I won't go into a lot of detail about these now. I really just want to put them down on "paper" so I will be reminded of them frequently.
1. Establish a better exercise routine. I was actually doing pretty well with this last year until my favorite aerobics class at the gym was moved to an inconvenient time and I was left to make my own weight-lifting routine. I went some but it was intermittent and I need to do better this year.
2. Get the house ready to sell. As we look to the future and hope to move to Alabama in the next 18 months (job market allowing), I need to get some painting, organizing, cleaning, and throwing away done. I started with J's room and it has been mostly freed of old toys, clothes, and furniture. (Too bad all that stuff is now just piled up in my guest room.) But hey - J's room looks amazing and SO CLEAN! The next two rooms to tackle are my bedroom and the kitchen. It isn't pleasant but it must be done.
3. Pay down our debt as much as possible. With job security being unpredictable, I will continue to pay down our debt with any available extra money I can find. This isn't really a resolution, I guess, so much as an on-going venture. I sometimes yearn for the vacations and big screen TVs and even some smaller trinkets and treasures that I see all around me but know that the bulk of our money must go to grad school loans, mortgage payments, and private school tuition for J among other debt. It really only takes one look into little J's eyes to know why we work hard for the money that we can't even keep. We strive to make a better future for the apple of our eyes.
4. Spend more time on my hobbies without feeling guilty. I have a wonderful husband. I know lots of women say that but it is true. He will let me run off to pursue things I want to do at any time. The problem? I feel terribly guilty about it most of the time. Too much time away from home or too much money or J isn't good while I am away and I should have been there to help. Whatever the thought at the time - it is always the same outcome... Guilt. I am going to try this year to take some time just for me and not let guilt seep into my thoughts.
5. Have at least 2 nights per week and at least one weekend day per month when I do something with J - just the two of us. Whether it is sharing a meal at our local pizza joint and playing a few video games, taking in a movie, playing a board game, or visiting some of our favorites places like the Children's Museum, the Zoo, or the Botanic Gardens, I want to spend some time with J alone to bond with him before he decides he isn't interested in time alone with Mommy. Additionally, this gives Daddy some much-needed downtime and time with his friends - both good things as well.
6. Have at least one date night per month with Doug. It is very hard to carve out time alone with your spouse with a little one constantly under foot. However, while it is important to do things alone with J, it is equally important to have some adult time alone too. Even if it is just a couple of hours to go watch a movie while J is home with a sitter, it is nice to just get away sometimes. I've already planned a Date Weekend for February and arranged for all-weekend babysitting. It doesn't get any better than that!
7. Pursue new hobbies. Last year, some friends and we started a small film project. I would like to see this through with the final editing of our first short documentary this year. This will require a lot of work but it is nice to know that even as I approach 40, this old dog can still learn a few new tricks. I would also like to try some new craft projects and techniques over the next year.
8. Try to make more of my gifts I give. I love handmade gifts. These are the gifts that, I believe, truly express how much a person cares. Now, that isn't to say that everyone should make their gifts. There are lots of people who don't enjoy this sort of thing and this endeavor isn't for them. However, for me, there is nothing more personal I could give to someone than a gift I spent my time making specifically for that person. So, along with the cooperation and creative collaboration with a friend of mine, we are endeavoring to have a Homemade Christmas where a large part of the gifts we give are hand made. Now, if I can just find time to complete a quarter of the ideas we've come up with!
13 January 2009
New Year's Resolutions - Review of 2008
Well, in looking back, I didn't comment on my 2008 New Year's Resolutions past the 6 months mark. So, might as well review those before setting new ones.
1. Start getting up earlier in the morning (ugh) to allow time for exercise and to make J a healthy breakfast. I don't know why I set unrealistic goals for myself. I am not a morning person. I am not going to exercise in the morning because I feel awful every morning and I hate to exercise. Those are two things that shouldn't be combined. However, I saw the difference last year in how I felt when I was exercising and how I felt when I wasn't. So, this year I hope to do better. As for J's breakfast, I continue to buy healthy alternatives for him to encourage him starting his day with something healthy.
2. Paint at least one room in my house (my bedroom, the guest bathroom, and/or the guest room/playroom) and hire someone to paint my kitchen. Well, Joel's bathroom was the only room accomplished last year but we did complete his room this month (with a lot of help from our very dear and overly-generous friends). I'll continue with my efforts to get the whole house painted this year with a lot of help from those same wonderful friends who have already offered to help me paint my kitchen and master bedroom next month. God love 'em!
