40 by 40!

First off, a big shout-out to Nick Burgart for getting back in the blogging saddle, it inspired me to do the same!   Now on to this hope-to-be-regular broadcast of my own!  Today's topic is brought to you by the number 40...  Yes, this is in fact the birthday I will be celebrating in approximately 329 days.

 How the heck did that go by so fast???  What is odd is that mentally, I still feel in my 20s.  Physically though?  I feel closer to 40 than 20, arthritis is a B*TCH!  So I was pondering the thought that I could be at a halfway point in life, so I should probably put some consideration into what I wanted to accomplish going forward.  My immediate list was "What do I want to accomplish by 40, aka the 40 by 40 list!"  So here it goes, in all its glory:

1. Finish my yard projects, including creating a backyard garden oasis.  Luckily Isaac has offered to help design...  I suppose this means wireless will be in the plan.
2. Hold a birthday candlelight dinner party in my backyard (obviously I'm on a deadline!)
3. Join a chorus, I miss singing in an organized parts fashion...  Karaoke night may be my backup plan
4. Read the bookclub book and a book just for fun each month
5. Learn to do swimming flip turns - because honestly, you look so much cooler in the water when you can do this!
6. Blog post at least monthly...  seems like a reasonably easy goal given I have about 12 half drafted already??
7. Take a garden art welding class, really hoping these exist!  Would like to make my own sculptures and who doesn't want to play with fire??
8. Try guitar lessons.  I've done the piano route as an adult, would like to see if guitar can capture AND retain my interest!  The next Taylor Swift?  Maybe Taylor's mom....
9. Finish one sewing UnFinished Object (UFO) 
10. Finish one knitting UnFinished Object (UFO) 
11. Finish one new sewing project
12. Finish one new knitting project (I obviously have not been spending near enough time on my crafty endeavors this past year and my yearning shows)
13. Travel on at least 1 international pleasure trip this year, need to get working on filling in this travel tattoo sleeve!
14. Create master suite in attic...  Still debating on this one.   Bella wants me to address this, as she's already claimed it as her space until she graduates.  Will depend on how much it will cost to do this per code as I would like to recoup some of my investment in this house!
15. renew my online dating application, sigh.  'nuff said.
16. consistently lift weights.  I was SOOOO good this past year until I had shoulder surgery in Feb.  Still working on getting back to the grind.
17. Learn from the first 40 years and stop making unrealistically long lists that I can never accomplish.   Settling on a  list of 16 seems like a good step in the right direction!

Now if anyone has some crazy bucket list items of their own they want to share, I'd love to hear about them!  And recommendations for international travel locations?