Life List: Rough Draft Volume 2

So wow, here's what happens. You start writing down what you want to be doing? And all the sudden you can't stop thinking about all the things you can do. It's actually fun to think about everything you can do.

Back when we were in the middle of packing up and moving across town, giving up one dream in favor of another, and I was barely holding my shit together. Maggie and I had a weekly phone call during that time and her way of handling stress is to dream about the next thing. (Little known fact about my friend Maggie, she's very good at dreaming.)

During that time I could barely bring myself to think about what next month would look like, much less make plans involving more time and money.

Now that we're settled here and figuring out everything, it's fun to think of all the things we can do.
Nothing on my list is all that dynamic or difficult but they're all things I want to do. I can't imagine staring at at a list of things I should be doing, but don't really want to. Isn't that what my bill paying station is for?

These are all little things I want out of my life.

I want things on my list I can pull out on a day with some free time and pick something to do. Something fun.

I also want things that will take a little more time, effort and luck. If you're inspired to make your own list, I hope you make it exactly what you want it to be.

A few months ago I caught an episode of Oprah, just a little of it before the kids got home, because it was about S-E-X.

This episode was about how women are coming to this place where they demand sexual satisfaction. And they brought this group of moms in on Skype and one was all, "Oh My God. I'm so busy! I have to worry about being sexually satisfied now too?"

Let's rephrase this statement. Let's say, "Oh God, I have to do something totally pleasurable now!?"

How could you not want to do that? This isn't a chore, it's fun.

Think about a life list the same way.

1 Take the family to Amsterdam.

(This goes along with wanting to visit places one of us has already been so we can hit the ground running. When Alice and I went to Amsterdam years ago, I spent the first 5 days figuring out where I was and the last 4 days running around manically trying to absorb as much as I could.)

2 Pay someone to landscape a yard for us.

(I hate yard work and have no vision when it comes to digging in dirt. I just can't imagine ever being able to do what needs to be done. But it would be so satisfying to drive up to a house with a cohesive landscape and an enormous hydrangea bush.)

3 Teach Max to tie his shoes

(Will be accomplished around the time I learn to talk on the phone)

4 Study to be a professional organizer.

(I think it would be fun to help people realize they need 1/4 of what they have.)

5 Visit 5 new countries.

(Not sure which ones, but ones neither Logan or I have been to.)

6 Reach a point when drinking 64 oz. of water every day isn't something I hate.

(Water is such a lovely thing. Why, why, why do I hate it?)

7 Give Logan a singing telegram at his office.

(A gorilla? Mae West? Who knows.)

8 Publish a coffee table book.

(a collaboration with Logan)

9 See New York City with the whole family.

(Maddie and I visited the city in 2003 with my sister in law. Logan and I went that one November where, well, let's not talk about that again. But we've never all been together.)

10 Host a welcome to summer dinner party.

(The dining room table will be outside for this party and maybe a bubble machine, like Jordan did.)

11 Learn CSS

(At least as well as I know HTML)

12 Take a photography class.

(I enjoy it enough I should be inspired a little more and a class would be fun.)

13 Rent a house in Italy or France with an amazing view for two weeks.

(Friends did this one summer, it's an experience that would be so worthwhile for Maddie specifically. Her comfort zone is ridiculously small for a 10.5 year old.)

14 Canoe for a day with a long picnic lunch.

(We've done this before but it never seems to get on the list when we have a free day to kill.)

15 Establish a rudimentary understanding of Photoshop.

(I mean aside from reading The Pioneer Woman and using her tips.)

16 Take a cross country road trip.

(With Logan. Not with the kids. They're good at a lot of things. But not traveling by car.)

17 Get a massage.

(Doesn't have to be once, but I'd like to get one just because I want one.)

18 Visit the house I grew up in.

(I've had a few opportunities to do this and have always been terrified. I can't imagine why. Even though it will be hard for me to do, I think it's a valuable life thing to do because it will demystify a lot of what happened to me as a kid, just like writing it down in black and white did. Well, aside from the random letter from a Pedophile Sympathizer.....bless her heart.)

19 Have a party with a vintage photo booth.

(When I think back on our wedding and how frugal we were, $5000 total. The only things I wish we hadn't scrimped on was the number of guests, the dancing and the photo booth.)

20 Send birthday greetings to all my friends for one entire year.

(via snail mail. At the end of a year, maybe it will become habit.)

21 Swim naked.

(I have never done this. Who doesn't do this?)

22 Have candid family pictures taken where I don't look like I've been "touched".

(If you don't know what that means....you haven't looked at my pictures. I look palsied over half the time.)

23 Give thoughtful gifts on a regular basis.

(I know how to shop, I know how to find amazing things. I just never get it together to actually buy them.)

24 Remove money from my list of worries.

(ha ha ha. Still I have so many more useless things to worry about, I've got to free up my time!)

25 Give Maddie words of wisdom she'll always remember

(Sarah Brown shared her mother's tip for wearing a nude bra under white tshirts. I never knew this tip. I want Maddie to have a tip, or 40, from me she gets to share with her friends.)

Comments

[Kizz]

I love 8 & 9! Do them now, please! Also love 19 but especially 8 & 9.

[Lori]

Someone sent a singing pink gorilla telegram to our office one time, and it's something we all still talk and laugh about. If you ever do that for Logan, make sure it's on a day that you can sneak in so you don't miss out on the fun.