3. Make my front flowerbeds look presentable. Mostly thanks to my dad, my flower beds look pretty great. I'll need to do a little tending and replanting work this year to keep these looking good but the amount of work will be nothing compared to last year's now that the new brick edging has been installed to actually keep the dirt inside the bed and not floating down the sidewalk.
4. Lose some weight - any amount will do. This was my bust for last year. I lost about 5 pounds all year. I really shifted this resolution about half-way through the year to a focus more on fitness than on weight loss but, either way, I think I failed. I am hoping to be more dedicated to it this year.
15 December 2008
From the mouths of babes
I often tease J that he is an 82 year old man in a 4 year old body. He complains of back aches to get out of going to school and claims he can barely stand up unassisted when I try to get him dressed. He also says things that no little man ought to say.
We were walking through the grocery store last Friday night when he put his hand on mine as I was pushing the grocery cart. "Mimi," he said in that sweet voice of his, "do you wish I was still a baby?" I paused a minute, considering the question. "Only occasionally," I said. "I do miss you cuddling with me every night." He thought for a moment then said, "You can cuddle with me whenever you want but time has a way of changing." He then got distracted by the vast choices in cereal and pursued a more important discussion on why I should buy some sugar-encrusted cereal instead of the one in my hand.
Another point of interest lately for me is his desire to call me "Mimi" instead of "Mommy." He started this one day after we were having a conversation about names that went something like this:
J: "Mommy, why did you name me J----?"
Me: "Well, my grandfather who meant a great deal to me AND your daddy's grandfather were both named J----. We thought it would be a good name and a strong name for you to live up to and would also honor those people we loved."
J: "I wish you had named me George."
Me: "Why?"
J: "Because I love my PaPa." (J's grandfather is named George.)
Me: "That would have been a good name as well. You are right about that."
J: "Can I call you any name I want like you called me any name you wanted?"
Me: "That depends." (I was leary at this point.)
J: "I want to call you Mimi because no one else calls their Mommy Mimi."
Seems reasonable enough. So, about a third of the time now, I am Mimi and the rest of the time I suspect he forgets and I am Mommy. It is actually quite adorable when he says it. I doubt it will last long but you never know.
It's funny to me how that little mind works. Things that just don't occur to me on a daily basis are issues of great import to him. I wish I could crawl into that little old soul and just see what's going on in that brain for an hour or two. I imagine it would go something like this with topics changing about every 6 seconds: Star Wars fight - I'm hungry - Want to watch Curious George - Can I have candy? - Why am I named what I am? - Ghostbusters! - I'm hungry - Would you please? Could you please? Please won't you be my neighbor? - Fruit Snacks! Where are they? - "Daddy!" - Where are my Batman figures I just got? - Where is my magic wand? - There's Daddy! - "Let's play Star Wars." - I want to be Peter Pan. - and on and on and on and.......
We were walking through the grocery store last Friday night when he put his hand on mine as I was pushing the grocery cart. "Mimi," he said in that sweet voice of his, "do you wish I was still a baby?" I paused a minute, considering the question. "Only occasionally," I said. "I do miss you cuddling with me every night." He thought for a moment then said, "You can cuddle with me whenever you want but time has a way of changing." He then got distracted by the vast choices in cereal and pursued a more important discussion on why I should buy some sugar-encrusted cereal instead of the one in my hand.
Another point of interest lately for me is his desire to call me "Mimi" instead of "Mommy." He started this one day after we were having a conversation about names that went something like this:
J: "Mommy, why did you name me J----?"
Me: "Well, my grandfather who meant a great deal to me AND your daddy's grandfather were both named J----. We thought it would be a good name and a strong name for you to live up to and would also honor those people we loved."
J: "I wish you had named me George."
Me: "Why?"
J: "Because I love my PaPa." (J's grandfather is named George.)
Me: "That would have been a good name as well. You are right about that."
J: "Can I call you any name I want like you called me any name you wanted?"
Me: "That depends." (I was leary at this point.)
J: "I want to call you Mimi because no one else calls their Mommy Mimi."
Seems reasonable enough. So, about a third of the time now, I am Mimi and the rest of the time I suspect he forgets and I am Mommy. It is actually quite adorable when he says it. I doubt it will last long but you never know.
