In which I have a Bucket List

I have a list of things to do before I die. I add and subtract from the list occasionally but it’s remained more or less the same. Some of them are a bit “inside” things but generally this is it.

Just to be clear, I haven’t actually, you know, seen the movie “Bucket List” but I gather that the general idea is to write a list of things you absolutely want/need to do before you ‘kick the bucket’. 

So that’s what I call it. And here is mine: 

• Celebrate a 50 year anniversary with my husband.
• Raise my children to love God and love people above all else.
• Be an ordinary radical by loving God and loving people myself.
• Travel to all ten provinces and at least one territory in Canada.
  • British Columbia
  • Yukon, NWT or Nunavut
  • Alberta
  • Saskatchewan
  • Manitoba
  • Ontario
  • Quebec
  • Newfoundland/Labrador
  • New Brunswick
  • Nova Scotia
  • Prince Edward Island

• Take the train acros Canada
• Be in New York City over Christmas to see the Rockefeller Tree and even celebrate New Years in Times Square. And see a Broadway play.
• Take the boat out to Niagara Falls.
• Stay the night at the Banff Springs Hotel.
• Travel to these countries (layovers don’t count!):
  • UK (England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales)
  • Mexico
  • France – eiffel, louvre etc.
  • Spain
  • Russia
  • South Africa
  • Kenya
  • Morocco – casablanca
  • Afghanistan
  • India
  • New Zealand
  • Egypt
  • Israel
  • Italy
  • Vatican City
  • Japan
  • Austria – symphony and cafe sachar
  • Australia – great barrier reef, tez
  • Belize
  • Guatemala
  • Germany
  • Poland
  • Brazil
  • Cuba – smoke a cigar in Havana
  • China
  • Thailand – Bangkok
  • Vietnam

• Visit these continents: Africa, Asia, North America, South America, Europe and Australia
• Swim in these oceans: Atlantic, Pacific and Indian.
• Sunbathe topless on the Mediterranean.
• Graduate from university.
• Live in another country.
• Get married.
• Have kids.
• Go on a spring break ski trip
• Go to New Orleans and drink cafe au lait in a street cafe
• Swim in the Gulf of Mexico
• See the Grand Canyon
• See Bryce Canyon
• Sleep in a hostel in Europe
• Attend Eucharist at an Anglican cathedral
• Go on an Alaskan cruise.
• Backpack Europe with Brian.
• Live in England for at least a year together.
• Learn to speak French fluently again.
• Attend a war protest.
• Own a deep freeze.
• Be on a disaster relief team.
• Go winter camping and sleep outside in an igloo.
• Attend a candlelight vigil.
• Follow the church calender for an entire year
• Start a church with fellow believers.
• See U2 in concert.
• Snowboard at Whistler.
• Go on a safari.
• Learn to knit.
• Learn to bake bread.
• Grow my own herbs.
• Make a quilt out of my children’s “keepsake” clothes.
• Make a scrapbook of Anne’s first year.
• Make a scrapbook of Joseph’s first year.
• Knit a sweater and actually wear it.
• Work at a soup kitchen at Christmas.
• Volunteer at Mercy Ministries.
• Act in a local play.
• Participate in a book club.
• Teach my kids how to skate, swim, water-ski and ride bikes.
• See the northern lights.
• Attend a surf school in Tofino.
• Go on a trip with my sister – just the two of us – to somewhere exotic.
• Have another baby – either biologically or through adoption.
• Watch a baby being born (someone other than myself!).
• Go on a dog sled ride.
• Write a book.
• Write a book of poetry.
• Publish them – and self-publish doesn’t count!
• Go on a three-day canoe trip with my husband.
• Go on a wine tour.
• Take a class in photography.
• Have a red front door.
• Grow a vegetable garden and actually eat the food from it.

Why don’t you do it as well?

If you do, post the link in your comments so that we can all read your Bucket List.