List To Do By 50th Birthday ~ Did I Complete It?

Looking back at past blogs I picked up on the "things to do by the time I reach 50" one and had a wee laugh to myself.

Some of the items of the list are completed but there are still a few I didn't manage to complete ~ and I'm not sure if I will ever do so either.

So what were they and which ones did I successfully achieve?

Here you go..

1. Write a blog ~ Yes, all those years ago I picked up the challenge put down by my therapist and set up my blog. It's been something I have enjoyed writing far more than I realised I would and enjoyed supportive private messages from other bloggers which have been enormously appreciated.
   
   
2. No booze for a month ~ Another tick off the list, I have actually been booze free a few times since writing this on my "to do list" as I find having intermittent detox months help me step away from the booze and prevent me from abusing it. Recently I have found that I am drinking far less than ever before and am almost always below my weekly unit allowance.
3. Get a Tattoo ~ I was late to the game on this one and had my first tattoo on my 41st birthday followed by several more since then. Almost all my tattoos hold specific significant memories for me but one or two are just because. My middle daughter is new tattooist and so I offer my skin to her to practice on.
   
   
4. Have a facial piercing ~ I completed this along with the tattoo on my 41st birthday as I had my nose pierced at the same time. My nose piercing is my all time favourite piercing. My middle daughter is also a qualified piercer and so I have now ears full of piercings and my nipples pierced. I used to have a bridge piercing ~ in fact I had it done 3 times but each time my body decided to reject it and it grew out. After the 3 attempts I gave up and I miss it but I reckon it's not worth the scar tissue if its going to keep growing out.
   
   
5. Donate blood ~ I was a blood donor for years but unfortunately since my chronic illness diagnoses the blood bank no longer want my blood, but at least I can tick it off the list as having done it.
   
   
6. Go Vegetarian for a month ~ I went vegetarian for a month in September 2015, since then I have been vegan for a month on two occasions. Now I mostly follow a diet where I eat either vegetarian or vegan meals, although I do falter occasionally and enjoy a little meat now and then when eating out.
   
   
7. Make my own wine ~ I managed to achieve this at the beginning of 2015 when we bought some home brew equipment. We made white and red wines which were delicious, however we don't have the time and space to make it now so we are selling our equipment and buy the wines!
   
   
8. Visit the Jack Daniels distillery in Lynchburg ~ As a Jack Daniels fan I have always wanted to go and see where it was made. Jack Daniels is a drink that holds happy memories for me, times drinking it  during adventures with Dave. Then, in 2008 mum and dad offered to stay with our girls so that we could go to America for Dave's 40th Birthday and travel around Nashville, Memphis and Lynchburg. I finally visited the distillery and it was awesome! I couldn't quite get my head around the fact that the distillery is in a dry county ~ crazy!
   
   
9. Learn how to hula hoop ~ As a child I couldn't hula hoop and it drove me nuts watching others effortlessly doing it in front of me. I have managed to learn how to hoop in one direction and can do it for about 20 minutes in that one direction but no matter how hard I try I can't do it in the other direction even for a single "hoop", it just drops to my ankles!
   
   
10. Walk inside a glacier ~ This wasn't something I felt I could achieve until my sister moved to Chamonix in France. When I visited we took the girls up and actually went inside a glacier. There they have a train and cable cars that take you up to a glacier. Once at the glacier a cable car takes you down to a spot where an opening has been created and inside ice sculptures are created for visitors to enjoy. Being inside a glacier is beautiful, it has a gorgeous blue light inside and isn't as cold as I thought it would be. Each year when the glacier moves a new entrance and carvings are created for visitors to marvel at. If you are afraid of heights the cable cars are a bit lairy and I had to really focus on my breathing when in them to stop myself from panicking.
    
    
11. See a show on Broadway ~ It was such a fluke how I managed to tick this off my list. Some years ago my husband worked for a well known pest control company. This company regularly offered sales incentives to their staff to encourage them to work harder. Dave won one of these incentives which was a 4 day trip to New York including all tickets to the major sights and dinner on The World Yacht, lunch at Tavern On The Green and tickets to Phantom Of The Opera on Broadway. The entire trip was amazing with many happy memories made.
    
    
12. Complete a photography course ~ I successfully ticked this item off the list when I enrolled on a course with the Open University which started in March 2016 and I completed by the end of the year.
    
    
    
13. Drink a pint of Murphy’s Stout in a pub in Ireland ~I visited Dublin a couple of years ago and as well as visiting the Guinness museum I also managed to drink a lovely pint of Murphy's whilst there too. I have discovered recently several pubs in Derby which sell stout similar to Murphy's, although none of them sell Murphy's anymore.
    
    
14. Put £5 in a book in the library with a note ~ A few years back when I used to visit our local library I did this, I popped it into a paperback version of Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman, as it's my favourite book. I wish I had been there to see the face of the person who found it.
    
