25 Before 25

Last Sunday I turned 24 years old-it's astonishing where the time is going!

Mother's Day happened to coincide with the celebration of my birth this year, which made last weekend crazy, but increasingly exciting.

By far the highlight of the day was being woken up and surprised with a tea party breakfast-Earl Gray and scones are two of my favorite things after all.

This was very exciting to me, especially because my dads family always reminisce about these excellent "Kidnap Breakfasts" (drag people out of bed and take them to restaurants or secret outdoor locations in whatever they slept it) that they always used to do-and I wished we kept up that tradition.

Even though I was not dragged outside of my own yard, there was still that surprise element. One day we'll resurrect kidnap breakfasts for real.

Utter blackmail comes from the pictures that are still lingering around from these events-including a priceless picture of my grandfather in a ratty robe stumbling down the street.

Being 24 has been mighty fine so far, and I am going to honor it with a list.

Making lists of anything is an interest of mine-nerdy, but fun. In middle school I used to make lists of things I wanted to accomplish, which is something a lot of people like doing. For some reason I stopped, but not anymore.

Next year I'll be 25, a quarter of a century will have gone by, and there are a lot of things I want to have done by May 8th, 2012.

I present: 25 Before 25.

1) Perform musically in some way-part of an Orchestra again? Band? An Instrument? Sing? Any/all of the above, is a possibility.
2) Volunteer again-Habitat For Humanity, Mercy Corps, Food Bank, etc.
3) Leave the continent-For volunteering and leisure.
4) Donate my hair to Locks Of Love.
5) Get published-no matter how big or small.
6) Take The Great American Road trip 3.0-this time, The South. (Dollywood!)
7) Get something pierced.
8) Live an event worth commemorating with, FINALLY, getting my dream tattoo.
9) Write a story with my dad.
10) Ride an elephant.
11) Throw a fabulous costume party-big, fancy hats required.
12) Attend a class on something completely new to me.
13) Read two books a month.
14) Do something drastically out of character-rob a bank? Nah too rash.
15) Learn a new instrument-the drums?
16) Interview an idol.
17) Go to a film festival.
18) Learn how to make really good coffee.
19) Live in a new city.
20) Perfect a new craft.
21) Do an activity alone without caring.
22) Go to more events-hockey games, horse races, bingo championships, anything!
23) Ride in a hot air balloon.
24) Resurrect my dwindling knowledge of the French language.
25) Get a job in the field of my dreams- radio,TV, movies, magazines, news, writing!

Bonus: Survive the impending apocalypse (2012 aaah), and if succeeding, throw the greatest quarter century b-day shindig ever!