Things to do before I die

To Do 261-270

2007-04-25T20:05:00.000-07:00

261 - become a Big Sister to a child who needs one
262 - see a meteor crater
263 - bird-watch for sandhill cranes along the Platte River in Nebraska
264 - stand in the center of the Roman Colosseum (done)
265 - find an extra $1,000 in my bank account
266 - ride aboard the Goodyear blimp
267 - have lunch in the restaurant atop Seattle's Space Needle
268 - swing on a trapeze
269 - share a small tent in the wilderness with the one I love
270 - prepare a salad using 20 different ingredients

To Do 251-260

2007-04-24T20:05:00.000-07:00

251 - see a great white shark
252 - pass a wilderness survival test
253 - ride bareback along a beach at sunrise
254 - vacation on a Pacific island you can only get to by sail boat
255 - eat street food in Bangkok and wash it down with ice-cold Thai beer
256 - ride the train down the Malaysian Peninsula from Bangleole to Kuala Lumpur
257 - journey along the Silk Road from China to the Mediterranean
258 - climb the Great Pyramid at Giza
259 - spend a day on a nude beach
260 - work at an employee-owned company (done)

To Do 241-250

2007-04-23T20:04:00.002-07:00

241 - go from London to Paris via the Chunnel
242 - collect enough individual ceramic tiles to cover one wall of my kitchen
243 - explore the caves of Lascaux and their 20,000-year-old wall paintings
244 - climb Mount McKinley, reaching the summit just as day breaks
245 - own a big-screen television
246 - drink sherry and eat tapas in Spain
247 - see a grizzly bear in the wild from a safe distance
248 - really spend a vacation lying on the beach reading all the books I've been saving up
249 - fly the Concorde (this one is no longer possible but I'm leaving it on the list just in case)
250 - go on safari across Africa's Serengeti Plain

To Do 231-240

2007-04-22T20:04:00.000-07:00

231 - learn to tie a perfect bowline knot
232 - watch the sun set over Machu Picchu
233 - gather the neighbors and plant a community garden
234 - get the amaryllis on my windowsill to bloom in winter
235 - master the internet (done)
236 - take a course in sculpture
237 - swim with dolphins
238 - on a long airplane ride, sit next to someone who really doesn't want to talk (done)
239 - watch the lava flowing out of Kilauea
240 - pay off my mortgage and throw a party to celebrate

To Do 221-230

2007-04-21T00:08:00.000-07:00

221 - sail the inland waterway down the Eastern Seaboard
222 - give away everything I havent worn in three years
223 - take a pack trip on horseback through Yellowstone National Park
224 - learn to speak French
225 - spend a day as a citizen of Pompeii
226 - get so good at poker I really know when to hold 'em and know when to fold 'em
227 - shop at the 24-hour L.L. Bean store in Freeport, ME at 3:00 in the morning
228 - make a perfect souffle
229 - sing with a band in a night club (done)
230 - snorkel Australia's Great Barrier Reef

To Do 211-220

2007-04-20T00:08:00.000-07:00

211 - buy a sail boat and sail for a year
212 - travel with no destination (done)
213 - ride out a hurricane on North Carolina's Outer Banks
214 - taste raw sugarcane on a Caribbean island
215 - be part of a human pyramid - preferably the apex (done)
216 - learn to rock climb (done)
217 - see a moose in the wild
218 - bicycle across my home state, and if I like it well enough...
219 - ...bicycle across the country
220 - see the cacti bloom in the Mojave Desert

To Do 201-210

2007-04-19T00:07:00.000-07:00

201 - work the phones at a charity telethon
202 - learn Arabic so I can write it's beautiful alphabet
203 - canoe the Boundary Waters
204 - hear zydeco music in the bayou country
205 - come home to find dinner ready on the table
206 - hug a redwood
207 - visit Ouagadougou, capital of Burkina Faso in West Africa
208 - shop along Rodeo Drive
209 - program my VCR with ease (done)
210 - ride horseback through Ireland