    
15. *Not Achieved* Visit Pompeii with Dave ~ I nearly achieved this but ill health resulted in the trip being cancelled. We have planned a trip to Zante, Greece, for September as it will be a very relaxing and low key convalescence holiday but I hope that perhaps next year we will be able to make it ~ health allowing, as it requires a certain level of walking. I will have to create a "To Do before 60" list I think for all items not completed on my before 50 list. 
    
    
16. *Not Achieved* Have a (tasteful) nude photo shoot ~ I want to embrace and accept the body I have after years (well almost a life-time) of being dissatisfied and wanting to be thinner, have bigger boobs etc. I am finally learning that this body has carried me well and seen me through tough times, it needs celebrating, stretch marks, rolls of fat, grey hairs and droopy boobs 'n' all! I almost went for this and then bottled it! I may end up taking some self portraits instead but need to learn how to use a remote control with my camera ~ I have no clue with technology ~ to take the photos. This means this will most likely be a "before 60" item.
    
    
17. Say yes for an entire day ~ I have a tendency to say "no" immediately and then think about it before then deciding if I want to change it to a "yes". I think waking up one day and deciding to only say "yes" would be a good exercise for me ~ but obviously I won't tell anyone when I plan on doing this as I feel they may well take advantage! DONE ~ and thankfully as no~one knew I was doing it I had to do nothing that took me out of my comfort zone and the day was spent mostly giving the girls lifts from here to there #Taxi.
    
    
18. Renew wedding vows ~ This was very important for us because we have changed our religious views and beliefs since our married days, been through an awful lot and come out stronger, wiser and more unified. First time round we allowed family to organise our wedding and decide on how the day would run. This time round we wanted to do it our way and involve the girls and celebrate what we have survived and look towards a brighter future together on our own terms. We booked this in for June 2016, inviting friends and family to celebrate with us and were very excited about it. Unfortunately my health faltered and so we cancelled the big do and scaled it right down to just us and the girls, plus Keisha's boyfriend at the time and the celebrant.It was a wonderful, relaxed and low key day. We wrote our own vows and included a sand ceremony into the celebrations which involved everyone in the room. The sand came from our favourite beach in Filey as did the shells to decorate the vase afterwards.
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
19. *Not Achieved* Send a message in a bottle ~ This really appeals to me although I don't know why. Those who know us know that we spend so much of our leisure time down on the coast. I thought this would be a fun thing to do, not sure what message I will send yet. I have absolutely no excuse for doing this except that I keep forgetting! I have had so many opportunities to do this ~ damn my brain and memory! It is something I will tick off when I remember to do it.
20. Try new foods I’ve been too chicken to have before ~ When I first met The Dave I didn't like so many foods, curry's, pizza's etc but now eat them all. However, I am a real baby when I am faced with something new and a coward about trying them ~ so my mission between now and 2019 is to add a list of new foods to my menu. I have successfully completed this challenge and make a point of always trying out new things, it's fun and a practice I intend to continue.
    
    
21. *Not Achieved* Collect acorns and randomly plant them ~ I am a huge lover of trees and was listening to an interview on radio 2 about oak trees and the guy (I forget who he was) was appealing to the public to gather acorns and randomly plant them because oak trees are very slow growing yet hugely beneficial to the environment and we need more of them. So that is precisely what I am going to do whenever I can. Erm except I kept forgetting ~ it's as simple as that ~ if I can remember to do this then I most certainly will!
    
    
    
22. *Partially Achieved* Go on a romantic beach picnic with Dave and sit and watch the sunset ~ Something so simple and yet something we have never done. So hoping to do this one summer evening on the Yorkshire coast. Well, we had the picnic but are always too tired to stay up til sunset and end up asleep and missing that part!
    
    
    
23. *Not Achieved* Go wine tasting ~ Again, this is something I have always wanted to experience and somehow never got round to doing. Hopefully I can tick this off before the end of my lifetime. This one will have to be transferred onto the before 60 list!
    
    
    
24. Let the girls do a make-over on me and wear whatever they decide for the day ~ I have no fashion, I just wear jeans and man jumpers with Docs or trainers. I like to be comfortable. The girls would like to see me looking girly and feminine so I have said they can choose an outfit (gulp ~ even if it is a dress or skirt) and put make-up on me and I will keep the look for the day. I have enjoyed doing this with the girls a couple of times and although worn dresses and smarter more feminine attire I didn't really feel like me and so mostly wear my comfy jean and top combos. The make~up felt weird on my face and so I could only wear it for a few moments before the impulse to wipe it off kicked in. I removed the foundation but kept the eye and lip make~up on for the day. The photo is me wearing make~up after my youngest applied it for me!
    
    
    
    
    
25. Grow my hair ~ I have tried and failed many times to grow my hair. However I finally successfully managed to grow it to shoulder length at the beginning of this year and then, decided that I really don't like long hair on me. After much thought I had it cut back to a more flattering shorter length.
    
    
26. *Not Achieved* Go to Comic Con ~ I hadn't realised there was a comic con in Birmingham and so have promised Tasha that one day when we are both well enough we will go! So far this is still one to tick off but not discounted. Again, one for the before 60 list.
    
