Wednesday, October 12, 2005

Before I Die

Jon asked me a bit ago to list 20 things I want to do before I die. The original two I've blogged about before - riding my bike across the US and serving as a member on the Board of Education in whatever town I'm then living - failed to even cross my mind when I wrote this list a few days ago. Funny how your mind forgets so quickly. I am getting old.

All that to say, I'm writing out this list here so I don't forget what I want to do before I get too old to remember what my heart really wants. So, in no particular order ...

1. Spend a really long weekend at a Bed and Breakfast in Prince Edward Island
2. See the Aurora Borealis
3. Make a quilt
4. Have children (two biological, and however many adopted)*
5. Spend a year writing
6. Host the most wonderful Christmas holiday for my family
7. Go camping with 12 of my closest friends
8. Own a pair of cowboy boots
9. Go to Napa Valley or Sonoma Valley for a snobby wine tasting weekend
10. Get floor seats at a Sacramento Kings or Minnesota Timberwolves game
11. Buy a lot of large and colorful hats
12. Visit the Virgin Islands
13. Be invited to be a speaker at a conference
14. Get a job where I set my own hours
15. Learn to play any kind of bongo/djembe drums
16. Take a shopping spree in Williams-Sonoma or Crate & Barrel
17. Take a spa weekend getaway
18. Change my hair (either get dreads or buy a short, black-haired wig)
19. Know the feeling that I'm with "the one" (and though I don't necessarily believe in this "one" idea, I mean more that confident feeling of being with someone with whom you are better together than alone, someone who compliments you, someone who's gonna walk with you the whole way)
20. Celebrate my 30th birthday with a huge weekend bash

I did say that I "wanted to do something that really matters," but Jon told me that was too vague. Whatever. I'm adding it here. All I'm saying is that I'm open, ready and willing to do it. And yes, yes, yes, I know that there are opportunities everyday for this sort of thing. But please, just understand me for the sake of the lack of real-time intimate conversation here.

Anyhow, I figure if I have an average life expectancy of 77.4 years (for women born in the US in 1980), then I've got approximately 19,411 days left to accomplish those 20 things.

Geez, written out like that makes me feel a little pressure. Shoot, I gotta start searching for plane tickets and cowboy boots STAT.

*Blog on the pros of adoption to follow ...

3 Comments:

At 6:10 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

i saw that we see the Kings vs. the Wolves on the floor together. oh, bliss. love you so much, mary. thanks for listening this morning. your friendship is more meaningful than you can imagine.
shelly

 
At 8:33 AM, Blogger Laura said...

Great ideas Mary - I love the idea of going camping with 12 close friends - you should plan that, and consider inviting me. =)

 
At 9:46 AM, Blogger Mary said...

laura, you're in :)

so, my friend lara emailed me her list of 20 things she wanted to do before she died, and it was too good not to post. so after asking permission, i'm commenting on her behalf here. she's got some good ones ...

" ...I've been thinking about this for the past few hours, since I read your blog. Here's what I've decided, in no particular order. It should also be noted that 20 is a fraction of the things that I hope to do/see/accomplish in my lifetime. I'm simply singling out 20 to get them down. They say you'll never accomplish the goals you don't set.

1. See a show on Broadway
2. Get a great job (the job must contain at LEAST one of the following
characteristics: something that I enjoy doing, something that I am good at doing to the point that I can teach others how to do their job more effectively, a job where I can make a difference in at least one person's life (either through direct contact or indirectly through a society benefiting discovery or societal change that was catalyzed by something that I did), or a job that pays really well so that I can
focus my resources on things that are important in life (this really
good paying job would have to be a straight 40 hour a week career or it would interfere with the very point of it...if I didn't have the time to enjoy the money, there is no point in having it;)
3. Buy my mother the following three items that she has never had: a dependable car, a diamond ring and a dishwasher.
4. Join the church choir (nope, I still can't carry a tune in a bucket, but I've always wanted to do it anyway).
5. Ride a train
6. Catch a fish that is large enough to mount (to be hung in the
basement...NOT the living room)
7. Experience the joys (and pains) of pregnancy
8. Go to Dollywood
9. Live on the water or on a farm
10. Make an apple pie from scratch
11. Get laser eye surgery
12. Go downhill skiing
13. See Colonial Williamsburg
14. Join some sort of league (leaning towards bowling today)
15. See the Grand Canyon
16. Have a dinner party on fine china
17. Go snorkeling
18. Live somewhere other than Wisconsin (it's true...I've never left for more than a summer)
19. See EVERYTHING that the Smithsonian has to offer
20. Go to horse races wearing a big hat

OKAY."

Thanks for sending that, Lara :)

 

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