Keeping the dust bunnies at bay

Okay. I wrote another post and saved it because it wasn't done, but I just re-read it and fell asleep just from the second paragraph. I've decided to spare you the unplanned nap.

And because I am completely lacking in creativity, especially when it comes to blog entry topics, I've decided to borrow from a few different people and make some lists.

Back in December, when it was time to make resolutions (or whatever), I made a list of 8 things for 2008. Which I'm pretty much failing. Dismally. I still have 10 more months to get my act together, and maybe I will. But, hey, maybe it's the process of making the list that is more important. Or interesting?

Anyway, yeah. I'm going to make lists for a while. If nothing else, they might give me some good ideas for future posts. Or maybe you readers can help a sistah out and leave some topic suggestions in the comments? Perhaps?

So here we go: a series of lists comparing my 20-year-old self and my 30-year-old self.

Things that, at age 20, I thought I wanted to do before I turned 30, but weren't a big deal by the time I turned 30.

1. Be a painter that sells paintings. (Truth be told, I actually accomplished this in college...I sold a series of three paintings for about $30.)
2. Get a Master's degree. (I got close and never finished. And recently decided that I'm totally okay with that.)
3. Own a new car.
4. Have a glamorous career (related, but not the same, to the painter thing).
5. Join the Junior League (again, full disclosure, I had a chance but I was in my early 20's at the time, and I didn't want to join quite that early, and by the time I was 30, I was running in a totally different social circle).
6. Live in a warehouse/loft downtown.

And, the corollary list: things I accomplished by 30 that I would never have guessed (at age 20) would have mattered to me (or happened at all).

1. Owned a house in midtown Memphis.
2. Bought a used Ford Escort station wagon (the first car I bought on my own).
3. Had two kids (I mostly wanted kids, eventually, when I was 20, but I didn't think I'd have them as young as I did).
4. Taught school in Mississippi.
5. Became a vegetarian and then un-became a vegetarian.
6. Got a dog.
7. Worked at a church.
8. Started a business.

And then the list of things I set out, at age 20, to accomplish by 30, and accomplished:

1. Got married.
2. Adopted cats.
3. Worked at an art museum (two, actually).
4. Took some fun trips with my husband.
5. Worked toward a Master's degree.
6. Volunteered at the Humane Society.