Thursday Thirteen #8

As the Thursday Thirteen has now retired, I guess this will be my final TT post. I'll do my best to make it a good one! So, in no particular order, here they are....

Thirteen Things I'd Like to Do/Accomplish Before I Die

I've seen all sorts of lists from people, tallying up the things they'd like to accomplish. I've never given it much thought, as I've never been much of a "big dreams" kind of person, especially the last few years - too much emphasis has been placed on making it day to day. But I figured life might be a little brighter and I might have a few more things to shoot for if I thought about a few things I'd like to be able to say I've done when I leave this earth. So here goes.

1. I'd like to own a concert grand piano. I'm very musically inclined, I've played the piano since I was seven. I'm not virtuoso material, but I'm not bad. I want a concert grand so badly I can taste it. My little upright is nice, but it's just not the same. And if I want a grand piano, I'm not stopping with a baby grand. I'm going for the big mama.

2. I'd like to have a box at a hockey game. I love hockey. I want to see as many games as I can. And just once, I'd like the top-of-the-line experience of renting a box for one game. After that, I'll gladly go back to my nosebleed (affordable) seats. But just once, I want to do like the rich folks do and view the game in style.

3. I want to learn to play the harp. I'll start small, with a Celtic harp, and I hope to eventually work my way up to a full-size concert harp. I may never own a concert harp (if I have to choose, I'd rather spend my $ on the concert grand), but I'd like to at least know how to play one.

4. I want to take a cake decorating class. I'm fascinated by the art of cake decoration. Even if all I ever do is make cakes for J's birthdays and for friends and family, even if it's never a money-making endeavor and always a gift of love, I want to know how to make all those pretty flowers and curls and swirls. I want to create a big beautiful cake for a special occasion and know I did it all myself, I didn't pay to have it done. And I want to learn the secret of that yummy frosting. :-)

5. I want to go to Italy. I'm half Italian, so I'd really love to visit there.

6. I want to find a pair of blue jeans that fits well. This may seem like something so basic, it shouldn't even make the list. But I haven't worn jeans at least since 1993 (since K has known me - he never saw me wear jeans, and seldom saw me wear pants). My butt and thighs are out of all proportion to my waist, so by the time I find jeans/pants that fit in the hips and thighs, they're so big in the waist that I can't keep the pants up. I want to wear jeans with my ropers, jeans that fit well (or at least decently), jeans that don't have a two-inch gap around my waist. Don't know if that means I'll have to shape up, get custom-made jeans, or both, but dang it, I want some.

7. I want to dance at J's wedding. And drink champagne. (Neither of which I got to do at my own wedding.)

8. I want to see my grandchildren.

9. I want to learn a foreign language. I took French all through school, and I took German in college. I remember little bits and pieces, and could probably make my way around if I were in a country where German or French was the primary language. I was good at the classes, and I think I have a gift for learning languages. So, I'd like to learn one and be, if not fluent, at least conversational in it.

10. I'd like to learn to play the bagpipes. Unlike the concert grand or the harp, playing the bagpipes is probably not something I'd ever have a practical application for. I just think they're cool, and would love to be able to say, "hey, look what I can do!" Maybe show off at parties or something.

11. I want to have a pedicure. Small in the grand scheme of things, but I've never had one, and it would be nice just once to have pretty toenails.

12. I want to take J to Disney World. Ideally I'd like to take him with his cousins, but if that doesn't work, I just want to take him. I got to go as a child, and I want him to have that experience.

13. I want to see J grow up to be a happy, healthy, well-adjusted young man. If I can successfully help him maneuver the rocky waters of growing up, that's really all I can ask for.

This was a hard list for me. I don't have a lot of daredevil tendencies, so I wasn't going to say anything like, "I want to go bungee jumping" (I'd rather eat rocks) or "I want to climb -insert name of big pointy rock here-" (that's too much effort for me, and I'm not crazy about heights) or "I want to go skydiving". And like I said, I've never been a big dreamer, never really had lofty goals. Most of the time I tend to take life as it comes, just trying to make it through another day or week or month. But I thought it might be to my benefit to really try to think about the future and what I might want from it. There really should be more to life than just surviving, right?