Begin ticking items off

2. Pay off the student loans--DONE!

Little bit cheating, I did submit the payment before my birthday. But after it made it onto the list. Figured the way the market is, any money I'd invest would be at a lower interest rate than my debt. But DONE!!

Apparently I even overpaid by 16 cents. To see the elephants jump over the fence.

Wanders off to play handgames, a very grown-up endeavor, I promise.

25 Life Checks for the Next 5 years

1. Fry ice cream with Hannah
2. Pay off the student loans
3. Finish collecting degrees
4. Visit Hong Kong (or wherever in Asia my friends end up)
5. Pay to go to a show by myself (I already go to free ones, but this needs to be something I really want to see)
6. Have a windowsill full of houseplants
7. West Coast bound roadtrip
8. See the glaciers at Glacier National Park
9. Go to the northwoods
10. Do a canoe trip
11. Blow glass
12. Participate in NaNoWriMo
13. Complete a picture-a-day assignment
14. Grow herbs from seeds
15. Have a successful window garden (Huh, must really want this one. Or not. Saw it up there at number 7. Only gets to count once.)
16. Learn to recognize and use 25 native plants
17. Make a pair of earrings that I’ll wear as if they were my favorites
18. Find/Make an occasion to wear those 4-inch stiletto black boots
19. Keep in touch with a student through college graduation
20. Attend my sister’s graduation
21. Invest in stocks/mutual fund beyond the work retirement fund
22. Go sailing
23. Give yoga a second chance
24. Read all the new Newbery and Caldecott winners
25. Give more boldly
26. Go for two weeks where I wear something that I made daily (not saying that it has to be exclusively my-made stuff, just something)

Surprisingly difficult to come up with the right goals for this list. I was taught that goals should be ambitious, yet attainable. Not sure how much I buy into that, sometimes I like ridiculous goals. Or the ones that are already checked off. But neither of those fit this project.

Travel goals are easy for the list. It's clear when you've attained them. Clean my apartment/car. Not so much.

Craft goals don't really do it for me. More on ispiration than goals. If there was a goal, then it'd be done. Ditto with cooking.

Relationship goals, don't fit. Trying not to be on a timeline with them. Reconnect with people when I'm inspired to. Meet new people as life happens.

So yes. These are the written goals. Unwritten bonus is to keep bees. But really, we'll see where life takes me. Adventures to follow. (Perhaps, even to be written up.)

Repressed

Seriously? You're asking again? My first no wasn't enough? I wanted to avoid the total rejection spiel, but you better believe I can be a total mood killer. I will walk away. If you get me to come back, you better have an apology. At least don't push the issue further.

I have practice not going along with the crowd. I can not go along with you too. I won't feel bad about it. I refuse to. I will get ticked off at you though. And no one needs the building resentment that comes from pushing the point.

Whether you know them or not, there's a reason for my actions. Sure, they're not always logic-oriented, rational-based reasons. (The reasons you're giving me aren't either.) But they're my reasons. They work for me. Talk to me about them often enough, in an effort to understand them, and I may eventually change my view. But it has to be a change that I own. You can't make it for me. So don't even bother trying.