A year of more than 60 fun, new experiences.

A year ago I embarked on a quest to experience 60 new things in honor of it being my 60th year on this planet.

Sept. 25 is my 60th birthday.

I easily surpassed the 60 new endeavors. As I anticipated a year ago some are more “newsworthy” than others. And by newsworthy I mean either worthy of sharing with you and/or had some special meaning for me.

Some of them you have already had the chance to read about—like my first new experience a year ago being grape stomping with Sue. It’s how I spent last year’s birthday money from mom.

While eating out isn’t something I do often, more like when I travel, I stopped counting the restaurants. I also stopped counting new wineries and breweries. Same goes for new hiking trails. Even new foods and recipes tried didn’t all get recorded. Still, all those activities added to the surplus of 60, and all definitely contributed to a fun last year—especially because most involved an array of friends.

I had no idea when I saw Maybe Happy Ending on Broadway in April I was seeing this year’s Emmy winning best musical. That’s pretty cool.

Also pretty cool was seeing my nephew, Oliver, sing at Carnegie Hall.

More museums were visited this year than normal. A lot had to do with making two trips to Washington, D.C. Learning about history, I hope, will always be part of each year’s highlights. The Museum of African American History was visited both times.

The first trip to D.C. took me to the People’s March—so powerful, and even more memorable to share the experience with Stephanie, who I had not seen in 19 years.

Experiences are what I enjoy most, so my inaugural jaunt to the Indian Wells tennis tournament in March with mom, Darla, Sally, Sophie and Janet is a definite highlight of the year.

I never thought in my lifetime I would ride in a driverless car. I hope they become the norm.

One thing I hope isn’t a one and done is the opportunity for vote for a woman of color to be president of the United States.

In the end, what I discovered is I do more new things in a year than I had thought. Paying attention to them, though, made me appreciate them a bit more—to not take them or the opportunity for granted.

Maybe that’s just me being a little wiser as I become a littler older.