Happy Birthday to Me!

Yeah! Happy Birthday to me....you know the rest. (Holy crap! 34!) Yep, another year set to start again. I view birthdays the same way some people do New Year's Day. What's done is done and it's the perfect opportunity to point your life toward another goal and hit the gas pedal. It's a good time to pick up the pieces of all those little hobbies and aspirations you've been meaning to follow-thru on, forgive yourself for dropping them in the first place and put them back together.
But before we move on, I just want to take one more moment to appreciate how great my life is right now. I've been married to a wonderful, caring, passionate man for almost 10 years. (Holy crap again! Just kidding Brandon. I love you!) We've beat the odds and toughed it out through good and bad. We've proved that we can get through anything together. This relationship has given me the best gift I ever could have hoped for, my daughter Abigael. She's the light of my life and has already taught me more about life than I think I've taught her. I have a great job that provides me with lots of challenges. It supports us with enough so that we can be a one income family for a while and my daughter can be raised by my husband instead of daycare. Mostly importantly, I still see myself as young with my whole life in front of me.

I saw this meme floating around a few months ago and have been wanting to fill it out. I thought this would be the perfect day to finally get around to it. Courtesy of Cynical Dad.

You're supposed to take the following 150-item list and bold the items you've accomplished.

LIFE EXPERIENCES MEME
Bold the ones you've done (my comments are in italics).

01. Bought everyone in the bar a drink. Of course not. Hello, I'm a girl.
02. Swam with wild dolphins
03. Climbed a mountain. Does Grandfather Mountain count?
04. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive. No, but I have driven a Porshe and a Corvette, as well as a delivery truck and a right side Jeep Cherokee.
05. Been inside the Great Pyramid.
06. Held a tarantula. You've got to be kidding.
07. Taken a candlelit bath with someone.
08. Said 'I love you' and meant it.
09. Hugged a tree.
10. Bungee jumped
11. Visited Paris
12. Watched a lightning storm at sea.
13. Stayed up all night long and saw the sun rise.
14. Seen the Northern Lights
15. Gone to a huge sports game.
16. Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa
17. Grown and eaten your own vegetables
18. Touched an iceberg
19. Slept under the stars
20. Changed a baby's diaper
21. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon
22. Watched a meteor shower
23. Gotten drunk on champagne.
24. Given more than you can afford to charity
25. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope
26. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment.
27. Had a food fight
28. Bet on a winning horse
29. Asked out a stranger
30. Had a snowball fight
31. Screamed as loudly as you possibly can.
32. Held a lamb. Petted one. Can I change this one to black bear cub? Did that!
33. Seen a total eclipse.
34. Ridden a roller coaster.
35. Hit a home run. As much softball as I played growing up, I don't think I ever did. I'm claiming this one just for all the years I put into it.
36. Danced like a fool and not cared who was watching. No choice, when you're a horrible dancer but you love to do it.
37. Adopted an accent for an entire day.
38. Actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment.
39. Had two hard drives for your computer
40. Visited all 50 states. 30 down though!
41. Taken care of someone who was shit faced. And had the same done for me.
42. Had amazing friends
43. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country
44. Watched wild whales
45. Stolen a sign
46. Backpacked in Europe
47. Taken a road-trip
48. Gone rock climbing
49. Midnight walk on the beach
50. Gone sky diving
51. Visited Ireland
52. Been heartbroken longer than you were actually in love
53. In a restaurant, sat at a stranger's table and had a meal with them
54. Visited Japan
55. Milked a cow
56. Alphabetized your cds Is there any other way?
57. Pretended to be a superhero
58. Sung karaoke Unfortunately for those there to witness it.
59. Lounged around in bed all day
60. Posed nude in front of strangers
61. Gone scuba diving
62. Kissed in the rain
63. Played in the mud
64. Played in the rain
65. Gone to a drive-in theater
66. Visited the Great Wall of China
67. Started a business
68. Fallen in love and not had your heart broken
69. Toured ancient sites
70. Taken a martial arts class
71. Played D&D for more than 6 hours straight
72. Gotten married
73. Been in a movie
74. Crashed a party. Maybe crashed is too harsh, I've been to a few parties I wasn't invited to.
75. Gotten divorced
76. Gone without food for 5 days. Why would you do that?
77. Made cookies from scratch
78. Won first prize in a costume contest
79. Ridden a gondola in Venice
80. Gotten a tattoo
81. Rafted the Snake River
82. Been on television news programs as an "expert" I did get interviewed for a Crime Stoppers report when the movie theater I worked at was robbed.
83. Got flowers for no reason
84. Performed on stage
85. Been to Las Vegas Of course I was only ten years old at the time.
86. Recorded music
87. Eaten shark
88. Gone to a movie by yourself.
89. Gone to Thailand
90. Bought a house
91. Been in a combat zone
92. Buried one/both of your parents
93. Been on a cruise ship
94. Spoken more than one language fluently
95. Performed in Rocky Horror.
96. Raised children Working on it!
97. Followed your favorite band/singer on tour
98. Created and named your own constellation of stars
99. Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country
100. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over That's how we ended up in Seattle
101. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge
102. Sang loudly in the car, and didn't stop when you knew someone was looking
103. Had plastic surgery
104. Survived an accident that you shouldn't have survived.
105. Wrote articles for a large publication
106. Lost over 100 pounds. I'd be happy with 30 right now.
107. Held someone while they were having a flashback
108. Piloted an airplane
109. Petted a stingray
110. Broken someone's heart. I hope not.
111. Helped an animal give birth
112. Won money on a T.V. game show
113. Broken a bone. My thumb the first time I tried skiing and my ankle walking down some stairs.
114. Gone on an African photo safari
115. Had a body part of yours below the neck pierced I tried my belly button but took it out after a few days.
116. Fired a rifle, shotgun, or pistol All of the above
117. Eaten mushrooms that were gathered in the wild
118. Ridden a horse
119. Had major surgery
120. Had a snake as a pet
121. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon
122. Slept for more than 30 hours over the course of 48 hours Piece of cake.
123. Visited more foreign countries than U.S. states
124. Visited all 7 continents
125. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days
126. Eaten kangaroo meat
127. Eaten sushi
128. Had your picture in the newspaper
129. Changed someone's mind about something you care deeply about
130. Gone back to school
131. Parasailed
132. Petted a cockroach Ewwwww! That's as bad as a spider.
133. Eaten fried green tomatoes
134. Read The Iliad and the Odyssey
135. Selected one "important" author who you missed in school and read
136. Killed and prepared an animal for eating. Just fish.
137. Skipped all your school reunions
138. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language
139. Been elected to public office
140. Written your own computer language
141. Thought to yourself that you're living your dream
142. Had to put someone you love into hospice care
143. Built your own PC from parts
144. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn't know you
145. Had a booth at a street fair
146: Dyed your hair
147: Been a DJ
148: Shaved your head
149: Caused a car accident
150: Saved someone's life

I've done 68 of the 150 things, not too bad for someone who thinks she hasn't done anything. I think I'll go work on the rest now.