40 Things To Do BEFORE I'm 40 (Part 1)

Back in January, I started a list: a list of 40 Things To Do Before I Turn 40.

When I started making my list, I realized there are a heck of a lot of things I've already checked off my life list. As it turns out,  it's been more challenging to come up with things, within reason, that I want to do. My friend jokingly asked today if we had  until the END of our 40th year to complete the list. I think we do.

I haven't quite gotten to 40 things yet, maybe you can suggest a few.

1. Run a 5k. CHECK. I ran ("shuffled") the ASSIST Autism Foundation 5k in March.

2. Skydive. Why I'd be willing to jump out of a perfectly good airplane, I couldn't tell you. But I'd like to do it. I think. Just once.

3. Camp ON the beach. 

4. Lose 40 pounds. *sigh

5. Eat raw oysters and not gag. CHECK.  The wedding I  helped with last weekend served oyster and lobster 'shooters' on their seafood buffet. I figured might as well try it. And no, I didn't gag.

6. Zip line. Another CHECK. The boys and I went with a fun group of friends back in March. 

7. Build a fence. Wait! What? I must confess, building a fence was not on my original list. But I added it because I DID it and it was something I never really thought I'd do. Not that I thought much about it. **disclaimer** My friends did the heavy lifting. CHECK!

8. Ride a Harley. CHECK!

9. Make ceviche. Can't wait to try this.

10. Ride in a hot air balloon. Anyone have one they want to take me up in?

11. Ride in a police helicopter spotting bad guys. Again, not originally on my list since I've already flown a helicopter, but the opportunity has presented itself to do a fly-along with the Dallas police force. So I'm going! Whoo hooo!

12. Acquire more original art.  I have several Dana Cargile pieces, including a custom canvas of my boys and one painting that's done on an antique ceiling tile from a Mississippi opera house. But I'd like more. Perhaps some black and white photography.

13. Get SCUBA certified. And then put me on a beach with white sand and cerulean water and I'll be happy as can be. 

To be continued...

{Adventure} Zipline!

It started off just like any other adventure: with absolutely NO knowledge of where we'd end up.

Curt and Luke BEGGED for hints.

We threw them some bones. **

"You should wear blue socks," I said.

"You must love dogs," said Mr. D.

"You should love trees," said Mr. S.

"You might need gloves," offered Ms. C.

The boys were thoroughly confused [insert slightly evil Mom giggles here].

When we got into the car, the boys tried to follow Ms. C's GPS. I was pretty confident they wouldn't figure it out in a million years. At least.

They didn't.

It wasn't until we turned into the dirt driveway of New York Texas Zipline Adventures that they read the sign and realized what the day's 'adventure' would be.

Awesome Mr. D set it up for us - it was to be an adventure for the adults as well as my boys. We were ALL excited, even Mr. D, who qualifies as an expert zipliner (if that's what you want to call someone who hangs upside down from a cable traveling 900 feet in 53 seconds...)

The awesome guides at NY TX Zipline Adventures got us safely into our gear. All visions of my skinny 8-year-old slipping out of his harness 200 feet above the ground were quickly assuaged...mostly...

All joking aside, we were strapped in so securely it was impossible not to feel safe.

After gearing up, we practiced braking and pulling ourselves back in (not that it was ever necessary) on the ground. Except those of us who were laughing so hard at jibes from the peanut gallery that we struggled pulling ourselves back up to the platform. 

Then it was time to climb the platform for the first zipline.

Standing on the platform, secured to a cable strapped to the tree, the length of the zipline looked interminable and the drop into the thin air seemed endless.

Curt went first, without hesitation, practically pushing all the others in our group aside to be first down the zipline.

He made it. Safely. I could hear his laughter all the way from my perch on the first platform.

It was Luke's turn. My typically intrepid child had a moment of panic as the guide lifted him from the platform just high enough to connect his cables and pulley to the line. He turned around to look at me, his big brown eyes wide. Then he turned and allowed the guide to gently nudge him from the platform.