[kate]

I'll let you come practice organizing on my house. I'll put you up for free and bake you fresh bread everyday. With caramelized onions even. And you can make my house make sense! So generous of me (ha ha).

[Courtney]

Where would one find a vintage photo booth for rental in Michigan? That sounds like an awesome and fun idea but I'm at a loss as to where to find one...

[Nichole]

21. Do people really do that?

[Cass]

#25 - definitely important.

And even more important is Sarah's tip from her mom. I wish every woman knew this.

[Jenny]

I love this list as well as your first 25. I wish that I could have a list, but currently my only wish is to get a job before my severence runs out in August. Preferably one that allows me to still go on my trip to Ireland in June that was booked the month before (August) the economy collapsed :)

[Sonja]

I'm in the nesting period of my pregnancy and I would love to study up on professional organization. It is amazing how much of it you don't need! And with digital photography, just how are we supposed to KEEP all this stuff? I'm paralyzed and haven't printed anything in YEARS. I don't want to add to the mess!!

Finally, regarding your sexual satisfaction comment. THANK YOU! I saw the Secret Life of Mommies on Oprah and for DAYS was like, "why did they ALL have to perpetuate the stereotype that women don't enjoy sex?" If you didn't see it, don't bother. I found it depressing.

[Phil]

No. 5: Norway is a must. Austria, too. Nothing flat about those two countries, meaning lots of amazing views.

No. 21: Totally. Alone, with your hubby, or with hundreds of people. It's frikken awesome.

[Laura]

Uh... Pedophile Sympathizer? Seriously?

[MelissaS]

It was *lovely*. And sad.

[Tiffany]

I've done #16. Does it count it was split up? Seattle to Oklahoma - we moved him to OK so that we could get married, then 4 months later Oklahoma to NYC for our honeymoon.

Best couple of weeks of our lives! We had a blast, learned even more about each other (important), spent way too much money and took too many pictures. But we have a lot of stories to tell now.

[Jen]

Hmm I read (and am addicted to) a blog written by a photographer who just together with her husband took their two children to Thailand for two months. She also happens to have a DVD series out that could be your photography class... I'd recomend her DVD Out of The Green Box, $30 is pretty cheap for a photo class! :-) Not to mention the cool journal she has written about the travels... you could be reading her if you aren't already http://www.merakohblog.com/

Addicted to your blog as well :-) a daily must!

[beyond]

i love your list. maybe you should do a post about organizing. i like the snail mail bday greetings. when i get a real letter or a postcard in the mail, it makes my day!

[shawnadammit]

I just caught on to the whole nude bra under a white shirt thing in the last couple of years. Late bloomer over here.

[MelissaS]

It was 2006 for me. And By God! Maddie will know about this. Just as soon as I can say "Bra" without her having a convulsion of embarrassment.

[Shannon]

Re #13: think about home exchanging (as in that movie with Kate Winslet and Cameron Diaz). We've done it before in other countries and it is fabulous. And believe it or not, you will find folks in those countries who want to visit your city. That way you can knock off #13 and work on #24 at the same time.

[Yolanda]

How funny about #20. When you did this last week, that was the first thing that came to mind. For one year I would love to acknowledge every friend and family member's birthday with a simple card or note. That minor act of giving would make me so happy.

[Kim]

21. A must. It is the most amazing feeling. In the ocean is the best way so you need to find a warm locale where it is legal or at least remote. We did this in Maui on our honeymoon and it was the highlight. Nothing better and really no one else will care.

[Rebecca]

Fabulous list!

I get a massage once a month at Blissful Healings in Wixom. Eileen is fabulous and her rates are really reasonable.

Last month I got a full body massage and reflexology and I think I died and went to heaven it was so wonderful.

http://blissfulhealings.com/

[Heidi]

Hey - you know that 8 glasses of water a day thing is a myth? http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/04/02/eveningnews/main3991145.shtml?source=mostpop_story. I especially like this quote: "Those individuals that enjoy going to the bathroom would benefit from high fluid intake. But others definitely would not,"

[Lisa]

#21 Little known fact.. your boobs will float and look perky and great!

[Samantha]

Hint for the birthday cards (and maybe the professional organizer goal too): Buy a lot of birthday cards all at once, once a year. Get your calendar and address book. Put the person's name on the front of the envelope and their birthday where the stamp will go. Put them in order by date. Each day, grab the ones that who have birthdays that week and write in the card, put the actual address on and slap on a stamp. Pop in the mail. Very little actual effort involved past the one time a year of assigning the card and the date. I send nearly 100 cards a year and rarely miss one. Wish I could say that about anything else in my life....

I recommend expressionary.com for cheap stationery. I get fold-over notes with a picture of a cupcake or similar, personalized with "Happy Birthday from Samantha". I think it was $18/25 last time, maybe less. Do a different design every year. Or buy birthday cards in bulk from Current.

Swimming naked is lovely. But I guarantee you it will send Maddie into convulsions. I speak from experience.

[Krisha]

I love your list. And I heart you. I can't tell you how many times you've made my day. So thanks.

[Steph.]

Um, can I cheat and have your list? It sounds pretty cool to me. (grin)

[stacey]

20 is one of my perennial new year's resolutions. I have yet to do it (and have already failed for 2009) but it will be back on the list for 2010.

[sumo]

About skinny dipping: I remember as a kid my friend's mom saying how great it was. I think I gave her the are-you-nuts look and said "really?". She said it's different for girls.