Monday, February 4, 2008

Fun Monday

Our Fun Monday hostess this week is Tiggerlane and she's chosen to make us blog with our minds and not our cameras this week. (Thank goodness. I can find my mind).



She's asking us to write ( a la The Bucket List) about five things we want to do before we die. The wilder and crazier the better. Well, I don't know about wild and crazy, but here's my list.


#1. Live on the beach for a year. And by beach I mean ocean. And more than a year is okay, too. And I mean smack on the beach, as in walk across some sand and hit the waves. The kind of closeness to the water where you aren't sure if your plumbing is acting up or the tide is coming in. I'm not picky about where, although I'd prefer warm, swimmable water. I could possibly combine this with #3 and kick two buckets at once.



#2. Attend a Grand Slam tennis final. I've wanted this one for so long it's almost become a joke. That doesn't mean I don't still want it, however. I would be fine with either of the four (Australian, French, Wimbledon and the US Open), although if I had to really fess up the French would probably be my last choice. But...I do love clay court tennis, so maybe I have to take that back. The US Open has Super Saturday, which is the single best day of tennis all year, Wimbledon is...well, Wimbledon and the Australian is...well, in Australia. All my rationalizations are moot. I'd take whatever I could get.



#3. Live in another country for a year. Again, I'm pretty open minded about where. There are a lot of places I'd love to have the chance to really explore and very few locations that would automatically make me say no. My language skills are iffy, which would probably limit me. Nine years of French, travelers Spanish and the ability to cuss like a rabid sailor in Arabic probably wouldn't get me far. As long as it got me out of the country it would be far enough.



#4. Plant a really successful vegetable garden.
I don't know why something so simple has such appeal to me, but this one just keeps eluding me. We had a few gardens when I was growing up and I remember how much I enjoyed the results. (Of course, I did none of the work). My grandparents in Alabama had a big garden and I was always lobbying for my favorites to be planted. But I've never had a real vegetable garden as an adult. Either my lots were too shady or I was away too much in the summer and couldn't keep it up or some other silly thing. The kids and I have been talking about trying one this summer. We'll see.



#5. See my kids fall passionately in love. With anything, not necessarily a person, although that would be okay, too. I want to be able to watch them when they discover what it is they want to do with their lives and be there when something grabs their attention so hard they don't ever want to let it go. (And video games don't count). I don't have the idea that all of my kids need to do amazing things with their lives. I just want them to be well-loved and happy. But I truly believe that if you're doing something with your life in a field you love you're generally going to be happier than the person who hates their job but needs the paycheck. I want my kids to find that field. And I want to be there to see it.

46 comments:

the planet of janet said...

i love your list, especially wanting to see your kids fall in love. that's wonderful.

Anonymous said...

I'm all for #4. I used to raise my own tomatoes, bell peppers, onions and spent the summer canning my own special pizza sauce so we'd have great homemade pizza all winter. Our soil (where we live now) is not very friendly to those plants, plus the sun bakes everything. Great list!!

Alison said...

wonderful list...I feel the same way about my kids...that is on my list too!

Flowerpot said...

lovely list RC particularly the last one. May you achieve your dreams...

Jen said...

I adore your number five. What a marvelous thing to wish for your children! We're trying for number four this summer, but only if I can get a fence up to help keep the deer away (and the stray dogs, and the idiots on ATV's, and the kids who wander through...)

-Ann said...

I'm so with you on number 4. After my prairie disaster, I've been a little gunshy about gardening projects, but I really do want a nice garden. And a ginormous pumpkin.

Hootin Anni said...

Hmmmmmmmmm, I wanted all my life to live on the beach too....and finally made it here!! I'll never move away.

And, you're the third one this fine Monday that has the tennis Grand Slam!!! Interesting.

My Fun Monday is posted. I had a good time this week, voicing my opinions on Fun Monday.
Happy week to you.

laurie said...

those are great. nine years of french? that'll get you pretty far. at least to montreal!

you lost me at "beach," though. yuck.

give me a rainy foggy forest any day.

Jill said...

use fertilizer for your garden and be sure it gets water, weeded, thats about all it needs. onions and tomatoes seem to be pretty easy.

as far as #5 goes, woohoo! I'm so tired of defending my life (when I have 2 older brothers who have screwed up their lives royally) to this "we wanted you to be a doctor and take care of us when we got old" -- I want to scream, gee, maybe your other 2 kids could be put on the spot, or gee, maybe if you'd encouraged me to go to college, or saved for me, or ANYTHING, gee.. if only.. i'm SO GLAD that there are parents that dont make fun of their kids when they grow up and dont do exactly what they would have wanted, oh and they make these comments in front of the whole family, little kids and such, it's like GREAT, show everyone that I'M a failure, and I'm the only one that didnt have a kid out of wedlock, get divorced or almost get divorced, or marry someone i didnt love.. yeah, i'm such an AWFUL person..

Kim said...

There is something infinitely satisfying about producing delicious vegetables you can eat and feed to your family.

I love to visit the beach but I can't imagine living there. Maybe I'll just come visit you!

Diana said...

Lovely, lovely, lovely!

Of course you know how #4 hits my heart. Plant one this summer, pretty please! Put in some favorites and choose something or two that you have no expectations of (for me it'd be something like watermelon) that if it fails, you laugh and if it doesn't, you dance.

Robocop said...

Cool list. I am not sure about living in another country for a year. If I did, it would probably be Israel.

Anonymous said...

What a terrific list. Number five really hits it for me. Reading that makes me realize that I feel exactly the same way.

Cynthia said...

Pick your forign country wisely.

'Tis not always what it is cracked up to be!!

