Countdown to 40!

Eagle-Eyed regular readers of the blog may have noticed the countdown to 40 icon on the right. This is something I've been meaning to address for ages now - not because I am desperate to turn 40 but because I see it as time to cross a LOT of things off my to do list. There are a lot of blogs who have done similar lists before a significant birthday - the first one I came across is by Janette Jones, whose list of 40 items to complete before she is 40 terrifies me.

So this is the plan of what I'm to do before the Big 4 0. I plan on doing regular updates of how the list is coming along - more items may be added if I have forgotten anything. My list is in no particular order - some items may require another one to be completed first.

1. Sing Karaoke

I am probably one of only a handful of people on the planet who have not sung at Karaoke (slight exaggeration I know!) This has become such a big thing now with so many people knowing that I have yet to do it that I don't think I could get away with any old song and not much fuss - believe me, I am no singer!

2. Learn to Knit/Crochet/Sew and ultimately own a sewing machine

I come from a crafty and arty family and am fairly creative myself (well maybe slightly more than fairly considering what I do for a living) This does not mean though that I can turn my hand to any craft - My mum is an amazing sewer (?)/crocheter but I think the gene passed me by - well I'm going to catch it up...hopefully!

3. Read the whole series of Harry Potter Books

For some reason I own them all but have never got round to reading them.

4. Finish the ironing pile

The word 'pile' does not do justice to how big our ironing pile is - We each have a huge box of ironing which takes over the whole of the office - I will photograph it as evidence before and after the task.

5. Own and use 200 'good' Baking/Cooking/Sugarcraft books

I have already started this and own 100+ but need to have a sort out (and a mighty good shop!). The rules of this are that I have to have cooked/made something out of each one for it to be classed as good. I also need to post a short review of these books.

6. Be on time with cards and presents for a whole year

7. Visit Hay-on-Wye Book Festival

8. Be a size 14

I am currently a size 16 (I can't believe I've jsut told the whole of the internet that!)

9. Regularly cook nutritious family meals

I'm sure I'm not alone in finding our family in a rut of eating the same meals over and over - I cannot justify owning so many cook books if I don't use them. It is said that the average family eats from a repertoire of only 10 meals regularly - not any more for us!

10. Register as a tutor with The British Sugarcraft Guild

Its a bit terrifying this one!

11. Make homebrew/homemade wine

God Bless my liver!

12. Conquer the art of G & T drinking

I have always thought that it seems so much more grown up to drink G & T than other drinks and as I have got to as certain age I need to grow up bit in my choice of drink. I am pleased to report that so far this task seems to be going well - Its a hard life!

13. Become better at Gardening

When I say better, I really mean learn something about gardening - This will involve me overcoming my phobia of creepy crawlies. I hope to grow veggies and have put our name down for an allotment. Unfortunately, there is a substantial waiting list which means we might not be in the plot before the big birthday but I can still learn in the meantime.

14. Have a go at surfing

I spend a lot of time watching dear husband and his passion for surfing and want my girls to see that their mum is game for anything too. One requirement of this task though is to succeed at Task 8 first!

15. 100 books read and reviewed between now and then

This is approximately one every 9 days which for some people might not be much - Having 3 daughters, running my own business and everything else that I fit in though means that this will be quite a challenge.


I feel quite nervous now that I have put my list 'out there' - It is something I have been thinking about for over 2 years and it being public knowledge means that I have to do it...watch this space and follow the journey!