Ladybugs, 🐞I am reluctant to put together then share my Autumn 2024 Bucket List and Fall Goals because it seems lately, that when I make plans, LIFE mocks me. It almost feels presumptuous that I should make any plans at all. That maybe I should go with the flow because LIFE has a way of getting the last laugh. But I decided to throw caution to the wind and come up with activities I would like to make happen this season. And if LIFE throws us lemons, we will just try to juggle them the best way we can.
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Autumn 2024 Bucket List
As a reminder, I use this key to indicate my progress on each activity whenever I do an update post. Which I hope to do once in November with a final update in December.
Key to my Progress:
- ⏱️ = work on goal underway
- ✔️ = goal met
- ❌ = goal not met
- Bread baking: using the sourdough starter from Brennyn and my 100-year-old yeast, and maybe try my hand at making this green chili cheese bread. Check out my bread baking Pinterest board, here.
- Care package for Bren and family: because Lauren and her family live here in El Paso, I have more opportunities to do little things for Lucia and Camila and to help Lauren and Francisco now and then. Want to put together a care package for my Ft. Worth lovies.
- Complete my “Hay There” fall door round: started working on it when I broke my foot. Want to finish it up and get it hanging on our front door. The photo below is of one of the other participant’s door round.
- Dinner theater date at UTEP: the Department of Theater and Dance is performing “Beauty and the Beast.”
- Fall decorations and Dia de los Muertos altar: this might be the hardest order to fill. PC really doesn’t get very excited about my seasonal decorations. Or my annual Dia de los Muertos altar, for that matter. And my bins for both are on shelves in the garage where I can’t get to them on my own. At least not yet. Have to figure out a way to bribe PC into bringing in my bins.
And then…
- Figure out a Halloween costume: this is kind of iffy, depending on my foot. Originally wanted to wear something Renaissance-ish looking. One of these 2 dresses on Amazon. But may still be in a wheelchair for trick-or-treat, so thinking Lauren and I will be Dia de los Muertos Katrinas.
- Finish my puffy kitty art project: another craft activity I started when I broke my foot. Modeling my kitty after my sweet Purrsimmony who died 07.2023. Now to get her finished. The image below is an example of one of the kitties made by someone else in the online group.
- Fix prayer bracelet: my prayer bracelet goes hand-in-hand with my WOTY – lighten (up). I have used it to remind myself to pray when things are worrisome. And to give thanks when things are peaceful. It broke right after I broke my foot, and I want to have it restrung using the same beads.
- Holiday plans: need to iron out our plans for Thanksgiving, Declan’s birthday and Christmas. Not sure this is a bucket list activity but putting it here anyway.
- Movie with the grands: have read good things about “Wild Robot.” The El Paso grands are out of school for fall break this week. Hoping we can snatch them up to go to the movies. Also want to see “Here” with PC for a date day.




Also…
- New restaurant, coffee shop or pub: we are creatures of habit and so often go to the same old places because they are familiar, comfortable. Time to explore some new spots in town.
- Pumpkin things: ’tis the season… need to taste all the pumpkin things. Or at least a pumpkin spice latte, a pumpkin sweet treat of some sort and something savory and pumpkiny. Maybe try some new recipes?
- Writing weekend getaway: looking for a place fairly close to home where we can go to really relax and write on our stories.
Now, let’s look at the projects for house and home I’ve dished up on our plate!!
Fall 2024 Goals
You might remember that I like to divide my goals into 2 categories. Things that are external I categorize under House. Goals specifically revolving around me directly I categorize under Home. And here’s a key to my the emojis I use for determining my status on each one.
By sharing them here, I am not only accountable to myself but to you, as well. Once I share them here with you, I try to get my goals scribbled onto the goal blackboard that sits on the floor of my bedroom. It puts my goals front and center where I see them as I begin my day.
Key to my Progress:
- ⏱️ = work on goal underway
- ✔️ = goal met
- ❌ = goal not met
With all my fingers and toes crossed for luck, I give you my fall goals.
House
- clean garage: oh, girls, this is overdue. Like all my cleaning projects. But now that PC is retired and I am on the mend, we need to get busy. I would like to see us take everything out of the garage, evaluate it – trash, giveaway, keep – and put the garage back together again. Included in this, purging my decorations.
- fall ‘spring’ cleaning room to room: got started doing spring cleaning 6 months ago but didn’t get far. Will have to start all over again but that’s okay. We want to clean closets, cabinets, drawers, and nooks and crannies.
- figure out what to do to in the yard on the west side of the house: (carried over from summer) we have decided we definitely want to build a walk that goes from the pool deck in the back yard across the west side yard and to the gate that leads to the front yard. Hopefully that will resolve some of the patchy grass issues we have on the side yard, and eliminate the path we have created walking through the grass in the back yard. PC was game to do this himself but this past weekend, we decided to hire someone.
- paint baseboards: (summer 2023 goal) when we had the carpeting removed on the stairs, in the hall and my loft the fall of 2022, the baseboards were removed and then reattached. They look pretty banged up. Would like to freshen them up with a coat of paint and maybe do the rest of the baseboards, too.
