Welcoming a new year is like opening a journal to a blank page. It’s fresh and crisp and waiting for your pen to write all over it. Over the past few weeks, I’ve been giving thought to what I want 2025 to hold for me. I took a look at the WOW! List I’d written a few years ago to see what still needed to be crossed off. And based on all the shenanigans of the past year, I created a brand new WOW! List for 2025. 

The thing about participating in shenanigans is that it gives you courage to do even more shenanigans. Crazy stuff you hadn’t even thought of a few years ago.

Here are 12 WOW! Moments I’m planning:

Learn to play “Moon River” on the ukulele. My favorite movie is “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” (more on that in a future blog post), and I love the scene when Audrey Hepburn (aka Holly Golightly) is on her fire escape playing “Moon River” on a small guitar. I don’t have a small guitar … but I do have a ukulele, my Huckleberry friend!

Learn to play “Highway to Hell” on the ukulele. Telling the truth can be dangerous business. Honest and popular don’t go hand in hand. If you admit that you can play the accordion ukulele, no one’ll hire you in a rock ‘n roll band (IYKYK). Ukulele isn’t exactly a badass instrument. And while playing “Moon River” would be amazing, I also want to get down with my bad self. I was on a walk, listening to a ‘70s Spotify channel and this AC/DC classic came on. I wondered, what if Angus had had a ukulele instead of an electric guitar? So, I found a YouTube tutorial … and I’m goin’ down. 

See Rascal Flatts in concert. More music. Yay!! My kids got us all tickets to Rascal Flatts’ “Life is a Highway” tour for Christmas, and I bought matching shirts (‘cuz nothing embarrasses your adult sons more than wearing matching shirts with their mom in public.) “Life is a Highway” became my anthem during David’s cancer treatment. The lyrics say, “There’s no load I can’t hold. Roads so rough, this I know. I’ll be there when the light comes in. Just tell ’em we’re survivors.” I’m excited to see them perform live. And if you happen to read this, Gary LeVox, I will see you soon!

Read a book a week(ish). I love to read, but sometimes it’s easier to turn on Judge Judy instead. Even if I’ve already seen nearly every episode. More than once. However, that stack of books on my nightstand isn’t going to read itself, so I decided to start actually opening them. First up: Clover Girls by Viola Shipman (aka Wade Rouse). It’s SO good. 

Eat a hot pretzel. I’m headed to New York City for a conference later this year. I’ve been to Manhattan at least a half a dozen times, and I realized that I’ve never bought any food from a street vendor. How is that possible? I’m not brave enough to have a hotdog. Unless it’s straight from the Weinermobile. (Did you know that they’re looking for a driver? You can bet I’m on that.) I’m researching other things to do while I’m in NYC, so expect this trip to deliver more than just a snack. 

Spend a month in Paris. OMG, right??!! (In journalism, this is called burying the lede.) But it’s happening! When I visited Paris for my birthday last year, I left knowing I’d go back. There is so much to do and see, and I had a tight schedule. I decided to go for an entire month. I’m learning to speak enough French to make me dangerous. My goal is to be a regular at a café near my Airbnb. 

Walk in the footsteps of a badass veuve. Madame Barbe-Nicole Clicquot Ponsardin was badass. Plain and simple. When her husband died and left his winery to her, the community expected her to sign the property over to his father. Foolish men. She refused, insisting she was the only one who could run the business properly. “Veuve” means “widow” in French. I want to take a day trip to Veuve Clicquot to soak up the spirit of Barbe-Nicole. And a little of her bubbly.

Get my passport stamped in Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch. Yes, this is a real place. It’s in Wales. Its original name was Pwllgwyngyll, which means “gloomy raging pool.” Apparently, Pwllgwyngyll was too easy to say. Plus, the meaning might dissuade spring breakers from spending their pounds sterling there. So, the village folk changed it in 1869, making it the longest name of any railway station in Britain. Translated it means “St. Mary’s Church in the hollow of white hazel near a rapid whirlpool and the Church of St. Tysilio near the red cave.” Got it! Turns out, a local tailor came up with that very location-specific word. I’m imagining that he yelled it one day when he stuck himself with a needle, and someone wrote it down. (Side note: My aunt traced our family genealogy and discovered we’re part Welch. Do you think one of my ancestors is that tailor? ‘Cuz I do.)

Learn to say Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch. This could be the hardest thing on this list. I mean, it’s 58 letters. I have a hard time saying “Worcestershire sauce” or “Adirondack chair.” My sister can’t say “hemisphere” (ask her, it’s hilarious.) I’m not optimistic about landing this, but I’ll try. If all else fails, I’ll just say, “La-Polly-Wolly-Doodle-All-Day-a-go-go” really fast in a feisty Shirley Temple voice.

See the Banff Merman. The next family trip we’re taking is to Banff. (Is it just me, or does “Banff” sound like the noise you would make if you ran into a wall?) This is in the early planning stages, but I want to see the merman statue, try the alligator fondue at the Grizzly House Restaurant (this place has a spicy history that has nothing to do with gators), and hike the cave trail. And try not to run into walls.

Hold hands with an otter. You know I love otters. Well, the Georgia Aquarium offers a full-blown otter experience. You can play with them. Hold them. Train them. Swim with them. Socialize with them. If they had long hair, I’m sure they would let me braid it. I can’t imagine anything more fun. I’m 100% in!! I imagine that I’ll hit it off immediately with at least one otter. I mean, their picture is tattooed on my ankle. If that doesn’t demonstrate my commitment to our relationship, I don’t know what would. I plan to bring a big purse and see if I can sneak one home with me.

Go on a long train ride. I love trains. My favorite book as a child was The Little Engine that Could. There’s a train track near my house, and I love hearing the whistle as it goes by. I usually yell out, “Hi!” I used to take the train from Detroit to Chicago, but I’d love to take an overnight train ride. It reminds me of the Hitchcock classic “North by Northwest.” Taking a long train ride was on my original WOW! List, and recently I found a few routes that go cross country. I plan to book a trip later this year. 

Whew! This is a good start, right? I expect this list to be fluid. What about you? Do you have any big WOWs planned? Let’s be 100% alive in 2025!