56 Things To Do Before I Die

So I have been trying to think of something clever to post about for the last couple of days, and I am drawing a blank. I have crickets in my head. Which is unfortunate, you know, to have crickets in your head. Plus, it is 6:15 a.m. for hell's sake, and I am already on a bloody conference call. Grr.

But YAY! There's always blogging. I like to refer to this as "multi-tasking" when I get busted and someone on the call asks me a question, and um, I haven't been paying attention. "Sorry - I was multi-tasking." Ahem. Kind of like when you have spent the whole meeting on IM behind the scenes, and it makes you wonder - who the hell is listening to this call if everyone is available to IM? Digress, digress, digress. Get to the point, will ya?

Why yes, yes I will. In an effort to come up with something creative, I decided to put together a list of things I want to do before I die. And originally, it was supposed to be 100 things, because, you know - most people shoot for the stars and pull together these uber fantastic lists with lofty goals, and, um, but. But I, in characteristic fashion, well I drew a blank. And as such, started adding things I have already accomplished (because hey! It's my list and I'll cry if I want to). In the end, I came up with 56 things that "I want to accomplish" or already have "accomplished". And maybe if I have a future bout of inspiration, I will finish it.

The Official List of

Things I Want To Do Before I Die*

1. Graduate from College
2. Go to Macchu Pichu in Peru
3. Learn to bite my tongue when the occasion calls for it.
4. Become a fantastic skier
5. Visit Easter Island and look at those funny statue guys.
6. Have children.
7. Drive a real gondola in Venice.
8. See the pyramids in Egypt.
9. See the “Valley of the Kings” in Egypt.
10. Figure out a way to retire by the time I am 40.
11. Take a sabbatical and then travel for a significant period of time. Or get a sugar daddy and do it anyway.
12. Visit the Louvre in Paris and decide if Mary Magdalene is buried under the glass pyramid. And see the Mona Lisa.
13. Write a children’s book (maybe?)
14. Elope somewhere exotic.
15. Become debt free. (hahahahahahahahaha!)
16. Learn to live on less.
17. Reduce my carbon footprint.
18. Drive across the country at leisure (instead of just crammed in a car full of girls with bad gas).
19. Visit all 50 states.
20. Own a pistol and a rifle and be able to safely understand them and use them with care.
21. Develop the ability to run. Perhaps even a marathon.
22. Become a florist and design uber-fantastic arrangements.
23. Learn to be ok with my body.
24. Get liposuction (if necessary), in order to accommodate #23. Hee!
25. Do that cliché fantasy thing with a cabin and a hot tub and the snow.
26. Fall in love again.
27. Participate in a political campaign of some kind.
28. Always remember the “little guy” (also known as – don’t turn into a Republican weenie as I grow older).
29. Learn how to properly care for horses.
30. Own a horse of my own someday.
31. Buy 100 pairs of shoes in various sizes and figure out how to get them through Kenyan customs; distribute to the kids in the Ngomongo Slum.
32. Learn how to speak fluent Spanish.
33. Learn to happily balance work and life.
34. Forgive my ex-husband for being a douche-bag.
35. Lose xx pounds and keep it off. (I’ll just keep that tidbit of intel to myself).
36. Sail on a sailboat in the ocean.
37. Go to Coney Island and see what it’s all about.
38. Become more loyal – or at least learn to actually keep a secret.
39. Learn to be an emotionally balanced partner.
40. Learn how to code software. Doesn’t matter what language or platform.
41. Learn how to say “no”.
42. Be brave enough to really try skydiving.
43. Visit the town in Norway that bears my family name.
44. Take a photography class and hone my skills, including film and digital training.
45. Meet someone famous.
46. Climb Mt. Kilimanjaro. Maybe twice. Heh.
47. Become a better cook.
48. Become a kick ass baker.
49. Visit a “Dude Ranch” a la “City Slickers”
50. Get over my “big hair” addiction and actually live with hair that is closer to my head.
51. Ride a camel.
52. Do an Alaskan Cruise with my family.
53. Walk across the Brooklyn Bridge and take awesome black and white photos of it.
54. Camp on the Masai Mara with some Masai warriors.
55. Go on Safari on the Masai Mara.
56. Drink a really, really expensive glass of wine to see if it’s all it’s cracked up to be.

The End.

So. I'd hate to be accused of always handing out the homework...but, it sure would be fun to see what y'all come up with!

* Perhaps this list was unconsciously inspired by the Alanis Morrisette song "21 Things I Want in a Lover". 21 things? WTH? See, I am not the only one that couldn't come up with a nice round number.