Oh, how I love a New Year. The blankness, the opportunity, the challenge. It touches the artist, the creator, the competitor in me. Three hundred sixty five unwritten days, shivers run up my spine just thinking about it. I have been a maker and lover of lists since I could put pen to paper, and have spent many a happy moment writing, rewriting, revising, spell-checking my lists. The optimal pen, the optimal paper, the carefully chosen tea to accompany the writing of the list. Although I used to make damn sure I had my list done by the stroke of midnight on January 1st of the new year, as you can see I have relaxed, and those monthly meetings of The Recovering Perfectionists Club have really helped. Here it is, 5:04 pm on January 2nd, and my list remains unwritten. (And I am reminded, I owe myself a newsletter).
As I write tonight, the Rosemary-Garlic Meatballs are baking for dinner, and my Smoked Salmon with Chive Cream Cheese and Cucumber wrap for tomorrow's lunch is made. Fruit is chopped, meals are planned, trousers are ironed, house has had it's weekly cleaning, my 2012 Entertainment Guide is registered, Saturday night is planned, and paper work is caught up. A glass of Columbia Crest Cabernet, Ponchielli's Dance of the Hours plays energetically, a great match for my mood tonight. Tonight, a working draft of The 2012 Bucket List. How to spend this year?
Let's brainstorm. Let's put it out there, and clean it up later. A work-in-progress, as all good Bucket Lists should be. This year, I would like to:
1. Take a hot air balloon ride.
2. Visit a respectable number of Washington State wineries, deepening my relationship with the Cabernet grape. Truly. My love knows no bounds on this one.
3. Order (and joyfully use!) my very own season ticket to the Pacific Northwest Ballet.
4. Take beginner series of adult ice skating lessons.
5. Run a 5K in six months, a 10-12K in 12 months, a half-marathon in 18 mos. Less if I progress sooner.
6. Visit my mother for regular dates to the theater, a love we share.
7. Call my friends and family on Sunday afternoons.
8. Set up Skype Book Club.
9. Complete Vestibular and Balance PT specialty certification over the next 24 months.
10. Re-establish myself at new fencing club, Salle Auriol. Follow-up with old coach John and new coach Yves.
11. Follow-up with flying instructor, establish goals and examine budget.
12. Use "I" statements in all of my relationships.
13. Attempt to sit still for 5 minutes per day for meditation and breathing. See where this goes, write about it. Work up to 10 minutes. Use running as a reward to get myself to sit still for this.
This seems a good place to stop, because a) my Rosemary Garlic Meatballs are done, b) 13 is my favorite number, and c) this will be dull as dirt reading to anyone besides myself.
What is on YOUR bucket list, Dear Reader?
So glad you asked! I enjoyed reading yours, maybe you'll find this one entertaining:
ReplyDelete1. Finish Asimov's Life and Energy (with the goal of filling in all the blanks in my understanding of biochemistry and the nature of life.)
2. Read War and Peace. It came highly recommended by two avid readers both of whose opinion I respect.
3. Perform lead guitar on Robert Johnson's "Dust My Broom" on stage. In public. With everyone looking at me and everything. (O.O)
4. Take my brother to the Big Island for his 50th. Special side-trip to Mauna Kea Observatory.
5. Take the next step in my career (hopefully with my current employer.)
6. Catch a really big trout. Hike a decent-sized mountain.
That's it for now. :)