25 Things Before 29

The coming year will provide many things for me. The Mayan apocalypse may or may not be among them; personally, I'm rooting in favor of the four horsemen deciding they're just not up to destroying the world this year, and would rather stay in Valhalla and comb their ridiculous green-tentacled beards. I like where my life is going, and I'd like it to get there - wherever there may happen to be.

It's that time of year when I like to at least pretend I have some control over my life and make wise and ridiculous goals as I gallop off into the sunset of another anniversary. Here's what I'm hoping to accomplish in the next year. The first six are uncompleted items from last year - ones that I still hope to check off my list.

1. Take a creative class - painting, writing, etc.

2. Bake something extra-difficult. Then make other people eat it. Because I'm evil.

3. Get a bike - if not for myself, for Spousal Unit.

4. Volunteer somewhere - like a children's museum or an animal shelter.

5. Take Spousal Unit to Mall of America, as he's never been there.

6. Read a book about quantum physics.

7. Finish the end of the novel, by the end of the year, so that I have a complete draft to rip to pieces, rearrange, and rewrite.

8. Check off steps 1 through 6 of my revision checklist. (Not as big a goal as it seems - I'm already halfway toward most of them.)

9. Write at least 200 words a day for the novel, starting November 1. I'm totally serious about this thing.

10. At least prepare a letter and the first chapter to go out to a publisher.

11. Get a kitty.

12. Go to Germany again. Or somewhere else awesome - I'm not picky.

13. Mod Podge/paint a bookshelf.

14. Go to Aztalan with Spousal Unit.

15. Knit socks for myself.

16. Save a predetermined amount of money.

17. Visit three Madison museums - the first on my list is the Mustard Museum.

18. Finish all of the quilt squares and sew them together. (This doesn't mean finishing it, as it will still need a border.)

19. Continue to exercise regularly. 

20. Reach a point where I do not expect to experience physical pain on a daily basis. I've given PT a shot; next up is massage and a chiropractor.

21. Continue to see the shrink.

22. Get my tattoo. This includes figuring out exactly where I want it, and how much of it I want to get at once.

23. Go to a concert. I don't care what kind - indie, jazz, classical, Irish - but it has to be live, and it has to be more than just one person making musical noise in a room I happen to inhabit. I miss live music.

24. Try to make music of my own again - as in, practice and become somewhat proficient again. I will pick between mandolin, piano, and flute.

25. Research hunting, and possibly go hunting - I'm thinking turkeys, or maybe fishing. More on this idea to come - if nothing else, I want to go to an archery range.

The year to come will, in some ways, be a continuation of last year - lots of novel work and self-improvement. In some ways, it will be kind of weird. I've come to expect that of my life.