It's funny to me how that little mind works. Things that just don't occur to me on a daily basis are issues of great import to him. I wish I could crawl into that little old soul and just see what's going on in that brain for an hour or two. I imagine it would go something like this with topics changing about every 6 seconds: Star Wars fight - I'm hungry - Want to watch Curious George - Can I have candy? - Why am I named what I am? - Ghostbusters! - I'm hungry - Would you please? Could you please? Please won't you be my neighbor? - Fruit Snacks! Where are they? - "Daddy!" - Where are my Batman figures I just got? - Where is my magic wand? - There's Daddy! - "Let's play Star Wars." - I want to be Peter Pan. - and on and on and on and.......
11 November 2008
A Little Sponge
I am often astounded at how fast kids learn. One minute they are bundled up in your arms, fresh from the hospital, and the next they are writing and reading. The time flies by too quickly and yet, it makes me swell with pride.
J has always been an enthusiastic learner and yet, now that he is learning to read and write, it seems he can't learn fast enough to quench his thirst for more. He truly is a sponge just absorbing everything around him. This weekend he wanted to "play a game" with me. The game consisted of him thinking of words, asking me how to spell them, and him writing them on a dry erase board. We did this for about an hour before I had to leave to go somewhere and had to promise him that Daddy would take over where I left off.
As he learns Spanish, sign language, and computers in conjunction with reading and writing in K4, it is no secret that he will be far more educated than his parents in no time at all. I fear the day when I am unable to help him with his homework because it is just beyond my capabilities. By starting computer classes at age 2 while I started at age 15, how far along will he be by the time he reaches age 15? Also, what of the kids who aren't in good schools and don't have the advantages that he does. Do they get completely left behind when it comes time to apply to colleges and get good jobs? By the time J graduates from high school, he will have 16 years of computer classes under his belt not to mention untold hours of educational computer programs at home (even if he calls them "games" also).
It is a changing world and I am thankful J has the resources available to him to compete when he gets older. I only hope that he can look back and remember all the fun stuff as well - even if the "fun stuff" to him involves spelling words on a dry erase board. At least I bought him a dry erase board with Batman on it.
J has always been an enthusiastic learner and yet, now that he is learning to read and write, it seems he can't learn fast enough to quench his thirst for more. He truly is a sponge just absorbing everything around him. This weekend he wanted to "play a game" with me. The game consisted of him thinking of words, asking me how to spell them, and him writing them on a dry erase board. We did this for about an hour before I had to leave to go somewhere and had to promise him that Daddy would take over where I left off.
As he learns Spanish, sign language, and computers in conjunction with reading and writing in K4, it is no secret that he will be far more educated than his parents in no time at all. I fear the day when I am unable to help him with his homework because it is just beyond my capabilities. By starting computer classes at age 2 while I started at age 15, how far along will he be by the time he reaches age 15? Also, what of the kids who aren't in good schools and don't have the advantages that he does. Do they get completely left behind when it comes time to apply to colleges and get good jobs? By the time J graduates from high school, he will have 16 years of computer classes under his belt not to mention untold hours of educational computer programs at home (even if he calls them "games" also).
It is a changing world and I am thankful J has the resources available to him to compete when he gets older. I only hope that he can look back and remember all the fun stuff as well - even if the "fun stuff" to him involves spelling words on a dry erase board. At least I bought him a dry erase board with Batman on it.
22 September 2008
100 Things To Do Before I Die - part 2
Last year I posted my master list of things I want to do and places I want to see before I shuffle off this mortal coil. Recently I got to cross off one more item from this list and I enjoyed it so much, I hope to go again as often as possible in the future. The newly-completed goal is number 47 - raft on a level four rapid. Doug and I went to Chattanooga for a long weekend and ventured over to the Ocoee River for a morning of white water rafting. Doug was a little nervous having never been before but the rafting bug bit him and, by the time we reached the final rapid that morning, he was already talking about "our next rafting trip." I can't wait!! The rapid fire level four rapids were exciting and make me crave more of the same.
I've highlighted my newly accomplished goal and duplicated the entire list here as a reminder of what I want to choose next. After all, I still hope to complete a minimum of 15 of these before I turn 40. Now just two more to reach that goal (which makes me wish I had challenged myself to 20 before age 40!).
Original list from 2000:
1. Graduate from college (completed December 17, 1993)
2. Marry my Prince Charming (wedding date August 10, 1996)
3. Take an Alaskan cruise (dream vacation started August 11, 1996 - honeymoon!)
4. Buy a new home (contract signed to start construction on November 19, 1999)
5. Get all of my photos into scrapbooks (completed in August 2002 - I stayed caught up for three days until I started a new roll of film and haven't been caught up again since. The 17 rolls of film in Las Vegas, the Hoover Dam, and the Grand Canyon one month later certainly didn't help!)
