A Not-So-Bucket-List Review

YES! YES! YES! 1000 TIMES YES!

Last night I received the following text (left) from Rick. Clearly my answer was an immediate yes. Well, technically I responded with “I think we both know the answer to that ” Anyway, after a few texts flew back and forth, we agreed that Winter Ice Climbing was going to happen, and it should be added to my Not-So-Bucket-List list.

Flash forward to this morning. After adding this new adventure to the things I have to do, I realized that the deadline for the original posting of was almost here (May 12, 2012). Okay, it’s still just over 6 months away, but time flies and such. So I figured I’d check out what still needed to be accomplished, and maybe prioritize those items such that I can accomplish as much of my original list as possible.

Without further ado, here is my original list (reposted below, from here). Of the 166-item long list (31 of which are actually due after May 12, 2012), I am happy to report that I’ve accomplished 80 of them. That’s 48.2% of them. If I exclude those items that are due after May 12, 2012 that have been accomplished (5), then I’ve actually accomplished 75 of 135 due by May 12, 2012 items (55.6 %). Not bad. And I still have 6+ months to go. W00t! I wonder how many of these I can cross off in that time.

Of those yet-to-complete activities, there are 40 that I would say are quite probable should I actually get off my duff and do something. Of those 40 yet-to-complete items, 6 are in the works and will likely be completed before the year-end. Further, 15 of the 40 are health-related goals, 11 are related to food or drink. Only 1 is related to travel (crazy).

Of course, I’m not the type to lament those things I didn’t or won’t have time to accomplish. Somehow, for whatever reason, these were clearly the lesser items on my list, and as such, are there for tomorrow. I’ll simply leave them on my list, and try to check them off as soon as I can.

Ultimately, I think what makes me extra doing-a-happy-dance happy about the outstanding list, is that the items on it are rather mundane compared to some of the other things I’ve done. They definitely aren’t skydiving, or hiking a volcano. And they definitely aren’t as difficult as finishing a PhD or running a marathon.

Inside, I'm doing a happy dance.

