Greetings from Slackertonville

Well I promised to do this list of 27 things I'd like to do before I turn 28....of course that was about a week ago. Let me tell you, work and life have not allowed me a second thought about being 27 - which is not bad, I'm not complaining or anything, but I just haven't had the time I expected for deep personal reflection.

The weekend flew by and I didn't do too much....which is actually frustrating because I had goals for this weekend dammit. That's not to say I didn't do anything - on Saturday I drove out to Northampton to go to tea and it was so much fun. I needed it. Of course I felt like ass because I think I have an ear infection (boo) but the amazingness of being back at school, back in our old house full of memories was just fantastic. The house smelled the same, looked pretty much the same (some cleaner furniture) - I realized how much a part of my life Hubbard really was/is. I guess what most people remember from college might be the parties or the classes or the town where they went to school - obviously I remember all of those and fondly, but the memories that have really stuck have been house memories. Probably because so many of us were embedded into house life.

Sunday was the day I wasted, lying in bed, going to storage for the migration of the clothes, and poking around Whole Foods and AC Moore. Huge timesuck day.

Monday I volunteered with my sister at the marathon. We worked at the cancer hospital's tent and let me tell you, it was freakin' inspirational. I've been to the marathon live a couple times but never as an "adult" and as someone who has completed a half-marathon and has a concept of exacty how freakin hard 26.2 actually IS. I so admire the people running for charity - there are so many, 100's for the cancer hospital alone. Amazing! My favorite part was ringing a cowbell on the sidelines screaming at the top of my lungs for the runners. I have a loud-ass voice too, so I got a great response from a lot of the runners. Some of them acknowledged with the eyes, too tired or too focused to respond, which I totally understand, but others flashed a thumbs-up or high-fived. I also found a friend from college and friend from high school and went buckwild as they ran by - they flashed huge smiles as they made their way to the top of the hill. Badass. Today I opened the paper where the Globe listed the full results of yesterday's race and for some reason I went to the end - the last person in took 7+ hours to run the race. I wish I had been there to give her a high-five. While we all love watching the elite runners kickass, the woman who came in dead last has BALLS, man. How many times did she want to quit? Probably a lot....but she didn't. She crossed that finish line and she is awesome for doing it.

Ok so the weekend wasn't a bust. It was pretty great actually. But in terms of getting shit done, it didn't happen, and one of those items that I really wanted to do was make my 27 list. Most of the times I am anti- "lists of things to do before xyz." For example, I don't have a "bucket list" because I have this irrational fear that if I complete everything on my bucket list, I'll die. I mean I get that it's inevitable and all and since I'm the type of person who piles on tasks to to do lists with reckless abandon, I probably will never complete my bucket list, but still....I think all the blog reading I've been doing lately has pushed me to get out there and be a little more adventurous....and has certainly delivered a swift kick in the ass in terms of prioritizing family and friends and good times above the dumb sh*t (work, judgements, boring crap, time-wasting) I realized that I've become a bit dull. It's not a huge problem, and I'm not worried about it yet, but I'm thinking it's time to add a little spice - and what's wrong with writing it down? Life is short....ridiculously so....and I have to enjoy it dammit!
So. Here goes:

27 Things I Want to Do Before I'm 28:

1. Go somewhere new and somewhat faraway
2. Make a superfluous and ridiculous cake for no reason
3. Finish my running excel file bird life list (uber DORK!)
4. Make a blurb photo book
5. Run the Boston Marathon*
6. Take more photos of everything, especially people
7. Become insanely and enviously organized
8. Finish a long-abandoned craft project (under the sea cross stitch? sr year calligraphy project?)
9. FTDS and move in with Jamaal, opinions and judgements be damned
10. Memorize a poem. Or two.
11. Set the bar higher at work- I'm not organized, I'm not putting in 100%, and that makes me sad
12. GET OUT OF DEBT DAMMIT, ALLISON!
13. Spend more quality time with Jamaal. We hardly have any down time or time to do fun things beyond go out to dinner. I want to do fun stuff for a change (not that food isn't fun, but you know). I want to do photo-worthy things.
14. See a Red Sox game LIVE (bonus points for a stadium other than Fenway!)
15. Skip work, even if just for a day, to do something furtive and fun, like go to the beach. ooooh the indulgence!
16. Have the wedding planned out almost to completion so I enjoy the day
17. Take advantage of what Boston has to offer (restaurants, museums, shows etc)
18. Help more people and animals. I donate platelets and all, but it's kind of removed from the situation.
19. Bird watch more - see five new species! (neeerrrddd alert)
20. Take better care of my skin (beyond sunscreen, I don't do much of anything)
21. Chillax more. I am overbooked always, and feel guilty when I don't want to go to something, but have nothing to do otherwise. Have to stop feeling guilty too.
22. Conquer a fear (this will be the hardest thing on the list!)
23. Reduce that knitting stash!
24. Visit the Mapparium
25. Reconnect with someone
26. Spend more time in my kayak taking in the world.
27. Make a five-course dinner for me and Jamaal. I don't even know what those five courses would be really, but it's the kind of thing you hear in movies, and I'm gonna do it!


There it is. There's the list. I'll check in next year and see how I've done. For now, I'm heading home!


*This will be on April 19, 2010, technically 3 days after my 28th birthday, but I think you'll all cut me a break