Then There’s…
- replace carpeting in the bedrooms: the carpeting was never the best even when our house was new. Now with going on 17 years of wear and tear, the traffic created by us and 3 dogs, 3 kitties, 4 grandbabies over the years, it really looks bad. Haven’t mentioned this (in awhile) to PC but sure would like to see this happen.
- scrub balconies and patio: clean the furniture, wash the rugs, organize the outside storage.
- touch up wall paint inside the house and paint the pullouts on the front porch: this is another goal carried over from last summer. Still hasn’t happened!! For a more than 16-year-old house, our walls are in very good shape but there are knicks here and there that could be touched up. Also, I have moved art around on the walls, leaving behind nail holes. Would like to get some touch up paint as close to our wall color as possible and fix those spots. We had cracks repaired on the stucco pullouts on our patio, balcony and front porch when the work was being done on the pool last year but not all of the pullouts were painted the right color. We have the paint for that, just need to use it.
- update linens in our room: this is going to sound crazy, but I purchased a new quilt, pillow shams, and curtains a year ago…and then LIFE. Got the curtains hung and stopped there. The linens have been sitting in our closet since. Want to refresh our room by finally getting these pieces in place.
Home
- faithfully use Revitalash and RoC Retinol and Musely: need to get back to a self-care routine again using these products and my teeth whitening, too.
- get back to walking, exercising regularly, 4x a week: PC and I were daydreaming about what we want to get back to doing in a couple of weeks. Walking, hiking, using our little garage gym, lifting weights, doing Supernatural and senior workouts again. Cannot wait.
- manis/pedis 2x a month: at home. Hate spending the money on this. And with all the cleaning I am hoping to do, my nails will take a beating. Have purchased new Sally Hansen gel polish in fall colors. Hope to make this a habit.
Plus…
- participate in NaNoWriMo: on 11.01.2024, the National Novel Writing Challenge begins. Participants agree to write everyday of the month. They can sign up to meet the challenge goal of 50,000 words or create their own word count goal. I need to decide what I am going to write and then figure out if I think I can wing the official goal.
- track my Weight Watchers points: carry-over from summer and spring, and winter, and last fall. Scared to see how much I weigh when I can weigh myself again. Going to have to get serious about eating less, making smarter food choices, cooking more.
Maybe I dream too big? Plan for too much? You’d think I would learn my lesson. But I like having goals and activities to guide my days.
Your Turn
I have said it before and will probably say it again, these bucket lists really encourage us to enjoy new experiences. I say US because I drag PC (sometimes kicking and biting) into most of this with me. Visiting new places and trying different activities. If you haven’t tried making one, I would suggest you give it a go. I don’t think of these activities as things to do before I die. Instead, they are things to do to help me live my best life right now.
What is on your bucket list for autumn? What goals have you set to accomplish? Inspire me in a comment below.
Ideally, this post would have gone live on the first day of fall. But I hadn’t updated my summer bucket list and goals on 09.21.2024. Felt like putting my autumn bucket list out there before giving an update on summer was like putting the cart before the horse. You can find that update, here.
Off to bed. Ha!! And then to get up tomorrow and start setting the world on fire!! Wish me luck. Thank you for coming by to cheer me on.
Hugs and kisses,

I always look forward to receiving your newest blog post. You’re amazing with your words and I love hearing about your family. Sounds like your foot is healing nicely. Like most of us, we want it to be fine yesterday.
You are the SWEETEST thing!! My goodness!! Thank you for this kind message. Yes, I would have been very happy to have had this foot all better YESTERDAY!! Or to have just missed out on a broken foot all together. I experienced a broken foot on the left side. Really didn’t need to do it again!!
Went back to the doctor yesterday and I can begin walking on this boot. So I did that yesterday and some today and it hurts. Yikes. Hopefully, it will get easier and less painful the more I do it.
Thank you again for taking time to visit and to leave me note. XO
Best of luck with your bucket list and goals! You have lots of fun plans. I really hope LIFE doesn’t throw any lemons at you this time.
Thank you, doll!! Me, too. We have been checking things off fast and furiously just in case the bottom falls out again.
We saw Wild Robot last week and really enjoyed it. Your grands will love it.
I too need to do some paint touch ups!
That is quite a list even for someone who is not still recovering from a broken foot! I wish you the best of luck with accomplishing as much as you are able. Love the idea of making the fall round decoration! Had not heard of the movie Here, so looked it up, and I think I would enjoy it. Sounds like an interesting premise, and I do like Tom Hanks.
If I were to make a fall bucket list, it would have two things on it: (1) Get everything packed up and the house and addition cleaned before our move out date, which is now in less than two weeks, and (2) get everything unpacked and put in place before my daughter and her family come for Thanksgiving!
Hope you will check out the Tom Hanks movie, Here. I think it is going to be excellent. No doubt a tear-jerker but memorable. It will be in theaters Halloween weekend.
