On Our Way To Crazy

Remember way back when we had four whole months before thirty? And we had big plans for all the things we were going to get done in those four months? And we had no idea how INSANE life was about to get? Man. Those were good days.

So I’ve been thirty for a month and two days. I… did not get the list done. Not even close. So it has a new title and some redefined expectations. Let’s see how it goes.

30 Things to At Least Attempt To Do in the Year I Turn 30

1. Make fresh pasta from scratch.
2. Roast a whole chicken. – Oh. This is definitely happening. Bring it on, fall.
3. Run three miles.
4. Figure out how to curl my hair. – OK. Here’s the thing. I know how to get my hair to look like this. It takes a thousand hours and a gallon of hairspray, but I can do it. I have also figured out how to make it do a cool wave thing thanks to some how-to youtube videos. (Did you know about those? They exist. FOR EVERYTHING.) What I still do not know how to do is make my hair HOLD the curls I put into it, and I don’t know it that is going to happen. My hair starts out super curly at 9 and is stick straight by 4. I don’t know how to fix that.
5. Practice Meatless Mondays. – Ha! I tried to do this one, I really did. And I stuck to it for a few weeks. But I kept forgetting it was Monday! Seriously, I would finish a chicken salad at lunch and then realize it was Monday. Poor planning on my part.
6. Refinish a piece of furniture.
7. Create a photo/art collage wall in our dining room. – I bought frames! That’s it so far. Sorry, dining room.
8. Grow something edible. – Nope. Although I did water Susan’s plants for a week, and she has eaten from them. Does that count? It’s probably the best I’m gonna do this year.
9. Learn how to use my Diana camera. – I really want to do this one. Maybe the cooler weather will get me outside and practicing.
10. Submit two articles and/or bible studies to youth publications. – Ohhhh, y’all. The depths of my neuroses on this one could be a week’s worth of posts. I have a ton of ideas, but then I am completely overwhelmed by them, by my (lack of?) writing skills, by fear that no one will find what I think useful or interesting.
11. Make real brisket. – I REALLY want to do this. Good football food.
12. Go to the zoo. – It was too freaking hot this summer to go to the zoo. But I have a real day off and a coupon in my life now. Plus the zoo just got flamingos.
13. Line the back of my bookshelves in a cool paper. – This was a great idea in theory. It really was. I love the look of papered shelves. But I have two problems here. My shelves aren’t very tall, meaning there’s not a lot of space between the top of the book and the bottom of the next shelf. You wouldn’t see much paper. More importantly, though, my shelves are cheapos from IKEA and I’m afraid if I remove the backs the whole thing will fall apart. And we can’t have that.
14. Make an apple pie from scratch.
15. Make an appliqué t-shirt.
16. Go to a laser concert at the Adventure Science Center.
17. Read five classic novels I haven’t read before.

• A Separate Peace by John Knowles
• Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
• A Room With a View by E.M. Forster
• Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carrol
• Franny and Zooey by J.D. Salinger

18. Open an IRA. - This is a maybe for this year due to some unforeseen circumstances. I know I need to. I really do. But we also need to eat.
19. Go to a drive-in movie.
20. Learn to make sushi. – Let’s be honest. This is probably not going to happen.
21. Make baklava from scratch. – Aaron really loves this stuff. It would be wrong to skip it.
22. Write random notes to 30 people. – I am trying hard to make this one happen. I’ve done about ten. We’ll see.
23. Attend Rock and Roll Trivia Night at Mercy Lounge.
24. Spend a whole day outside with nothing but books and a notepad. – The upcoming swing of cooler days is just calling out for completing this task.
25. Pay for someone’s food in a drive thru.
26. Take a nap in a hammock. – Do any of you guys have a hammock?
27. Make a piece of jewelry for myself.
28. Put together our wedding album.
29. Attend an art crawl.
30. Go to the Bluebird Café.

So… thirteen completed, five removed from the list due to an excess of ambition, three at least slightly in progress, nine left to go. Will I do it? Who knows. I will keep you posted.