a friend of mine suggested the other day that i should write a bucket list. a list of things i would like to do before i kick the proverbial bucket. a compilation of dreams, goals, aspirations and ideas that would be fun to accomplish before i leave this earth for my eternal life with the Lord.
a bucket list.
i wonder if my mom had a bucket list. i wonder if my mom left this world regretting that she never went to europe, always drove the speed limit, or never took the time to cook some huge, extravagant, intimidating meal.
although she did make a killer pot of spaghetti.
i wonder why i have never wondered this until now? i think it is because of the many, many, many things my mom did do while she was still here.
she fell in love with and married her middle school sweetheart. she managed to raise two pretty super kids. she never, ever stopped learning; she was an RN, had a business administration degree and taught high school. she knew how to use a sewing machine, crochet, took tae kwon do classes, could play the guitar, scrapbooked, and knew every american idol contentestant’s life story by heart.
one thing i have learned since she passed is that i am very much like her in more ways than i would like to admit, but that my husband tells me every day. so that is what i am basing my bucket list on.
things that i want to do that stem from 1) all the genes and personality traits that my mom passed on to me and 2) little things that she never got to do.
one
spend a month in scotland
ok so i am obsessed to the craziest degree with diana gabaldon and the love story she has woven between claire and jamie in her outlander series. the whole story starts in scotland where claire falls between a cleft in two stones and travels back in time 200 years, where she meets jamie and falls in love. i’m not giving you any more details than that but i will say this.
read the stories.
also, my husband’s family comes from the scottish branch of the mclains. and scottish history, tradition and the idea of being from a “clan” is so brilliant to me that i want to learn everything about it that i possibly can. i want to tour all of the old clan castles, drink scottish whiskey, buy mclain tartan, bring home a sporran, go to all of the old battle sights and find the stones where “claire fell through”. hence the reason i want to be there a month. there is no way i can do all of that in a measley seven day vacation.
so, if i put a paypal donation button would you donate money to the “chris & skye go to scotland for a month” fund? 😉
two
crochet a baby blanket
one of the things that i brought home from my dad’s house when we kind of cleaned out mom’s stuff was her crocheting basket. she had started on a baby blanket and had worked on it for months. i would love more than anything to learn how to crochet and finish that blanket before i die. that seems kind of piddly considering i have my entire life left to do it. but i’m sure mom thought the same thing. so it is something i would like to do.
three
make sourdough bread
in my humble opinion, there is nothing more delicious than a crusty, warm loaf of sourdough bread smeared with butter (and nutella. if i’m feeling feisty, you know.)
i think they only thing that would make it taste better is knowing that i created the starter, remembered to feed it, lovingly kneaded it and rolled it into a loaf and baked it in my own oven.
four
get my master’s degree
my mother was a professional student. had someone paid her to take classes and learn something she would have found her dream professsion. there are only a few years of my life growing up that i know she wasn’t in school. i vividly remember having dinner on tuesday nights with my dad at winn dixie in gladewater while my mom was in night school at letourneau (which, not surprisingly, is the same night school i went to in order to get my bachelors).
i have no idea what i would go back to school for which is partly the reason i haven’t done it yet. i want to get a master’s in business administration with a focus on either human resources or marketing. i would love to get a master of theological studies at smu. or maybe i should just take some continuing ed classes at the local university to fill the need i have to learn something which i think is the real desire. i just want to always learn and try new things. it was something my mother was very good at and definitely instilled a love for in me.
five
live on a lake
i love the sound of water lapping up against the side of a wooden dock, extended out over a murky blue-green lake with little ripples of activity buzzing all over it. i love the smell of fresh air and the feel of that wind you can only get from sitting lakeside when it blows my hair back and cools the hot texas sun off my skin. i love the peaceful time in the morning, sitting at a rusty table with a big spiderweb between the legs of the chair, sipping hot creamy coffee and watching the stillness of the water for the abrupt interupting fish that daringly jumps out after a tempting bug.
i want a house, on a lake, with a screened in back porch and a huge second story balcony where i can sit and read the paper in the mornings and watch the boats dash by in the afternoon.
what is on your bucket list, friend?
That is a great top 5 bucket list. 🙂 Oooo if you go to scottland, I have four words for you. Take me with you. Haha, jk. That does seem like a fun place to go though.
I wish we lived closer. I could teach you how to crochet. 🙂 I crocheted a blanket for my youngest son and i'm working on a blanket for my oldest son.
All the things you want to do sound great, especially the living on the lake part. Love it! Just rememer you can do anything you set your mind too.
"God wouldn't give you the ability to dream without the ability to make your dreams come true"
That's my favorite quote. 🙂
i want to live on a lake! in top of a mountain! i am serious here. i thought, i love mountains and lakes… is there a place with a lake on top of a mountain? if so i want to live there..
i am already praying that God will create that place for me in heaven so i can live there. because really, how awesome.
I think it's great to have a bucket list. Have you seen the movie? I really love the part where Morgan Freeman tells Jack Nicholson the story about how the Egyptians thought you'd enter the afterlife.
The thought was that Thoth (the Egyptian scribe of the gods) would place your heart on a scale after your death, with a feather on the other end. A heart heavy with regret or wrongdoing would be eaten by a crocodile. A heart light with good deeds and truth would balance, and you'd be allowed through.
Anyhow, the term bucket list always brings that to mind. I've got a list of 100 things I want to do before I kick off, #1 is to visit all 7 continents. I've got some work to do, as I've only done 2 so far!
Not sure what is on my bucket list, I've never thought about it. But I am happy with my life so far so no regrets. You could totally cross off the bread and blanket by the end of the summer!
So…you are going to sign up for the classes I'm taking this summer so I'm not alone?!
This is a great idea! So many things I want to do. Number 5 is the one that you and I share! 🙂 going brainstorming….