I don’t know about you, but at the end of every summer I start to panic. The year is almost over!
Maybe the problem is that I grew up in Michigan, where the changing of the seasons is really definite and anxiety inducing. Does anyone else start thinking about when it’s going to snow for the first time around the end of August? No?
Usually, this is around the time I audit my list of 101 things I’m supposed to be accomplishing for the year, and find myself really behind. I always forget to spend a whole day at the beach.
This year was different though. I’m actually ahead.
I’m chalking it up to the fact that my goals were a little more realistic this year (when I was 18 my first goal was buying a house…ha!) and I think I’ve gotten a little braver, knowing I have to be accountable to you.
So thanks.
And here’s what I got left:
47 things to do before December 31, 2014
1. Visit every locally owned business on your street. (I think I have to start over since I moved to a new city.)
2. Create/build/decorate patio.
3. Have a patio dinner party.
5. Travel out of the country.
7. Publish writing in 3 places.
8. Submit work to 3 major contests.
10. Go to a poetry reading.
14. Send Valentines to everyone you love. (Better late than never?)
17. Complete task list for home improvements on Wealthy Street. (Hmm…not sure how this is going to go…)
19. Be a better listener.
21. Spend a whole day in silence.
22. Spend a whole week without social media.
24. Be more fluent in Spanish.
25. Buy some original art and hang it.
27. Hang up a world map and mark where you’ve been.
34. Spend a weekend with Giselle.
43. Bring baked goods to work.
44. Knit a scarf and give it to someone.
45. Get a bikini wax. (Why did I wish this upon myself? Why?)
46. Bake a loaf of bread.
47. Go wine tasting.
49. Visit a temple or church and pray.
52. Drop everything and help a friend.
55. Eat a food you’ve never tried before.
57. Print, frame, and display pictures.
59. Work hard. Stay humble.
65. Go canoeing or kayaking.
66. Get wet in a waterfall.
67. Take Giselle to Frederick Meijer Gardens.
68. Make a bookshelf bed.
70. Have beautifully organized closets.
71. Try to read every day for 30 minutes.
73. Buy cute, warm, winter pajamas.
75. Meet with Brent, Pamela, and Miriam, my professors from college. (Skype?)
82. Buy personal calling cards.
83. Go horseback riding.
84. End the year with at least $500 in your savings account. (This was ambitious.)
85. Bake someone a birthday cake.
88. Put together a writing portfolio.
91. Go to the Grand Rapids Public Museum.
92. Take a kid to the Grand Rapids’ Children’s Museum.
94. See a play, opera, or other theatrical production.
96. Up-keep “This Little Space” blog for a year. (See you soon one year anniversary…see you soon.)
98. See an ocean.
99. Have a tea party.
100. Buy a dining room table (and stop eating on the couch).
101. Complete this list.
(The numbers are in order from the original list…I’m not that shitty with numbers.)
What’s left on your list for this year? Comment and tell me!
DANIELLE ALEXANDER 