My Spring 2026 Bucket List and Goals

 

Happy spring/happy fall, friends!!  No matter where we live, we are welcoming a new season.  And I love them all!!  

We have been enjoying spring- and last week, summer-like temperatures this whole month.  I was ready for it.  In El Paso, spring and fall bring the best weather, with the exception of the wind which historically has been quite brutal during both seasons.  But so far - knock on wood - we have only had a couple of gusty days, and have had loads of glorious sunshine.  Now, if we could get a rain shower or two, it would be the perfect spring.  

All of this sunshine has me anxious to start work on my spring 2026 bucket list and goals.  I have been keeping a running list of activities, ideas and projects for several weeks and now it is time to share them with you.

Spring 2026 Bucket List

If we've been friends for a little bit now, you know I am a big proponent of list-making!!  I have lists for everything.  They keep me on track.  Especially now that I am of a.... uh hummmm, certain age, I need all the help I can get in that department.  Why, I would forget my own name if it wasn't tattooed on my forehead.

And my seasonal bucket lists help me remember that there's more to eating out than McD's and more to do on a weekend than catch a Netflix movie.  

Here are the activities and experiences I hope to enjoy this spring.

• attend 1 public library event (carry-over from my winter list):  the Richard Burgess branch of the El Paso Public Library has so many great activities on a regular basis.  Have my eye on their crochet class and an Easter wreath-making class.  On Saturdays, they offer plant swaps where patrons can take clippings of their plants to swap with other gardeners.  

• brainstorm an activity for my online book club (another carry-over from winter):  I am thinking of a craft activity we can do together or maybe sending a little gift to members who are interested.  But don't quote me on that, yet. Would you like to join our no-pressure, book-a-month online book club, "Come Read with Me"?  Please let me know in a comment below!!  We are about to vote for our April read.  Fun!!  

• Brennyn's visit:  she, Cadence and Declan are visiting over spring break.  Hope to share our adventures together.

• celebrate Easter and my birthday on the same weekend:  not sure what this will look like exactly.  Maybe a glow-in-the-dark Easter egg hunt with my El Paso grands? Stay tuned.

• complete the scrapbooking of our Alaskan cruise (sound familiar? yup, another carry-over):  I am working on Day 5 right now.  Thank goodness, there are only 2 more days to scrap.  Once I finish the cruise, I want to start on scrapbooking our spring 2025 trip to Colorado.  My sister Valerie and I facetime on What'sApp and scrapbook together.  You might remember, we took the trip to Creede, Colorado together with our husbands, our brother and his wife to sprinkle our parents' ashes.

• create at least one collage with Jennifer Chamberlin:  I signed up for this 5-day workshop in February but got busy painting my spring door hanger and didn't get around to making my collages.  Hope to do that this spring.  The ballerina below is just one of the projects in this Scrappy Collage Experience.

• freshen hair:  not sure what this looks like.  Just not happy with how my hair looks right now.  Time for an update.

• hike with Dick and Denise:  we have an entire day planned with our writing group friends D&D to hike Slot Canyon, enjoy lunch at a winery or brewery, and write together.  

• holiday in London, England and Edinburgh, Scotland:  our trip runs from 04.25.2026-05.09.2026.  We have purchased our plane tickets and tickets for train travel between the 2 countries.  We have reservations for our accommodations and an itinerary for all the things we want to see and do. So excited.  Just wish the world was a calmer place for travel right now but we can't have everything. Need to start thinking about what to pack!!  All suggestions welcome!!  

• open our pool:  I am thinking we open the pool with a BBQ with Lauren and her family

• splurge on fresh flowers:  started doing this last year and it made me smile all spring and summer.  

• take a road trip to Ruidoso to fish:  for PC's February birthday, I offered to treat him to a New Mexico fishing license.  He suggested I just buy individual day passes for fishing rather than an annual pass so that's what I hope to do.  We need to get back up north so he can experience some success at fishing.  And we always enjoy walking through shops in downtown Ruidoso and visiting a local winery there.

Spring 2026 Goals

While my bucket list activities usually revolve around having fun or adding enjoyment to my life, my goals are more like chores or tasks that need to be attended during each particular season.  Some of them are kinda fun and some of them not so much!!  Sharing them here with you helps make me more accountable toward tackling them.  Thank you for that!!

• clean rock garden beds:  our backyard neighbor has mesquite trees that hang over the rock wall between our yards. Those danged trees drop something every.single.season. We are talking yellow flowers, delicate frond-like leaves, seed pods, tiny twigs and sap.  And our rock gardens are full of debris.  Time to clean them...AGAIN.

• complete 100% of my memoir course on Daily Om (sound familiar?? Yup, bumped from winter):  currently at 77% complete but need to get this finished.  

• donate blood (didn't happen last season):  so easy and yet so hard to get done.  Why is that??  I think because the donation center is across the mountain.  But it is going to happen this spring.

• finish writing the first draft of "Dots and Crinkles" and make progress on my 2026 writing goals (another uncompleted winter goal):  this story is well underway and I have shared some of it with our writing group.  Now to finish.  And to make progress on all of this year's writing goals, including formal  accountability with my writing accountability partner, Denise.

• hang bathroom hand mirrors (sound familiar??): bought some hanger-thingies in hopes of making this happen last fall, then last winter but no luck yet.  Now I am thinking maybe the hangers I bought won't do the trick.  Back to the drawing board.  Something like this.

 

• paint pull-outs on the pillars around our house:  we attempted this once and the paint color didn't match very well so now the pull-outs look spotted.  Will try again this spring.  Have suggested we might think about faux rock on the base of the pillars if we can't get this paint color right.    

• payoff the remaining balance on my Amazon card (I know, I know):  have made great progress on this, thanks to the sweet teachers who have been calling me to sub in their classrooms.  And I am not using my card unless I immediately go in and payoff the new charge.  Need to get this balance down to zero, once and for all.

• plant veggies in our raised bed:  shh, this might be underway already.  

                      

• purge 26 things from my closet (bumped from my winter goals):  I got started (a very small start) on this last season but didn't get very far.  Have to make this happen.  It's overdue!!

• scan the remainder of our family photos into Photomyne:  another task that should be easy but is so tedious and time consuming.  Tired of having piles of scanned and unscanned photos laying around.  I am getting mixed up!!

• unclutter and organize the garage:  right now it is the staging spot for things we have been purging around the house in hopes of having a colossal yard sale this season.  And it is a mess.

• work on my bikini body:  this is a lifelong goal.  And of course, I am totally teasing about wearing a bikini.  Nobody needs to see that!!  But I have gained a pound - my doctor scolded me - this winter.  Need to get back to tracking WW points, consistently hitting the gym, riding my bike, swimming(!!), weight-lifting, etc., etc.  Also, need to get my cholesterol down = making better food choices.  Sadly, I do most of these suggestions already.

• yard sale:  need to get rid of all that is currently stored in our garage as well as all of the things I purge from my closet.  

I am going to be busy...that is, if I get started on all of this.  Need to remind myself, though, that this isn't a race and perfection is not a requirement!!  Just need to make forward progress. 

Your Turn

Do you have a spring bucket list or list of goals you'd like to share?  Please link it up below so we can cheer you on!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

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I am looking forward to returning next month with an update on my progress.  Wish me luck!!

Thank you for spending a few minutes of your day here with me.  I am subbing today for kinder and earning my keep.  Thinking this might be my last year to sub.  It's getting harder for this old dog to learn new tricks.

Enjoy a beautiful weekend.

Hugs and kisses,