I love number 5. It really is all about our kids, isn't it?

Kimberly Vanderhorst said...

#5 just about made me cry. Beautifully put.

Simply Jenn said...

Your list is very do-able. I have a huge fear of not speaking the language (I got scared when our neighbors adopted 4 kids from Guatemala because I couldn't talk to them), so I couldn't really live too many places for a year. Unless I really learned a language of course.

Pam said...

#s 3 & 5 definitely...i'll pass on the gardening seeing as how i have a black thumb. i couldn't even take care of a small bamboo plant a friend gave me. all it needed was watering, but nope, killed it lol

Joy T. said...

Your list is great, especially #4. Trust me, I know how hard it is to grow a really good decent garden so I can relate. Especially when there are deer coming and eating said garden every year! Ok that's my garden. I'm hoping you have no deer around so your #4 is more achieveable.

Anonymous said...

Well, I know from experience that the vegetable garden is easy. Winning the Grand Slam? I was never that good at Tennis. So - you could probably beat me!

Sandy said...

I love your list, especially the last one.

My grandson is all over me about planting a garden this year. He wants to grow okra. Okra! Where did this spam-loving, okra-eating, shrimp-chomping creature come from?

Faye said...

Ah #5 strikes a chord with everyone. Natural for a mom to want her kids to be passionate about something (loved the qualifier) or someone. that''s a great quality for adults as well--makes a darn good dinner guest.

I'm with Laurie about the sunny beaches--give me gloomy any time. I'm also suspecting that there's going to be some great blogging this spring on gardening--seeing the "inner gardener" emerging on these bucket lists.

Aoj and The Lurchers said...

i don't want to make you jealous or anything but I live about a mile from the Wimbledon tennis courts! If you ever make it over, you know you'll have a bed here!

And I'm right with you on the vegetble garden.

Akelamalu said...

That's a great bucket list RC.

I full intend to see part of Wimbledon fortnight when I retire. I haven't been able to go because I can only have school holidays and Wimbledon doesn't fall within these! :(

Anonymous said...

Love the last one on your list. Definitely a must in any parents' life. And the different country sounds pretty tempting too.

Crystal xx

wakeupandsmellthecoffee said...

I love your No. 5 (and No. 1 too for that matter).

Joy T. said...

Oh good lord, I've already been here! Well. Hi again.

ellen b. said...

Oh it would be so great to live in a foreign country for a year! Love your list...

ChrisB said...

Wanting to see children and in my case grandchildren happy is high on my agenda as well. I'd like to see the US open but Wimbledon is special.
Ther is nohting quite like being able to harvest your own fruit and veg. That is one thing we miss in the house we live in now!

kitten said...

You have a great list! I'm like you, I think it's great seeing everybody's list.

Attie said...

I love no 5!! man that will make me cry!!!
We try to plant a garden every yeara..I love it...hate the weeds but with everything in life there is weeds!!

Rose said...

My list is pretty similar; and I've always loved vegetable/kitchen gardens; used to have one when the kids were little. I remember my youngest walking around in just her diaper (cloth even) with a tomato in each hand and the juice dripping down her Buddha belly! Yummy! Hope you get all you want! Wow! Lots of exclamation points here!

Jenni said...

Admittedly, I am not a sports fan, but I just don't get #2 at all. It's your bucket, though, so go for it:o) Your last item is beautiful. I think I will add that to my list as well.

Celeste said...

Great list. If you do #1 in a warm climate, let me know where and maybe I'll show up for some skinny dipping (notice my #1 on bucket list).

Serina Hope said...

I love #5. Perfect.

Sauntering Soul said...

I have the veggie garden on my list too! I can grow herbs on my back deck but (1) I rent my place so I don't feel like it's my right to start digging up the back yard and (2) I have no sun in my yard. But when I own a house someday this is on my list.

Anonymous said...

Great list! Love 1 & 3...Your last wish is great too...everyone should have something they are madly passionate about!!

Michelle said...

Wonderful list!! I hope you get them all accomplished!

Tiggerlane said...

SO glad I'm not the only one with a sporting event attendance requirement on my list. Thanks so much for participating!

Linda said...

You are obviously a sensual person - the way you describe living on the beach, and then a garden - which probably wouldn't work so well in sand, but there are alternatives. I love your list!

Pamela said...

I will go live on the ocean and grow shells with you in our gardens. (:

It is really tough (#5) when they get off course and you have to watch them fight their way back.

Irene said...

I don't know why I missed this post and you only got 40 comments on it. I must have been off someplace doing other things.

I like your list and it doesn't sound at all unreasonable. Some off these things may come true.

My wish list would have been much more unattainable and unrealistic, so I think yours is better and will probably work out for you.

Number one on my list would be one whole year without a depression. Now, that would be something to cheer about.

Princess Jewelee said...

See the kiddos in love and happy....spoken like a great mom.

You are signed up for next week.

Anonymous said...

My fave is #4. I have a small, but nice, garden every year and it produces like gangbusters. You can do amazing things in 5-gallon buckets, you know!

Carolyn said...

Great post. I wrote a "wildest dreams" list a few days ago. A cottage on a beach was one of them, travelling for a year was another and attending all four grand slams was also on the list.

The vegetable garden idea is a beautiful thing. Maybe I should add that too!

I love reading about other people's dreams... keep writing and thanks for sharing.

Kaytabug said...

Great list! I am with you on #4. Now I am talking myself out of it since we will only have one more summer here and then the summer of '09 we should be moving again. One day I WILL have my garden!!

Anonymous said...

You have a great list, i have always dreamed of living in a beech house even if its just a summer one