To Do 191-200

2007-04-18T00:06:00.000-07:00

191 - motorcycle across Nevada's desert flats
192 - spend a summer and fall eating only what I've grown in my own garden
193 - learn to draw
194 - observe an American bald eagle in the wild (done)
195 - build a room of my own
196 - eat Oregon apple pie in Portland, then drive north for Washington peach pie in Seattle
197 - be able to help my teenage son with his homework
198 - overcome my shyness (done)
199 - take a bubble bath in Raffles Hotel in Singapore
200 - have an astrologer cast my chart

Complete #85 - Bid at an auction

2007-04-17T16:35:00.000-07:00

I first started going to auctions when I was a kid. I'd go with my mom and aunts to one which had nice overstock merchandise. My first purchases were a walkman (yeah, it was that long ago) and a leather jacked. I loved the live bidding. It was so much fun. The last live auction I went to was 4 years ago on a cruise ship. It was an art auction and I ended up purchasing 3 pieces of art that I got for a steal.

These day I use ebay for my auction activities. I've gotten some great deals on that site on everything from concert tickets to books. I love ebay!

To Do 181-190

2007-04-17T00:06:00.000-07:00

181 - see Haleakala Crater on Maui
182 - stand at the foot of K-2 in the Karakoram Mountains of northern India, the world's second-highest peak
183 - have lunch with my best friend from elementary school (done)
184 - visit the National Aviation Hall of Fame in Dayton, Ohio
185 - sleep till noon every day for a week (done)
186 - spend a stormy night in a lighthouse on a rocky coast
187 - visit every one of the national parks (in progress)
188 - dog-sled across Alaska
189 - visit all 1,000 Places to See Before You Die (in progress)
190 - start every new year with a clean house, an uncluttered desk, and a new date book

Complete #77 - Live without television

2007-04-16T16:34:00.000-07:00

I'm really not a fan of TV in general but I find myself watching anyway which annoys me to no end. I used to be a TV addict. I would come home from work, flip on the TV and be a veg for the next 5 hours.

Then I moved to Europe. We had a TV but it was pretty much hidden away and anyway, it was only in French, Italian or German. On Mondays they would show English movies so that's the only time I'd watch. I loved it.

For my first year back I didn't have a TV and it was great. Then I got one to watch movies and eventually it got attached to the cable and eventually I got addicted again. I'm moving soon though and I'm hoping to break the habit again. I'm going to leave my TV in storage for a while which should help.

So, while I have already done this, it's something I'm going to do again.

To Do 171-180

2007-04-16T00:05:00.000-07:00

171 - take charge of my own contentment
172 - explore West Africa
173 - bake scones
174 - work in flextime so I can balance career and family
175 - visit Utah's Bryce Canyon (done)
176 - store snowballs in the freezer and pull them out for a summer party
177 - overcome difficulties in a relationship
178 - redecorate my home from top to bottom
179 - walk the fabled Bund in Shanghai
180 - spend a weekend in Atlantic City

Complete #73 - Cook pasta that's perfectly al dente

2007-04-15T16:34:00.000-07:00

I love to cook. And, as is fitting my Italian heritage, pasta is one of my favorites. I don't eat it as often as I like due to it's negative impact on my waist line, but when I do, it's always cooked perfectly. There's nothing worse than soggy pasta. It will never be as good as my grandma's pasta but it's not too bad if I do say so myself.

To Do 161-170

2007-04-15T00:05:00.000-07:00

161 - visit the restored buildings of Colonial Williamsburg (done)
162 - drink chilled Manzanilla accompanied by olives and almonds
163 - hit the road for a year in an RV
164 - live and work in Beijing for a year
165 - spend a day watching the sun move across the sky
166 - live in a villa on the Italian Riviera
167 - mud slide in the rain
168 - watch a bud open
169 - see summer arrive in Antarctica
170 - visit Louisiana's Oak Alley plantation to imagine antebellum life

Complete #72 - Give money and muscle to Habitat for Humanity

2007-04-14T16:34:00.000-07:00

I used to work for United Airlines and they sponsored a Habitat build. My first time working on the site was with a group from UAL. I enjoyed it so much that I ended up going to the site every Saturday. It was great. I learned a lot, did a lot of good and had a lot of fun. I even organized a group of my co-workers to go out for a day. Imagine a bunch of lawyers swinging hammers - it was entertaining. If you haven't worked with Habitat I'd highly recommend it. You'll be sore, but knowing that you helped give someone a home is worth the soreness.

