50 Before 50: Three Year Overhaul

Ok, I'm three years in, and I'm going to start expanding some of these and defining them a bit more clearly. You'll notice some blank spaces because I'm still thinking about what to do for a lot of them and will add them over the course of the year to hopefully be fully updated by next year. (Also, I'm not sure I did this last year at all? So if I skipped a year, I'm sorry.)

My 42nd revolution around the sun began with a trip to Colorado to see Brandi Carlile in concert with the Missus. We went to see the sunrise over Rocky Mountain National Park. We did some hiking. It was a great way to spend a birthday.

50 Before 50

Self Improvement

1. Run a 5K: I honestly don't think I'll do it more than once, because I'm not a runner by any stretch of the imagination, but I'd like to do it once, unless there's a walking challenge or something I can do?

2. Ride the whole week of RAGBRAI:  Again, I did a day, so why not the whole week? (Plus, I know it might seem silly, but I still have my brother's bike and I'd like to take it the whole route at least once. Even though it's a mountain bike and entirely the wrong kind of bike for RAGBRAI.)

3. Lose 50 lbs and keep it off: probably need to do more than this, but I'm gonna start here. 

4. Hike up a mountain (like a proper, 14er type of mountain, not Everest or anything crazy, though): This past weekend in Colorado put paid to any notions I had of just doing this. Gonna need to lose weight. Gonna need to make a few trips and acclimate and actually train for this. Still want to do it though!)

5. Get into Yoga/Tai Chi to help with hip pain, general flexibility. (Get in = do it on a semi-regular basis to the point where it becomes an integrated part of my routine.)

6. Health Overhaul: I've been ignoring my sleep apnea and pretending that sleeping on my side and that it's 'positional' will spare me from a CPAP, but I no longer think that's the case. So gotta get on that, make the appointment, do the thing, etc.

7. 

8. Diet has always been a struggle for me, but I apparently should be getting 144g of protein for my weight, so I'm going to work on doing that consistently and hope that the right amount of protein (plus fiber, etc) will keep me full enough to reduce the carbs, etc. 

9. 

10. 

Travel

1. Visit NYC

2. Visit All 50 States (37 states, 13 on the board: WA, OR, ID, MT, ND, MI, DE, NJ, CT, RI, ME, AK, HI)

3. Visit Isle Royale National Park

4. Solo Trip For All The Kids To The UK/Family Trip: The 13-year-old had his last year; next up is the current 9-year-old. 

5. See Angel Falls in Venezuela

6. Take the family to a World Cup game in 2026.

7. See a total Solar eclipse

8. 

9. Greece/Turkey/Cyprus: See the ruins of Troy, Istanbul, Gallipoli, Ithaca, Cyprus, etc.

10. 

House Goals

1. Put in a pergola/redo the back patio

2. Plant (and maintain), a native pollinator/English garden/paradise spot in the backyard.

3. Create a mudroom/entrance to the garage in the back of the house

4. Put a deck and a sliding door off of the family room: going

5. Replace carpet in the basement: carpet is out, going to epoxy the floor for a better surface and replace the baseboards. 

6. Install solar panels on the roof: need to replace some windows first, as that's where our energy inefficiency currently lies, but eventually, yes. 

7. Get a really good, lush green lawn going in the front AND backyard: going to put a pin on this, because the backyard is doing pretty well and I have no complaints about the front. Might call this good next year... 

8. Replace the privacy fence in the backyard

9. Make our bedroom an actual bedroom and not just the eye of the hurricane of chaos where we sleep: work on this is underway!

10. Get the deck out front stained/protected.

Writing & Reading

1. Publish two more novels. (I've got at least two planned, so I'm going with two-- novella should be coming out hopefully by the end of this year/early next year.)

2. Build My Substack... I'm loathe to set an actual number here. 50 subscribers would be nice? I'd be super happy with 100! I'd be even happier to build to a point where I can offer a robust paid tier and get some paying subscribers. 

3. 

4. Experiment with form a bit: consider an anthology collection, serialized fiction on Substack, audio fiction on podcast.

5.

6. Read at least one Banned Book a Year: I'm using this list to draw from and I'm a couple behind, though I did knock off Tropic of Cancer earlier this year. 

7. Read Malazan Book of The Fallen by Steven Erickson (All 10 Books): Gardens of the Moon, check. Deadhouse Gates, check. Working on Memories of Ice right now. 

8. Read Jane Eyre, Great Expectations, and The Count of Monte Cristo

9. 

10. Read at least 500 books total

Hobby/Foodie/Life Goals

1. Learn how to Golf with the Missus: Sort of dipped our toes into this earlier in the summer with a vist to Pinseekers over in Tiffin. Will see if we want to do more.

2. Learn how to kayak with the Missus: I would LOVE a rowing machine, like a genuine real one, because I would not get off that damn thing, and I would love to learn how to kayak. But no progress to report here. 

3. Learn How to Use my Heelys: Use 'em or give 'em away. One of the two. 

4. Actually use my wood-burning kit to create things: I do still want to do this, but I'm not sure what things or how I'd create them. Might have to mull this over a bit. 

5. Solo trips for one/both of us (holistic retreat, etc.): the problem here is that I don't know what solo trip I'd want to take. Which seems sad to me. 

6. 

7. Get a really rare bottle of whiskey for my 50th birthday: Going to define what this is... might embrace the cliché and go for Pappy. 

8. Expand the flag collections, join NAVA, and get some quality flag poles

9. Drink some Japanese whiskey, and see what it's all about: I've got one Japanese whiskey under my belt, but I want a few more. 

10. Get better at grilling. (I can do the basic but I could learn how to do more.): We got a meat thermometer! I'm a big fan and have been whipping it out every time I grill. I'd like to experiment in charcoal smoking, but I'm not sure how complicated it is or is not.