Everyone’s heard of a bucket list: things you want to do before you die. But that’s so morbid. Somehow I stumbled across Mighty Girl’s Mighty Summit, which is “an annual retreat structured around the idea of creating a better life. We’re asking all of our attendees to draw up Mighty Lists — lists of about 100 things they’d like to do in their lifetimes — and share them with each other over the course of the weekend. Too often we move forward in our daily lives without making time for our passions. Mighty Summit is about establishing life goals, reflecting, relaxing, and networking with others doing the same.”

I was inspired! One hundred things I’d like to do in my lifetime? YES! One hundred things to do before I die? Hrm. Well, since I procrastinate, things could get kind of interesting in my 90′s.

I’ll be applying to go to the Mighty Summit for 2011 (I mean, it’s held WHERE I LIVE. Either I’m meant to go or that’s just a cool coincidence.), but in the meantime I also wanted a Mighty List. Things that I always think, I’d love to do that, or, That’d be cool! You know. That stuff.

So here’s my list. I’m not at 100 things yet, but I’m getting there. I’ll add to this as I think of things. Maybe one day I’ll even display it like this.

1. Have at least 2 children (1 down, 1 to go!)
2. Help a child that’s not mine learn to read
3. Rescue an abandoned dog
4. Visit France
5. Visit Italy
6. Become proficient enough in French to carry on a conversation (again)
7. Visit 100 wineries in Sonoma County
8. Sew a quilt
9. Learn to photograph only in manual
10. Learn to pick a lock
11. Go camping with my family
12. Leave 100 inspirational notes around my city
13. See a firefly in real life
14. Do a pinup and boudoir session with Ambitious Misfit Photography (inspired by this session)
15. Create a yearly tradition of a Girls Weekend
16. Buy an original piece of art (in addition to the one I already have)
17. Buy a house
18. Collect a full set of vintage dishware that I love
19. Go on a hot air balloon ride
20. Learn how to shoot a gun
21. Attend a Super Bowl or a World Series game
22. Earn a black belt in Karate
23. Plant daffodils in a field
24. Go swing dancing again
25. Attend the MightySummit
26. Volunteer in a classroom
27. Donate a fixed monthly amount to a charity for one year
28. Send a birthday card to every friend whose birthday I know about for one year
29. Learn how to repair an old watch/clock
30. Visit all 50 states (see below for progress)
31. Win a poker tournament
32. Have a room that only has books in it
33. Buy something someone needs anonymously
34. Leave a server a $100 tip
35. Own a sapphire
36. Have a snowball fight
37. Send a card to 10 friends for no reason
38. Go on a horseback ride
39. Grow my own garlic
40. Befriend a quilter I admire
41. Go parasailing (again)
42. Climb a mountain (Mt. Whitney)
43. Finish electrolysis
44. Learn to do the splits
45. Experience a white Christmas
46. Make a mosaic
47. Earn enough money to need a financial planner
48. Eat beignets in New Orleans
49. Learn how to do stained glass
50. Participate in a watermelon seed spitting contest
51. Learn how to do blown glass
52. Build a radio

Alabama
Alaska
Arizona
Arkansas
California
Colorado
Connecticut
Delaware
Florida
Georgia
Hawaii
Idaho
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Kansas
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts
Michigan
Minnesota
Mississippi
Missouri
Montana
Nebraska
Nevada
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New Mexico
New York
North Carolina
North Dakota
Ohio
Oklahoma
Oregon
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
South Carolina
South Dakota
Tennessee
Texas
Utah
Vermont
Virginia
Washington
Washington DC
West Virginia
Wisconsin
Wyoming

What’s on your Mighty List?

2010 will be the year that I rocked the gift giving, though 2011 is already working out to be a killer gift giving year as well.

I love giving gifts. The only problem is that I never know what to get people. I don’t go out shopping unless I really really have to, and by that I mean, I only have two pairs of pants, and I’ve finally ended up on a day when they’re both dirty so I can no longer avoid the fact that I must go buy new pants. In which case, I drive to Macy’s, make a beeline for the pants I want, try them on, buy them, and leave. I don’t browse, I don’t look at other stuff. So I never know what’s out there, what cool stuff is calling my name.