    
27. *Not Achieved* Make a wish at the Trevi Fountain in Rome with Dave ~ This appeals to the soppy side of me and would like to tour Rome (before going to Pompeii) and take in all the sights. This will be happening at some point ~ putting it on the before 60 list.
    
    
28. *Not Achieved* Have a professional family photo shoot ~ Before the girls all live too far away I would like to gather us all together and have some lovely informal photographs taken of us as a family. Unfortunately we haven't been able to book a photographer and organise all of us to be together in the one place at the same time. I think it would be more realistic to take impromptu group selfies of us together next time we happen to all be in the same place at the same time.
    
    
29. See more live music ~ I would love to see live bands play and yet again never get round to it, it gets put to the bottom of the list and then when the opportunity comes I decide to stay home as too tired etc. This is something I want to do and so will try and change my mindset and just do it one day. Success ~ I have managed to see a couple of bands recently and although it's not as often as I would like it's a start.
    
    
30. *Altered and Ongoing* Buy and keep alive a Bonsai Tree for at least 6 months ~ altered to grow my own food and herbs ~ I decided although a Bonsai tree would be lovely it doesn't really offer any benefits. Instead I am planting and growing my own fruit and veggies in raised vegetable plots and greenhouse, along with tending my own herb garden. It brings me closer to nature and gives me huge satisfaction being able to eat what I grow.
    
    
31. *Aborted* Make Hash Brownies ~ I don't smoke anymore, I gave up in 1996, I have heard that hash helps soothe pain in M.E,. and so am tempted to bake a batch and try them to see if they relieve my pains and aches because normal painkillers have no effect. During our trip to Amsterdam in May this year I tried edibles, the cakes were delicious but my bodies reaction to weed not so much. Had I reacted favourably to the weed then I would have been able to tick this item off. Instead the weed made me feel very unwell and so this is now aborted.
    
    
32. Reintroduce date night ~ Don't you find that it is all too easy to come home and just flop, to be too tired to bother? We used to have a weekly date night and then that fizzled out. I think monthly is more realistic and that we should put aside a night each month to go out on a date and remind each other what we mean to each other. We have successfully implemented this into our routine and even improved upon it by introducing regular weekend mini breaks into the mix too. 
    
    
33. *Not Achieved* Have a full on food fight ~ This appeals to the kid in me, however, due to the OCD side of me it would have to be outside as I couldn't cope with the mess if it was indoors ~ it makes me twitch just thinking about it, but outside is a different matter. Nope ~ not really got round to doing this, it's a testimony to how hungry our family is as we always eat all the food!
    
    
34. Have a water balloon fight ~ Again feeding the inner child, it would be great fun and perhaps something to do when we have friends over. A few years ago we achieved this when we bought a load of water balloons. To be fair I wasn't that impressed with the balloons and prefer the age old method of the long range hosepipe, but it was fun.
    
    
35. Sort out finalising my will - With recent health events it's hit home that you can never be too prepared and we have half done our wills but they really need finishing and so I need to get my arse into gear and do this. Achieved this ~ and gone one further, I have completed my will, funeral plans and living will. Now all I need to organise is power of attorney.
    
    
36. *Not Achieved* Do a ghost tour/walk ~ I used to always watch Most Haunted and love the idea of going on a spooky tour or walk, although couldn't be too long as it would make me too tired. Derby has a great ghost walk and so this is being transferred onto the to do before 60 list and will be ticked off by then.
    
    
37. *Almost Achieved* Visit a strip club ~ I am curious about what goes on in one of these and whether or not the "strippers" enjoy it or not. I would love to watch a show and chat to the strippers to get a feel of what it's all about and whether it feels seedy or not. During our trip to Amsterdam we almost entered a strip club, we had a choice of several but we just couldn't justify the cost of entry, the cost of tipping the strippers and the exuberant cost of drinks ~ so we dipped and opted for a delicious dinner instead.
    
    
38. *Not Achieved* Hold a Tarantula in my hand  ~ I have had a huge fear of spiders for as long as I can remember and someone once told me holding a tarantula is less scary then holding normal house spiders as they are less likely to run up your arm etc. I am terrified at the thought of doing this but wonder if it would help me address my fear (or make it worse). I think someone would have to support me and hold my hand underneath to stop me flinging the spider off though!  I am dreading this one SO much!. I have improved immensely with my fear of spiders by photographing them with a macro lens but as far as holding one, nooo! I'm not that close to facing my fear yet.
    
    
39. Hold a joint 50th shindig with Dave ~ as we are both 50 within 11 months of each other what better way to celebrate half way between our birthdays. I wonder about using the fancy dress theme of Film Characters as we spend much of our time together watching movies. We ended up having a silver wedding and 50th birthday party in June 2018 with close family and friends in the function room of our local pub which was wonderful.

After reviewing this list I feel that the time has come, now I'm 50, to compile the "To Do by 60" list ~ hopefully that will be one I can fully tick off by my 60th birthday.

Have you done a list like this and if so, did you complete it?

~ Blessings ~
 x~X~x