2012

I have been reading Dannie's 101 in 1001 adventure and have been both inspired by her and embarrassed by her efforts. She is a brilliant example of what can be achieved if you set your mind to it and get organised!

From travelling to Petra to watching Shakespeare at the Globe, her adventures have made me realise how horribly I have failed at the challenge.

I have an excuse. Not a good one though - being pregnant and then looking after an active little boy doesn't lend itself to throwing yourself out of planes and riding camels.

So for 2013, I'm going to plan an achievable, boring and small goal a month.

My review of 2012 - what did I get up to? Not much!

January
Went for a run for the first time since my son was born in December.

February
The boy and I appeared in the paper as we dressed up for Chinese New Year.

March
Joined the National Trust - make it my mission to get my money's worth and by the end of 2012 had visited 20 properties from Cornwall to Dorset, Somerset and Buckinghamshire.

April
Bought a new car.

May
Went to Hong Kong for a month.

June
Turned...gulp 36...

July
Started freelancing - first job was reviewing the brilliant Mark Thomas who did a show called Bravo Figaro which I most highly recommend.

August
Took the McBaby to my favourite festival

September
Drumroll. Went back to work!

October
Decided to quit job.

November
Joined a networking business

December
The Mcbaby's first birthday.

So, not very fulfilling. I'll lay out my goals for 2013 tomorrow.

See you!!

36

I think the word "failure" is the best one to describe my "36 before 36" challenge. To be honest, the day came out of nowhere and hit me before I'd had a chance to take stock of where I was! Having a baby also makes it very difficult to find time to even vacuum, let alone take hot air balloon rides and the other follies I'd put on my list!


The plan was to complete 36 things before 36. I came up with the title last year when I was expecting; well before this blogger labelled it "uncatchy": http://faithhopeandcharityshopping.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/40-before-40-36-before-36-wasnt-as.html


It was one of the stranger birthdays of my life. Firstly, no one apart from my husband, dad and mum remembered. I thought my sister had forgotten, but she called me at 5pm to ask if I'd received her present and hung up on me in anger when I said it hadn't arrived.


MrPBR and the baby took me out for a meal and I tried to forget about this surprising phone call. But the next day when we were out for a walk, she called again and said she'd been led to understand that I would be in on my birthday and that I must have missed the delivery. The reason I was out was because I had bought my dad a new fridge as a surprise, so had driven down to the west country while he was out to ensure that someone was there to sign for it.


If I'd known she wanted me to stay in, perhaps I could have been, but usually when delivery people miss you, they leave a note to say where the parcel is.


She told me that she was angry because she'd paid extra to ensure the gift arrived on time and then hung up on me again before texting MrPBR to ask him to confirm our address. We've only lived here three years and she's been here several times! So I didn't get a present, got shouted at and still don't know what she sent! SHe said she was going to cancel it, so I guess I'll never know!

So I felt stupidly tearful when I looked at this list to see where I'd got to.

It's not a total disaster though; I have done the following:

3: Grow all of our own vegetables.

I've planted potatoes and tomatoes. I could hardly call it self-sufficency though!

13. Win a competition:

I won a camera that I gave to a friend as a birthday present!

17. Sell something upcycled:

I rescued some shelving from the tip and painted it with a tin of 50p paint that I spied in the bargain bucket at B&Q. I then sold it at a boot sale for a tiny profit. I don't think I'm going to make my millions from upcycling!

18. Make a baby friend
BabyPBR has a number of cute little friends from NCT, playgroups, singing classes and other activities. He has far more friends than I do!

21. Declutter anything not needed.

I am going to pat myself on the back here. The house is still a tip but a lot of things have gone. I've done two boot sales in the past month and I have very few belongings. The problem is that we have a tiny house with a total, total lack of storage. This is compounded by my parents' divorce a few years ago when my mother disappeared for a while and I had to store her belongings. We know where she is now, but she can't face unpacking her stuff as it brings back bad memories.

34. Have MrPBR compliment something I've cooked.

I have discovered the joy that is www.approvedfood.co.uk and accidentally ordered lots of pasta. Except when it arrived it turned out to be semolina! I wasn't sure what to do with this glut of semolina but discovered this recipe for orange cake WITHOUT flour!

www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/orange_cake_57974

MrPBR loved it so much, he's asked me to keep making it, so there is usually some in the house!

So I'm now 36 but I'm going to keep going with the list and I'll turn it into some sort of "lifetime challenge". THis blog by Dannie has proved to be very inspirational http://myultimatelifelist.blogspot.co.uk/

36. Have a completely different hairstyle

I came onto this oft-neglected blog as MrPBR and I have just joined the National Trust. This was something on the original 101 in 1001 challenge, but having reached the end of that, I see that it didn't make it onto my "36 before 36" list!

We're thrilled that we now have a year to visit as many properties as possible to get our money's worth! We started with Basildon Park and I have earmarked Stourhead Gardens as the next one.

Please let us know which National Trust properties you would recommend!

So back to "36 in 36". I now have a very short hair cut and it has been dyed a sort of reddish-purple colour. I don't even own a hairdryer or hair straighteners and normally just tie it up and forget about it. It's a bit of a cliche, but I do feel lighter and it is a huge confidence boost to have your hair done properly, even if it did cost about £30 more than I usually pay!

I have debated with myself whether or not to add a photo. Nah!