12. Obtain 40 albums in a single year (Year 7)

Another super year for music. Two brilliant albums in one year from new band Øzwald (Jason Wade from Lifehouse (one of my favourite bands) is in the band). A brilliant solo album from Rob Thomas was also released and was probably my favourite of this year.

Albums released in 2019

Band/Artist	Album
Andy Burrows & Matt Haig	Reasons To Stay Alive
Ashley McBryde	Girl Going Nowhere
Brooks & Dunn	Reboot
Dean Lewis	A Place We Knew
Ed Sheeran	No. 6 Collaborations Project
Greg Holden	World War Me
Highwomen, The	The Highwomen
Hozier	Wasteland, Baby!
Ingrid Michaelson	Stranger Songs
Jack Savoretti	Singing To Strangers
James Blunt	Once Upon A Mind
Jamie Lawson	The Years In Between
Jeff Lynne's ELO	From Out Of Nowhere
Keane	Cause and Effect
Lady Antebellum	Ocean
Lewis Capaldi	Divinely Uninspired To A Hellish Extent
Luke Combs	What You See Is What You Get
Maddie Poppe	Whirlwind
Maren Morris	Girl
Midland	Let It Roll
Old Dominion	Old Dominion
Øzwald	Born In A State
Øzwald	Sweet Delirium
Rob Thomas	Chip Tooth Smile
Sara Bareilles	Amidst The Chaos
Stereophonics	Kind
Tom Walker	What A Time To Be Alive
Two Door Cinema Club	False Alarm
Ward Thomas	Restless Minds
Weezer	Weezer (Teal Album)
Zac Brown Band	The Owl

There are other albums from 2019 I have yet to listen to on Spotify to decide whether I will download them. Now I've joined a gym I will now have more chance to listen to music.

Other albums from other years I purchased in 2019

Band/Artist	Album
1975	A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships
1975	I Like It When You Sleep, For You Are So Beautiful Yet So Unaware Of It
Daughtry	Cage To Rattle
Lukas Graham	3 (Purple Album)
Luke Combs	This One's For You Too
Midland	On The Rocks
Sara Bareilles	Kaleidoscope Heart
Tristan Prettyman	Back To Home
Zac Brown Band	You Get What You Give

In 2020, possible new releases from Brad Paisley and John Mayer. They both did concerts that I went to in the same weekend (in October) at The O2 without having released an album so perhaps, with the releases of their new singles in 2019, albums are sure to follow. I'm also looking forward to discovering new music.

What were your favourite albums in 2019 and what are you looking forward to hearing in 2020?

I AM 40...AM I DONE?

I have finally hit that milestone; approaching 40 with the same amount of vim and vigour that someone who is not ready to turn 40 can muster!

I often, these days, find myself saying, “that was so long ago” or saying “oh that was probably about 20 years ago”. That’s a whole other adult ago!!! I suppose it helps that I married a younger man, the “you’re only as old as the man you feel” gambit. Also, not having had children yet has kept me looking younger than I am, I presume. Some people I’ve met recently can’t believe that I was turning 40 (I believe them). However, the stress of work and travelling has given me a few silvery hairs which I’m trying to hide beneath some of the frizz. 

I really was hoping to have completed the whole of my 40 list but I am going to just have to use my forties to finish the rest.

What have I not completed, you may ask. Well, these are in purple in the list on the left but I’ll will put them here in this blog with a little explanation. 

1. Learn ‘Cornflake Girl’ by Tori Amos on the piano

I did actually give this another crack recently but got distracted by learning to play other things, e.g. ‘Pieces’ by Rob Thomas. My excuses are, not finding the time and also too many distractions. I will give it another go. 

9. Learn to ride a bike

One failed attempt and I seem to have never tried again. Matheus has told me that he’s looked into lessons for adults and can’t seem to find any. Perhaps a new business venture for someone in Hertfordshire. I guess it would help if I had a bike. Are we allowed to learn on the London ‘Boris’ bikes? I must look into that. When we’re in the Netherlands, we never seem to get a chance to try and I don’t want to accidentally damage a bike or myself if at all possible. 