To Do 151-160

2007-04-14T00:04:00.000-07:00

151 - make love in a public place (done)
152 - kayak over the Grand Canyon's Lava Falls
153 - take a woodworking class
154 - lunch at New York's "21"
155 - split logs with a sledgehammer and wedge
156 - get elected team captain (done)
157 - run my own business (done)
158 - create a computer database for my family tree
159 - pay off my credit cards
160 - sit in the infield for the Indianapolis 500

Complete #66 - Overtip

2007-04-13T16:33:00.000-07:00

This is something I do on a regular basis. I used to work as a waitress so I know what a horrible job it can be. I'm of the opinion that everyone should be required to wait tables for at least a month so they could see what it's really like. Tip your server if they do a good job!

Original Post

To Do 141-150

2007-04-13T00:04:00.000-07:00

141 - visit Valley Forge in a winter as severe as that of 1777-78
142 - get a cosmetic makeover (done)
143 - cut my own firewood with a chain saw
144 - cross the Cumberland Gap of the Appalachian Mountains, following Danial Boone's Wilderness Road to the Old West
145 - drive a four-wheeler up a mountain
146 - dig a pond on my property and stock it wth fish
147 - celebrate Mardi Gras in New Orleans
148 - have a shipboard romance
149 - own a portable global positioning system and never get lost
150 - snowmobile in Finland

Complete #63 - Be there for a baby's first step

2007-04-12T16:32:00.000-07:00

From August 2001 to August 2002 I was an au pair for a family in Geneva, Switzerland. I lived in the home and helped take care of 3 boys ages 8 years, 6 years and 8 months. I spent most of my time with the baby so I was there for his first steps. It was mid-Februray, just a few days before my birthday and I was in the mountains skiing with the family for a week. It was so much fun to be there and see his first steps.

Original Post

To Do 131-140

2007-04-12T00:03:00.000-07:00

131 - start a patchwork quilt on the day of my child's birth - and give her the finished produce on the day she graduates from college
132 - stick to my convictions even in the face of hostile opposition
133 - take a boat ride through Indiana's Wyandotte Cave
134 - see where the red salmon spawn on Lake Clark in Alaska
135 - be asked for the recipe for something I've cooked (done)
136 - pamper myself with "the works" at a luxury spa
137 - take a limo to a Broadway opening
138 - trek through Karakoram
139 - travel the coast of Turkey
140 - take a kid to the circus

Complete #50 - Eat the world's best cheesecake at Junior's in Brooklyn

2007-04-11T15:28:00.000-07:00

Junior's is definitely one of the best. I went there in August of 2005 during a weekend trip to New York with friends. It's not exactly convenient to get to the original since it's in Brooklyn, but it was worth it. If you don't want to haul yourself out there, there are several places in the city who sell their cheesecake, including a shop in Union Station.

Original Post

To Do 121-130

2007-04-11T00:03:00.000-07:00

121 - skydive (done)
122 - celebrate my birthday aboard a yacht in the Mediterranean
123 - Learn to roller blade (done)
124 - skinny dip under a waterfall (done)
125 - celebrate St. Patrick's Day in Dublin
126 - throw a party people will talk about for years (done)
127 - dine in a five-star restaurant in France
128 - take my family on a backpacking trip through the Grand Tetons
129 - observe an avalanche (from a safe distance)
130 - travel to Bali to hear gamelan music on its native ground

Complete #49 - Swim in a pool on a cruise ship

2007-04-10T01:16:00.000-07:00

In early 2003 I was lucky enough to go on a cruise to Mexico with my company. It was my first and last time on a cruise ship. I'm not a big fan of cruising as there isn't enough to do to keep me interested, but swimming in a pool while in the middle of the sea was fun.

