In February I'll be 49. I still can't believe I'm that old (damn, where has the time gone?) So to celebrate the end of one of the best decades of my life (so far), I've come up with a project.

Once each week for the entire year next year, I am going to do something new and different that I've never done before. It can be something simple, like eating a new food (sushi? Eeewwwww!). Or it can be something big, like visiting a new country (Africa or New Zealand?)

Other things on the list (so far) are: get a massage, ride around Atlanta in an open-air bi-plane, get something besides my ears pierced (I'm too old for that one, but gonna do it anyway), take an acting class (I know I'll stink at that, but it will be fun anyway).

I've emailed friends and relatives asking for suggestions and several have decided to join the quest. It's going to be a fantastic year!

So if any of you have any suggestions or thoughts, please post them here. I thought it would be easy to think of 52 things, but I'm up to 38 and slowing down.

One side benefit of this that I didn't expect was, when trying to think of new things, I was forced to look back and remember the things that I "have" done so far. And lots of good memories have brought lots of smiles. I started a new journal because of this, so I don't "forget" any of the good stuff again.

Anyone have any ideas?

Whirlwind

What a fun idea!
As of 12:10 A.M. (CST - regular time, not daylight savings time) I flipped another year. I think I'll start a project like this, this month. I think coming up with things to do for each month will be a good diversion. I have to think of things that don't cost much, though. Any and all ideas are welcome here! Thanks whirlwind.

How about sharing a nice day with someone who you may think is lonely. Just going to the mall and having a cup of coffee together can be more rewarding than parachuting. At least you can't break an arm.

1. Dance lessons
2. Singing lessons
3. Some kind of musical instrument lessons
4. Painting lessons
5. Pottery lessons
6. Be a model for a painting class
7. Jewelry making lessons
8. Invest in a crazy stock
9. Volunteer at a nursing home
10. Take riding lessons
11. Ride in a hot air balloon
12. Join a presidential campaign
13. Try to buy an auctioned property in your county
14. Try to get on the Oprah's show
15. Swim with the dolphins
16. Go deep sea fishing or bay fishing
17. Join a Texas trail ride (coming up soon)
18. Mountain climb at the mall or activity station
19. Write a letter to a foreign dignitary concerning something you're passionate about
20. Learn to charm a snake
21. Learn to hula dance
22. Learn to mime and do it on a street corner
23. Get all the boomer women of the board together
24. Shave your head
25. Learn to give a massage, perform reflexology, etc.
26. Find something in your home that you really love and give it to a total stranger, no strings attached
27. Collect recipes from family members and make a family cookbook
28. Run a marathon
29. Make a YouTube presentation
30. Inventory your belongings
31. Spend a night in the woods alone - something I've always wanted to do since I read something similar in a Berg book, but am so afraid of doing
32. Join a group of storm chasers
33. Scuba diving
34. Come with me to walk the Appalachian Trail
35. Come with me to see the Northern Lights
(note: 34 & 35 - this is no weird invitation, it's just 2 things I want to do before I die)
36. Explore caves
37. Join an archeological expedition
38. Go white water rafting on the Canadian border
39. Visit a nudist colony - I dare you - a Golden Girls episode made me think of this
40. Interview 40 people, asking them how they came to get their job or no job
41. Carve an ice sculpture
42. Be a paparazzo for a week, trying to get pics of as many "important and interesting" people as you can
43. Invent something
44. Have a psychic reading
45. Knit a sweater, or something simpler like a throw
46. Buy a painting so totally out of your taste zone and give it a prominent hanging in your home
47. Form a boomer football team (or join one if there is a such thing in your area)
48. Visit a live volcano
49. Make a batch of soap
50. Paint your hair orange (or your color of choice) and go out in public
51. Submit some article to Wikipedia
52. Sponsor a child in a cause you are passionate about

Above are 52 - will you share with us what you already have, WW?

Gimster, does this mean that today's your birthday????

I have to go to a Christmas concert and spaghetti supper in a few moments, so won't be here to get the answer...so if it is your birthday, happy, happy, happy birthday - and if it isn't, well, then, happy birthday anyway just because it's good that you're alive!

Whirlwind, something I'd like to do this year, or next, or sometime soon, is help build a well in Africa, in memory of my brother.

Happy Birthday Gimster! I hope today has been a good one for you.

There are alot of things to do that don't cost money. One of the things on my list is to volunteer at a feed the homeless event next Thanksgiving (or something similar). A problem I've encountered in years past with charitable organizations is, when I call asking to help, they always say "we have plenty of people, just send a check." But I'm not going to give up in 2008, there will be something somewhere that I'll find.

Northern Lights are on the list. Not too sure about caves, but that's a possibility too. I had to laugh at number 39 on your list. That I have done, once. I was in Bonaire on a scuba trip, and spent an afternoon at Sorobon (the nudist resort there). I've never been very inhibited or self conscious (even though I have a skinny body and no boobs), so after the first few minutes it was alot of fun. Until (why is there always an "until"?) this man and his wife wandered up and started talking. All was well and good until the conversation turned to work. Turned out that the man worked in the same building as me, for the same department, two floors down. Talk about an "oh crap" moment! ROFL, even when I go thousands of miles away from home I have to behave, because no matter what I do, I WILL be seen or get caught. Anyway, I think he was more mortified by it than I was, we agreed to not say "where" (or how) we'd seen each other. He left the company shortly after that, went on to bigger and better things.

Eagle Heart, I love the idea of doing something in memory of your brother. Have you checked into organizations that may be able to help make your dream happen?

And don't give up Anne, 2008 could be the year you finally meet someone you're crazy about (and who is crazy about you). I firmly believe that timing is everything, and things happen for a reason. I don't always agree with or like that concept, but I believe it all the same. Pollyanna mentality I know, but I do have a sappy side.

Keep thinking!

Whirlwind

Hey Whirlwind, hope you'll land upon something special.

I haven't even gotten around to thinkin of 2008 yet...'cause I will turn 49 too in January! I am Aquarius..the futuristic sign. Quite honestly, I'm considering turning 50 in 2009 more special ...because then I will fly back to Toronto (from Vancouver) to celebrate with also, 80th birthday for my father and 40th birthday for my youngest sibling. They were born in different months. But who cares. It would be triple-blaster birthday year for family..

Eagle-heart: love the idea of the memorial well in an area that needs fresh water. So life-giving!

Whirlwind (have missed you!)...how about volunteering at a animal shelter or bird sanctuary?

anne, one of my granddaughters was with me and we were cutting up - she came up with the shaving the head thing (she's 11). #31 is a wish of my own. In the book, if I remember correctly, the character undresses. That would be a stretch, but I'd like to be naked under a full moon, with a light blanket, of course. Does that make me weird?
Thanks for the bday wishes EH, WW, anne. It was the most non-bday I've ever had... up and until the 20th hour, when all 7 grandchildren took their turns on the phone to wish me a HB! They are so worth it!