When I sat down and committed to this "40 Before 40" bucket list, I convinced myself that it would be just as easy to commit to it as a monthly writing project.
Insert eye roll and exasperated laugh here.
With my 39th birthday being two and a half months ago at this point, what I clearly had forgotten as an educator is how incredibly hectic the last few weeks of school always are. The weeks that occur from spring break to the last official day, it's nothing but meetings and assessments and the "10,000 things we have to do to prep for next school year while still trying to plan the theme for a last day party that the kiddos will love and hopefully not overwhelm ourselves" crammed in there, you feel fortunate to have enough energy to shove a drive-through chicken sandwich down your craw before passing out at 8:30pm.
So yeah, I allowed myself to put this personal writing project on the back burner even though it was all I could think about during my daily lunch breaks.
But now it's finally summer break! My 60-hour work weeks are in the rearview mirror until July.
[My one sidebar: Yes, I said 60 hours. If you think we only put in the 40 hours that we are paid for, you can kindly piss off. I am convinced that if educators did not get the breaks built into our calendars as we currently do, that there would be a much higher rate of mental and cardiovascular illness. So if you think there's a teacher shortage now...]
And now back to my slightly-less-than-hilarious writing.
I figure for this little writing project of mine as I check items off my list, I would toss in an occasional funny story and add a picture or two for evidence's sake. And then I'll close it with a list of stats, just to hold myself accountable and hopefully gain some sort of "hype group" from my peers.
Seriously. I want fireworks and champagne when I cross the metaphorical finish line come March 2022. This is in the same vein of holding yourself to your New Years resolutions, right?
Let's start checking shit off my list:
3. visit a new state
4. visit a new National Park
5. take my daughter on a road trip
Literally knocked these 3 out in one trip. I had decided if my tax return was worth anything, I'd take my daughter on a trip that was way cooler than a weekender at the beach. (But only after paying down another chunk on my college debt because I want it gone yesterday).
After lots of "cool things to see in _______" Google searches and calculating just how many hours I'd have to drive from one Airbnb to the next, we ended up seeing 5 states: SC, NC, VA, WV, and MD. One of which was new to me (MD), and 3 of which were new to her (all but the Carolinas). We were the annoying tourists who got photo proof with each state sign when we pulled into the rest stops. So I guess you could say we also saw a lot of toilets.
And just for shits and giggles (toilet pun not intended, but let's go with it), we toured the nation's capital for an afternoon with a close friend of mine and her son who have the same nerd energy as us.
Our turnaround point was in Shepherdstown, WV where we stayed in a converted school bus for two nights. The owners converted it themselves, even touring the country at one point in another one of their "skoolies"to interview other folks who had done the same. Then they slapped all that knowledge down into a book, and now I feel like we stayed under the care of a famous couple who happens to raise dogs, chickens, and a yard bunny.
(Yes, we met the yard bunny. It was very cute.)
While staying in WV, we checked off TWO national parks: Antietam National Battlefield and Harpers Ferry. And I guess you could say we checked off a bunch more having walked all around DC: MLK, Lincoln, Washington Monument, Ford's Theatre. Covid just kept us from going inside the latter two, as well as any of the Smithsonians. Whomp whomp.
I could literally write an entire book on this trip because it was so much awesome packed into 1400 miles. But that's not the book I'm going to write, and that item on my list gets started this summer.
9. swab for the "23 and Me" DNA test
After seeing friends share what they learned about their ancestry through this test, I put this on a general bucket list to do before I die. And then I got impatient waiting for whatever day that would be and assigned it to the "40" list.
I downloaded the app. Got my kit in the mail. Spit into the little tube and shipped it to the lab that hopefully won't dump my DNA into a crime scene in a nacho bar in downtown Athens after someone coldcocks the owner for running out of guacamole.
I watched the timeline of my sample progress on the app for the next few weeks. And then finally, the results.
I think it's safe to say we now have scientific evidence as to why I only have white girl dance moves in my repertoire and an affinity for cheeses.
39. buy this candle
I love how much my phone listens to me (sometimes) and then makes Facebook spit out ads that just roll a bunch of my favorite crap into one simply made-for-me item. Behold: the "Pretty Girl Holding Gummy Bears" candle.
I'm definitely not cocky enough to say the "pretty girl" part is what sold me. It was most definitely the ad where a Haribo gummy bear (my favorite candy that's not dark chocolate) was legit holding a match to the candle's wick. And it's made by a small business. And I love to light candles when I do yoga.
So yeah, this candle was going to be mine. And it looks so damn pretty in my bathroom.
***Note: There is one item I have tried to cross off my list TWICE now, and that's donating blood. Like I wanted this item to be the very first thing off my list because I have wanted to donate since the days I was too puny to puncture. A friend of mine who is a regular donor made us appointments. I was pumped. But when the guy at the Red Cross reached the part of taking my stats and checked my pulse, it was too high and he sent me away. Chalk it up to being more nervous about passing out rather than getting poked. Then we set up a second appointment. Same damn thing happened. My heart rate would not calm the hell down until I was sitting at the snack table while my friend gloatingly gave his pint and sent me dirty memes.
So currently, I'm a loser at giving.
Bonus item:
41. watch a live concert with my daughter (her first)
So covid made this experience virtual, of course, and we had to livestream it. But I didn't care. We got to watch our favorite artist, Brandi Carlile, perform live on stage from the comfort of our home. As soon as Brandi tours through our state again, I'm taking my girl to an in-person show.
I have some work to do. Summer is going to be busy with this bucket list!
Stats:
5 items down
35 items to go
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