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To Do 111-120

2007-04-10T00:02:00.000-07:00

111 - drive a Maserati
112 - lasso a steer from horseback
113 - trek in Nepal
114 - force Hyacinths to bloom from bulbs
115 - bike the Greenbrier River Trail in West Virginia
116 - canoe the Allagash in Maine
117 - determine what is the one thing in life I want most
118 - dance a Viennese Waltz in Vienna
119 - get a tattoo (done)
120 - go on a walking tour of the Loire Valley

Complete #47 - Receive an impassioned love letter

2007-04-09T01:12:00.000-07:00

I've been lucky enough to date some great men who have been generous enough to share with me in writing their feelings. I still have the letters in storage and occasionally I take them out and re-read them. It feels good to look back on those relationships. Bitter-sweet, but good.

Love letters are a lost art in these days of instant communication.

Original Post

To Do 101-110

2007-04-09T00:01:00.000-07:00

101 - help preserve a landmark
102 - smell the freshness of the desert fater a rain (done)
103 - sail a sleek white yacht into the Bay of Naples at sunset
104 - fly over the "roof of the world" - the 96 Himalayan peaks, reaching over 24,000 feet high
105 - see where the Hatfields feuded with the McCoys
106 - learn to box
107 - visit every continent (in progress)
108 - surf the big waves off Australia's west coast
109 - summer in a villa in Tuscany
110 - with the Odyssey as my travel guide, retrace Ulysses' route home

Complete # 46 - Submit a suggestion that saves money for the company

2007-04-08T01:06:00.000-07:00

Even before it was my job to figure out ways to save companies money it's what I did. I couldn't stand to see waste and inefficiency and always tried to figure out how to make things run better and cheaper. Over the years I've saved my employers hundreds of thousands of dollars with my suggestions.

Original Post

To Do 91-100

2007-04-08T00:01:00.000-07:00

91 - receive two dozen roses from an admirer
92 - trek the jungle of Borneo
93 - start a watermelon garden
94 - attend the Calgary Stampede
95 - see with 20/20 vision
96 - float down the Amazon
97 - tour the great sites of ancient Greece
98 - lie on the ground in a grove of giant sequoias, the largest living things on earth, and look up
99 - walk across the Golden Gate Bridge
100 - ride an elephant in India

Complete #41 - Spend a day surfing the internet

2007-04-07T01:02:00.000-07:00

I've spent more days doing this than I care to admit. :-) It doesn't help when it's part of how you make money. But I remember when the net first became popular. I never understood why someone would want to spend any amount of time on the internet. Now, I'm living in a place with spotty connection and if my service is down for 10 minutes I'm going nuts. My how times change.

Original Post

To Do 81-90

2007-04-07T00:00:00.000-07:00

81 - attend spring training
82 - slip into bed beside someone who's not expecting me
83 - ski Aspen
84 - serve regularly at the local soup kitchen
85 - bid at an auction (done)
86 - write a letter to my descendants
87 - serve as the emcee of an evening's entertainment
88 - learn to read a river
89 - visit Windsor Castle
90 - cruise the Greek Islands

Complete # 32 - Drive through a dust storm in the desert

2007-04-06T00:51:00.000-07:00

When I lived in Phoenix every year we would have amazing monsoons and sand storms. During both you could never see more than 3 feet in front of your face and it seems like I was always caught in the car. They were scary and awe inspiring at the same time - the power of nature is amazing.

Original Post

To Do 71-80

2007-04-06T00:00:00.000-07:00

71 - sit through an opera by Wagner
72 - give money and muscle to Habitat for Humanity (done)
73 - cook pasta that's perfectly al dente (done)
74 - march in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade
75 - visit a castle in Spain
76 - stay at the historc Mohonk Mountain House in New Paltz, New York
77 - live without television (done)
78 - mountain bike in the Rockies
79 - surf cast for bass at Montauk Point
80 - spend an elegant weekend at the Gritti Palace hotel in Venice

