Project 50 by 50

Did anyone see the Project 183 on the news last week? It reminded me of something that I was going to do a couple of years ago and I thought it might be a good time to start.

When I met Monte (aka Alex) one of the things that really impressed me about him was his ‘List’. He said that when he was younger, he had set himself a list of 100 things he would like to do and then gradually got through them. Only when he completed one list was he allowed to start another. It had simple things like drink stout beer and more complex stuff that would take years and money to achieve.

I really liked the idea at the time and started my own list which I’ve since lost.

Project 183 prompted me to start again. I’ve chosen some simple things and some more complex things that will take time and money to achieve but, hopefully, it will give me something to strive for. So 50 things to do before I turn 50 in another 5 and a bit years.

Here is the list…

Project 50 by 50
(in no particular order)

1. Swim with dolphins. Whilst I’ve technically done this before, it was in the open ocean and they swam under me and brushed me as they went past (was awesome) but I’d like to interact a bit more with them. Maybe somewhere like SeaWorld on the Gold Coast where you swim in a pool with them.
2. See an Emperor Penguin. Magnificent and majestic creatures who have child rearing all sorted right. I know they live in Antarctica and that may be a little out of my league in the next 5 years but I also think there are other places a little cheaper to view them.
3. Play Forest Gump Suite and Satés Trios Gymnopedies on the piano. I love music and learned to play the piano for awhile. Whenever I come to a list of things I’d love to be able to do, this always features. So, rather than just say play the piano generally, I’ll give myself two pieces that I want to be able to play.
4. Eat pasta in Italy. I know, a hopeless romantic (it’s not over yet though) but I do love the thought of visiting Italy and, although I love pasta, I don’t think I’ve ever tasted TRUE pasta. I hope that I may be able to do that one day in Italy.
5. Attend a Ballet performance. I’ve seen performances on TV heaps of times and once, I even saw a distant short display at the Myer Music Bowl FEIP when Marc was about 4 but I’d love to see it in a theatre with the full orchestra in full flight.
6. Plant a vegetable garden. But only of food that I, or the kids, will eat. Hmmm, my section will be rather small LOL
7. Swim 50 laps of a 20m pool (1km) and still be able to walk when I get out. I am so unfit that this will be a real challenge. Still, I’m up for it.
8. Make my first grandchild a wool blanket complete with woollen embroidery. I’m not sure I will even have any grandchildren in the next 5 years but, when they are born, I will have a present all ready for them.
9. Learn to do Salsa Dancing. Oo-La-La imagine this mumma shaking her thang on the dance floor.
10. Start a Project 50 scrapbook. 12 x 12 format I think. If I start one, it might keep me motivated to actually complete it. 50 layouts in the next 5 years…even I can achieve that…I think.
11. Abstain from chocolate for one whole month! Ok, maybe this will be the hardest thing for me to achieve.
12. Donate blood. Should I really admit that I’ve never done this. There is kind of a reason. I have had a couple of bouts of anaemia and you’re not allowed to donate if you’re anaemic. I’m pretty sure it’s all under control now so I should have a go.
13. Take Marc and Courtney for a ride on Puffing Billy. I know this admission will make me sound a bad mother but, my kids have never been on Puffing Billy – every Victorian child’s birthright. Even in their 20’s they are still my kids so I figure that age doesn’t matter.
14. Own a diamond ring. My mum used to say that I have silver spoon taste on a plastic spoon budget. It seems she was right. I don’t wear jewellery, not because I don’t like it but because I only like ‘real’ stuff and, of course, the most real of all is diamonds… One day…one day.
15. Learn to ride a horse. Horses are beautiful but, for some reason they have a different sense of direction to me. The last time I was on a horse I was about 13 years old and I spent the whole time feeling like I was going to fall off and the whole night with a very sore butt and thighs. The horse seemed to have an idea where it wanted to go and it never seemed to match mine, despite my instructions via the reins.
16. Lose at least 20 kilos. Maybe this should come before I get on that poor horse.
17. Fly over Melbourne in a hot air balloon. With my camera in tow of course.
18. Take a gondola ride down a canal in Venice, Italy. Another one of those romantic things. If I don’t have a partner, I’ll do it by myself. Why miss out?
19. Spend a whole day holed up in a 5 star hotel and experience what it might be like to be rich. Room service – the whole lot. Maybe a trip to the spa for some pampering as well.
20. SCUBA dive. Somewhere where I’m not likely to get left behind.
21. Buy an automatic car. I am so over driving a manual and I know that I will need to replace my car sometime in the next 5 years so I’m going to get an automatic and become a lazy driver.
