Maude VS Turning 50 and the "apocalist"

Well friends it has certainly been an eventful month for me! I started my new position and kept one foot in the dating pool with Coffee Shop Guy (date #3 from my most recent post). 

Unfortunately, that did not work out too well which makes me a little sad. In the end, I got friend-zoned, however I do hope that we will truly remain friends, even after I was kind of an a**hole about the situation. But that story is for another post.

This post is the reality check I got this week, the realization that I am turning 50 in a little over 6 months. A friend asked me how I felt about it and I'm really OK with it. Honestly. Just in case I wasn't though she recommended I make a 49 "apocalist" (like apocalypse! ha!) of 49 things I want to do before I hit that major mid-life milestone.

I thought about things I want to do that are just for me, things I can do with my children to make some memories and things I can do with my friends.  Some are big things, some are small, some are already planned and some I may not ever get to do. But, I'll give it all I've got just the same.

Here is my list (there may or may not have been some wine involved - but I'll never tell) in no particular order:

1. Run another marathon 
2. Get a pedicure 
3. Take a solo weekend trip to a yurt or cabin- just me, my rescue pup and an a**ton of wine
4. Renew my passport
5. Finish my MBA (if I stop writing this blog today maybe I can put a dent in it!) 
6. Kiss someone new (I may just have to grab some rando at a bar to make this happen...after I drink a lot of wine) 
7. Hike Table Rock 
8. Get up early and on purpose to watch the sunrise from someplace epic
9. Paddleboard at Quinn’s Pond
10. Get another tattoo
11. Sleep outside under the stars
12. Sail a boat again
13. Go to the Flying M and work on my book and drink coffee until I'm so jittery I can't see straight
14. Reconnect with an old boyfriend (no clue which one of many but it would be fun to catch up and reminisce I’m sure!) or maybe even just someone from growing up that I haven't seen or talked to in a long time. Either way. 
15. Go back to Camp Sweyolakan on Lake Coeur d'Alene 
16. Go wine tasting in Walla Walla 
17. Go country swing dancing again (after some wine)
18. Watch the sunset somewhere cool from the back of a truck bed. With wine.
19. Skinny dip (with or without wine)
20. Get a massage
21. Take a golf lesson (or lessons so I don't look like an idiot on the driving range)
22. Golf nine holes (like a real nine, not the mini-kind) with out without wine involved 
23. Take a flight lesson (no wine, but maybe after...)
24. Take each kid on an overnight getaway just the two of us
25. Go to some hot springs 
26. Get a facial 
27. Sleep in on a Saturday just because I can
28. Finish my book and get it published
29. Fly fish (again) - it has been awhile and land a monster! 
30. Hike up to Blackmon Peak and make another makeshift memorial for my Dad up there
31. Go on river rafting day trip with the kids 
32. Join a wine club and then cancel my membership because I have too much wine 
33. Shop the Boise Farmer's Market on a warm Saturday morning & buy stuff to make dinner for friends that evening
34. Listen to live music, outdoors somewhere
35. Sit on a beach somewhere, toes in the sand & wine in my hand and watch the sunset (lake, ocean, river, doesn't matter)
36. Go bowling with the kids
37. Go to a movie with the kids 
38. Go on a camping adventure with the kids 
39. Read a trashy novel
40. Take a nap in a hammock
41. Read a trashy novel while laying in a hammock
42. Get my dog to go out on the paddleboard with me
43. Get some amazing food from a really good food truck 
44. Plan a trip somewhere in the future that requires the use of my renewed passport
45. Go rock climbing (preferable outdoor but if all else fails I'll hit an indoor gym)
46. Spur of the moment drive to Shoshone Falls just to see its majestic beauty 
47. Finish my yard/outdoor living space and spend lots of time with friends out there this summer
48. Celebrate ten years of being cancer free 
49. Have an epic 50th birthday celebration just the way I want to do it. TBD. But there will for sure be some wine involved. 

That's it. That is the list. I'm printing it and putting it in my office so I can look at it and check things off! 

Many of these things will require a little help from my friends - so let me know if you're interested in joining me on any of these small adventures. While I'm learning to be OK doing things alone now, it's always more fun with friends. 

And wine. Do not forget the wine.

And dark chocolate.

Everything is better with wine and chocolate. And friends.