Jen's Column / Life List

It's halfway through January and I haven't made any New Year's resolutions.

This is quite unlike me. I usually take a few contemplative minutes on New Year's Day to ink a list of the habits I'd like to change — or add — to my life in the next 365 days.

Here's the thing, though: My resolutions? They don't really vary year to year. There's the stuff I resolve to do more of — like listening, laughing, and eating my vegetables. And there's the stuff I resolve to do less of — like stressing out, stalling, and eating so much junk.

So this year I've decided to try something a little different. Instead of focusing on the things I'd like to change (things that, let's face it, I'm probably not going to change anyway), I'm going to tackle the list of things I want to accomplish.

My list — which has been taped to the wall next to my bed for the last three years — is officially titled, "Jen's List of Things to Do While I'm Able."

Ideally, I'd like to have 50 goals on that list — because, well, 50 just seems like a good number — but so far I only have 28. I'll get there. It's not like I don't have enough to keep me busy in the meantime.

After all, some of my goals are going to take some doing — such as No. 4 ("Roadtrip across America"), No. 25 ("Learn American Sign Language") and No. 6 ("Complete a triathlon").

Luckily, others are attainable with just a little effort — such as No. 9 ("Eat an entire meal made entirely out of food I've grown"), No. 13 ("Bake a loaf of bread from scratch") and No. 16 ("Read a book on Greek mythology").

So far, I've only crossed off five of my Things to Do — including "Run a 5K" and "Dye some or all of my hair blue." And I kind of cheated on this last one. My hairdresser told me that dyed blue hair looks pretty crumby after about a week, so I got six synthetic blue hair extensions instead. They were good fun and all, but they all fell out within six weeks.

It's been more than a year since I've crossed anything off my list. So this year, I've vowed to meet at least five of my life goals.

First, I want to cross off No. 10: "Sled Bemis Hill." Bemis Hill is a pee-your-pants scary sledding hill in northern Minnesota. I've been to Bemis twice — once in high school, once in college — and both times I refused to go down. This year, mark my words, I'm going to get a spine and sled that hill.

I also want to get started on No. 17: "Get my master's degree." This is one of those things that I've intended to do for nearly a decade — before babies (and then toddlers, and then preschoolers) took over my world. And, hey, I was happy to let them take over. But with two school-agers living in my house now, I'm all out of excuses.

This year, I'll run that half-marathon. I'll watch the sunrise from a canoe. Maybe I'll even get around to baking that loaf of bread from scratch.

This year, I will spend more time thinking about what I want out of my life — and write it down. I will get my "Things to Do While I'm Able" list all the way up to 50. I want to make sure I have plenty of new options come 2009.