Bucket List

Everyone needs a bucket list and below, you will find mine. Actually, it would probably be more accurate to call it a Life Goals list because it isn't all trips and experiences, but a way of life I have dreamed of for a long time. Some of, heck, many of those life goals have come true. They have taken hard work, focus, vision, and even luck. But don't all good things in life?

I will say this, I am a rather content person these days. I have my family, three amazing kiddos still at home, a fantastic old house built in 1899, a large garden, fantastic dog-babies, and a truly good life. It hasn't always been this wonderful, which makes me especially thankful, but it sure is amazing now. And honestly? If nothing else happened, if I never went to any of the places or did any of the activities listed below, I'd probably still be satisfied with my life. And with my family surrounding me, I have my days filled with activity, projects, and laughter. There is a lot to be said for that. Stop for a moment, breathe in your surroundings, is it the same for you? If not, then I urge you to make your own bucket list and start ticking off your goals, dreams, and aspirations.

Here are a few of mine, in no particular order...

Visit Ischia, Italy (see photo on right - it's gorgeous!)
Visit Moonhole and stay on Bequia Island at one of the Moonhole properties
Derinkuyu, Greece - an underground city that once housed up to 20,000 people
Visit Pompeii - DONE! (But I do want to go back again, I'd need a week to see it all!)
Build a treehouse and zipline on our property
Try blob jumping - it looks sooo fun!
Visit/stay in a bookstore/hotel in Tokyo where you sleep inside nooks built behind bookshelves
Visit Germany, especially Schloss Sandfort, my ancestral home
Participate in regular storytelling and spoken word events - DONE! (But also, still ongoing. I love them!)
Go on a cruise (I'm thinking Caribbean for my first time, maybe other places later) - DONE!
Eat at Don's Seafood and Tope la in Hammond, Louisiana - I've added them to my thriller The Retirement Home and now really want some shrimp etoufee and crab-stuffed redfish!
Join a pool league - DONE! (I love my weekly league nights).
Captain my own pool league team and play in the Captain's tournament.
Achieve 1st weight loss goal of total weight loss of 30 pounds - DONE!
Reverse my Type II diabetes and heal my liver - DONE! I'm at a normal H1C AND I no longer have NASH!
Achieve 2nd weight loss goal (180 pounds) for a total weight loss of 40 pounds
Achieve 3rd weight loss goal (170 pounds) for a total weight loss of 50 pounds
Make it to the APA pool-playing tournament in Vegas
Visit Australia and hold a koala bear
Visit Macchu Picchu
Return to Barcelona and tour the Sagrada Familia
Return to Italy and tour the Amalfi Coast and Venice
Swim with dolphins
Adopt our foster daughter - DONE!
Adopt our foster son - DONE!
Make a very basic income writing books (net $25k or more per year)
Visit Ireland - scheduled for April 2025!
Visit Scotland - tour Dun Telve and Dun Troddan broche and spend at least one night in a castle. Also visit Stalker Castle!
Spend a night in a treehouse Airbnb (preferably one that has stairs) - DONE!
Return to stay near the treehouse Airbnb at Sassafras Silo.
Visit New York and the Smithsonian (I think I'll need a couple of days in that place alone!)
Renovate our 1899 Victorian to include a finished attic, finished basement, and re-done back porches
Adopt a collie pup or sheltie
Finish out the basement of our house into a speakeasy and game room with pool table, air hockey, and Addams Family pinball game
Visit France and stay for a week at Chateau de Gudanes - the five day culinary stay looks especially appealing!
Travel through Europe
See the Great Wall of China
Visit Rakotzbrücke Devil's Bridge in Germany and also see the Sandfort ancestral home, Schloss Sandfort there as well
Visit London, England - DONE!
Renovate Cottage East into a mid-term rental
Visit Singapore and Bali (there's this cool skyscraper in Singapore that looks like a cruise ship, and I want to see it!)
Visit Gobbler's Knob and see Punxsutawney Phil on some future Feb 2nd IF I can stand the cold!
Visit Chapada dos Veadeiros National Park in Brazil and see the waterfalls
Finish out Proud Mary and travel the U.S. and Canada in it
Go ziplining - DONE...twice!
Turn Cottage West into our first short-term rental - DONE!
Turn our 1956 Flying Cloud Airstream into a cool writing retreat - DONE!
Become an author - DONE! (hit repeat for each book published - at 15 so far)
Live in an old house - DONE!
Become a foster parent - DONE!
Stop working in an office - DONE! (I stopped working for others in 2005 and I don't miss it, not one bit)