6. Finish at least 20 scrapbooks (currently have 13 complete and 4 in process)
7. Pay off all bills and buy something fun
8. Lose 25 pounds (now I need to modify this to lose at least 40 pounds but 25 would be a start!)
9. See the Grand Canyon (completed September 2002)
10. Go to a weekend scrapbooking retreat or convention (first one was in May of 2001 and I've been to several since)
11. Have a child (My beautiful little J arrived on April 3, 2004)
12. See another Broadway show (saw my first one while in high school and saw the equivalent of one in London but am always up for another)
13. Adopt a puppy (This one would probably fall off my list now as I've seen the trouble they are for people who like to travel even for a weekend.)
14. Be a Stay at Home Mom (I would love this so much more now than I ever thought possible when I wrote this.)
15. Take Doug to the Smithsonian Museums (Although I've been 4 or 5 times, Doug hasn't been yet and I think that is a tragedy as much as he likes history and museums.)
16. See all 50 US states (29 down, 21 to go! Airports or just driving through don't count - I have to stay the night and/or see at least one "site.")
17. Buy a new car (not "previously owned" - I know this is extremely wasteful and frivolous but just once it would be nice to own a car that has never belonged to anyone else.)
18.Take a photography course
19. Learn to paint
20. See Mt. Rushmore
21. Visit a volcano
22. Ride in a hot air balloon
23. Visit Yellowstone National Park
24. Ride in a helicopter
25. Take a cooking course
26. Watch a sunset from Central Park (I've been to Central Park but would just like to stop the frantic sight-seeing and enjoy the sun setting over the city's impressive skyline.)
27. Have three months' salary in savings
28. Take a vacation with Doug, Mom, Dad, Sam, and Sandra (completed in September 2002 with our trip to Las Vegas, the Hoover Dam, and the Grand Canyon and again in May 2007 with J's first trip to Gulf Shores, AL to see the beach)
29. Visit Russia
30. See the Hollywood sign
31. Visit New England in the Fall
32. Celebrate 10 years of marriage (completed August 10, 2006)
33. Spend a whole week at a Bed and Breakfast (Doug and I spent a weekend at one years ago and it whet my appetite for sure.)
34. Ride a train through Europe
35. Smile and laugh more often (Someone asked me, "How will you document this one in a scrapbook." I have no idea but it is a wonderful goal to have each and every day.)
36. Snow ski
37. Visit Ireland
38. Go on another cruise (anywhere!)
39. Visit Vancouver again (Doug and I only had one night in Vancouver on our honeymoon and we really want to see more of it.)
40. Visit Germany (my dream vacation destination)
41. Own a piano
42. Celebrate 25 years of marriage (only 14 more to go!)
43. Celebrate 50 years of marriage (only 39 more to go!)
44. Retire while I am still young and healthy enough to travel and enjoy myself
Items added in 2005:
45. Ride the hills of San Francisco on a streetcar
46. Attend a TV show taping
47. Go white water rafting on a level 4 rapid (the most difficult one I've been on is a 3)
48. Meet someone famous
49. Go sailing (I went once on a little catamaran but neither me nor the other person aboard knew what we were doing and generally just fell off the thing a lot.)
50. Swim with the dolphins
51. Ride in a go cart
52. Go scuba diving or snorkeling
53. Visit a spa for a massage (Completed with Doug in Memphis in the Summer of 2006 and again at the Marriott in Florence, AL in August 2006.)
54. See the lights of Christmas in Manhattan
55. Go horse back riding (I haven't ridden a horse since I was a teenager.)
56. See the Great Pyramid in Giza, Egypt
57. See the Aurora Borealis
58. Ride on the Orient Express
59. Learn to dance
60. Learn to fire a gun (I haven't fired a gun since I was a kid at my grandfather's house.)
61. Learn a martial art
62. Go to Australia
63. Learn to knit (I tried this once already and failed miserably so I'll have to give it another go sometime.)
64. See the Great Wall of China
65. Take the Sound of Music Tour in Salzburg
66. Drive or ride on US 1 - the Pacific Coast Highway - in California
67. Get my kicks on Route 66 (While I've been on parts of Route 66, I would love to drive the length of it from Chicago to Los Angeles/Santa Monica.)
