101 Things I'd Like To Do Before I Die
We all have these things we want to do--often dream of doing. But do we ever document them and then check them off? Well, this is my attempt at documenting all the lovely things I would like to do in my life--one by one (as of today). And next time, let's hope I can check a few items off. (And yes, considering the latest death in the family, it is really important to look back on your life and know you had a little fun along the way. Life is too short.).
Curing Cancer and finding the meaning of life are off the list for a reason folks--I am listing reasonable things that I *really* can do while I am alive. And even having dinner with celebrities is possible with my current life-experiences (whereas curing cancer with my little knowledge of scientific matters would be a miracle).
If you find you'd like to try some similar sort of list on your blog--feel free (hell there are websites dedicated to this very topic!). If you also want to link back to me-- that's cool too. And leave a comment here, I am totally into eave dropping in on other people's lives. But know this, this idea is free to anyone that is dying to make their own list and begin in the fun! One pointer though, this is harder than it looks!
- Publish novels (fiction). Yes. More than one. Many is preferred.
- Ride in a hot air balloon
- Travel to Finland (yep, that's my heritage)
- Have dinner with a celebrity (or three). Hell, I need something to write about.
- Quit my day job and be able to make enough money writing fiction to live on
- Make a quilt (boxes of material and squares here, just never enough time)
- Live in a loft of a restored brick building (hopefully I restored it too!)
- Find time to have a true vacation every year
- Get professional photographs taken
- Help build a home with Habitat for Humanity
- Go to a nude beach--and yep, shed all those clothes (husband better be with me for this!)
- Feel good about how I look/finally lose all those extra pounds for good/learn to eat healthy (hell, I'll need to do this to be able to shed the clothes at the nude beach!)
- Travel to Spain to see my second sister- Begona! Finally, after years of talking about it, I need to get there.
- Build the modern cabin we've dreamed about on a little lake lot in the central Upper Peninsula or Northern Wisconsin for those quick summer vacations
- Learn to speak fluent French and Spanish (you'd think 6 years of French would boost my confidence).
- Create a creative writing program for high school students, particularly students in my Alma mater. I want to show that writing fiction, poetry, memoir, etc can be profitable both emotionally and financially. It just takes work. And confidence in your work.
- Finish my Masters degree and PhD. And this could be an MFA in Creative Writing. It is what I had always wanted.
- Act in a play again. Just one more lead role.
- Write and possibly publish my non-fiction book idea
- Skydive (scares me to death, but hell, it would be fun!)
- Get a massage. Never had one yet. But I hear they are worth every penny.
- Spend one whole day every year doing exactly what I want. Even if that means lying in bed reading a novel all day.
- Visit New York City and the Statue of Liberty
- Run a marathon
- Visit an Egyptian Pyramid. Or a real castle.
- Be regularly invited to attend the Sundance Film Festival. Movies. What fun.
- Learn to surf
- Visit Hawaii
- Live abroad for a year. I'm all for the U.K. I'm infatuated with the place anyway.
- Be on Oprah. For something good please. I can't handle any more drama in my life.
- Get a professional make-over
- See all the oceans of the world in person
- Visit China
- Invent something
- Write a television show
- Start a business
- Practice Yoga regularly
- Learn to play the piano
- Win a contest
- Meet Nicole and her family in person
- Climb a mountain
- Learn to downhill ski
- Find work and life balance
- Stay a night in a 5-star hotel penthouse suite
- Fly first-class
- Attend a movie premiere and walk the red carpet
- Learn a martial art
- Be in a movie or sitcom (and extra is acceptable)
- Fly in a helicopter
- Design some clothing for the slightly overweight (that look good!)
- Create a scholarship fund for high school students wanting to go to college for something to do with the arts
- Teach writing
- Be asked to participate in speaking engagements regularly
- Have my own radio show
- Be able to afford to hire an interior designer to decorate my house (and finish my basement)
- Learn to oil paint
- Provide financially for my children to complete college without loans
- Visit Africa
- Learn how to knit a sweater (or knit at all)
- Get a psychic reading
- Purchase a car without thinking about the price
- Dance in the rain
- Create and publish a magazine
- Get interviewed by a major news paper or magazine
- Own an island
- Learn to apply my make-up correctly and professionally
- Create a perfume all my own
- Reconcile with Jamie
- Fly in a private jet
- Be able to afford a house-keeper.
- Learn how to use a pottery wheel
- Own a bookstore/coffee shop
- Get rid of all my debt (doesn't everyone?)
- Learn to write Thank You notes in a timely manner
- Sing a solo
- Learn not to volunteer for things I really don't want to do
- Give someone their dream--anonymously. But be there to witness when they get it.
- Learn Japanese
- Visit Ireland
- Wear (and look good) in a bikini again
- Find out if that high school crush was really reciprocal, or if I imagined it.
- Get a bikini wax (I'm too chicken for this one right now)
- Go water-skiing
- Scuba-dive
- Thank Ms. Lakinnen and Nancy Grimm for pushing me just that little bit further.
- Buy something at Tiffany's
- Be recognized for an accomplishment
- Surprise my husband with something really big--to do what he loves without worrying about providing.
- Stay at a bed and breakfast in Paris and in the French countryside
- Visit all 50 states
- Go on a cruise
- Own a winery
- Make time for quality family time every week
- Buy my parents a new car
- Learn how to make my grandmother's homemade bread
- Own a salt water fish tank
- Watch my kids have kids (and graduate from college and all that grown up stuff)
- Find a four leaf clover
- Tour an underground cave to see the stalactites, stalagmites, natural springs... all that stuff.
- Write to each friend and family member that has meant something special in my life. Tell them how much they mean to you and then send those letters to them. EVERY year.
- Write a love story for my husband
Curing Cancer and finding the meaning of life are off the list for a reason folks--I am listing reasonable things that I *really* can do while I am alive. And even having dinner with celebrities is possible with my current life-experiences (whereas curing cancer with my little knowledge of scientific matters would be a miracle).
If you find you'd like to try some similar sort of list on your blog--feel free (hell there are websites dedicated to this very topic!). If you also want to link back to me-- that's cool too. And leave a comment here, I am totally into eave dropping in on other people's lives. But know this, this idea is free to anyone that is dying to make their own list and begin in the fun! One pointer though, this is harder than it looks!
Labels: 101 Things