22. Watch the whole Lord of the Rings DVD series. I tried reading the Hobbit but it just didn’t do it for me so I never bothered with the movies. However, I’ve seen snippets and think I might enjoy the movies if I could be bothered sitting still enough to watch them.
23. Go to an ANZAC Day dawn service with Marc. Being Marc’s birthday, ANZAC Day is even more special around here. We always say we will go to the dawn service but have never got around to it.
24. Go camping. Yes, you read right. Despite saying I would never camp – ever. I really do prefer the simple pleasures of a bed with clean sheets and morning shower however, with camping becoming more civilised, I thought I might give it a try for a night – maybe two.
25. Get through an entire 24 hours without using any electricity. And, no, it can’t be at the same time as camping.
26. Have a meal made 100% of out ingredients that I have grown myself. Of all the things I list, this could be the hardest because I don’t really eat many vegetables and I don’t think eating a solitary carrot would qualify as a meal. Having said that though, it’s my list so…my rules LOL
27. Get some professional advice about realistic investment opportunities to fund my retirement. Yes, it’s getting to that time of my life where this has become a real worry. I’m past the starting out stage where I would have had 30 years or so to build a portfolio. I have to look at some serious strategies now.
28. Visit Paris. This probably isn’t a wise thing to follow the previous statement with but, all work and no play….you know the rest.
29. Work out on the elliptical trainer for 20mins non stop. If you’re laughing, then you don’t know how damn hard this is going to be.
30. Take a photo of each intersection of the CBD grid bordered by Spencer, LaTrobe, Spring and Flinders Streets in Melbourne. Yeah, I know, a bit left of centre, but could be cool. Not just major intersections either – has to be laneways as well.
31. Be on time for a whole week. Might have to rethink that hardest thing tag. I try and plan but something always seems to come up.
32. Visit my nana’s grave. I haven’t been to see it since I was 8 years old. I have wonderful memories of this amazing woman and would like to take her some flowers. Might take some finding though. It’s somewhere at the Springvale Cemetery.
33. Have someone wake me with eggs and bacon and freshly squeezed orange juice served in bed. This could be a bit tricky because I can’t do it myself. Wonder if anyone will come into my life who would do this. Maybe I could drop a few hints on Mother’s Day.
34. Enter a photo into a competition. It could be a local camera club or the Australian Professional Photographer Awards (APPAs). Doesn’t have to win – I just have to be brave enough to enter.
35. Get someone to take a photo of me with a Beef Eater outside Buckingham Palace. As you have probably guessed, at some point in the next 5 years I’m going to have to manage to get to Europe.
36. Declutter my house. In other words, have no more stuff than my storage space allows…oh dear – that whole hardest thing is becoming very difficult to narrow down.
37. Get fitted properly for a bra. Don’t you hate the idea of this? But no one wants their puppies sagging around their navel.
38. Walk in the rain – without an umbrella. Wet hair and looking like a shag on a rock is probably not very appealing but the freedom would be nice. Might wait for a summer shower though.
39. Find a way to complete my shower within the three minute timer. I’ve tried but haven’t managed yet. If I don’t wash my hair it’s OK but I have to leave the conditioner on for 2 minutes so I’m not left with a lot of room for error if I don’t get the routine down pat. Gotta look after our water supplies.
40. Buy a pair of shoes just for fun and not because they are sensible.
41. Visit Montsalvat. I’ve driven past the entrance to this artist’s community so many times and seen many pictures but have never got around to visiting myself. Must remedy that.
42. Do the Otway Fly Tree Top Walk. Awesome view amongst the treetops.
43. Smile at someone when I really want to reprimand them. Sometimes it can be a good thing to just hold your tongue. I need to practise this skill.
44. Stay up all night and talk to someone just because we don’t want the day to end. Lose all sense of time and place and abandon all the rules.
45. Learn to use my Mamiya MF camera properly. It’s so easy to defer to digital and fix all the little mistakes in the computer. I’d like to slow down a bit and get it completely right in camera. Plus I LOVE the quality of MF.
46. Have a photo published. Technically, I’ve already had this done but I wasn’t credited for the photo so I’m not counting it.
47. Help a stranger just because I can and not because I have to. I know, I help strangers all the time in my job as a paramedic but the key here is ‘not because I have to’.
48. Don’t buy any more gadgets until I learn to use my Pazzle properly. This one should save me a fortune because it will take me a while.
49. Learn to let go. Of material things, past wrongs, insecurities.
50. Once every 6 months book in a ‘No Guilt Day’ and indulge. If I want to sleep all day then do it. If I want to have a manicure then do it. Don’t worry about what needs to be done or it being too indulgent for the budget. It’s not a regular thing so I can spoil myself.

Time to get busy living.