My Bucket List

My bucket list. Hmmm...I've thought about it quite a bit through the years. I just never put a name to it. I never put a name to the things I want to do before I die, "before I kick the bucket" -- my bucket list. I saw the movie, "The Bucket List" with Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman the Friday it opened. It is a great movie and got me to thinking. Instead of thinking of the things I want to do, why not write them down and cross them off my list as I accomplish them? Now, don't get me wrong. I'm not planning on kicking any buckets anytime soon. Nope, not me. I've got too much to do. But it never hurts to have a list. And believe me, the older I get, the more I depend on lists. I live by lists! So here's another list to add to my already too-deep stack of lists. I think I'll keep this one handy.

I've never been one to travel much...not that I don't want to. I would LOVE to be able to travel. I've just never had the means or the time. But you know what? "Time keeps on ticking, ticking, ticking into the future" and I can't get it back. Once it's gone, it's gone. I'm almost 50, so if I'm going to get any travelling done, I need to get started! A lot of my bucket list involves travel. That's what I really want to do, but if I'm not able to literally and physically go, that's okay. I can still read about these places and watch videos of them. I love doing that, anyway, and it's a lot cheaper than actually going! Okay...so here I go with My Bucket List. I may add to it occasionally as time goes by, so check back often for any updates.

1. I've always wanted to go to Italy with Becky. One of these days we're going to make it there. We'll visit the cathedrals, travel the countryside, eat the good food and definitely sample the gelatto!
2. Switzerland. I've wanted to go there since I was a little girl and my parents went. Their pictures and the stories they told planted it in my heart to go. I've had other family members go there and they all make it sound absolutely wonderful and dazzlingly beautiful. I want to visit the tiny villages that hang off the sides of the mountains. And I want to experience "Jungfraujoch" in Bernese Oberland, Switzerland. It is advertised as having "staggering views from the world's highest railroad at 11,400 ft." It is a railroad trip through Switzerland. Want to go with me?!
3. I want to visit the "Bussaco Forest" in Coimba Beiras, Portugal and stay at the Palace Hotel do Bussaco. It's not really a forest, but an enormous walled arboretum carefully tended to by monks for centuries. The king had a summer palace built there in the 17th century, which is now a Hotel.
4. Block Island, Rhode Island - a very small, quiet, quaint little new england island. A perfect place to go for a time of peaceful respite from a too-busy world.
5. Regensburg, Bavaria, Germany "the city of churches" This is one of the few cities that was left unharmed by the air raids of World War II. The main cathedral in town, Dom St. Peter is renowned for two things; its original 14th century stained glass windows and world-renowned Boys Choir.
6. I want to go to Alaska. I think an Alaskan cruise would be fantastic!
7. I want to take a trip on a train. (That may be covered if I go to Switzerland!) To travel through Europe via rail would be exciting.
8. I want to take a really nice trip somewhere with Tim - it doesn't really matter where - to celebrate one of our anniversaries (or all of them! lol) and the completion of his doctorate degree. We've said for years that "on our next anniversary" we're taking a trip. It just never has happened yet, but I am holding out. We will take that trip one day!!

Not all of the items on my bucket list involve travel. Here are a few more items.

9. I want to get completely organized and de-cluttered. (Ok, quit laughing now.)
10. I want to lose 50 lbs and be in good health. I have come to realize that good health is not something to take for granted. And a lot of our health issues involve preventive and pro-active measures. I am already working on this one.
11. I want to write a book. NOT for publication, but for my own pleasure and sense of accomplishment.
12. I want to hold my grandchildren. Enough said.

So there you have it - My Bucket List - as of today, February 1, 2008.

Happy Birthday, Tim

I'm actually a day late for this. Tim's birthday was yesterday. He turned 50! The big 5-0...half a century...over the hill...old. You hear it all when it comes to a milestone birthday, but especially the 50th it seems. And most of the comments are derogatory...very negative. I don't like that. A birthday is to celebrate. Celebrate life. Celebrate living. I was in Hallmark shopping for a birthday card and every card - without exception - designated for a 50th birthday was negative and mostly in a humorous way pointing out the not-so-pleasant aspects of getting old. Where are the cards that shout "CONGRATULATIONS! YOU MADE IT! WAY TO GO! YOU HAVE SUCCESSFULLY LIVED 50 YEARS!" I get a little bit confused. When a couple has been married for 50 years, it is referred to as their "Golden" anniversary and everything is happy and very positive, but when someone has a 50th birthday, they are referred to as being old and over the hill. Well, let me just tell you...Tim is definitely NOT over the hill. He is very much alive, vibrant and active. Age, I think, is mostly a state of mind anyway. It has been said for years that you are only as old as you feel. Well, thank you, there are days when I must feel at least 100! And other days I feel like I could keep up with the youngest, most active child! I know Tim doesn't feel good every day (who does?!), but he is staying busy and active (physically and mentally), and every day with him is golden. There was a time a few years back when we didn't know if he'd have another birthday. Praise the Lord, he has had several birthdays since then, and we expect him to have many, many more. Tim has accomplished more since his illness than he did in all the years before. He is even completing his doctorate degree. He has many plans and goals that he is striving to attain and I believe we will see him reach them. Every single one.

