I've got a party dress

Look at me! I'm the big 3-3! (Did I miss my calling as a greeting card writer?)

Yes, here we are again at my birthday. I love my birthday. People are so nice. Things are (often) free*. And now I've got the added bonus of being able to reflect on my 40 by 40 list and see what I've accomplished and what I've got left to do.

So...here's what I've done:

4. Visit Hawaii

12. Learn to decorate a cake
23. Finish scrapbooking my boys’ childhoods (at least through age 5)
26. Visit the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Museum
40. Join the bone marrow registry

That's not shabby, really. Two required travel and one required a four-week class. Joining the bone barrow registry is quite possibly the easiest item on the list. (So easy that perhaps you'd like to join, too?)

I guess I don't really need to go into detail about any of them here since I've so conveniently already blogged about them, but man, Hawaii was awesome. And there was so much laughter on that trip to Cleveland. And the cake decorating was pretty fun, too.

Thanks go to all who accompanied me on these journeys: my family, of course, and Greta and Rachel and Amy and Gerra. And Cecilia, whose battle with leukemia got me to follow through with my first list item (ironically #40), and who has come through the tunnel and is back in good (and getting better) health.

It's been a good year. Not without its ups and downs, mind you, but good.

So what's on the docket for this year? Do I dare commit to which list items I'm going to tackle in the next 12 months? The planner part of my brain would really like me to - especially knowing that 11 of the remaining list items require travel. We're not necessarily talking about 11 separate trips, though, I'm working on ways to creatively combine them...A two-week European cruise with a side trip to Paris during which I get a tattoo and send all of my friends postcards telling them what they mean to me?

Anyway, I want to try to achieve a good balance of ones that require a lot of effort and/or money with some that don't so I don't end up at age 39 with five international trips to take. (Gee, now that I've said it out loud that doesn't sound so terrible.)

In fact, if you've got any creative (in a realistic way) suggestions on how to get more bang for my life goal buck, please let me know.

Since it's my birthday, I'm reserving the right not to think too hard about this today, but I promise to update as I decide which list items I'm going after this year.

Cupcakes and fruity drinks for all.

*Unless you go to Starbucks, where they tell people they get a free drink on their birthday, only to disappoint them by requiring a coupon that they are apparently too backlogged to send in time for said birthdays.