The beginning...

Hello!

I'm lucky enough to have had the best birthday celebrations this week, and for those of you that don't already know, I now have 2 years, or 24 months, or 728 days until I'm 40! Now we all know how quickly that will pass (yes, you'll be 2 years older too!), and I wanted to make sure that when I raise that glass of champagne on the morning of my 40th I'll have some fun, some laughter, and some learning to look back on. Some of you have suggested things for me to do, for which I'm - mostly - grateful, and I ended up with way more than the 24 I was looking for. I've narrowed it down a bit and, at last, here's the final list:

Master the headstand
Take the sleeper to Fort William
Write a book
Go to New Zealand, Canada and Australia visiting friends
Go to Glastonbury
Busk in Trafalgar square on my recorder
Drink with someone famous
Ride on the back of a motorbike
Build/make something to last another 40 years
Learn a new cuisine
Put together a scrapbook of my life to date
Sell a photograph
Get into the papers with Susie - on 8 August
Knit a jumper
Learn to juggle
Watch the sun rise from London Bridge
Wear false eyelashes & get a spray tan
Sing karaoke
Figure out the solar system and explain it to Stuart
Follow in the footsteps of HV Morton
Pony trek across Dartmoor
Hot air balloon ride
Run a half marathon
Go to Old Trafford

I'm hoping some of you will be there to take part in or witness some of these events (maybe not the jumper-knitting, I'll keep that private!), and I'll definitely need photographic evidence to prove I've done them. I'll be providing regular posts on progress over the coming months, so keep your eyes open. Now I'm off to decide what to do first...suggestions welcome!