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Complete by	Description	Date Completed
12-May-12	1. Find a full time faculty position OR a full time Academic/Job	01-Jan-11
12-May-12	2. Finish my PhD	09-Apr-10
12-May-12	3. Publish 3 articles in 1 year
12-May-12	4. Publish 5 articles in 1 year
12-May-12	5. Publish 10 articles in 1 year
12-May-12	6. Teach Differential Equations	16-Aug-10
12-May-12	7. Teach my first Stats Course	11-Jan-10
12-May-12	8. Teach the same course twice	30-Sep-09
12-May-12	9. Be an invited speaker to a conference	31-Oct-10
12-May-12	10. Bungee Jump
12-May-12	11. Climb another mountain	07-Sep-10
12-May-12	12. Climb Mt. Kilimanjaro and go on Safari
12-May-12	13. Glacier walk	05-Sep-10
12-May-13	14. Hang Glide
12-May-12	15. Insane 10K race with Matt
12-May-13	16. Niagara wine tour
12-May-13	17. Not Since Moses Race (Nova Scotia)
12-May-12	18. Scuba or Snorkel	24-Jan-11
12-May-12	19. Sky Dive (see Adrenaline Smells Like Awesome for details)	January 28, 2011
12-May-12	20. Zip line (again)
12-May-13	21. Helicopter ride	21-Jan-11
12-May-13	22. Hike a lava field – again	16-Jan-11
12-May-13	23. Climb an active volcano	16-Jan-11
28-Sep-13	24. No pants subway ride
28-Sep-13	25. La tomatina (tomato fight), Brunal, Spain
28-Sep-13	26. Cage dive with sharks
28-Sep-13	27. Go to a shooting range
12-May-12	28. Raise over $1000 for BBBS bowlathon
12-May-12	29. Go to the symphony (again)	02-Jan-10
12-May-12	30. See a Ballet with Steph
12-May-12	31. See a play (Priscilla, Queen of the Desert with Rick)	28-Dec-10
12-May-12	32. See an Opera
12-May-12	33. See Sarah McLachlan in concert (again)
12-May-12	34. See Stevie Wonder in concert (with Gerarda)
12-May-12	35. See Tori Amos in concert
12-May-12	36. Determine Net Worth	18-Nov-10
12-May-12	37. Invest $20000
12-May-12	38. Pay off ~$15000 of my debt (not including mortgage)
12-May-12	39. Save $500 in change
12-May-12	40. Set up a budget	18-Nov-10
12-May-12	41. Have a champagne tasting night	13-Mar-10
12-May-12	42. Have a gin tasting night	31-Oct-09
12-May-12	43. Have a port tasting night	19-Sep-09
12-May-12	44. Have a scotch tasting night	30-Sep-10
12-May-12	45. Have a tequila tasting night
12-May-12	46. Have a wine tasting night	06-Nov-10
12-May-12	47. Have the rents over for a home cooked meal
12-May-12	48. Learn to cook a good fish dish
12-May-12	49. Learn to cook coque-au-vin
12-May-12	50. Learn to cook Goulash
12-May-12	51. Learn to cook lamb medalions
12-May-12	52. Learn to cook lamb vindaloo (and make it comparable to the Diana)
12-May-12	53. Learn to make chocolate tofu cheesecake (a la The Cornerstone)
12-May-12	54. Learn to make dairy free banana bread
12-May-12	55. Shop at the market 4 Saturdays in a row	26-Sep-09
28-Sep-13	56. Learn to make 2 types of bread
28-Sep-13	57. Learn to make pasta from scratch
28-Sep-13	58. Try 30 new wines (see Wines for details)
12-May-12	59. Buy a $100+ bottle of port and drink it with Gerarda & Alan
12-May-12	60. Buy a new camera
12-May-12	61. Buy a new MacBook Pro	08-Sep-09
12-May-12	62. Buy a new road bike
12-May-12	63. Buy a tailor made suit, or a fitted suit	25-Jun-10
12-May-12	64. Buy an indoor bike attachment for winter biking
12-May-12	65. Go to Hillside with Steph	12-Jun-10
12-May-12	66. Have a double bingo scrabble game	29-Aug-09
12-May-12	67. Have a PhD Prom	26-Jun-10
12-May-12	68. Learn Linux
12-May-12	69. Learn more Spanish
12-May-13	70. Polar bear swim
12-May-12	71. Read Oryx and Crake
12-May-12	72. See a live sex show	28-Jun-10
12-May-12	73. Get to bed before midnight (with at least 6hrs sleep) for 2 weeks straight	Jan-10
12-May-12	74. Stop cracking knuckles and joints for at least a week	Jan-10
12-May-13	75. Run, 30k Around the Bay
12-May-12	76. Bike 160K
12-May-12	77. Bike 30k	Jun-10
12-May-12	78. Bike 40K	Jul-10
12-May-12	79. Bike 50k	Jul-10
12-May-12	80. Bike 60k
12-May-12	81. Bike 80K
12-May-12	82. C.N. Tower Climb (again)
12-May-12	83. Complete 100 push ups in a row
12-May-12	84. Complete 100 sit ups in a row	21-Aug-09
12-May-12	85. Complete 140 sit ups in a row
12-May-12	86. Complete 200 sit ups in a row
