I'm 40 Today!

I know I've posted this twice before, but don't you think it's the cutest picture ever?

I'm 40. I'm in my 40s. For-ty.

I'm getting used to saying it. I can't say "I'm in my 30s" anymore.

But WOW! I'm 40! Wahoo! It's MY birthday! This is my favorite day of the year! My birthday is better than Christmas because it's MY birthday! And I'm so excited about MY birthday!

Yes, I know I'm like a little kid about it, but seriously...it's MY birthday!!!! And what's not to love about that? It's a day dedicated to ME!

And in the tradition of years past, this is my special birthday blog post. Last year, you will recall, I shared all my birthday horoscopes along with that super cute picture of my on my 4th birthday. In 2009, I discussed all the famous people who shared my special day, along with my first picture ever. I also showed off the most beautiful flowers in the world that I was surprised with by someone special. Finally, in 2008, I shared all the cool world events that happened on my birthday and shared the story of how I came into the world.

As I turn the page on this new chapter in my life, I thought I'd give a State of My Life update by checking in with my Bucket List.

This past year I . . .

1. Stopped biting my nails, have pretty nails I'm proud of and have started wearing rings. Item #42.
2. Paid off 100% of my debt. I achieved this Tuesday night. Whew! Just in time. You should have seen me doing the Happy Dance in my kitchen after I clicked the button on that online payment. This is a really big deal to me. It doesn't matter how much debt I had. In my opinion, any consumer debt is too much. I will tell you that the average U.S. household has $14,473 in credit card debt. I had significantly less than that, but enough that it took a plan. I followed my plan and achieved my goal. Item #44. Now I can turn my attention to item #67. (You'll have to go check it out, I'm not telling you what it is.)
   
3. Ride the Ferris Wheel at Navy Pier. While you may think that's nothing to brag about, I'm really afraid of heights (and it's 150 feet in height!) and I overcame my fear to do this. Item #60.
4. Swam from the Watervale dock to BooHoo. Item #61.
5. Learned to love sushi. I accomplished this in January with a friend from high school that I hadn't seen since high school. Not only was it a great meal, but we had a wonderful, laughter-filled trip down memory lane. Item #62.
6. Applied for my passport. It hasn't arrived yet, but that's okay. I've applied for it and it should be here any day, based on their 4-week estimated arrival time. Item #63.
7. Lost 40 pounds. Okay, it wasn't the original 100 pounds that I wanted to lose this year and I also didn't reach my revised goal of 50 pounds, but I'm 40 pounds lighter than I was a year ago. I've lost 2 dress sizes and even a shoe size! Item #22.

I've also bought a new car (well, new to me), changed careers, gone to work at a company I love in a position that challenges me daily and brings me lots of personal fulfillment, and Little Merry Sunshine hit 50,000 visitors.

If I do say so myself, that's quite the list. I've actually achieved many of my personal goals and dreams in the past 40 years (see the bottom of my Bucket List for items I accomplished previously).

So what's up for the next 40 years? I don't have a crystal ball, but I do have my Bucket List and while I can't tell you with certainty that I'll achieve all of it, I do have a few items I plan to tick off in the next one to two years.

1. Buy a house (a condo counts too). Item #67.
   
2. Run a 5K. I'll do this by Thanksgiving. Item #21.
3. Finish losing those 50 pounds and add another 30 to the tally by Christmas. Items #22 and 22A.
4. Learn to play tennis. Item #33.
5. Donate blood. I swear I'll do this by Christmas. Item #36.
6. Dress in super sexy lingerie and feel confident about it. Item #53.
7. Bike the Drive. Item #65.
8. Travel to Paris. Item #68.
9. Create a scholarship at my alma mater by the time I'm 42. Item #10.
10. Learn to shoot a gun. Item #26.
11. Visit New York City. Item #6.
    

So that's it. I've got a lot to be proud of, but I've still got a lot to accomplish.

Although this isn't quite front row seats at a U2 concert (item #29), Bono and The Edge had a special birthday message for me: