The Bucket Half Full

I loved the movie "The Bucket List". Not because of the characters or even that the story line was academy award quality, but, because of the message. What do I really want to do before I die? Or an even wiser question; What do I want to do while I'm still able?

Prior to making the retirement decision, I decided that fulfilling that bucket list would be a priority worth pursuing for the next several years...while still healthy and financially stable. Fortunately, good ol' Dan continues to slave away providing the income, but I soon learned that for the most part, the things I really wanted to do didn't take much money, simply more time. For the first time in my life...I had TIME.

Where to start? My first priority was to re-connect with old and dear friends and neglected relatives who had probably given up ever seeing or hearing from me again. My second priority was to give some of my free time to my church, community and other human beings who needed a little extra help. The third was to take some chances, be brave, and experience some adventures that would be challenging and educational, but most importantly, FUN.

2009 began with two weeks of skiing in Montana followed by two weeks of time with my parents in AZ via a road trip with my brother. We squeezed in a trip to Laughlin, NV and saw the Smother's Brothers and the Oakridge Boys. (I can detect your envy if you were lucky enough to grow up in the 60's and 70's.) Next, a trip to Florida to see a cherished friend, who I had met through my work, AND, my very first polo match. I even flirted with the star of the winning team from Argentina and got his autograph....remember the brave part I referred to earlier....

I certainly don't want to have this entry sound like the obnoxious Christmas letters you receive from people you hardly know, but writing this all down has revived the wonderful memories and emotions these adventures evoked. In the interest of most people's attention span, I will *bullet* the past year additions to the still mostly empty Bucket.

• April 2009 - Skiing, and the realization I need to be in better shape!
• April-September 2009 - Fine Arts Festival volunteer
• May 2009 - Finally a big vegetable garden that I can take care of.
• July 2009 - Hosting my high school potluck for a 2 day slumber party.
• August 2009 - My first experience mountain biking in MT. WOW !
• September 2009 - Mountain horse trip with my favorite cousin in WY.
• September - Joined a bridge marathon group with a good friend. (a whole winter with bridge..yeh!)
• October 2009 - Napa Valley with friends. I do love wine!
• November 2009 - Thanksgiving in Steamboat with our kids/grandkids. (We made it a 7 day road trip.)
• December - The holidays at home and time to get everything done for once!!
• January 2010 - The longest month of the year...
• Feb. 2010 - Family skiing in Big Sky and an overnight with friend Mary in Billings.
• Feb. - A 16 day Thelma and Louise road trip to the southwest with dear friend Beth. (We hope to do this again this coming winter....
• March - another ski week, (I really do need to be in better shape next year!!)
• April - Finally a trip to Washington, DC that wasn't business related. Can you ever see and do everything you hope to?

Another bucket list goal was to see Neil Diamond, and it finally happened, too. I'm still humming "Sweet Carolyn". I loved every one of his albums, and by the way, he really is quite short and skinny in person.

Re-connecting with people, having a few new adventures, taking the time to plant more flowers and vegetables, and fulfilling a few dreams is slowly filling my bucket. I won't be jumping out of airplanes or bungy jumping off the Grand Canyon, but the list remains long and I hope I have the time and energy to see it through. Everyone should think about their bucket list and ask themselves, "What would you do if you weren't afraid?"