12-May-12	87. Complete 4 consecutive sets of 10 chin ups
12-May-12	88. Complete 4 consecutive sets of 10 pull ups
12-May-12	89. Complete 4 consecutive sets of 4 chin ups	07-Jan-10
12-May-12	90. Complete 4 consecutive sets of 4 pull ups
12-May-12	91. Complete 4 consecutive sets of 6 chin ups	10-Jan-10
12-May-12	92. Complete 4 consecutive sets of 6 pull ups
12-May-12	93. Complete 4 consecutive sets of 8 chin ups
12-May-12	94. Complete 4 consecutive sets of 8 pull ups
12-May-12	95. Complete 50 push ups in a row	23-Aug-09
12-May-12	96. Complete 60 push ups in a row
12-May-12	97. Complete 80 push ups in a row
12-May-12	98. Complete the 30 day yoga challenge	17-Nov-10
12-May-12	99. Develop abs (clearly subjective)
12-May-13	100. Run a 1/2 marathon (again)
12-May-12	101. Run 10k in 50 minutes	09-Sep
12-May-12	102. Run 12k in 60 minutes	09-Sep
12-May-12	103. Run 5k in under 22 minutes
12-May-12	104. Run 5k in under 25 minutes	28-Sep-09
12-May-13	105. Run a marathon
12-May-12	106. Run another 1/2 marathon	17-Oct-10
12-May-12	107. Run another 10K	Jun-10
12-May-12	108. Try yoga or hot yoga	22-Aug-09
28-Sep-13	109. Do another 30 day hot yoga challenge
12-May-12	110. Buy new energy saving appliances (all 5)
12-May-12	111. Paint a wall with chalkboard paint (or set up a plexiglass wall), and use it
12-May-12	112. Paint my guest bedroom
12-May-12	113. Paint the kitchen
12-May-12	114. Paint the main bathroom
12-May-12	115. Replace the carpet in the bedrooms with hardwood
12-May-12	116. Replace the carpet in the living room with hardwood
12-May-12	117. Stretch carpet in the upstairs hall
12-May-12	118. Get a new light for the upstairs bathroom	31-Oct-10
12-May-12	119. Celebrate 35th birthday (plus/minus 1.5 months) in another country	Jul-10
12-May-12	120. Go on at least 3 dates in as many months	Aug-10
28-Sep-13	121. Start a blog	20-Jan-11
12-May-12	122. Travel to Alberta	Sep-10
12-May-12	123. Travel to Asia
12-May-12	124. Travel to at least 1 Canadian Territory
12-May-12	125. Travel to at least 1 of: Prague, Vienna or Budapest	31-Dec-10
12-May-12	126. Travel to at least 2 of: Prague, Vienna or Budapest	Jul-10
12-May-12	127. Travel to BC
12-May-12	128. Travel to Calgary to visit Rick & Karen	Sep-10
12-May-12	129. Travel to Chigaco to visit Ben (again)
12-May-12	130. Travel to visit Arlene
12-May-12	131. Travel to Iceland, the UK, Ireland or Scotland
12-May-12	132. Travel to Manitoba	May-10
12-May-12	133. Travel to Montreal	25-Nov-09
12-May-12	134. Travel to New Brunswick
12-May-12	135. Travel to New York	Feb-10
12-May-12	136. Travel to Nova Scotia
12-May-12	137. Travel to Ottawa to visit Matt & Jhona	15-Oct-09
12-May-12	138. Travel to PEI
12-May-12	139. Travel to Portugal, Spain or Andorra
12-May-12	140. Travel to Quebec City (again)
12-May-12	141. Travel to Saskatchewan
12-May-12	142. Travel to South or Central America (again)
12-May-12	143. Travel to the Caribbean (again)
12-May-12	144. Travel to Vancouver to visit Beth (again)
12-May-12	145. Travel with Aidan	22-Dec-09
12-May-12	146. Travel with Matt	Jun-10
12-May-12	147. Travel with Steph & Gerarda again	Feb-10
12-May-12	148. Travel with Rick	14-Jan-11
28-Sep-13	149. Attend Carnival in Brazil
28-Sep-13	150. Travel to the Galapagos
28-Sep-13	151. Travel to Mt. Everest base camp
28-Sep-13	152. Travel the Great Wall of China
28-Sep-13	153. Travel to the Taj Mahal
28-Sep-13	154. Travel to Angor Watt
28-Sep-13	155. Travel to Germany (again) for Oktoberfest
28-Sep-13	156. Travel to Kruger National Park for Safari
28-Sep-13	157. Travel to Las Vegas
28-Sep-13	158. Travel to Petra
28-Sep-13	159. Travel to Christ the Redeemer
23-Sep-14	160. Travel to the World Cup in 2014
12-May-12	161. Watch Battlestar Galactica Season 1
12-May-12	162. Watch missing shows from Dexter Season 3
12-May-12	163. Watch Dexter Season 4	01-Jan-10
12-May-12	164. Watch Dexter Season 5	26-Dec-10
28-Sep-13	165. Watch 150 movies on IMDB top 250 (already viewed movies count)
28-Sep-13	166. Learn to do a hand stand (without ending up with stitches)

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