Monday 18 February 2013

40 things to do before I'm 40

The other week I saw an article in the Sunday Times about '40'.  I turn 40 in September so this definitely interested me.  

With the big 4 Oh looming on the horizon (a mere 6 months away) I thought I should set myself some goals.  40 is kind of grown up so what grown up things should I be attempting in the next few months. 

1. Go & see This is 40 (OK start with an easy one & seems an obvious choice)
2. Visit Stockholm.  I have been promising myself this for the past 2 years so better get organised.
3. Lose weight.  I want to be wearing significantly smaller knickers for my birthday party
4. Arrange a kick ass party
5. Write a letter to myself
6. Spend a night in a hotel by myself
7. Drive on the motorway without fearing I'm going to die
8. Climb a mountain
9. Get something published
10. Do a yoga class
11. Learn to make profiteroles (choux pastry scares me)
12. Stop caring what other people think of me
13. Learn to walk in heels
14. Find a 100 movies to watch before you die list & make sure I've watched at least half of them (well I'm middle aged, I have another 40 years to see the rest)
15. Read the all books on my bookshelf
16. To learn to make caramel shortbread
17. To start writing letters again.
18. To start doing sit ups every day. (see no 3)
19. To start reviewing my photos, printing them off & organising them in photo albums (& make an album of my youngest daughter's 1st year as I did for my eldest)
20. To write something every day. (see no 9)
21. Learn to meditate
22. Accept a compliment
23. Sleep under the stars
24. Do an evening class
25. Employ a cleaner
26. Go to the theatre more
27. Buy a piece of art that I love
28. Get a decent pair of jeans that make my bum look great
29. Visit tourist attractions in London that I have never been to
30. Go dancing/ Pull an all-nighter (it's been a few years since I've done that)
31. Go & visit a psychic (they'll be expecting)
32. Cull my facebook friends list & have no guilt in doing so
33. Blog more regularly (see no 20, well maybe not every day)
34. Learn to like myself
35. To be able to fit back into the pelmet skirt I wore when I was 18 (see no 3) & then throw it away as I am too old to wear it!
36. I will buy a full length mirror for my house
37. Go ice skating & not cling on to the side
38. Try something new every week (food/ activity/outlook)
39. Swim in the sea.
40. ???

I am now truly stuck.  Help please, I need suggestions, what do I NEED to do before September?

Wednesday 13 February 2013

Claims to fame

Today at writing we were doing list exercises from this book, writing list poems.



I love the idea of this book, a diary consisting of lists.  We were told to chose one & it took me forever to make a decision.  I poured over it. I need to buy this and try to find the time to fill it all in.

I opted for Famous People I've encountered & came up with the following.  

1. Paul McCartney squeezed past me in a crowded Green room.  As he passed me he winked at me.  Not my sister standing next to me.  It was at me.

2. Richard Herring paid for my chicken korma & boiled rice when a group of us went out to eat. He emptied his pockets of change when I refused the £20 for my cab home but gave me all the shrapnel from his pockets

3. Gordan Ramsey, Michael Rosen, several Tory MPs & Paul from Big Brother 2 signed release forms for me

4.  I spoke to Davina McColl to check that a fax I'd sent her husband to be had arrived at their house.

5. I queued for hours with my sister at HMV to get Buck Fizz's autographs

6. I fetched Armando Iannucci Yop from the BBC tea bar

7. I showed Germaine Greer the way to the loo and then heard her pee as I waited for her

8. I said hello to Yvette Fielding, mistaking her for someone I knew & then giggled in the lift for 5 floors when I realised who she was

9. Saw Miranda Hart across the BBC bar.  Was too embarrassed & afraid that I'd morph into her character if I tried to approach her.

10. The bloke from Brookie who I bored senseless droning on & on about how much I loved Barry Grant.  Knowing he was wishing he hadn't mentioned he'd been in Brookside but not being able to help myself.

11. Edd the duck who was a girl

12. Gordan the Gopher who was a man so shy he couldn't look me in the eye when he spoke to me

13. Wilson the Butler who was gorgeous & funny & apparently gay.

14. Countless people I ignored in reception at work being too cool for school

15. Terry Hall who no one in my office had heard of & then I felt about 100.

16. The girl from Press Gang, Kelda something, on the tube reading her book.

17. Bloke that used to be in The Bill drinking tea in my sister's kitchen.

18.  Peter Duncan ran past me in a green & white suite when we went to watch The London Marathon

19.  Nigella Lawson signing in at security.  Beautiful & tiny.  Like a doll.

20.  Media scrum in NYC which had Madonna on the other side.  I didn't even see her.
 

I've just started to compile a 40 things to do before I'm 40 list.  I'd better get a wriggle on as I've only got until September.  Any suggestions would be gratefully received xx 



I realised tonight that this list is by no means exhaustive as just in my head I added Katie Price, Peter Andre, Nicky Campbell, Alastair Stewart, Kerry Katona, Andy Crane, Andi Peters, Simon Parkin (remember him?), Mick Brown at Capital FM & my sister's friend Vicky who has been in Eastenders (twice) who's pony, Mr Tweedy, I had a ride on when I was about 10.