The Bucket List

It's been a whirlwind of activity since I returned from Italy. In the month I've been back I've had a fabulous birthday party, gone to Indianapolis and Austin for robotics competitions, moved into a new apartment, had my best freiend from NY come to visit, and gone back to NY to spend a weekend in the mountains with family. The last few days are the first time I've sat down and had a moment to breath since I got back.
It's been a rainy few days in Texas and I've run out of motivation to do the small final touches to my apartment. So last night I turned on the TV and the movie "The Bucket List" was on. I saw this movie when it first came out in 2007 but haven't seen it since. I have to say watching it now after watching 2 of my closest family members battle cancer (and 4 other more distant family members) it is a totally different experience. There were a few times I had to turn it off, but after a few minutes I would pull it together and turn it back on again. It put me right back into the moments again of being in the hospital, watching my dad be so sick, and sitting next to him in bed in the days before his death. Some of the scenes of Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman struggling during treatment in the middle of the night were too haunting for me to even watch.
But being in Italy and watching this movie again made me think about all the things I want to do before I die. At this point my family history includes pretty much the whole list of things they ask you about and it's a little scary. I remembered in college I started a list so I went on my computer to see if I could find it again, and lo and behold there it was. Here is what it said:

1. Meet Dar Williams
2.  Learn how to play a Dar Williams song on the guitar
3.  Graduate from Clarkson
4.  Beat my Depression
5.  Learn how to do a cartwheel
6. Go parachuting
7.  Learn how to surf
8. Snorkel the great barrier reef
9. Make girls more interested in technology
10. Grow up to be as amazing as my mom, Karen Hands, and Mrs. Funk
11. Learn how to function when I am single
    
    
    
    So far I can check off 1, 3, 5, and 9ish (I still have a lot more to go).

    10 is pretty much an on going thing :) and 11, well 11 haunted me a little when I read it.

    4 was also really interesting to me. While I certainly will never get rid of it, I have learned a lot of

    coping skills so that on a daily basis it is not crippling like it was in the past.

    So I fel like now I really need 2 bucket lists. One traveling list, and one "other" list. So here is goes:

    Travel List:

1. Greece
2. Paris
3. London
4. Dublin
5. Australia
6. Germany
7. Switzerland
8. Monaco
9. Prague
10. Poland
11. Peru
12. Brazil
13. Alaska
14. Seattle
15. Phoenix
16. LA
17. Napa Valley
18. Hawaii
19. Hilton Head, SC
20. Memphis
21. Nashville
22. Mount Rushmore (on the 4th of July)

Other List:

1. Be the best friend and family member I can be
2. Continue to learn and grow as a teacher
3. Win a robotics world championship :-p
4. Have a family of my own
5. Be in a relationship where there is mutual love and respect
6. Run a half 5K/10K/marathon
7. Do a 3-Day Breast Cancer walk
8. Lean another language (Italian maybe?)
9. Go to Austin City Limits
10. Swim with the dolphins
11. Swim with the manatees (doing this in September)
12. Take a hot air balloon ride
13. Stomp grapes for wine
14. Get my Masters (so close)
15. Own a house
16. Have a hot tub