My Ultimate Bucket List

I wrote a bucket list as one of my first blog posts a few months ago but it was nowhere near 100 things!  As one of her writing prompts this week, Mama Kat presented the challenge of writing a list of 100 things you want to accomplish before turning 100.  So here goes....though I can't promise I'm going to be able to think of 100 things but I will do my best.

1. Visit Paris.
2. See a Broadway play.
3. Own a convertible, preferably an old classic Mustang. Red, please.  
4. Learn to paint, as in art...not walls!  Lord knows, I've been doing plenty of that!
5. Visit Scotland.  I never thought a lot about Scotland before reading Diana Gabaldon's Outlander books.  I'm currently on the next to last book in the series and am now all about a kilt. ;)

6. Learn to play piano...I've been saying I'm gonna do this for years. I can already read music and I have long fingers so I feel I must do this!
7. Visit Alaska, in the summer!
8. Write a book that a few people might actually like to read.
9. Go to the opera.
10. Ride in a hot air balloon.
11. Visit Italy.

12. Drive that convertible out west.

13. Ride a horse on the beach.
14. Go out on a sailboat.
15. Visit Greece.
16. See Jimmy Buffet up close in concert.
17. Visit Ireland.
18. Learn ballroom dancing.
19. Visit Tahiti.
20. Adopt more dachsies
21. Visit Australia.
22. Visit England.
23. Visit Canada and all the US states I haven't been to.
24. Visit Germany and well, pretty much all the European countries I've yet to visit which includes all of them except Spain!
25. Go parasailing somewhere beautiful.
26. This may sound cheesy but I'd love to discover and pursue my "true calling"...I'm still listening and waiting patiently.
27. Do something creative with the boys' baby shoes.  I thought of having them bronzed but now I'm not so sure that's the route I want to take with them.  Any ideas?
28. Go on a trip with all my best girlfriends because I think it's very important for a woman/wife/mother to maintain healthy friendships with other women.  {hint, hint, wink, wink...no pressure!}
29. Trace my family tree on all sides.
30. Have some jeans custom made for me cause I have a very hard time finding any to fit me right off the rack.
31. Take a creative writing class.
32. Go on a mission trip.
33. Learn to be a little less reserved and live in the moment more. 
34. Take the kids to the Grand Canyon and spend more time there than I did on the quick helicopter ride from Vegas a few years ago.

35. Stop worrying so much.  I've always been a closet worrier.
36. Keep reaching out to others who are grieving and sharing my story of how I overcame grief in hopes that eventually one of them will allow me to help and comfort them. 
37. Smile more, just because.
38. Start keeping a journal of my dreams because trust me, I have some interesting, and often bizarre, dreams. 
39. Go on another cruise or 2 or 4 or 66. :)
40. Get the boys through to adulthood in one piece and hopefully, with high school diplomas and college degrees.
41. Be a cool, hip grandma someday who tells her grandchildren lots of interesting and intriguing stories about the good ol' days.
42. Become a better gardener.  I can keep just about any kind of animal alive for a lengthy period of time but a green thumb I lack.
43. Attempt to cook a whole turkey at Thanksgiving because up until now I've only cooked a turkey breast.

44. Have my eyes fixed (lasik) because I've worn glasses or contacts since I was in middle school.  I must get up my nerve first though because I find the whole idea of someone sticking a needle in my eye  a little intimidating and frightening.
45. Have a clawfoot tub in my house.
46. Own a Roomba, hopefully before I'm 40 though.  I'd hate to have to wait until I'm 100!
47.  Spend the night in a very old castle, with modern amenities of course.
48. Go on a camping trip with the family so that the boys can see that mama knows how to "rough it" cause they think I'm such a girl.
49. Have a fun makeover.
50. Wear red hats and join that little ladies' red hat society when I get old(er).  They really seem to have a lot of fun.
51.  Go on a vacation with no itinerary or agenda....just get in the car and go wherever the road leads us. 
52. Spend a week or two on the water in the houseboat that Charlie says he's gonna build.
53. Overcome my fear of public speaking, or just make darn sure I don't ever have to do it!
54. Overcome my fear of spiders.  Because, really, it's at an unhealthy level.
55. See a white Christmas.
56. Learn how to make authentic key lime pie.
57. See a sunset that takes my breath away.  
58. Have our entire extended family over for a party.
59. Have ALL of our dear friends over.
60. Take the boys to a major league baseball game.
61. Do something with all those old photos I have in boxes. A scrapbooker, I am not. 
62. Take another family trip to Disney World but NOT during the hottest and busiest time of the year and when Space Mountain is NOT closed for renovations.
63. See a volcano.
64. See a space shuttle launch.
65. Re-read all those classics I had to read in school but have really forgotten most of the content.
66. Write more poetry about things other than grief.
67. Have an eyebrow artist shape my brows because I just have to know exactly what an eyebrow artist does and see why they get paid so much.
68. Take another bible study class.
69.  Have one of those little minature shetland ponies for a pet because I have always thought those things are so darn cute.  Charlie says I'd have it in the bed but I wouldn't....I'd have it in its own little bed beside the bed!  j/k...maybe.
70. Visit other parts of Africa.  Tanger, Morocco was kinda scary.
71. Visit Costa Rica.
72. Take the boys to my hometown, Rome, GA.
73. Have my fortune told or palm read by some gypsy woman, just for fun.
74. Plant a magnolia tree.
75. Make sure I never get sucked or conned in to buying a minivan.  I'm NOT a minivan mom.
76. Have a professional massage and actually relax completely in the process....they always have to remind me over and over to relax and tell me how tight my neck and shoulders are. 
77. Find a piece of artwork that I just can't live without, and that is actually a price I'd be able and willing to pay.
78. Try not to be so hard to impress.
79. Give help to those who need it, anonymously.
80. Challenge myself to step outside of my comfort zone more often.
81. Volunteer at the humane society.
82. Learn to say what I really feel more often.
83. Drink little umbrella rum drinks out of coconuts on a beautiful remote island.
84. Go back to Spain.
85. Go back to the British Virgin Islands.
86. Swim with dolphins again.
87. Go back to NYC when I have more time to spend there.
88. Maybe have a boob lift. Not that they're that bad but after two kids and breastfeeding, the girls just aren't standing up like they used to. I've not made up my mind on this yet...will keep you posted.
89. Stop trying to convince myself that deep inside I really love running because I'm 39 now and I am still not feeling the love. I'd still choose zumba over it any day of the week.
90. Win something good.
91. Visit a vineyard in a beautiful wine country.
92. Go whitewater rafting in the NC mountains.
93. Send a message in a bottle off into the ocean with a return address inside to see if I get anything back.
94. Finish stripping and staining that old table I got from my mom that belonged to her mom hopefully, before I'm 40 next year. 
95. Drive a really fast car on the autobon.
96. Take the boys to a drive-in movie which I think we're going to do this month, finally.
97. Say yes more when I'm tempted to say no.
98. Say no more when I'm tempted to say yes.
99. Get all dressed up just because I feel like it.
100. Laugh a little every day.

And there ya have it....my ultimate bucket list!




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