The Next 20 Years

I'm 30. Yes, I've been 30 for 9.5 months now, so it really shouldn't surprise anyone, especially not me. But most of the last 9.5 months have been spent worrying about other (much smaller) people, most especially Trystan, who sent me to the hospital on my 30th birthday with false labor (actually, real labor that sort of stalled out).

I have a few New Year's resolutions, but they're pretty predictable, and a lot boring. But, I realize lately that most of my bigger life goals have already come to pass: graduate college, career, house, marriage, kids. Now I need to come up with a few more things for my life's to-do list.

Here are a few things I would like accomplish by the time I turn 50:

• Get another college degree. I'm not sure in what yet. The easy choice here would be a Masters in Computer Science. Other options I've kicked around: Culinary school, art, maybe writing (that's the newest addition to the list).


• Learn another language well enough to read a book or newspaper un-translated. Verbal conversations are optional :) I started French once in college, but had no time to follow up. I had some trouble because I kept mixing up the French and Spanish, and I wasn't impressed with the teacher.


• Get my eyes fixed. Contacts suck. Glasses are annoying. Both are expensive, and rather dangerous to do without. Maybe this year or next...


• Do some genealogical research. Some of my relatives have done a bit, and maybe one of these days I will attempt to track down what they have, but I'd especially like to learn more about my paternal grandfather's family.



• Travel more. I haven't ever spent much time outside of the Midwest, and my list of things to see is extensive:
  
  • Latin America, all of it. Ok, that's silly. Just most of it. I loved visiting Teotihuacan and Chichen Itza. I'd love to see Machu Picchu, and any other ancient ruins I could get to.
  
  
  • Italy-at least Rome and Venice
  
  
  • France, at least Paris
  
  
  • Spain, basically all of it
  
  
  • UK, Ireland: London, Wales (my maiden name is Welsh, we think), Loch Ness, Stonehenge, Dublin, castles, more castles, more castles
  
  
  • US:
    
    • The northeast, any part. Except for about 36 hours in Boston for a job interview, I've not been closer than DC.
    
    
    • The giant sequoias
    
    
    • The Grand Canyon
    
    
    • The Pacific Ocean. I spent 2 or 3 days in Los Angelos interviewing at USC my senior year of high school, but I only saw the campus and the airport.
    
    
  
  

I will attempt to revisit this list at some point. It's a pretty tall order as it stands, given that we also have two children to raise to quasi-adulthood and send off to college over the next 20 years. Perhaps I should add "win the lottery" and "hire a staff" to the list.