68. Enjoy every moment with J
69. Be serenaded by a Venetian gondolier (Unfortunately the gondolier in the Venetian casino in Las Vegas just didn't satisfy this desire.)
70. Ride a mule to the bottom of the Grand Canyon (I traded a ride in a Cessna over the Grand Canyon for this the last time. I won't make that trade off next time.)
71. Gaze upon a magnificent waterfall. (I've seen several waterfalls but none that seem to qualify for this awe-inspiring goal. I guess I'll know the right one when I see it.)
72. Eat a hot dog at Nathan's original Coney Island location
73. Visit Seattle
74. Attend Gospel Brunch at the House of Blues
75. Visit the Art Institute of Chicago (completed September 2006 - our favorite place on our Chicago Anniversary trip)
76. Ride a mechanical bull
77. Stay in a teepee at the Wigwam Village in Cave City, KY
The beginnings of my list for 2010:
78. Shop Munich's Christkindlmarkt
79. See the Neuschwanstein Castle in Füssen
80. Go to Oktoberfest in Munich
81. Eat at Mrs. Wilkes' Boarding House in Savannah, GA
82. Stay at Gravetye Manor in Grinstead
83. Stay at the Kinloch Lodge on the Isle of Skye
84. Kiss the Blarney Stone
85. Drive the Grossglockner Road in Austria
86. Eat a chocolate at Mary Chocolatier in Brussels, Belgium - the premier shop for chocolate in the world
87. Travel the Romantic Road in Bavaria
88. Take Doug to the Sopporo Snow Festival and the Tsukiji Fish Market
89. Stay at Mackinac Island's Grand Hotel
90. See the trail one of my ancestors trekked - The Lewis and Clark Trail
91. Go to Carnival in Rio de Janeiro
92. See the Acropolis in Athens, Greece
93. Visit Santa's Village in Rovaniemi, Lapland, Finland
Edited to add number 94. Play paintball.
I've highlighted my newly accomplished goal and duplicated the entire list here as a reminder of what I want to choose next. After all, I still hope to complete a minimum of 15 of these before I turn 40. Now just two more to reach that goal (which makes me wish I had challenged myself to 20 before age 40!).
Original list from 2000:
1. Graduate from college (completed December 17, 1993)
2. Marry my Prince Charming (wedding date August 10, 1996)
3. Take an Alaskan cruise (dream vacation started August 11, 1996 - honeymoon!)
4. Buy a new home (contract signed to start construction on November 19, 1999)
5. Get all of my photos into scrapbooks (completed in August 2002 - I stayed caught up for three days until I started a new roll of film and haven't been caught up again since. The 17 rolls of film in Las Vegas, the Hoover Dam, and the Grand Canyon one month later certainly didn't help!)
6. Finish at least 20 scrapbooks (currently have 13 complete and 4 in process)
7. Pay off all bills and buy something fun
8. Lose 25 pounds (now I need to modify this to lose at least 40 pounds but 25 would be a start!)
9. See the Grand Canyon (completed September 2002)
10. Go to a weekend scrapbooking retreat or convention (first one was in May of 2001 and I've been to several since)
11. Have a child (My beautiful little J arrived on April 3, 2004)
12. See another Broadway show (saw my first one while in high school and saw the equivalent of one in London but am always up for another)
13. Adopt a puppy (This one would probably fall off my list now as I've seen the trouble they are for people who like to travel even for a weekend.)
14. Be a Stay at Home Mom (I would love this so much more now than I ever thought possible when I wrote this.)
15. Take Doug to the Smithsonian Museums (Although I've been 4 or 5 times, Doug hasn't been yet and I think that is a tragedy as much as he likes history and museums.)
16. See all 50 US states (29 down, 21 to go! Airports or just driving through don't count - I have to stay the night and/or see at least one "site.")
17. Buy a new car (not "previously owned" - I know this is extremely wasteful and frivolous but just once it would be nice to own a car that has never belonged to anyone else.)
18.Take a photography course
19. Learn to paint
20. See Mt. Rushmore
21. Visit a volcano
22. Ride in a hot air balloon
23. Visit Yellowstone National Park
24. Ride in a helicopter
25. Take a cooking course
26. Watch a sunset from Central Park (I've been to Central Park but would just like to stop the frantic sight-seeing and enjoy the sun setting over the city's impressive skyline.)