16. A-Z of cuisines (eat in the restaurants)

While I’m trying to lose weight, we’re less likely to go out to eat but perhaps Matheus and I should treat ourselves once a month for a ‘date night’. Sixteen cuisines left to go (A, D, H, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, U, V, W, X, Y, Z).

18. Do 40 cover versions and post online

I have done 26 of these. There are two that I did at my EP launch that I still haven’t had time to edit and post online which brings the total to 28. There are also two songs that friends have asked me to do which I will get around to. My excuse - lack of time. I know I keep saying it but maybe I need to get up earlier on the weekend or not make so many plans to do other things. 

19. Go to 40 different places, 40 miles from where I live

This is harder than I thought it would be. It is difficult to work out where 40 miles would be as the crows flies because there is not much choice when doing it in actual mileage. Also, again, we don’t have time to just jump in the car and go somewhere. I don’t want to duplicate places and I don’t want them to all be related to work. I think Matheus and I need to sit with a map and pinpoint places to go - that’s something he would probably enjoy doing more than the trips.

22. Learn to play golf

I went with my Dad and I don’t think I’m ever going to get the hang of this game. Do I continue? Do I say I’ve technically had a go at learning or is it classed as giving up if I say “DONE”?

23. Lose 40lbs

Matheus and I are researching gyms but while my work means I have two projects going at the same time, I am always going to be home from work late until early December. I have lost some more weight but it’s still fluctuating. 

24. Learn a ballroom dance (waltz or tango)

I enjoyed this but I don’t think Matheus did. We had a couple of lessons. Does this count as learning or do we need to have perfected a routine like on Strictly Come Dancing? Maybe one day I’ll continue the learning in a class environment. 

25. Finish the Cinderella cross-stitch I started in 1992

The plan is to take this on long train journeys and also to the Netherlands when we’re there over Christmas. My aim is to have this completed by the time we have our first child. No idea when that will be though 🤷🏻‍♀️.

27. Learn Spanish

Now, this is also open to interpretation. I’ve completed the Duolingo classes (although since they updated the app I haven’t gone back to it). Can I say it’s done or do I need to have a fluent conversation with someone Spanish? Also, this had to take a backseat to my Dutch which I am still learning.

29. Post 40 online reviews

This was added to the 40 list late as I took something out so I am behind on this. 29 reviews to go. Better get complaining / praising!

30. Learn Dutch

So, I am working my way through the app again but I’m on level 5 so it’s nearly complete. Will I be able to speak fluently? I doubt it. It’s not really an app to help learn conversational Dutch; just phrases, words and sentence structure. Matheus just needs to keep speaking to me in Dutch and helping me with my responses. 

32. Watch 40 Tom Hanks movies

I think this either filled a gap or it replaced ‘learn to ski’. This is likely to be far more enjoyable and less painful. I’ve now watched ‘Sully’ and ‘Toy Story 4’ which brings my viewing total to 23 so I’m over halfway done. I have added movies to my Netflix, Amazon Prime and Sky lists. Matheus is away for a few weeks in January so while he is off sailing, MY January will be Filmuary or Hanksuary.

33. Learn to play poker

I did learn to play some kind of poker but I’m not sure if we were doing it correctly. I must commandeer someone poker know-it-alls so I can have a proper game.

34. Take part in a sumo-wrestling costume fight

Since seeing this at various festivals and events and subsequently adding this to my list, this has yet to happen. I shall continue to seek this out.

36. Have a photo taken on the Abbey Road crossing

Not only do I have to persuade my husband to get up early with me on a weekend but also three willing participants. I guess I could have the photo on my own - it’s probably quicker to stop traffic for one person and Matheus could take the photo. We will get around to this!

38. Visit a medium / psychic

I did start doing research into this. There is a medium I found but I think I’d also like to see a psychic separately as they are actually two different abilities. Definitely one for 2020.

17 to complete (some started but some not-so-started). This is the challenge for 2020 - to try to complete the rest or most of the rest.

Something I marked as completed was ‘Write regular blogs’. I have done this monthly so far but I will continue to blog. Not only about my 40 list but maybe about other things that are getting my goat or other things that are going on. I am not sure if I can keep ‘monthly’ blogs going but they will be as regular as I can make them. 

