BUCKET LISTS

Do you have a Bucket List?  I never thought too much about it until recently.  It seems everything you read or listen to lately has a connection  to someone's bucket list.  I guess I don't have a bucket list because I always joking said I wasn't going anywhere when my time came.  I have way too much living to do to even think about dying.

But now I find myself thinking about what I would put on a bucket list.  I am not a physical type person so I don't plan on climbing Mt Everest.  I can barely climb stairs.  My younger sister told me to stop climbing like an old person.  Well, I have news for her.  I am an old person, and I've always been afraid of stairs.  I certainly have no desire to jump out of an airplane.  I grip my husband's hand on take offs and landings as it is.  When it is bumpy, I look around to see if any one else is worried.  So there is no grand physical accomplishment in my future. 

Oh I make physical goals.  Last winter, my goal was to walk from one end of the beach to the other.  Did it.  Another was to walk across the bay bridge both ways.  Did that too and felt pretty smug about it. 

I love to travel and have been lucky enough to see most of the places I wanted to see.  There are a few that are still on my list like Australia and New Zealand.  But I am not sure I could endure the long flights.  One of the trips that I have always wanted to take (so maybe a bucket list item) is a train trip through the Canadian Rockies.  We are doing that in September.

I know people who have travel goals such as seeing all the baseball parks or all the botanical gardens.  But that is too regimented for me.  I like to decide on a whim where my next trip will be. 

There are loftier goals that I could set like being remembered for my good deeds, but I will be the first to admit that I am too selfish to be a true do-gooder.  I am not willing to sacrifice my time and energy just to be honored on my death.  I am a haphazard volunteer, helping out when it suits me.  I have volunteered quite a bit over the years, but on my terms.

I have many goals for my family.  I would like to see them happy and financially secure when I leave this earth (not yet please) but I have found out over the years, that is not in my control.  I can contribute to their happiness, and Lord knows, I have contributed to their finances.  But in the end, it is up to them.  You cannot will someone to be happy, and I have come to the conclusion that some people will never be financially secure.

So I guess my bucket list is short.  I want to live out my life relatively healthy.  And I want to have my husband around so we can continue to travel, enjoy each other and our family.  I am blessed to have a life that leaves me wanting very little and believe me I thank my lucky stars every day.

Multi-tasking

We have heard that term for years now and we are familiar with the meaning.  Women these days certainly seem to be accomplished at multi-tasking though the experts tell us that it is not possible to successfully do more than one thing at a time.  Ha, tell that to mothers who have been doing it since time immemorial.  Any woman who works and maintains a home knows how to multi-task.

I do the normal tasks that it takes to run a house, be a wife, a mother, a grandmother, and a hands on great grandmother.  I am also a travel agent for the trips we take, a banker, a secretary, and an artist.  All of this is pretty normal with one exception, I am not content to read one book or plan one trip, or paint one picture at a time.

It started with reading.  I must have at least three books going at one time.  People ask me how I keep up with the plots and the answer is I don't really know, I just do.  This has been going on as long as I can remember so for me it is normal.

When I started painting, I began working on a couple of paintings at a time.  Pretty soon, it was three or four.  Currently, I have four paintings in various stages of completion.

My husband and I love to travel and I love to plan our trips.  We usually take a couple of trips a year.  As soon as I have all the plans completed for one trip, I start working on another.  I usually have plans for the current year and the following one.  Maybe I should have been a professional organizer.  The funny thing is I absolutely hate for anyone else to make plans for me.  I will not commit to anything where I have to be somewhere once a week or once a month.  No bunco or bingo clubs for me.  I don't even make my hair appointments in advance.  I just call when I'm ready.  It is really funny when you think about it.  I will go on a two week cruise planned by me, but won't go to my neighbors to play cards once a month. 

So maybe my having multiple things going at the same time is a control issue, a way to make sure that my time is under my command only.  Who knows?  Whatever the reason it works for me. 

So all you multi-taskers out there, don't let any so called experts tell you that your brain is not capable of doing more than one thing at a time.  We know better.