Alyssa posted a great list last week about 100 things she wanted to accomplish. I found it fascinating, and immediately wanted to dive in and make my own list.
After listing about 20 things, I came to a screeching halt. Honestly, this turned out to be a very difficult task for me. I’ve realized that I live life very much in the present, and maybe to a fault. I have some general directions I’d like to move in, but not many specific things on my lifelong to-do list. I haven’t decided if this is a good thing about myself or not.
Nearly a week later, I finally finished my list.
1. Learn to play guitar
2. Perform stand-up comedy
3. Have a newspaper column
4. Maintain a garden
5. Drive up the western coast (most of it)
6. Drive up the eastern coast (most of it)
7. Get over my issues
8. Have toned abs
9. Cure my toenail fungus
10. Write a book
11. Or two
12. Or seven
13. Get really adept at handling chopsticks
14. Reduce my strain on the planet
15. See my husband have the confidence in himself that I have in him
16. Watch my children live happy, well-adjusted childhoods
17. Watch my children have happy, meaningful adulthoods
18. Watch my children find true love
19. Donate to NPR
20. Hear my dad tell me that he’s sold his business and can retire from it
21. Take my kids to Lake Powell (can’t believe this has never happened)
22. Be a force for good
23. Inspire people to pick up a pen and write
24. Become a phenomenal cook
25. Live in a place I never want to leave
26. Become involved in a charity I truly care about
27. Visit Europe
28. Visit Europe again
29. Watch my husband have a long and fulfilling career
30. Bake some amazing dinner rolls
31. Hell, bake some acceptable dinner rolls
32. Prepare an entire Thanksgiving dinner
33. Take a vacation with my siblings
34. Snow ski regularly
35. Try snowboarding
36. Have a grandmotherly housekeeper who cleans my house and gives me sage advice
37. Throw out most of the stuff in my basement
38. Be more healthy
39. Get over my issues before my kids are in high school
40. Get my eyebrows waxed regularly
41. Send fabulous, generous, unexpected “just because” gifts to friends and family
42. Sorta thinking about a nose job
43. Learn another language
44. Actually, let’s change that last one to “Have enough money to travel with an interpreter”
45. Attend a taping of The Late Show with David Letterman
46. Attend a taping of Live with Regis & Kelly Lee
47. Live to see Britney Spears regain control of her life. (Don’t know why, but this gets to me.)
48. Live to see cancer cured
49. Live to see diabetes cured
50. Live to see AIDS cured
51. Visit Europe again
52. Learn to drive a stick shift
53. Write and mail lots and lots of thank you cards
54. Give my kids all the right tools they need to navigate life
55. Play tennis
56. Meet Larry King
57. Find an effective exercise regime I stick to and enjoy
58. Make a yearly pilgrimage to New York City
59. Give up stupid fears, like the one about being buried under earthquake rubble
60. Move away from earthquake fault line
61. Visit Hawaii
62. Find a perfect, perennial Halloween costume
63. Become more energy efficient
64. Have a food storage that is less hodge-podge and gets rotated
65. Find a way to enjoy putting laundry away
66. Have the time to read a book a week
67. Did I mention a flat, toned stomach already? I did.
68. Be a better friend
69. Be a better wife
70. Discover a way to survive on less sleep (besides meth)
71. Have a fabulous patio for outdoor party hosting
72. Have a fabulous front door
73. Find a way to feel better about semi-colons
74. Have lasik surgery
75. Spend ample time during the fall months in New England
76. Play the role of Red Riding Hood in Into the Woods (I already know all of the lines)
77. Take phenomenal care of my skin
78. Have a treehouse
79. Be more playful with my kids
80. Learn to be more patient with projects and do the little details right
81. Clean out the basement
82. Be self-aware
83. Know my issues
84. Deal with my issues
85. Take more pictures
86. Visit London
87. Spend enough time in London to have a Madonna-British accent
88. Wear a giant, flouncy, flowery, feathery hat to a formal occasion, perhaps in London
89. Have impeccable dental hygiene (and by that I mean regular flossing)
90. Read more books to Max
91. Pay for dinner for a large group
92. Master the art of a balanced Christmas
93. Stop thinking about helping people and start actually helping people
94. Get excited about cooking
95. Take many long walks with Ryan
96. Learn how to use lip liner
97. Never feel the need to write another one of these lists
98. Learn to quilt
99. Pay cash for a really nice car
100. Finish this list
Alright, I know I repeated myself a few times, particularly when it comes to cleaning my basement and knowing and dealing with my issues. Obviously, I’m thinking about this a lot right now. I used to think the best gift you could give your child is a normal childhood, but I have decided that the best thing you can give your child is your own good mental health (which will, in turn, give them a normal childhood). And a clean basement. Let’s not underestimate the benefits of a clean, unfinished basement.
That’s enough psycho-babble for now. What’s on your list?
