39 for 39

I'm turning 40 one week from today. Since it was too late for me to steal blogger Andi Fisher's 40 by 40, I thought instead I would share 39 things I accomplished in my 39th year (in no particular order after the first).

Here are 39 things I accomplished this year (in no particular order after the first)

1. Had a chocolate/dessert party to kick off my farewell to my thirties tour. If you’ve never hosted one, start planning now. There’s no better way to celebrate your life than with your good friends and a lot of chocolate.

2. Appeared on TV. Ok, so it wasn’t Oprah or the Today show, but the Raleigh Television Network does reach some 50,000 households in the Triangle area. Problem is, only about 10 of those 50 actually watch it… About two months after my interview on The Artist’s Craft debuted, one of my students entered class and said, “I saw you on TV last night!” So there. It’s gotten some 200 views on You Tube, so hey, that ain’t bad either!

3. Appeared at Quail Ridge Books, where for the first time I signed books for people I didn’t know. My hand was shaking so much I could barely write.

4. Appeared at my alma mater as a guest author for the Temper release party. First ever!

5. Was interviewed for a magazine that is published for the US Embassy in India. Should I start picking out a Bollywood costume now?

6. Read approximately 30 books. That number is down from the last couple of years. I completely blame Facebook. The number also includes audiobooks – don’t let anyone tell you they don’t count.

7. Finished the first draft of Why I Love Singlehood (WILS). Revisions are currently underway.

8. Completed and published Ordinary World.

9. Got Faking It in three independent bookstores in as many states. More to come!

10. Visited the Outer Banks for the first time. When do I get to go back?

11. Organized a blog tour. Stay tuned for my even bigger tour coming up next month!

12. Saw U2 in concert. 'Nuff said.

13. Got swine flu. Does this count as an achievement? Don’t know, but apparently I was damn trendy.

14. Met some FABULOUS people on a certain discussion forum. Ok, we haven’t “officially” met in person, but I feel like I know some of them as if we had.

15. Met a Facebook friend in person. We went to The Flying Biscuit, of course.

16. Was asked by Aaron Sorkin for a copy of my book. I think I’m still smiling over that one.

17. Was a semi-finalist for the Best of the Best e-book contest. I intend to win next year!

18. Debuted my books on the Amazon Kindle. They hit the Kindle Store bestseller lists!

19. Actually saw a Kindle up close. Held it in my hands. Way cool, but I still love tactile books.

20. Received touching letters from people across the country about how they enjoyed my books. Still blows me away.

21. Recorded vocals for a song my eldest brother wrote. I’ve been talking about this to my close friends ever since it happened (while I was in NY for the holidays), but I haven’t been able to write publically about it because it turned out to be such a profound, emotional experience. All I can say is that it was a gift to our dad from all of my siblings, and we all participated on it. I sang both harmonies and lead vocals throughout.

22. Made lots of ice cream. It’s the gift that keeps on adding.

23. Became a certified Reiki Master. After 12 years practicing at Level II, the right time, right place, right teacher(s) finally showed up. Awesome.

24. Met David Sedaris.

25. Attended a reading by Mary Kay Andrews.

26. Reunited with my writing partner to kick off revisions for WILS. When do we go back?

27. Upgraded my cellphone. Not all that exciting, actually. It’s still just a phone and doesn’t do my taxes and all that other stuff.

28. Visited my 98-year-old grandmother, who still asks me what I want to eat.

29. Baked lots and lots of cookies.

30. Mastered the art of instant cake-in-a-mug.

31. Bragged to people who don’t care that Joshua Malina is my Facebook friend and follows me on Twitter.

32. Watched about a dozen episodes of The Hardy Boys on my computer in a 2-day span thanks to Netflix. I chalk this up to getting a head start on my mid-life crisis and regressing to my childhood. Who knew those shows were so bad? Shaun Cassidy and Parker Stevenson were still cute as hell, though.

33. Saw two movies in the theatre. That number might be up from recent years. It also might be wrong, since I can’t remember when Frost /Nixon came out.

34. Shoveled two feet of snow. This is noteworthy considering I haven’t shoveled snow in four years. Hell, I hadn’t seen snow in quite some time! My back did not appreciate this though, and at one point I could be heard screaming like John Lennon, “I GOT BLISTERS ON ME FINGERS!”

35. Walked a mile in my shoes.

36. Came into contact with fabulous people from all over thanks to the World Wide Web.

37. Had a slice of Junior’s cheesecake. Need I say more?

38. Requested and received an early birthday present. I’ll share that one with you next week.

39. Laughed. A lot.

Next week I'll share 40 things I want to achieve for my 40th year.