The 2010 Wish List

Ate BBQ at the Original Arthur Bryant's in Kansas City, Missouri!!

2011-11-27T14:31:00.000-06:00

My daughter and I were heading to Topeka, Kansas and, when I realized how close we would be to Kansas City, I just had to take the opportunity to cross off another item on my list and eat at the Original Arthur Bryant's restaurant! (There are a couple of locations in Kansas, but it had to be the original in Missouri!)

It was packed when we got there a little before noon, and the line was out the door by the time we got our food and found seats! When we first walked in, we weren't too impressed. The place is old, outdated, and had an odd smell. But the food was really good, especially the ribs!! They were, by far, the best ribs I've ever had! And that's saying something because Texas has some great BBQ!! However, if I ever go back, it will definitely be to one of the newer locations!

Pointed to a place on a map and went there!

2011-11-27T14:20:00.000-06:00

During last school year, I closed my eyes and my students spun me around in front of a map of the United States. The first two tries, I ended up in the oceans, but on the third try, I landed on Topeka, Kansas! Of all places!!

It was about 6 months before I finally made it there in person, but my daughter and I spent the day in Topeka on the Friday after Thanksgiving. I can't say that it was anything special, but we enjoyed ourselves!

Roared at the Ocean!

2011-11-12T18:48:00.000-06:00

Standing on the shore and roaring at the ocean on my trip didn't feel right because it was too calm and beautiful. So, instead, I had ended up having a big argument with the person I was traveling with and decided to yell at the ocean from the balcony of our stateroom at night because I wouldn't be heard by others on the ship over the loud music, strong winds, engine noise, and noise of the waves. It helped to be angry for this one because yelling like that isn't something that I feel comfortable doing. But, part of the point of this blog is to get out of my comfort zone!

Message in a Bottle Sent!!

2011-11-12T18:44:00.000-06:00

While I was on my cruise this last week, I went to Jamaica and Grand Cayman. I bought a cute little bottle with a cork in Jamaica that had sand and shells in it. I emptied the contents into a little baggie and wrote a note about sending it for this blog with the blog info and my email, so that if it's found the person(s) can contact me and let me know. I threw it into the Atlantic Ocean between the two islands while standing on the balcony of our stateroom at night, so I wouldn't be seen!

I Guess This is Turning Out to Be 41 for 41, Instead of 40 for 40!

2011-10-17T08:28:00.000-05:00

It almost seems meant to be that I'll be finishing this list (hopefully!) while I'm 41, instead of 40! I was going through the original list this morning to count how many items I had left and realized that I had made the mistake of numbering two items with the number 23. So, I actually have 41 items on the list!

I only have 18 more items to go!!

Finally Made it to the Texas State Fair!!

2011-10-17T08:04:00.000-05:00

Although, we couldn't really afford it, I didn't want to let another year go by without crossing this item off my list! It really is a BIG fair! After 5 hours of walking, eating, and riding rides (not necessarily in that order!), we were all exhausted and had sore feet. So, we left early and made the two hour drive home and relaxed the rest of the afternoon!

At 41, I attended my first protest!

2011-10-16T15:41:00.001-05:00

The Occupy Wall Street movement has been spreading across the country, and around the world, over the last month. Almost 50 of us demonstrated in our small city of Tyler, Texas on Saturday, October 15th! It was an interesting experience and I think we'll probably be doing it again! The picture was taken by the local newspaper and I didn't even know it until I saw the link to the article!

1 Pound Down...

2011-09-21T18:47:00.000-05:00

35 to go!! According to the Healthy Weight Calculator that I found on the internet, the ideal weight for someone my height (short!) is 131. So, I've got my work cut out for me to get back down to a weight that I haven't been in years. But I'm determined to get there! Especially since I was diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes a couple of years ago and my recent lab test results were NOT good!!

Diabetes is related to so many scary health problems, but the one that really got to me was when I saw on CNN yesterday that it has recently been linked to twice the risk of developing dementia. I can deal with my body failing me when I get old, but I can't deal with losing my mind!!

So, time to get off my butt and lose some weight!!

Road Trip Across the South!!

2011-09-18T18:50:00.000-05:00

In June, my good friend, Tiffany, and I drove across the south. We had a terrific time!! We spent a day in Birmingham, 3 days in Atlanta, 3 days in Savannah, 2 days in Charleston, and a day in Asheville, NC at the Biltmore Estates - which I've wanted to see for about 20 years. I hadn't put any of these places on this list, but I was thrilled to get to see them!!