I hope you’ve enjoyed reading my ‘40 list’ antics as much as I have enjoyed actually doing them.

I must keep the adventure going...

29. Post 40 online reviews (Part 4)

I always seem to have a lot to say to praise or to complain about when it comes to places I visit but I never seem to get around to writing a review. I sometimes can’t be bothered to write a review of a product despite how many times they remind me to do it. I’m not always ready to do it straight away and often they’re gifts for other people.

Of the reviews I have done, not all are on Trip Advisor. I’ve started doing Google Reviews too.

I do like to give credit where credit is due but also if I’m disappointed with a service then I have a right to point this out too.

Review Number 8
Lincoln has banned Uber so I Googled a taxi firm and used Direct Cars back in January. Below is my glowing review.

Review Number 9
In July, I thought, to boost my number of reviews, I would review the amazing restaurant we went to in Crete - Raki Ba Raki back in September 2018 (which will be further explored when I do my next ‘A-Z of cuisines’ blog).

You can read the review here.


Review Number 10
As mentioned in the review, we had initially booked this for my birthday in October 2017 but due to being unwell we had to postpone. After much nagging, on my part obviously, we finally booked to go and we invited our friends, Owain and Kai to come along as they are also escape room fans. The place was called clueQuest on Caledonian Road and we took part in ‘Operation Blacksheep’ which was utterly brilliant. Thoroughly recommend it, as you will read here. Since ‘Operation Blacksheep’ we have been back to clueQuest as the same team (last week) to do ‘Revenge of the Sheep’ - super clever and we loved it.

What a team!

Review Number 11
The last review is, unfortunately, not a very positive one. It was another taxi company and I was so miffed that I wrote quite a long review (had to do two screen shots to fit it all in).

All I wanted was a smooth journey! Usually I’m pretty lucky but clearly not on this day.

21. Do something special with my niece, Lexie, every year (Year 5)

Despite Uncle Matheus not being able to join us for the day, I managed to cram in so much with the kids on my day out with them.

I picked them up and, once the car seat for Eden had been attached, we were off.

I took the kids to Watford to go bowling and to the arcade and for lunch. We played a game of bowling which the kids really enjoyed and then I gave them money for some of the games at the arcade and I may have played a couple myself. Lexie found a ‘Scooby Doo’ game and after a couple of goes she managed to get the jackpot of tickets. I also played a game and hit the jackpot so Eden and I sat in front of the machines for ages waiting for the tickets to come out. The three of us played a few more games and took all of our tickets to get cashed in. The kids chose the toys etc. they wanted and then we left to go for lunch.

Lexie showing her skills

Eden watching his skittles go down

Lexie hits the jackpot

So many tickets

We went to TGI Fridays and the kids immediately knew what they wanted to eat. We briefly popped to the Lego Store before going home and I got them a little something each.

That face!

Beautiful smile

A hat for me too

Eden's Lego creation

Before going home we went to Hobbycraft in Borehamwood because I had told them I would make homemade ‘Forky’ figures with them (from Toy Story 4). We bought everything we needed and headed back to my place. We sat in the garden and began our crafting. I helped Eden and Lexie managed to do a great job of her own. I also made a ‘Spoony’ with Eden too.

Spoony and Forky

Once we had made our cutlery characters, I took the kids home so they could show Mummy and Bubbie what they had made and what toys they had procured from Auntie and from arcade machines.

Pleased with his handiwork (with help from Auntie)

I already can’t wait until the next time!

35. Buy and build the Tower Bridge Lego

I’m becoming more than a little obsessed with Lego. I’ve bought a number of new sets lately.

March
I saw an advert on my regular Minifigs.me email about a Beatles set which had reduced in price for a limited time. As I already have the Lego Yellow Submarine Beatles, I thought it would be nice to have the earlier incarnation.

Yeah, yeah, yeah!

April
One of the Lego Ideas that was successful was the Mickey Mouse Steamboat Willie set including original Mickey and Minnie Mouse figures. The whole set is in grayscale. However, what you can’t see is that the inner mechanism is all using colourful bricks. As it was a limited edition set, I thought that it would be remiss of me not to include it in my collection.