To Do 61-70

2007-04-05T23:59:00.000-07:00

61 - ride a glider
62 - spin a plate on a stick
63 - be there for a baby's first step (done - 2/14/02)
64 - ride a burro to the bottom of the Grand Canyon
65 - ride the bobsled course at Lillehammer
66 - overtip (done)
67 - drink tequila and lick salt from my hadn on a beach in Mexico
68 - spend a day in the British Museum
69 - attend the Texas State Fair in Dallas, largest in the country
70 - save a half-year's salary

In Progress #31 - Re-read all of the original Nancy Drew mysteries

2007-04-05T00:40:00.000-07:00

Original Post

To Do 51-60

2007-04-04T23:59:00.000-07:00

51 - drive I-80 from New York's George Washington Bridge to the Bay Bridge in San Francisco
52 - do the Sunday crossword puzzle in ink
53 - ride the Moscow to St. Petersburg wide-gauge railroad
54 - see the gigantic carved heads of Easter Island
55 - stand on the shore and roar back at the ocean as loud as I can
56 - study Buddhist and Hindy dharma
57 - be a mentor
58 - visit a new museum each month
59 - rent an entire restaurant for my 50th birthday party
60 - end a meal with Stilton, fresh pears, and vintage Port

Complete #25 - Give my lover a thousand Hershey's Kisses

2007-04-04T00:21:00.000-07:00

For Christmas 2005 I gave my ex-boyfriend 1000 kisses. I got a giant jar from Ikea and filled it with all the different flavors that they make. Too bad it was wasted on an ex. I look forward to doing it again with a current boyfriend.

Original Post

To Do 41-50

2007-04-03T23:58:00.000-07:00

41 - spend a day surfing the internet (done)
42 - own land on which there's a gravity-fed spring
43 - take the drain into New Orleans across Lake Pontchartrain on the longest train bridge in the world
44 - win a week at Rancho la Puerta
45 - ride a fire engine
46 - submit a suggestion that saves money for the company (done)
47 - receive an impassioned love letter (done)
48 - go to a sherry tasting in Jerez, Spain, where sherry originated
49 - swim in a pool on a cruise ship (done)
50 - eat the world's best cheesecake at Junior's in Brooklyn (done)

Complete #15 - Volunteer at the Special Olympics

2007-04-03T00:27:00.000-07:00

I started volunteering with Special Olympics when I was about 16. The agency my mom worked for had several teams. I started as a volunteer and eventually I ended up becoming head of delegation for Area 1 in Indiana. I took several groups to the state games in Indianapolis and really enjoyed the entire experience. If you haven't been to a Special Olympics event you should volunteer at one. You will never see a group of people more determined to do their best.

Original Post

To Do 31-40

2007-04-02T23:57:00.000-07:00

31 - re-read all of the original Nancy Drew mysteries (in progress)
32 - drive through a dust storm in the desert (done)
33 - learn three jokes that get laughs every time
34 - run through Chicago's Buckingham Fountain
35 - celebrate Easter at St. Peter's in Rome
36 - bake croissants
37 - spend a summer in a chalet high in the Swiss Alps
38 - see a jazz funeral in New Orleans
39 - make charcoal rubbings of the stones in a ghost town graveyard
40 - canoe the lakes of the Adirondacks

Complete #8 - Have cybersex - virtual, but very safe

2007-04-02T00:18:00.000-07:00

I'm not providing details on this one. :-)

But I'd guess you'd be hard pressed to find someone who's 33 who hasn't had cyber sex. You can't beat safe and fun.

Original Post

To Do 21-30

2007-04-01T22:24:00.000-07:00

21 - own a sensational sound system and have speakers in every room of the house
22 - wait out a storm in the bar of Windows on the World (unfortunately, due to the 9/11 attack this will never happen but I'm keeping it on the list anyway)
23 - hike Alaska's Brooks Range
24 - attend a party on the terrace of a New York City Penthouse
25 - give my lover a thousand Hershey's Kisses (done)
26 - become a wine expert
27 - live in an all electronic house I can control by computer
28 - scuba dive the wreck of a 16th century Spanish galleon
29 - take part in a geological survey
30 - keep exotic tropical fish

Complete #6 - Load new software without having to call Tech Support

2007-04-01T00:15:00.000-07:00

I've had to do this more time than I care to remember. Luckily it has never been a problem.