Fifty years...Tim? Yes, he's 50.
Old? Not yet.
Over the hill? Definitely not. Still climbing and reaching!
Golden? Most definitely!

So, Happy Golden Birthday, Tim! You're worth more to me than all the gold in the world. I look forward to spending at least another 50 golden years with you!! I love you!

I'm Getting "ME" Back

I've let ME go for too long! I've been so outwardly focused and so busy taking care of other people and other things, that I've neglected my most important person...ME. Don't misunderstand. I don't mean for that to sound selfish, but...well, then again, maybe it is selfish. It's all about me! I've been reminded once again that if I don't take care of Me, then I won't be able to take care of anybody else. Nobody else can take care of Me like I can. I took a long hard look at Me and decided she needed some major work done. So, I've gotten started on taking care of Me and getting the ME back that I used to have. (She wandered off at some point and I've got to find her and get her back!) Ok...maybe I've had too much caffeine today! But I have started. I am eating right. I've started my fitness program again. I had my nails done. And, (insert big YAY! here) I'm going today to get my hair colored and cut. I'm so overdue on that. I'm making sure that I make time daily for more prayer, meditation and Bible study. That helps Me more than any of the other physical stuff. In fact, it helps bring everything together. And I plan to rest. Mind and body.

Well, I think I found her. She just needs a lot of work. I'm getting ME back. It feels good.

Happy New Year? Not yet.

(This is copied from my journal entry on 01-01-08)
Happy New Year. The words seem hollow...empty. Just words. Three little words - a combination of 12 letters and 4 syllables. I just don't feel it this year. I have in the past. We stay up every year watching the ball drop in Times Square and/or praying the old year out and the new year in. We've even been to Times Square on new Year's Eve. So many people. It was a huge, exciting party. It was fun and we were happy. I've had many happy new years. But this new year's day doesn't seem so happy. I'm tired.

It's 8:00 a.m. and I'm sitting in the Nashville airport watching a lot of other tired-looking people make their way robotically to their gate. I wonder where they're all going. Why are they travelling today? I'm sure a lot of them are heading home from the holidays, back to work and school - back to the routine. My routine would normally return tomorrow, but not this year. I'm headed to Baton Rouge. Mama had a stroke yesterday. We don't know why or what caused it. She had surgery December 4 and seemed to be recovering well. In fact, when I talked to her Sunday night, she was doing quite well - still recovering, but she was laughing and talking. I commented to Tim when I got off the phone that she seemed more like herself than she has since before the surgery. And then, about 12 hours later, she stroked. Who would've known? I got the call to come home and here I am, sitting in the airport waiting to board the plane for New Orleans.

2008 will be better. 2007 was a tiring year. A lot happened and especially toward the end of the year with Mama's surgery on the 4th and on the 12th we lost a very special, very beloved aunt, Nita. We will miss her so much. I plan to make some much-needed changes this year. And I plan to enjoy this year. At the end of this year, I hope to be able to say "Goodbye 2008. It was a happy old year."

Well, here goes. My first blog entry. I have been encouraged by some to start my own blog. We'll see how it goes from here. I enjoy reading other peoples' blogs, and perhaps someone will enjoy mine. I've kept a journal for years. My writings have been very personal and I don't usually share them, but maybe it's time for me to start sharing my thoughts. Some of them anyway! Writing has been therapeutic for me at times. I can put my fears, thrills, hurts, frustrations, joys and questions on paper and at times, simply by doing that, I put them to rest. Sometimes the hardest things to say out loud can be communicated through the written word. Last year for Valentine's Day, I gave Tim 14 Days of Valentines. I started on February 1 with "On the first day of Valentine's my true love gave to me..." and gave him a different gift each day until the 14th. One of the gifts I gave him was a gift of love letters. I wrote things that I truly feel, but hardly ever say. When writing, I can organize my thoughts and decide how to say them first before actually writing them down. When sitting face-to-face with someone it's hard to do that. Too often, I speak first and then think. Or I don't say everything I wish I had. By thinking it through, focusing on what I want to say and organizing my thoughts and THEN putting it on paper, it seems to sound so much better than if I just blurt it out. And the written word can be kept. Too often in our busy lives, our brains are so full of 'stuff' and so muddled, it's hard to remember everything that is said. So...with that in mind, I'm putting my thoughts in print. I tend to ramble at times, but do occasionally have a revelation of sorts. Hence the name of my blog...Ramblings and Revelations! Read on...