50 in 50 - 2024 update!

*Disclaimer - this post has nothing to do with a cat
but look how cute he is…how could I not post that?

Years ago,
I started my plan to do
50 things BEFORE I turned 50…
& then 50 came.

So I changed it to
50 things in my 50th year…
but then
50 turned to 51.

So then I adapted and reacted
& decided to make it
50 in my 50’s
and that feels doable.

Well, I got to cross
try rock climbing
off my list!
I am not going to lie…when I signed up
for this class, I did not realize
it would be as HARD as it was…
I struggled. I fought. I felt like I was never
going to get to the top of even ONE of
those damn walls, even though everyone
else in the course seemed to be scurrying up
there hardly breaking a sweat.

Then finally, on the last night of the course,
I MADE IT TO THE TOP.
And yep, it was probably an easy wall
but that doesn’t matter. I did it. I finally did it. :)

This has probably the
most active I have ever been
in the fall…I have joined a gym,
tried pickleball, am going to the sauna,
hitting my steps.

I am also trying NOT to
focus on the extra weight I am carrying
in the rock climbing photo.
I am trying to focus on the feeling of
sheer effing accomplishment I felt at that moment.
And how I want to keep that momentum going.

So today I crossed this one off my 50 in 50 list.
And wondered
what can I cross off next!?! :)

Suggestions?

cause i am dorky....but you knew that....that's why we are friends...

Every year,
I choose one word
to be a compass for the year….
some years, it works out
fantastically (like glow! and adventure!),
other years can be a bit of a bust.

Last year my word was Resolve…
which was ok…i mean…it worked….
I did some grown up stuff,
and I came to terms with some stuff
about me and who I am/was/hope to be.

But I didn’t really feel like it
lit a fire under me…it was just….
ok as a word.

This year, I chose CULTIVATE…

And I am pretty excited about this.
I feel like this is the year
I start to put the broken pieces of myself
that I have been picking up off the floor
and digging out from under the bed
and finding tucked into the back corner
of the closet
and start nurturing them, putting them back together,
to nourish and love and encourage
the little geek girl in me…heh.

This year will see a resurgence
of the 50 in my 50’s list
(see how flexibly I keep adapting the
title to make it work with my procrastination….heh)…
I want to be a year
of learning and growth and
deepening my current friendships/relationships
and being open to new ones.

I want it to be year of loving life…
embracing it fully and if you are in my life,
be prepared for my attention and affection
and hopes that you will join me
in grabbing this year
by the throat and loving it hard and with feeling.
(yeah, sometimes I am overly dramatic…)

Life is short.
What matters to me right now
are the people in my life…
the experiences we share,
the adventures, the connections…
I want to look back at 2023
and feel a full heart,
to know I lived a year in
honesty and vulnerability…
with my pollyanna positively annoying attitude
and that every day,
I tried to make someone somewhere smile,
even just a little bit….
cause that makes me smile, too.

Sooooooooooooo….
consider this fair warning…
oh, and if you are up for
paintballing, rockclimbing
or tandem skydiving,
let me know.
heehee.
:)

that time i actually left the island...for another island...

for years
i have been saying
i am going to go back
to cabot trail.

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when we were kids
cabot trail was the family vacation
for many years…
4 kids (sometimes more)
2 adults (sometimes more)
jammed in the back of a van
with no windows
and no seatbelts
(sounds more like an abduction, i know
but i like to flair on the side of the dramatic…heehee).

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this year, i did it
with the help of my brother and his sweet girlfriend
who let me tag along
with two of the teenage kids
and it was so much fun…
(plus i had my own window AND a seatbelt!)

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we had to do a pretty quick trip
but it was so fall and pretty and
was also a great time to spend some concentrated
time with family.

i can’t wait to go again.

(also…one more thing off my 50-in-50 list!)

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the 50 before 50 shift....

So.
A long time ago,
I talked about the 50 before 50 list.

And I did a few things off of it…
some of them on purpose,
some totally by happy accident.

And then I woke up one morning
and realized
I turn 50
NEXT WEEK.

Like.
NEXT week.
Like.
TUESDAY.

So
unless
I get a tattoo
and go skydiving
over the weekend
while camping
alone
and with someone else
in Cabot trail
and stop off to give blood
on my way to
play badminton
and somehow
get someone to drive me
in a racecar or on the back of
motorcycle
to paintball after we have done
the zipline
that must be right next
to the rollercoaster…
then maybe I will have hit
my goal weight
from all that activity
and i can celebrate
by baking an effing apple pie
SERIOUSLY WHO MADE THIS LIST.

Heeheehee.

So I have decided to switch it to
the 50 - IN - 50 list.
(I’m old. I can change things to suit myself….
it’s my prerogative, Bobby)

And I am all fired up again
to get things DONE this time.

Feel free to join in the fun…
:)

I am going to see if I can pin the list
to the top of my page…you know,
for accountability…
and my frazzled memory.