27. Have three months' salary in savings
28. Take a vacation with Doug, Mom, Dad, Sam, and Sandra (completed in September 2002 with our trip to Las Vegas, the Hoover Dam, and the Grand Canyon and again in May 2007 with J's first trip to Gulf Shores, AL to see the beach)
29. Visit Russia
30. See the Hollywood sign
31. Visit New England in the Fall
32. Celebrate 10 years of marriage (completed August 10, 2006)
33. Spend a whole week at a Bed and Breakfast (Doug and I spent a weekend at one years ago and it whet my appetite for sure.)
34. Ride a train through Europe
35. Smile and laugh more often (Someone asked me, "How will you document this one in a scrapbook." I have no idea but it is a wonderful goal to have each and every day.)
36. Snow ski
37. Visit Ireland
38. Go on another cruise (anywhere!)
39. Visit Vancouver again (Doug and I only had one night in Vancouver on our honeymoon and we really want to see more of it.)
40. Visit Germany (my dream vacation destination)
41. Own a piano
42. Celebrate 25 years of marriage (only 14 more to go!)
43. Celebrate 50 years of marriage (only 39 more to go!)
44. Retire while I am still young and healthy enough to travel and enjoy myself
Items added in 2005:
45. Ride the hills of San Francisco on a streetcar
46. Attend a TV show taping
47. Go white water rafting on a level 4 rapid (the most difficult one I've been on is a 3)
48. Meet someone famous
49. Go sailing (I went once on a little catamaran but neither me nor the other person aboard knew what we were doing and generally just fell off the thing a lot.)
50. Swim with the dolphins
51. Ride in a go cart
52. Go scuba diving or snorkeling
53. Visit a spa for a massage (Completed with Doug in Memphis in the Summer of 2006 and again at the Marriott in Florence, AL in August 2006.)
54. See the lights of Christmas in Manhattan
55. Go horse back riding (I haven't ridden a horse since I was a teenager.)
56. See the Great Pyramid in Giza, Egypt
57. See the Aurora Borealis
58. Ride on the Orient Express
59. Learn to dance
60. Learn to fire a gun (I haven't fired a gun since I was a kid at my grandfather's house.)
61. Learn a martial art
62. Go to Australia
63. Learn to knit (I tried this once already and failed miserably so I'll have to give it another go sometime.)
64. See the Great Wall of China
65. Take the Sound of Music Tour in Salzburg
66. Drive or ride on US 1 - the Pacific Coast Highway - in California
67. Get my kicks on Route 66 (While I've been on parts of Route 66, I would love to drive the length of it from Chicago to Los Angeles/Santa Monica.)
68. Enjoy every moment with J
69. Be serenaded by a Venetian gondolier (Unfortunately the gondolier in the Venetian casino in Las Vegas just didn't satisfy this desire.)
70. Ride a mule to the bottom of the Grand Canyon (I traded a ride in a Cessna over the Grand Canyon for this the last time. I won't make that trade off next time.)
71. Gaze upon a magnificent waterfall. (I've seen several waterfalls but none that seem to qualify for this awe-inspiring goal. I guess I'll know the right one when I see it.)
72. Eat a hot dog at Nathan's original Coney Island location
73. Visit Seattle
74. Attend Gospel Brunch at the House of Blues
75. Visit the Art Institute of Chicago (completed September 2006 - our favorite place on our Chicago Anniversary trip)
76. Ride a mechanical bull
77. Stay in a teepee at the Wigwam Village in Cave City, KY
The beginnings of my list for 2010:
78. Shop Munich's Christkindlmarkt
79. See the Neuschwanstein Castle in Füssen
80. Go to Oktoberfest in Munich
81. Eat at Mrs. Wilkes' Boarding House in Savannah, GA
82. Stay at Gravetye Manor in Grinstead
83. Stay at the Kinloch Lodge on the Isle of Skye
84. Kiss the Blarney Stone
85. Drive the Grossglockner Road in Austria
86. Eat a chocolate at Mary Chocolatier in Brussels, Belgium - the premier shop for chocolate in the world
87. Travel the Romantic Road in Bavaria
88. Take Doug to the Sopporo Snow Festival and the Tsukiji Fish Market
89. Stay at Mackinac Island's Grand Hotel
90. See the trail one of my ancestors trekked - The Lewis and Clark Trail
91. Go to Carnival in Rio de Janeiro
92. See the Acropolis in Athens, Greece
93. Visit Santa's Village in Rovaniemi, Lapland, Finland
Edited to add number 94. Play paintball.
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