Life List

My sister has this idea in her head that everyone should have a life list. I think she got the idea from Ellen (you know, of the Degeneres variety).  Although she would probably claim that Ellen got the idea from her.  Anyway, she says that everyone should have a list of things that they want to do before they die, so that they can have something to work for.  Hers is posted here.  As you can see, she's got alot to do in this lifetime if she goes by the list, so she'd better get crackin'.

I don't have too much on mine yet.  As always, I overanalyze and think myself into a hole.  I've been working on it, but I want to have things that are totally doable no matter what kind of life I end up having ... whether I end up as a Madison wife with a huge SUV, several kids, and a whole lot of Jr League projects, or as a missionary somewhere on the other side of the world. (Note: Missionary is MUCH more likely. NO offense to all of you Madison moms out there, but it's not what I have in mind). I want to have things on my list that are things that make ME proud, not necessarily because they'll make everyone else proud.  They've gotta be things that I ENJOY, not things that I feel like I just need or have to do.  It's gotta be a list that excites me and doesnt burden me. This is why my list is short.

Here's what I've got so far:

1. Travel to Austria with Nate, because he has told me for years that its the most beautiful place he's ever been.
2. Travel to the beaches of N/S Carolina, because those are the beaches Nate loved when he was little.
3. Have lots of babies, whether natural or adopted.
4. Learn the catechism, since I never did when I was little, and teach it to my children when they're young.
5. Read every work written/published by Kurt Vonnegut
6. Read every work written/published by John Steinbeck.

And just in case you were wondering what Nos. 5 and 6 entail....

Works Written by Kurt Vonnegut:

A Man Without a Country (2005)
Bagombo Snuff Box (1999)
Between Time and Timbuktu (1972)
Bluebeard (1987)
Breakfast of Champions (1973)
Canary in a Cathouse (1961)
Cat's Cradle (1963)
Deadeye Dick (1982)
Fates Worse than Death (1990)
Galápagos (1985)
God Bless You, Dr. Kevorkian (1999)
God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater (1965)
Happy Birthday, Wanda June (1970)
Hocus Pocus (1990)
Jailbird (1979)
L'Histoire du Soldat (1993)
Make Up Your Mind (1993)
Miss Temptation (1993)
Mother Night (1961)
Palm Sunday (1981)
Player Piano (1952)
Slapstick (1976)
Slaughterhouse-Five (1969)
The Sirens of Titan (1959)
Timequake (1997)
Wampeters, Foma and Granfalloons (1974)
Welcome to the Monkey House (1968)

Works Written by John Steinbeck:

A Russian Journal (1948)
America and Americans (1966)
Bombs Away: The Story of a Bomber Team (1942)
Burning Bright (1950)
Cannery Row (1945)
Cup of Gold (1929)
East of Eden (1952)
Forgotten Village (1941)
In Dubious Battle (1936)
Journal of a Novel: The East of Eden Letters (1969)
Of Mice and Men (1937)
Once There Was A War (1958)
Sweet Thursday (1954)
The Grapes of Wrath (1939)
The Harvest Gypsies: On the Road to the Grapes of Wrath (1936)
The Log from the Sea of Cortez (1941)
The Long Valley (1938)
The Moon Is Down (1942)
The Pastures of Heaven (1932)
The Pearl (1947)
The Red Pony (1933)
The Short Reign of Pippin IV (1957)
The Wayward Bus (1947)
The Winter of Our Discontent (1961)
To a God Unknown (1933)
Tortilla Flat (1935)
Travels With Charley: In Search of America (1962)