Bless your heart, I cannot imagine having to pack up everything. I think I will just strike a match when the time comes. I have missed out on where you will be moving. A smaller house with less yard? Or an apartment or condo? Hope you get everything moved over and then can unpack the important things before the kids arrive. Thank you for visiting, my friend.
Hi, Leslie – One can never dream too big! I greatly admire your detailed planning here. Planning is the first (big) step in helping us achieve what we really want. I look forward to following your progress.
Thank you, Donna. Hope there is some bucket list progress to report back!!
Hi Leslie – lots of little goals there that seem quite do-able, even with a broken foot. Sometimes I think life throws a spanner in the works just to remind us to slow down and take things more gently (lighter!)
I can highly recommend re-carpeting. A couple of months ago we had all the bedrooms in our house done after 18 years of gradual wear and tear…..and I love them! We finally have our choice of carpet and it’s fresh and soft underfoot – I smile every time I walk into one of the rooms where it’s been done. It might be a great mood boost for you to have fresh bedroom flooring.
Hope the foot’s continuing to heal well. x
YES, I am going to tell PC that you recarpeted and highly recommend it. Fresh!! I can’t imagine having fresh, clean carpet underfoot. Ours is so matted feeling and flat and not the least bit soft. Like wet dog fur. Only dry. Ha!! Anyway, we need to do that. And paint. I cannot tolerate these grubby baseboards much longer. Thank you for the encouragement.
I think you are right, LIFE certainly slowed me down with this foot. I have done a lot of thinking while I have been laid up, which may or may not be good!! But this has allowed us to ease into PC’s retirement.
I commend you for all these goals and bucket lists! I am just too lazy to do it. I really need to clean out the front closet, but that means I have to move everything out of it first. Which then means I have to move stuff out of the way of where I’d put all that stuff…so, if I give a mouse a cookie…you get the picture!
I’m hoping your foot is mending well. When do you go back to the doctor?
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Oh, the ole If You Give a Mouse a Cookie dilemma. Yup, and if you start with that closet, then won’t you need to do the other closets, too. And then, the cabinets. Of course, you haven’t been in your condo long so I am sure it is in great shape. But I know you have had to rearrange to accommodate Mike’s chair. I think I want to fall spring clean but what I really want is to wave a wand and have everything spic-n-span.
Those are all wonderful goals, and I think a good mix between the household tasks that you want to accomplish and things that are more personal, creative, or fun. Maybe ambitious, but as long as you’re flexible and give yourself grace in meeting the challenges you set for yourself, that can be a good thing. I have so many things I want to do and think I should do, but I often find I have an unrealistic estimation of how much time things will take. haha. Plus I’m a procrastinator, so I’ve learned that I need to focus on just a couple of goals at a time. Oh, by the way, I love that “hay there” painting! Thanks for linking up, and I hope you meet all your goals!
Well done with the list. I haven’t made a long list like this in a while. I would need to put some thoughts into it.
I used to host a bucket list series and would encourage blogging buddies to create a seasonal list and link up with me. But LIFE got crazy and I was nevr sure I would be able to even think about bucket lists and having fun. Life has settled down a bit so I am back. Hope you will create a list, even a little one, that will inspire you to try some new things.
Ahh! I feel the same too, when I have made plans lately they have not worked out.
It sounds like you have some great plans, I hope you get to do everything!
I love those costumes for Halloween and I am fancying seeing Wild Robot too, it looks like such a cute movie.
Your fall bucket list posts are always a fav of mine!
Beauty and the Beast is coming next summer to Chicago and I really want to take the girls. It’s my favorite Disney movie. Love the care package idea! I can’t wait to see your fall round too!
I am so disappointed! Beauty and the Beast sold out almost immediately. I love the story, too. Hope we can find something similar to sub in on the bucket list. Thanks for stopping by!!
I had such lovely plans for October….Ah well. I’m going to try to do a positive focused “I Did It List” by end of the month. November, we have a little jaunt scheduled – 3 nights in NOLA for Tim’s BD and we are going to proceed with it. Of course, the only thing planned is air and hotel; I had visions of booking dinners and 1-2 tours (food tour, ghost tour). I’ll be lucky if we can find enough clothes to pack for a trip – things are still in such disarray. Then Tim’s second knee surgery is planned. Yes, there was a lot of fun things planned in October because 4-6 weeks of recovery was coming. But Mother Nature had a different plan for me. I’m hoping to do an update post this week… it’s been extremely challenging – emotionally as well as physically. Today feeling good to just read and comment on blogs – a sense of normalcy!
Bless your heart for taking a minute to come by to visit. I think of you so very often. Hope you will go to NOLA and take the ghost tour, food tour. You can buy a couple of new things to take for the trip if you can’t find the exact clothes you are looking for among your things. Just getting out of town, a change of scenery will do you kids good. Gosh, I don’t know what to think about Tim having the second knee surgery. It will certain limit him as to what he can help with but in wsome weird way, it may offer a sense of normalcy because it was the plan. Continued thoughts and prayers for you both. Write a post when you have the energy or just a bunch of pictures with captions to illustrate the crazy upside down that is your world. XO