Back to Work on The List!!

2011-09-18T17:16:00.000-05:00

I had a pretty crazy year last year, but I promised myself that I will finish this list, no matter how long it takes!! I can't afford to do some of the items right away because I quit my full-time teaching position at the end of the school year in June to work part-time while working on opening a new private school next year. I've made some headway, but progress is slow! Just as with this list, as long as I reach my goals in the long run, I'll be happy!!

Attended a Poetry Reading

2011-09-18T17:11:00.000-05:00

As part of an Art of Peace event, a section of the event was to have locals who have written poetry about peace. I was pleasantly surprised at how good some of them were! I've never been that big on serious poetry, but it makes a big difference to hear it read aloud, especiall when it's read by the author!

2010 Might Be Done, But I'm Not!!

2010-12-31T21:28:00.000-06:00

Ok, so I only made it a little over halfway during 2010, but I did get some bonuses in there! And I am not going to quit until the entire list is done!! I hope to finish most of it before I turn 41, but the one item that I know I won't be able to do before then is the Dallas State Fair because it doesn't happen until September. But if I can get all the rest done in the next 6 month, I'll be thrilled! And I WILL go to that fair next year! Plus, I'll see if I can add a few more bonuses for the new year! (I already have a huge one in the works, but I have to keep that under wraps for a few more months!)

Hundreds of Ancestors Found!!

2010-12-10T19:22:00.000-06:00

I don't think that I will actually be done working on my family tree, but I've accomplished my initial goals of finding ancestors hundreds of years back and from different countries. I was thrilled to find a line going all the way back to 1490 in Scotland. And then I was ecstatic to find a line going all the way back to 1310 in England! I've also found a strong German line, which is particularly interesting to me since I was born there.

I had hoped, but didn't actually think that I'd be able to find anyone really important in my family tree. While I haven't found anyone who is famous in the traditional way, I have found two veterans of the American Revolution - one of whom has a cemetery named after him - and one veteran of the Civil War, along with some WWI and WWII veterans.

My ultimate goal is to take every line as far as I can into the past and then find some living descendants to get to know. I've been working hard on all of this for months and wouldn't have gotten very far at all if it weren't for ancestry.com!! It's an amazing site!!

No Jury Duty This Time!

2010-11-16T19:48:00.000-06:00

I was so glad to be dismissed from jury duty! The court sent more summons than they ended up needing, so more than half of us were able to leave after just an hour and a half of going over all the procedures. I got paid my $6 and was on my way to the previously scheduled training by 10am! Maybe next time will be a better week for me, but I was at Camp Tyler with my class most of the week and I really didn't want to miss that!

An Unexpected First - Jury Summons!

2010-10-16T17:32:00.000-05:00

I've always thought it would be interesting to serve on a jury - as long as the trial doesn't have to do with any physical violence because I am NOT good with blood! I can't believe it took until I'm 40 to get my first jury summons, but it will be an experience! It's for November 8th, so I'll have to post later the result!

How many will I accomplish??

2010-10-16T17:29:00.000-05:00

It will be a miracle if I'm able to complete my list! I already know that I'll be missing the Dallas State Fair, but I keep hoping that I'll be able to get the rest of the 19 items that I have left done. I can't believe that I only have a couple of months left! I feel like I'm living life at a really fast pace right now and I'm doing my best to stay on top of everything, but it's challenging!

Missing the Dallas Fair this year...bummer! (But due to a good thing!)

2010-10-16T17:26:00.000-05:00

Time and finances aren't on my side to make the state fair this year. So, I'll have to wait another year to see Big Tex. I'm a little bit bummed, but it's mostly due to a decision to buy a timeshare, which I'm pretty excited about! I've always wanted to buy one and my husband and I did so last weekend. We get our membership cards in a couple of weeks and I can't wait to start using it!

Twenty down, twenty to go!!

2010-09-15T18:55:00.000-05:00

I'm currently listening to the audiobook of Twenty Wishes by Debbie Macomber and it's a great book! I'm glad to know that I've at least accomplished 20 of the items on my list so far! Life has gotten really busy and I'm starting to wonder if I'm going to be able to finish them all by the end of the year. But I've decided if I don't, that's ok - as long as they DO get completed as close to the deadline as possible! Next week, I'll be starting a second job to help me with the funds to be able to do some of the more expensive items. And I know I'll get more motivated even more when the weather cools off again. I can't wait for it to start feeling like autumn! It's my favorite season!

Perseid Meteor Shower - or should I say meteor sprinkle?!