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To Do 11-20

2007-03-31T20:07:00.000-07:00

11 - walk down London's Abbey Road in homage to the Beatles
12 - learn sign language
13 - keep a stash of Girl Scout cookies all year round (I love the thin mints!)
14 - spend a week kayaking among the islands on the coast of Maine
15 - volunteer at the Special Olympics (done)
16 - fly-fish the Yellowstone River
17 - travel for three months with just one carry-on bag
18 - work for a company that has child care
19 - fall in love with the right person, at the right time for both of us
20 - trace the shape of a fossil from millions of years ago

Completed #4 - Scuba dive the Red Sea

2007-03-30T22:19:00.000-07:00

In October of 2001 I went to Egypt with the family I was living with in Geneva, Switzerland at the time. We stayed in Safaga at a resort right on the Red Sea. Jessica and I took an excursion one afternoon to go diving.

It was amazing. We were out for several hours and got to explore a reef. The colors were incredible and we got to see all kinds of fish.

On the boat ride back we were followed by a pack of dolphins and got to watch the sun set over the mountains of Egypt. It was a very memorable trip.

Original Post

Completed #2 - Take off now for a spur-of-the-moment vacation

2007-03-30T20:03:00.000-07:00

Travel is my weakness, it always have been and it always will be. People laugh when I tell them how much money I want to save for retirement but then I tell them that I intend to travel about 360 days/year once I can so I'll need funds for that.

Ever since I got my license I've been known to just start driving. Pick a direction and go. It's harder to do that now that I don't have a car, but these days I pick a flight and go. Recent last minute trips include: Boston, New York City and Miami.

I'm moving to Portland, OR soon and I'm looking forward to exploring the North West USA since I've spent no time there. If you have road trip suggestions in that area, please let me know!

Where are your favorite places for a weekend getaway?

One of my favorite trips was when I was about 19. I was stressed out at work and had a 5-day weekend so I decided to hit the road. Didn't tell anyone, just went. I was living in Indiana at the time and I headed east towards water (water is my center). About 8 hours into driving I figured I should call my mom and let her know I wouldn't be home for a few days. The conversation went something like this:

Me: Hey mom
Her: Hey, where are you?
M: Somewhere in New York
H: Huh?
M: Yeah, I needed to get away for a few days
H: Ok. (long pause) So where are you going?
M: Not sure. Wherever I stop.
H: Ok. (long pause) Well, call me if you need anything.
M: Ok. I'll see you on Wednesday. Bye
H: Bye *click*

I ended up heading to Boston because there was a guy there that I wanted to see. I spent several days with him and his family (more time with his family than him since he had to work), explored Boston and New Hampshire, walked around the Harvard campus, had a picnic in Boston Common, made out on the beach while watching the sunrise and had an all-around wonderful time.

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To Do 1-10

2007-03-30T19:56:00.000-07:00

1 - have my letter to the editor published
2 - take off now for a spur-of-the-moment vacation (done)
3 - design, build, and decorate my dream house
4 - scuba dive the Red Sea (done)
5 - milk a cow
6 - load new software without having to call Tech Support (done)
7 - bequeath enough money for my survivors to taost me with champagne each year on my birthday
8 - have cybersex - virtual, but very safe (done)
9 - bodysurf off Malibu
10 - spend a romantic weekend in a luxury hotel on the French Riviera

Why start this blog?

2007-03-30T19:49:00.000-07:00

Well, most personal blogs are started out of ego and I guess this one isn't any different. Basically I want a place on the web where I can track the things that I do and the things I want to do. That's what this blog is for.

I've been toying with the idea for a while but today The Paper Bull asked What do you want to do before you die which was inspired by this list from The Buried Life and I decided to stop waiting. I've been focusing so much on business lately and it's time to focus a bit more on fun.

I'm sure the blog will evolve but my initial intention is to post 10 things that are on my list and talk about one thing I've done from the list. This is mostly for my entertainment but if you enjoy it, I hope you subscribe to my feed.

Have a great day and live your dreams!
pf101