Thirty Things

Some landmark, previously obscured by hazy expectation, is drawing near. So for lots of reasons that seem different than the cliches (but probably aren't) I want to mark this moment - because now is as good a time as any to start the rest of my life.

The Full and Complete List

One
Visit one city I have never been to before

Two
Be by the sea. A lot
(once so far)

Three
Take three friends out to lunch

Four
Join a group I'm passionate about

Five
Walk five miles of country road

Six
Make six beautiful things

Seven
Go seven days completely unplugged and off the grid (in your own house)

Eight
Compliment eight strangers

Nine
Hold a baby

Ten
Do ten cartwheels

Eleven
Read eleven books I've always been curious about

Twelve
Send postcards to twelve people

Thirteen
Grow a wildflower garden

Fourteen
Eat off of pretty things as often as possible (buying cheap mismatched china to make this happen is allowed)

Fifteen
Write a really good short story

Sixteen
Barbecue and picnic sixteen times this summer
(5 down...)

Seventeen
Paint the house a color you love

Eighteen
Bite the bullet, and do that super secret project you are embarrassed to admit

Nineteen
Build a bonfire

Twenty
Learn to make twenty new recipes
(three down, addendum: Beer Butt Chicken was a spectacular start)

Twenty One
Learn to sail

Twenty Two
Play on a swing set and remember how awesome it is

Twenty Three
Sing in public, just once, and see how it goes

Twenty Four
Create twenty four sweets and send them to someone you love

Twenty Five
Wave at twenty five people riding by on the bus

Twenty Six
Get rid of twenty six articles of clothing

Twenty Seven
Go on a road trip

Twenty Eight
Go twenty eight days without sugar or bread of any sort

Twenty Nine
Learn twenty nine words in another language

Thirty
Have a midnight Carpe Diem, just for you

I do have news, life is in the fast lane these days, but I am about to make a paella so I don't have time to write it all down.

In the meantime, I give you my back of the cupboard world class BBQ marinade . The perfect change of pace now summer's hit it's peak.

Thirty on my mind

For about a year, the prospect of 30 has drifted in and out of my consciousness.

Some landmark, previously obscured by hazy expectation, is drawing near.

I mostly don't mind at all - or rather I don't mind in the way that seems expected. The way it works on tv.

I am not worried about aging (I like my gray hairs). I am not sorry my 20s are ending. I am not terrified of the commitments and seriousness of life ahead. I am not racing a clock, bodily or metaphorical.

I do mind that I am slow to seize the new me. That my vision for the future (it is truly beautiful) is taking shape and I want to grab it right now -- not wait for money or sense or reason. I do mind that regret and resentment still hold me back sometimes, but I am working on that.

So, for lots of reasons that seem different than the cliches (but probably aren't), I want to mark this moment.

I want now to be a time I can look back on and remember. To see the change. To know the bravery and hope that filled my life in this turning point.

Serendipitous then, that I got an email alert from Joy the Baker today. It is fab. I love her (mostly because she reminds me of my sister).

Lovely Joy is also in the thirty-something transition. And she made a list : 30 Things Before 30 Years.

It's a lovely list (and reassuring she hasn't quite got it done yet and it's become a 30 Things in 30 Years list)

So I thought it was time I came up with my own.

I'm not sure I need to stick to the numbers, I don't need a gimmick here. And I'm not entirely sure it'll be things that need to happen in the next six months - but now is as good a time as any to start the rest of my life.





One
Visit one city I have never been to before

Two
Live by the sea

Three
Take three friends out to lunch

Four
Join a group I'm passionate about

Five
Walk five miles of country road

Six
Make six beautiful things

Seven

Eight

Nine

Ten
Do ten cartwheels

Eleven
Read eleven books I've always been curious about

Twelve
Send postcards to twelve people

Thirteen
Grow a wildflower garden

Fourteen
Eat off of pretty things as often as possible (buying cheap mismatched china to make this happen is allowed)

Fifteen

Sixteen
Barbecue and picnic sixteen times this summer

Seventeen

Eighteen

Nineteen

Twenty
Learn to make twenty new recipes

Twenty One
Learn to sail

Twenty Two

Twenty Three

Twenty Four
Create 24 sweets and send them to someone you love

Twenty Five
Wave at 25 people riding by on the bus

Twenty Six
Get rid of twenty six articles of clothing

Twenty Seven

Twenty Eight

Twenty Nine
Learn twenty nine words in another language.

Thirty



Hm. Am running the risk of putting in impulsive nothings to fill the list just for the sake of it. Will sleep on it a bit I think and add to it as and when.

Any suggestions people?

I have finally sorted out my LinkedIn. and after a morning staring blindly at tick boxes my eyes are swimming.

I so don't miss having a desk job.

I may or may not have made a giant skillet cookie today.

I may or may not have done any measuring whatsoever, resulting in a giant lump of goo.

I may or may not have undercooked it so it stayed that way.

I may or may not have eaten the entire thing while contemplating nothing and reading trash.


but if I had, it would have been worth it.

So, that story I was writing?

It's going to be published in this book.

Hideous, but awesome.

today I told Liam my deepest, darkest secret. the one that haunts me almost everyday.

and everything feels different now.