September update: 40 by 40 in 40 weeks!

It's only been about 10 days since I made my 40 list! I figured I'd do an update at the end of every month.


So far, this month, I have:

1	Lose 40 lbs or 40 inches Blech, I might have gained a couple
2	Walk 40 miles each month Close to 80 miles total,
3	Read 40 new books 2 down, 38 to go
4	Try 40 new hot sauces 1 down, 39 to go
5	Have 40 phone conversations with family/friends 3 down, 37 to go
6	Try 40 new beers 1 down, 39 to go
7	Try 40 new exercises/workouts uhhhh yeah gotta get on this
8	Read 40 new books to Oli 1 down, 39 to go
9	Donate $40 to a charity $175 donated to 2 different things
10	Write 40 love notes 2 down, 38 to go
11	Try 40 new recipes 2 down, 38 to go
12	Send 40 post cards/letters 3 down, 37 to go
13	Give 40 hugs a month pretty sure I got these
14	40 free activities with Jeff & Oli uhhhh yeah gotta get on this
15	Introduce myself to and have conversations with 40 strangers 2 down, 38 to go
16	Watch 40 new movies 2 down, 38 to go
17	Volunteer 40 hours of my time uhhhh yeah gotta get on this
18	Donate 40 pieces of clothing uhhhh yeah gotta get on this
19	Get rid of 40 things from the house uhhhh yeah gotta get on this
20	Get a tattoo (just 1, not 40) I have a concept, just need to get the designs to the parlor
21	Learn to swim uhhhh yeah gotta get on this
22	Drink 40 oz of water every 4 hrs been pretty good with this
23	Run 40 miles (>= 5 mph) (not at once) think I've run a total of 1 mile if that
24	Do 40 random acts of kindness 2 down, 38 to go
25	Go camping in a national park need to research and booking a site for Spring 2017
26	Donate blood again uhhhh yeah gotta get on this
27	Floss at least 40 days uhhhh yeah gotta get on this
28	Blog 40 times 2 down, 38 to go
29	Have 40 family game nights 2 down, 38 to go
30	Present at a professional conf. need to find my topic, write a proposal and be accepted
31	Have a girls' only weekend away have 1 planned for December!!!
32	Bury a family time capsule to open at Oli's school graduation need to start collecting items
33	Buy 40 shares  (after research) need to research
34	Drive 40 miles away for dinner need to Google places
35	Try 40 new fruits and/or veggies have 2 veggies - Chinese cabbage & napa kale, and 1 fruit - cactus pear, to try
36	Buy bikes for us & teach Oli to ride need to research & buy
37	Log at least 40 hours at the gym 3 down, 37 to go
38	Brew my own beer uhhhh yeah gotta get on this
39	Eat 40 consecutive home cooked meals have 40 days marked off in Nov and Dec for no eating out
40	Write 40 letters to Oli, with Jeff, to give him when he's grown up have a notebook picked out, that counts, right?

40 by 40 in 40 weeks

Thanks to everyone who weighed in! I looked at everyone's suggestions and kept in mind that it couldn't be too easy, like smiling at 40 strangers, that I do in a week ;-). And, it couldn't be so hard that I am setting myself up to fail, like running 40 5Ks, which averages to a week and impossible when I haven't run in close to 2 years.


So ta-da!!!

1	Lose 40 lbs or 40 inches
2	Walk 40 miles each month
3	Read 40 new books
4	Try 40 new hot sauces
5	Have 40 phone conversations with family/friends
6	Try 40 new beers
7	Try 40 new exercises/workouts
8	Read 40 new books to Oli
9	Donate $40 to a charity
10	Write 40 love notes
11	Try 40 new recipes
12	Send 40 post cards/letters
13	Give 40 hugs a week
14	40 free activities with Jeff & Oli
15	Introduce myself to and have conversations with 40 strangers
16	Watch 40 new movies
17	Volunteer 40 hours of my time
18	Donate 40 pieces of clothing
19	Get rid of 40 things from the house
20	Get a tattoo (just 1, not 40)
21	Learn to swim
22	Drink 40 oz of water every 4 hrs
23	Run 40 miles (>= 5 mph) (not at once)
24	Do 40 random acts of kindness
25	Go camping in a national park
26	Donate blood again
27	Floss at least 40 days
28	Blog 40 times
29	Have 40 family game nights
30	Present at a professional conf.
31	Have a girls' only weekend away
32	Bury a family time capsule to open at Oli's school graduation
33	Buy 40 shares  (after research)
34	Drive 40 miles away for dinner
35	Try 40 new fruits and/or veggies
36	Buy bikes for us & teach Oli to ride
37	Log at least 40 hours at the gym
38	Brew my own beer
39	Eat 40 consecutive home cooked meals
40	Write 40 letters to Oli, with Jeff, to give him when he's grown up

I will update as I do things :-) I have a spreadsheet printed out for me to mark off as I finish things, because it is satisfying to cross things off with a pen.

40 before 40

So, all my close friends know I am dreading the big 4-Oh next year. I have threatened to go away and hide for a week. I have said I won't come out of my bed. I have stated I'd like to find a way to stop time on 6/24/2017 so I didn't have to face it.

But, that's just crazy. So, I started thinking of positive things to do to make my 40th birthday look good. I decided to make a 40 by 40 list!!!

It had things like:

• read 40 new books
• lose 40 lbs
• see 40 different places
• ...

And I realized that's not me at all realistically!

So, my real 40 by 40 list would start off as:

• drink 40 new beers
• lose 40 Facebook friends 
• sleep 40 hours straight
• ...

Joking ...

I might want to come to the middle and come up with a realistic 40 by 40 list, that combines the 2 approaches:

•  read 40 new books
• try 40 new beers
• run 40 miles a month
• ...

Help me?