So when someone’s birthday comes up, or Christmas is finally right around the corner, I’m kind of at a loss. But not in 2010.

In talking about gift giving, I have to mention the hat I gave my husband for Christmas in 2009. I had been knitting for a year or a year and a half by then, and he’d been constantly bugging him about making him a Steeler’s hat. So a couple of months before Christmas, I found a pattern, bought the yarn, and learned to knit in the round. I knitted him this hat while he was gone and when I’d go to my knitting group. When I finally gave it to him to open on Christmas, the last present he would open, I thought he was going to cry. That said more to me than any words he could have said.

Then in 2010, a friend of mine, a new mother, was complaining to me that all she’d wanted for her birthday was a massage. Her husband, for whatever reason, hadn’t gotten her the massage. I’d been wanting a massage, so I scheduled both of us for a massage (not a couple’s massage — separate massages), and took her on a surprise outing to get the massage. That was one of the best ideas I’ve had, since I got to benefit from it too.

A couple of months ago, I was reading a local comics’ blog, Pearls Before Swine, and he’d mentioned that he’d autographed a bunch of books at a local bookstore, and if you wanted one, you should call and buy one. They sell out pretty quick — I know, because I’ve tried to buy one before, and I’m local! So I checked his FAQ page, emailed him, and asked if he’d mind personalizing one of his books for me for a friend, who I knew would LOVE it. After hitting send, I went back to his FAQ page, read it more carefully, and saw he doesn’t personalize books. *headdesk* So I emailed him again, and was all, Sorry, I’m lame, didn’t catch the part about not personalizing books, ignore my email. Because isn’t it annoying when you specifically say, I don’t do this, then someone says, Hey, can you do this for me? Imagine my surprise when I get an email 2 minutes later, asking me where I’m at. After a couple of back and forth emails, he says, If you can come to Copperfield’s in 15 minutes, I’ll do it. I drove over, and we chatted for a half hour, he personalized the book for my friend, and I tried not to faint (he’s rather good looking). He said he really doesn’t personalize books, but I happened to catch him when he was already at Copperfield’s, and he’d given an interview that day, so he was feeling chatty. SCORE! The only thing better than the perfect gift for someone is the perfect gift that is otherwise impossible to get.

Fast forward to Christmas. Dave, myself, and his mom all tell each other specifically what we’d like for Christmas…within reason. Dave’s mom is always concerned about how much money we spend on her, while I’m only concerned that we buy her something she needs and/or loves and/or will use. When Dave and I told her the gender of the baby at Thanksgiving, we also showed her all the sonograms we’d gotten, one of which was a side view of the baby with his arm up near his face. She told me later that she didn’t sleep well for a few days after that because she would just lay awake  thinking of that one sonogram picture. So one of the things that I got her was a framed copy of that particular sonogram picture. I figured if she was that moved by it, she might as well have a copy so she can look at it all the time until the baby comes. I knew I’d get a few tears out of her for that gift, but had no idea the other gift would be such a winner!

In chatting with Dave’s mom sometime between Thanksgiving and Christmas, she mentioned how she’d really like an iPod someday. She’d never ask for one because it’s significantly over any unspoken Christmas limit, but I knew that would be the perfect gift. We didn’t spend Christmas together because she was down with her daughter and grandchildren in San Diego, so we got together yesterday to exchange the last few gifts we had. I could have bought the iPod and sent it down with her, but I was concerned she might make a big deal out of how much it costs. Yes, it’s on the expensive side, but I decided that this year was not the year to scrimp on gifts, since there’s only two of us and we have three incomes. Next year, when there’s three of us on two incomes, we’ll get her something more modest. But this year? Spoil her!

I knew she’d cry over the sonogram picture, but she cried even more over the iPod! She was so happy to get it! She can’t stop talking about it and can’t wait to get it loaded up. And that’s how I knew it was worth it. I got her exactly what she wanted, even though she didn’t ask for it.

