this fall.
2. Lose 20 pounds – While I don’t recall exact numbers, at the moment I’m within five-ish pounds from what I think was my goal, so almost there.
3. Finish NaNoWriMo for the third time in November 2009 – Only made it to just over 6,000 words. Tried again for November 2010 and got as far as 10,500…fingers crossed for 2011.
4. Learn to read Tarot cards without a book – The answer to this could fill an entire blog entry, so I think I will expound more upon this another time. The short version is yes.
5. Buy some girl clothes – Yes, I now own a few skirts, and most of my shirts no longer come out of hubby’s drawer. I also scored some hand-me-down girl jeans & even more shirts from my niece as a nice bonus.
6. Finish the edits on my manuscript – *ahem* How about those Celtics…can’t wait for the lockout to be over…
7. Query 3 agents and 3 publishers – Move along, nothing to see here…
8. Buy 3 girly pocketbooks – I did buy one…
9. Get a Celtic player’s autograph – *pout*
10. Participate in a fundraising walk – Sadly, no.
11. Get a professional massage & a mani/pedi – This went on my list before I realized how extremely expensive (with our budget, anyway) this is…maybe someday…
12. Do 3 random acts of kindness – Yes, but nothing earthshattering – more of the “unload the shopping cart of the the elderly person in front of me in line” variety.
13. Start belly dancing again – Does laughing so hard my belly dances count?
14. Write for 15 minutes a day – Ummmm……
15. Walk for 15 minutes a day – If I added up how many times I walked from the living room to the kitchen at the old apartment…although with our recent move, I’m thinking I did enough to make up for it!
16. Start my own local homeschool group – Tried and failed. Long story involving expensive rent for the building combined with a family medical crisis (Jim’s mother was diagnosed with dementia).
17. Go on a date with Jim once a month – We’ve done better – we manage to go out by ourselves at least once a week. Our jaunts are either simple car rides, grocery store trips, or other errand type things, but it’s been great to have that time to stay connected. We’ve also done a few movies (he even surprised me with a date night to see “Priest” in 3D), and other more tradtional type things, but we might do three big dates one month, then none the next. That’s more than good enough for me. 🙂
18. Learn to operate a motorcycle – *sob*
19. Write a letter to each child, Jim and my mom, and mail them – I still hope to do this, because I think it’s pretty cool, but no.
20. Do the writing prompts for my writing group each month – I’ve been in such sorry shape that I’m not even attending the writing group every month. I’m hoping to change that for the next couple months while we’re still in the area.

There you have it – now to work on some new blog entries about the huge change Jim, the kids and I made in our lives…stay tuned… *grin*