Steamboat Willie seemingly on the Thames

May
Matheus and I went to the pop-up Brick Bar. It was good fun but I was a little disappointed that they were using generic bricks and not Lego bricks. We had a few challenges to do while we were there which included building the tallest tower and then naming it for extra points and also building a self-portrait. We did actually win points for the best building name (thanks to the quick thinking of Matheus) but it was, unfortunately, not the tallest tower - the tallest was built by a team of five or six people and we were only two.

The Hypodermic Needle - winner of the best building name

My self-portrait

June
I finally bought a building for the other corner of my street. It is the Corner Garage building. The ground floor is the garage complete with petrol and a door that rolls up for cars to get into the garage to be fixed. the other side has a door up to the veterinarian who is currently caring for a bunny rabbit and a frog. There is a little girl looking at a goldfish as well. The top floor is a flat for a family and a roof with a sun-lounger.

The Corner Garage

I also found on Facebook marketplace, a reasonably priced ‘Back to the Future’ DeLorean (retired Lego product), one previous owner. It was given to me built so I took it apart and rebuilt it from scratch. Anything ’Back to the Future’ makes me think about how Matheus and I first met, so I knew I had to buy it.

‘We’ve gotta go back, Marty” / “Where?” / “Back to the future”

July
One year married and my darling husband bought me our spirit animal in Lego form - a turtle (schildpad). He almost forgot to give it to me with the other anniversary gifts he had bought. Such a generous husband!

Een kleine schildpad

I also found on eBay this month, a 3-in-1 Pelican which can also be two other animals. However, I really love the Pelican and this is sitting proudly in my cabinet with my other animals.

I hope you’re enjoying my obsession as much as I am.

14. Donate £40 a year to charities (Year 7)

Another year of philanthropy sees me donating £57 to various worthy charities.

12th July 2018
Two of my colleagues, Sara and Neha, took on a 100k walk over 14th/15th July raising money for charity (their poor feet). I decided I would donate to a different charity closer to my heart. It’s not that I have anything against Cancer Research but I have my own personal reasons why I don’t donate to them, aside from the fact that so many people I know often do sponsored events for them and I do sponsor them a lot. Also, there are a number of smaller charities that really need the money. I, instead, donated £10 to Crohn’s and Colitis UK in their names.

18th July 2018
July was the month of fundraising ventures in my team. Two other colleagues, Caroline and Lucy, did the RideLondon cycle ride on 29th July for NSPCC and Tommy’s. I sponsored them £10 each.

What strength! Though, I think you’re supposed to sit on it - I wouldn’t know as I can’t ride a bike

16th November 2018
As always, making me cry multiple times in one evening, I donated £20 to Children in Need. They really do know how to tug on my heartstrings (“that’s how they get you”, my husband tells me).

1st June 2019
When I was on holiday with my Mum a year ago, she was saying how AMAZING her Skechers were. I tried them on and was super jealous. It took a year but I eventually decided that I would buy myself a pair because I wanted to start to do more walking in the summer with Matheus. I went to Watford into the Skechers store and found a pair I liked and thus decided to buy. I went to the till and the young man behind the till said that the store was raising money for Breast Cancer Care and would I round up the cost of my trainers - “that is how they get you”, I thought to myself. I agreed and rounded up by £7.

25. Finish the Cinderella cross-stitch I started in 1992

You may not have seen a blog about this for a while because I never really got anywhere. A busy lifestyle and no “me” time means that I never really get a chance to sit and do this. 

However, I just went away for the Bank Holiday weekend with Matheus and his family to Hay on the Wye Festival, which is a literary festival, and I thought that in the downtime when I wasn’t going to see speakers, I would sit and do some more of this. I detached it from it’s wooden frame, put it in its old WH Smith bag and went on my merry way. 

Remember this???

I didn’t get as much time as I wanted but I did manage to complete some more of a leg and the head. I really need to put some more time aside for this. I have enough train journeys for work where I could but I tend to use the time to work. 

Honestly, I have made progress 

It’s been out on my wooden frame for so long that I’m going to finish the thread I’m on and then give it a gentle hand wash to make it clean. I might feel better about it if it’s nice and fresh!