When you’re young, you never really think, “I may not have much time left, I need to prioritize the things I want to do so I don’t leave important things til it’s too late.” No, you go, “I want to travel/learn foreign languages/volunteer/foster a puppy/get another degree/salsa dance/run a marathon/ride in a hot-air balloon, etc., BUT THERE’S NO RUSH, I HAVE ALL THE TIME IN THE WORLD.”

Well, I’m at the age where I KNOW I don’t have all the time in the world, I can probably only really count on (barring disaster/accident/serious health issue) a guaranteed (I know, I know, you know what I mean) 20(ish) more years of being able to DO stuff…and more importantly, ENJOY doing stuff. And really TEN YEARS is a safer bet. Anything after that is gravy. Old, tired, broke gravy.

So I DO need to start really prioritizing things I still want to do. And I have to walk a fine line, as, once I’m retired I’ll have more TIME to do the things, but I’ll have less MONEY to do the things. So. I need to really assess and prioritize.

I came up with a bucket list for the coming year – my 61st year. It’s much shorter than similar lists have been in the past. A) I’m more realistic now about what I can accomplish in any given time frame, and B) the older I get, the fewer things I WANT to do. I think it’s also (overall) more practical. “Swim with dolphins” and “skydive” are no longer on the list. And some things seem more like “goals” than THIS REALLY COOL THING I WANT TO DO. Because I’m running out of time. And FIRST I need to do the things I HAVE to do…to make future plans a possibility. And this is the year to get through a lot of those things.

So without further ado…here is my 61st birthday bucket list:

* Get comfortable enough in Korean that I can use one of those “talk to people in other languages” apps to get more conversational.

* Go to Japan with Katie (this will get pushed back to 62 if their 2-week quarantine doesn’t get lifted in time).

* Sell all the stuff I want to sell (this doesn’t include clothing, that’s a whole different animal and clothes take up less square footage in the apartment, plus it’s easier and I prefer doing the harder thing first).

* See my sister. I haven’t seen her in three years and she’s a couple jumps ahead on the “running out of time” timeline so…

* Get to a hundred jump rope jumps!

* Play/take lessons: tennis or badminton.

* Hip-hop dance class, if they ever go unmasked.

* If BTS ever goes on tour, GO TO A CONCERT (I sort of don’t think this will happen within the coming year, so…).

* Take (and pass!) a TEFL class (Teaching English as a Foreign Language). I’m hoping this is something I can do in retirement to supplement the meager social security benefits. It can be done online from anywhere in the world.

And the floater…

* Piano. I’m thinking more and more this may need to wait til post-retirement as there are just so many other things going on now! Or til I win lotto.

So there it is. I kind of think of this Bucket List as being more of A Personal Challenge to Myself list, but that’s okay. That’s where I am in life. There’s sh*t I gotta get done and I’m running out of time.

***

These photos were taken on my birthday when we were in Brooklyn. The camera was NOT cooperating. It powered on, it SOUNDED like it was taking pictures, but nothing was showing in the display or in review. So…was a picture really happening? Was I even IN IT? Was I in focus? Was there a tree growing out of my head? Dunno. But we figured let’s give it a go…worst that could happen was I’d have no pictures….and that was gonna happen ANYWAY, so….DON’T YOU THINK SWSRN DID A GREAT JOB?!? Maybe shooting blind is her specialty? Ha ha JK…but seriously. I think it makes you much more intentional when shooting, like when shooting film. You can’t see what you’re shooting…until you get the developed pictures back. So you gotta get it right in the viewfinder. Bam. Lesson learned.

Anyway. I was happy to finally wear this dress. I bought it MONTHS ago…but it waited for New White Sneakers…then it waited for Little White Cardigan (which I was not wearing that day, but I would to work cuz AC)…then it waited for the ironing board to be set up. And here it is the end of summer and I’m JUST getting around to wearing it!

Story of my life.

WHICH IS WHY I HAVE A LIST OF STUFF I WANT/NEED TO GET DONE THIS YEAR BEFORE IT’S TOO LATE.

WHAT I’M WEARING

Dress: Osei-Duro, 2x. 2021
Sneakers: Keds Champions

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