It's my birthday. Thirty-nine. Doesn't that sound old? It does, doesn't it? But it doesn't feel old. It feels just fine, in fact. When I stop to think about how we all seem to be so terrified of getting older, it seems rather silly. I suppose it's the sense of shrinking possibility that does it. Less time to do the stuff that feels worthwhile. And the looks thing, of course. But what are you gonna do? I had my chance to be 23. And I can say with certainty that it was no better than being 38. In fact, it sort of sucked.
Here are 39 things I like to do in the final year of my 30s:
1. start some meaningful and ongoing volunteer work
2. re-read some Shakespeare plays
3. learn to sew, even a little
5. throw a party
6. visit a state I've never been to
7. reunite with some friends I don't see very often: Tara, Vida, Kate, Hilary
8. publish at least one piece in a national publication
9. go sailing
10. take my kids to the circus
11. eat hot dogs on the pier at Chrissy Field with my family
12. swim in the Yuba River
13. take my kids to play in the snow
14. take my kids to see a dance performance
15. go to Vermont
16. host a brunch/clothing swap at my house
17. follow the sun more when it gets foggy
18. eat oysters at Tomales Bay Oyster Company
19. spend a weekend by myself
20. make ice cream and then sundaes with Magnolia and Oliver
21. finish landscaping my front yard
22. find some more good, cheap restaurants to love in San Francisco
23. go the Alameda flea market
24. take a dance class
25. do some more encaustic painting
26. go hiking with the kids in backpacks before they really get too heavy
27. take the kids on a ferry ride to Angel Island
28. clean out the garage
29. eat pupusas
30. plant a few veggies (pickling cucumbers!)
31. spend a weekend away with The Mister
32. write a letter to my representative
33. have a movie marathon day at a multiplex
34. write a rough draft of the novel I'm working on
35. bake bread
36. get a massage
37. organize the closets
38. make a new friend
39. have a San Francisco day with my family: cable car, Swensen's, chowder in a sourdough bowl, Fisherman's Wharf
P.S. If you want to give me a b-day gift, go over there to the right and become one of my followers.
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5 comments:
Happy birthday Sam! You make 39 look fab.
Happy birthday, dear Samantha!! I can help you with a couple of your...39 things I'd like to do in the final year of my 30s. Call on me to help with #18 & #31. Love you!
Robin and I love us some Alameda Flea-- come with some time! Natch, Robin could do the place in about an hour, but I go a little bit slower. Anyway, we usually get there right at 9 and have been known to haul away some crazy good stuff.
Happy Birthday! Enjoy this year. I found 40 kind of rough, but maybe that's coz I didn't make a list like this!
xo
S.
San Francisco day! Yay! you can combine that with the Hilary reunion...yes? i'm also down for the ice-cream sundaes , oysters, sailing and/or massage. leave me out of the landscaping and veggie-planting if you know what's good for you. and i don't suppose i could come along for your weekend alone with the Mr., could i?
and i totally back you up on the fact that 23 SUCKED.
hear hear for 39!
CSchoech--you're on! Does this mean we get to stay at the TB house?... : )
And Susan. I 'd LOVE to join you and Robin at teh flea market I've been once and I've wanted to get back ever since. I'll be on the slow bus with you.
HBW- yes to everything. We will make Mexican chocolate ice cream and then cover it with hot caramel sauce and whipped cream and show those Italian girls what American over-consumption is all about!
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