2010-08-14T16:13:00.000-05:00

I can no longer stay up until 2am and it wasn't easy at all to go to sleep and have to wake up in the middle of the night! My husband, daughter, and I went behind a building that's right near our house and there are no lights. We saw just a few "shooting stars" in the half an hour we were there. I've heard so much about the Perseid Meteor Shower that I expected to see several in that amount of time - or at least a dozen! Instead, it was more like five! They were still neat to see and I'm glad that I did it at least once, but once was enough! From now on, I'll be sleeping through it every year! :)

Bang? Bang? More like...Pop! Pop!

2010-08-12T18:25:00.001-05:00

I recently met a great lady who offered right away to help me with firing a gun! She had the guns, bullets, and plenty of land for target practice! She gave me a few choices, but I wanted to start small for my first time. So, she chose her .22 rifle. I was amazed at how tiny the bullets were!
My first shot went over the top of the target, but the next two shots hit it, and for the last shot I aimed much more carefully and finally hit the edge of the bulls-eye! Woo hoo!!

One of the things I was a little worried about with firing a gun was the kickback, but I didn't have that problem at all with this size gun. It felt just like the little rifles that you use at fairs for target shooting. I didn't think that I would like it, but it was fun! I wouldn't mind trying out some pistols in the future, too, and maybe even working up to a bit bigger caliber. But no semi-automatics!!

I'm an Official Hospice Volunteer!

2010-08-02T10:40:00.000-05:00

On Friday, I got my badge and did my first hour and a half of on the job training. Then I went back Saturday morning for two more hours. It was sad to go in the next morning and see that a couple of patients had died overnight.

Part of the reason that I wanted to volunteer at hospice was to help me with my own fear of dying. It seems to be helping some. It's such a calming place and it's nice to see how many families are constantly at the patients' sides. There are rarely any who are alone for more than a few hours.

So far, I have delivered snacks to patients and families and sat with one lady whose daughter is out of town, so she didn't have anyone with her that week.

I'm not sure how long I will continue to volunteer, but at least for a few months. They have a lot of volunteers, so I don't really feel needed and I hate to feel like I'm in the way of the nurses. It's an interesting experience though.

Checking Off Two More Items!!

2010-07-21T20:48:00.000-05:00

I went on my first cruise to Cozumel, Mexico and swam in the pool on the cruise ship. And swam with dolphins in Cozumel. The dolphins were gentle and beautiful, and we got to hug them, kiss them, and hold their fins and swim with them! It was wonderful! I didn't buy any pics though because I couldn't afford the price of $29 per pic! That was ok though because I didn't like any of the pics of myself anyway. I ate so much on the cruise that I gained back every pound that I had lost, so now I'm starting again to try to reach my ideal weight! I need to lose at least 30 pounds in a little more than 5 months! Time to start hitting the gym again!

Got a Fantastic Facial!!

2010-07-06T18:20:00.000-05:00

I gave myself a wonderful spa day that included a wrap, massage, facial, and hand treatment! I also got a wonderful lunch as part of the day! It was pure bliss! A day to get some much needed rest and relaxation! I spent the day at Belladonna here in Tyler and I highly recommend it! The staff is very nice and do everything they can to ensure you are completely comfortable. I was even given the choice between a mimosa or a glass of wine! I'm not a big wine drinker, or a drinker at all for that matter, and it was still fairly early in the day. So, I got the mimosa, which was my first drink in about 5 years! It was good!!

Making Some Changes...

2010-06-28T15:00:00.000-05:00

With all that has been going on in my life - getting divorced, moving back in with my parents, and being broke most of the time - I've been contemplating whether or not I can handle continuiung this project. I really hate to quit things, but I am a realist and I know I won't have the time or money to do everything this year that I'd hoped to do. Especially since the year is half over and I'm not even halfway done.

When I told one of my friends about the list, she asked why I wasn't doing 40 things since I was turning 40. Now, why didn't I think of that?!

So, I'm going to knock a few items off my list that I don't think are going to be possible this year and then I can continue without it being yet another source of stress in my life. :)

Halfway to Officially Volunteering for Hospice!

2010-06-24T17:36:00.000-05:00

Well, I've gone through the application and orientation processes. So, after I return from my cruise in a month, I'll be assigned a family to work with. I was glad to hear that it is pretty much what I hoped it would be - that the focus isn't on the end of life, but making it as good as it can be while they are still living. I'm really hoping that it will help me not to have such a strong fear of dying.