40 by 40

I think I'll take a moment to celebrate my age

The ending of an era and the turning of the page.

Now it's time to focus on where I go from here.

Lord have mercy on my next thirty years!

Weeks before my 38th birthday rolled into town, I realized that my pechant for procrastination, double-booking and general flightiness had left me with a GROWING list of should, coulda, wouldas. If left unattended, my best laid plans would never see the light of 40. Knowing that I would truly regret letting that come to pass, I decided to compile the mother of all To Do lists (at least for now). So here it goes, the 40 things that I purpose to complete/see/do/experience before my 40th birthday aka my "40 by 40" for short.

1. Visit the Grand Canyon for at least one week. Raft the river. Hike the trails. Relax at a spa.
2. Learn to habla espanol fluently. I wanna watch those crazy soaps and know what's going on!
3. Visit Washington, DC. See the museums. Retrace the steps. Visit the stores. Savor the eats.
4. Go ice skating.
5. Complete the Peachtree Road Race.
6. Spend a long weekend in Savannah, GA. Tour the gardens. Savor the eats.
7. Visit Georgia's State Botanical Garden.
8. Map out 1, 3, 5, 10, 20 year life plans. The longer the horizon the more abstract.
9. Generate 2 additional & steady streams of income.
10. Add $X to my Emergency Fund.
11. Complete year 1 of my MBA program.
12. Read every page of the Bible (NLV).
13. Complete business plans on dream business ideas.
14. Become a Small Business SME. Study financing and taxation. Utilize the SBA's free offerings.
15. Develop a personal finance education workshop for High School students. Apply for a funding grant and pitch program to area schools.
16. Visit Austin, TX. See the boardwalk. Soak up the local art scene. Visit the David/Peese garden.
17. Visit Miami, FL for a long weekend of fun in the sun! (be sure to be bikini ready!)
18. Attend the Zora Neale Hurston Arts festival.
19. Connect to Atlanta's local art scene. Study African American Art history.
20. Take 1 continuing ed/personal enrichment class per quarter.
21. Prepay recurring household accounts: gas, electric, water, insurance, trash & cable.
22. Master MS Excel.
23. Master MS Project.
24. Try yoga. Hot yoga.
25. Attend Joyce Meyer's Womens Conference in St. Louis, MO on 3rd weekend in September.
26. Compile personal reading plan. Tackle at least one book per month.
27. Visit the Atlanta History Center.
28. Visit Stone Mountain.
29. Take the Christmas Tour of Homes in Marietta.
30. Hike Kennesaw Mountain.
31. Tour the key Civil Rights areas in AL, MS, and GA.
32. Upholster a chair.
33. Refinish a piece of furniture.
34. Take Thai cooking lessons.
35. Host a dinner party.
36. Finish painting kitchen cabinets!
37. Revamp my backyard.
38. Cook a Thanksgiving meal (cannot serve as #35)
39. Buy a piano and take lessons.
40. Blog routinely/regularly.

So there it is...a loose plan for the next two years. We'll see if having a plan puts me on the road to success. Here's to December 2012!!!