33

I had a birthday yesterday.

As of now I am officially 33 and a day old. I must say I really enjoyed being 32. I can’t put my finger on it but there was just something so sexy about being that age. I hope that 33 grows on me. I am not quite feeling it yet.

Some months ago I saw on Marcia’s blog that she had what she called a 36 list. Basically you go according to your age (or maybe not) and list all the things (big or small) that you really want to accomplish until you have your next birthday. I liked that idea and for the past few weeks I have been drafting my 33 things list.

I have added and deleted countless items, I have made notes on timeframes and how I plan to carry out whatever is on my list, I have essentially been planning. And I have to say that I’ve had so much fun doing this. I’ve even inspired my DH to make his 40 list and we have decided that we are going to help our Tween boy with an 11 list in a few weeks time just before his birthday.

I have purposefully listed things that I can reasonably fulfill based on where I am at in my life at the moment both emotionally and financially.

The purpose of this is to make my life richer and fuller somehow and not to drive me to depression because I can’t do even 50% of it.

So. Herewith my list of 33 things.

1. Knit something for each member of my family. That would be something for me, my DH, my sons and my parents.
2. Master a musical instrument – I’m thinking guitar.
3. Weigh 65kg. This is 5kg below my 70kg goal weight.
4. Once on goal weight – treat myself to a Boudoir shoot.
5. Try two new recipes every month. One soup and one other.
6. Go back to study.
7. Make this blog look proper. Import the contents of my Mommy Blog into this one. Look into registering this blog as a domain and if it is going to work for me then go for it!
8. Change jobs
9. Take my family on a proper holiday.
10. Go away with my DH for at least 3 weekends between now and next July.
11. Get a tattoo
12. Sort my camera, take a lot more photo’s and actually be disciplined enough to download them. Work out a system for this.
13. Rework my hair routine. Teach myself to blow dry my hair and once I’ve mastered this then incorporate the GHD into the routine.
14. Visit either a museum or an art/ photography exhibition EVERY SIX WEEKS.
15. Attend a theatre production every quarter.
16. Get back into yoga and stick to it. Needs to happen once a week.
17. Take a local trip on my own. One where I would need to fly somewhere.
18. Read two books a month.
19. Do a basic course in social media.
20. Family photo shoot in Autumn. I want me some browns and orange in my pictures.
21. Buy some new clothing. I need a whole new wardrobe.
22. Attend 3 live sporting events. One soccer match, one cricket match and one rugby match.
23. Expand my friendship circle. This would mean attending the occasional tweetup/ meeting of bloggers (if I am invited). Actually I’ll just invite myself.
24. Run (at least) 4 times 5km races and 3 times 10km races.
25. Attend a parenting-type course.
26. Do something crafty (and easy) at least once a month.
27. Figure out a way to make extra money without actually leaving the house to go and work.
28. Learn to make a fire from scratch and actually braai some meat.
29. Witness a baby being born.
30. Learn to do some basic maintenance on my car. Stuff like changing a tyre, changing oil, checking spark plugs.
31. Redo my house on the inside. One room at a time. Slowly but surely.
32. Do more nature-type walks with the kids.
33. And the big one….buy a new car.

I think that these are all things that are relatively doable and so far, the only items that I am wondering about are numbers 29 and 33. But, I am going to do my utmost to make it happen.

I am going to be revisiting this list throughout the year and I will tick off stuff as I go along.