What Have I Done?

I got this from Jeaux. The rules are simple: bold the items you’ve done; don’t bold items you haven’t.

1. Started your own blog. Duh.

2. Slept under the stars. Once, when I ran away. Since then I've always used a tent.

3. Played in a band.

4. Visited Hawaii. (No. But Jeepguy, look out.)

5. Watched a meteor shower. August Pleiades several times. No telescope needed.

6. Given more than you can afford to charity.

7. Been to Disney World / Land. Since my stepdad was a member of the press, we got to go on the very first day WDW opened in Orlando. Now with family within a couple of hours of each park, I stopped counting after 30 visits. I’m married to a Disneyphile, and I’m Disneyed out.

8. Climbed a mountain. Mt. Riley, base to summit, in Haines, Alaska: 1600 feet in the spring about ten years ago. My older sister and I were visiting my younger sister, who lives there.

9. Held a praying mantis.

10. Sang a solo. In the car just about every day.

11. Bungee jumped. Not a chance.

12. Visited Paris. Bon chance!

13. Watched a lightning storm at sea.

14. Taught yourself an art from scratch.

15. Adopted a child.

16. Had food poisoning. Never felt so sick in my life. See “Weekend From Hell.”

17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty.

18. Grown your own vegetables. One time. The carrots were delicious. That illustrates 50% of my plant success stories.

19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France.

20. Slept on an overnight train.

21. Had a pillow fight.

22. Hitch-hiked. In the rain. To work.

23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill. I did it a few times in my last years of teaching middle school. But it was preventive medicine.

24. Built a snow fort. Only as an adult with my young children. What a blast.

25. Held a lamb. I stepped out of my office into the hall and heard clippety-clippety sounds. I looked left to see a lamb heading my way with its owner trying desperately to catch him. I scooped him up in my arms as he ran by. Sooooooo cute. So soft. The rancher took him back into the kindergarten for show and tell.

26. Gone skinny dipping. It’s been too long.

27. Run a marathon.

28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice.

29. Seen a total eclipse. Solar and lunar. Awesome. (I have proper eye gear for a solar eclipse. Don’t EVER look at one without it. Burned retinas don’t feel pain.)

30. Watched a sunrise or sunset. As many chances as I can get. Sunset on the ocean is blissful peace.

31. Hit a home run.

32. Been on a cruise.

33. Seen Niagara Falls in person.

34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors. My maiden name is Irish, but I’ve been to England and Scotland. I’m sure there must be some mix in my ancestry in there.

35. Been to an Amish community. Every weekend when I was a kid, I would pedal my bike three blocks to the little store in Pine Crest, Sarasota’s Mennonite community. They had candy.

36. Taught yourself a new language. I can hand-sign letters but not words.

37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied. Yes.

38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person.

39. Gone rock climbing. On rock walls at a climb club. It is REALLY hard.

40. Seen Michelangelo’s David. There is a huge replica at the Sarasota Ringling Museum. It was the first male nude I ever saw. Did I say it was huge? I was entranced.

41. Sung karaoke.

42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt. I missed it by less than a minute.

43. Bought a stranger a meal in a restaurant.

44. Visited Africa.

45. Walked on a beach by moonlight. It’s really dark, not like in the movies. But when there’s phosphorus in the waves, they light up as they break. It is eerily beautiful.

46. Been transported in an ambulance.

47. Had your portrait painted. Does a graphite portrait count?

48. Gone deep sea fishing.

49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person.

50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris.

51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling. FSDA certified at age 16, but I haven’t dived since high school. Still have my snorkeling gear.

52. Kissed in the rain. Sure!

53. Played in the mud. In high school, one of my favorite memories is a mud fight with my best friend and three guys. It was a thorough mess and total blast.

54. Gone to a drive-in theater. And saw “Star Wars” before it was released to the major theatres. I loved it.

55. Been in a movie. In the TV movie “The Flying Wallendas” starring Lloyd Bridges, the aerialists come out in the arena to take a bow. (Actually the term is to “style,” holding your hands in the air.) In the camera shot from behind, as the crowd roars, see those two itty-bitty people in the distance who stand before the rest of the crowd does? That’s me and my best friend! No autographs, thank you. See my people.

56. Visited the Great Wall of China.

57. Started a business. I give my kids the business. Does that count?

58. Taken a martial arts class.

59. Visited Russia.

60. Served at a soup kitchen.

61. Sold Girl Scout cookies. Only for my daughter, to willing co-workers.

62. Gone whale watching. In Haines, Alaska, you can’t help it. They’re always hanging around in the spring. Walking in town, you can hear them expel air even when you can’t see them.

63. Gotten flowers for no reason. Hubby brings ‘em home just cuz.

64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma. Regular donor, now that they’ll let me. (History of cancer, have to wait ten years.)

65. Gone sky diving. No way. My sister did three times; says it got scarier each time. Good enough for me.

66. Visited a Nazi concentration camp. I don’t think I could bear it.

67. Bounced a check. Six months after we closed the account, a distant friend decided to finally cash a check that was almost a year old.

68. Flown in a helicopter.

69. Saved a favorite childhood toy. I still have Brownie, my puppy from age two.

70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial. Missed that one on my two visits to DC.

71. Eaten caviar. Didn’t care for it.

72. Pieced a quilt.

73. Stood in Times Square. Eye candy.

74. Toured the Everglades. Maybe this year?

75. Been fired from a job.

76. Seen the changing of the guard in London. Seems like a lot of fuss.

77. Broken a bone.

78. Been on a speeding motorcycle. And on a falling motorcycle.

79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person. Only from the air.

80. Published a book. How ‘bout a chapter in a book?

81. Visited the Vatican.

82. Bought a brand new car. (Sigh.)

83. Walked in Jerusalem.

84. Had your picture in the newspaper. Sand castle contest, Sarasota.

85. Read the entire Bible. Probably, but not with intention.

86. Visited the White House.

87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating.

88. Had chickenpox. Twice. As have both of my kids.

89. Saved someone’s life. Stopped doofus younger brother from jumping over a rapid sluice in a river. He wanted to investigate some cool rocks. Had he missed, he would have gone over a 150-foot waterfall thirty feet downstream. So, yeah.

90. Sat on a jury. I will never serve on a jury. No lawyer is fool enough to pick me. I’ve been the victim of, lessee, four felonies. They would never believe I could be impartial. But I would love to do it.

91. Met someone famous. I was in Drama Club with Pee Wee Herman (Paul Reubens) in high school, but he wasn’t famous then. He wasn’t funny, either, but he was a gifted actor.

92. Joined a book club.

93. Lost a loved one. Oh, yes.

94. Had a baby. Two answers to prayer.

95. Seen the Alamo in person.

96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake.

97. Been involved in a lawsuit. Petty stuff.

98. Owned a cell phone. On my fourth. I love my Blackberry.

99. Been stung by a bee. And a wasp, and a spider, and a jellyfish.