I’m hitting a dry spell with gift giving ideas, though. My hairdresser, who I consider a friend, is finally opening her own salon tomorrow. It’ll just be her and another girl to start out, but she’ll be on her own and she won’t be renting a chair from anyone again. But what should I get her? What would be a nice gift for someone opening their own hair salon?

And what are some of the best gifts you’ve ever given or been given?

I’m not the best at keeping up traditions, but one thing I’ve done for the past two years is celebrate Festivus, which starts off with the Airing of Grievances. Anyone with a blog knows that blog traffic is slow during the holidays (because people are hanging with family, whether they like it or not), so YOU CAN SAY WHATEVER YOU WANT. No one’s going to be reading this anyway.

I’ll start!

• My local news stand closed this past year, leaving me having to hunt for cool pinup girl calendars online, and one less place to find unique cards and just about any magazine I could want. Stupid economy.
• Pregnancy headaches. GAH! I had a lovely 80 minute pedicure (eighty minute) (EIGHTY MINUTE) a few weeks ago, only to stand up and realize I now had a raging headache. And the tylenol-type stuff I’m allowed to take? My headaches don’t even bat an eye. The headache’s all, Bitch, I’m stronger than that! And then it cackles. Or guffaws. I’m not sure.
• People who pull out right in front of me (or anyone else, really) while driving. I don’t think people always realize how fast I’m going and how long it takes them to get up to speed. What’s most frustrating is that plenty of people have died because they pulled out in front of someone thinking they had enough room/time.
• People who say orientate. Check out the comments on this post, but this comment is the best one ever. Frustratated! Ha!
• The dad at the house warming party I was recently at who was all, Yeah, my 17 year old daughter told me not to come home Friday night so she and a few of her friends could try pot, so I stayed at our other house that night.
• The girl at my work who plays Facebook games during her “break”.
• The same girl at my work who can’t seem to make any of our one-on-one meetings on time, if at all.

Now it’s your turn. Go!

(Oh, but before you go, I want to tell you all how much I love you. It meant the world to me to have so much comment love when I announced my pregnancy. I know posting here has been sparse, and book reviews have been even sparser, and my commenting on other blogs has been non-existent, but that’ll all change when I’m back down to one job. I know I’ll then have a baby, but really, how much time can he take? So for all of the grievances I’ve aired today, this blog is my safe haven, and you all are my warm fuzzies.)

So that’s me at 19 weeks.

Today I’m at 20.5 weeks, so I’m over half way there now. Yay!

One of the things I was most looking forward to was my boobs getting bigger. I’ve always been a B, and now I’m almost a D, so when I went bra shopping recently I was like, HELL YES! I’ll take the LARGE. I’LL EVEN TAKE THREE OF THEM. Except that no one told me that bras do not get cuter as they get bigger. So not only will I be in granny panties soon (haha! as if I don’t already own my share of THOSE), but my bras have to look like they were formed on a football helmet. How, in getting bigger boobs, did I seem to get the raw end of this deal?

Oh, and the other thing that sucks? I’ve pinpointed that I get headaches when I eat too much sugar now. Obviously this baby needs a stern talking to when he’s born. Because sugar? That’s what I like to call DINNER.

We found out on Wednesday (the day before Thanksgiving) that we’re having a boy! The sonogram picture that shows his junk will come later.

The sonogram tech double checked that we wanted to be told the gender when she got a good view of the genital region. However, girls don’t usually have anything sticking out between their legs, so I said, Let me guess? It’s a boy? She confirmed it’s a boy. Either the tech got a good shot or my boy will have at least one thing to be proud of.

The first thought that came to my mind was YES! A boy! When we’re on a road trip and he needs to pee, we’ll just pull over to the side of the road! The second thought that came to my mind was, Oh, at some point I’m going to look at my husband and wonder why our son is taking 30 minute showers and why I seem to run out of lotion so fast.

We’re on the hunt for baby names because we had a girl name picked out (Piper), but had stalled on the boy name. However, we have some good contenders! Of course, the last name has to be taken into account when picking out a name, and our last name is Collins. Here’s some ideas:

• Thomas
• Colin
• Harper
• Phil

I’m leaning towards Harper as a nod to one of my favorite publishers. Not sure about a middle name yet.