I couldn't tell from my vantage point whether he liked it or not, but I didn't have much time to ponder his experience as it was my turn to stand on the edge of the abyss. I took a deep breath and stepped off the security of the platform.

It was like flying.

And over far too fast. 

Now Luke and Curt were jockeying for positions at the front of the line. I kinda wanted to push them aside, too, but I'm the mom, so I couldn't.

We did a total of 9 ziplines, each one longer or steeper than the last.

The guides were so much fun and our group laughed and laughed.

It was over far too fast.

I can't wait to do it again.

**

Blue socks have NOTHING to do with zip lining.

The family dogs at NY TX Zipline Adventures greet the guests and hang with the guides.

Trust me, you hug trees on this adventure.

And you wear gloves so you don't slice your hand to the bone when you reach up to the cable to brake.  But if you're like me, you wear a hole right through those gloves.

40 Things I've Done Before Turning 40

I've been making a list of all the things I would like to have done, or have accomplished, by the time I turn 40 later this year.

Frankly, I've been struggling with things that are actually realistic to achieve in the next six and a half months.

Then I started thinking about all the things I HAVE done in the first half of my life. When I think about it, I've done a lot. And I'm so thankful for, and blessed by, all the opportunities life has afforded me. So I made a list, first, of just 40 of the things I've already done BEFORE turning 40. This list was difficult to LIMIT to 40. And that makes me happy.

1. Climbed and summited a 14er (multiple 14ers, actually)

Mt. Democrat, Colorado

2. Took a cruise

Horseshoe Bay, Bermuda

3. Lived in a foreign country

Idar-Oberstein, Germany

4. Traveled around Europe

5. White water rafted

Taxenbach, Austria

6. Skiied the highest mountain in Europe

Zugspitze-Garmish, Germany

7. Parasailed

8. Flew a helicopter

9. Fired a gun

10. Got multiple piercings (Only in my ears, though!)

11. Gave birth, twice

12. Met four Presidents of the United States

13. Had lunch with a rock star (and a President’s daughter)

14. Drove a military Humvee

15. Earned my master’s degree

16. Drove more than 100 mph on the Autobahn

17. Waterskiied

18. Attended the opera – in Budapest

19. Saw “Cats” on Drury Lane in London (and sat next to Val Kilmer)

20. Learned rudimentary German and  French

21. Delved into the world of autism

22. Owned my own house

23. Drove across country – alone

24. Started a magazine, or two.

25. Attended a Papal audience

26. Ice skated in the Olympic arena in Innsbruck, Austria

One of my early icons, Dorothy Hammill, took gold in the winter Olympics in 1976 in Innsbruck

27. Served on the PTA

28. Published a book

29. Taught pre-school

30. Cruised Bourbon Street in Nola, stone cold sober

31. Interviewed a jazz legend

32. Designed a website from the ground up

33. Lived in four states (that’s not very many!)

34. Snowboarded

35. Road on the back of a Harley

36. Jumped off a cliff

37. Camped in a primitive site and in a camper

38. Made homemade pasta

39. Appeared on TV

40. Zip-lined! (this will actually happen for the first time approximately 24 hours AFTER this post, but it was also on my list of things to do BEFORE I turn 40).

{Adventure} SCI-PORT

We had the BEST 8 hours of fun we've had in a long time at SciPort Discovery Science Center in Shreveport.

We saw the Bodies traveling exhibit, watched "Tornado Alley" in the IMax theater and saw a show in the planetarium. AND we took in every. single. exhibit. there.

So much fun!


The dancing piano, a la Tom Hanks:

The snake Luke loved:

The (same) snake that Luke made very, very angry:

The model of the lungs Luke put together:

The big, crazy, ball, thingie: 

Simulator for tornado winds:

Gravity bites:

And bites some more:

This was supposed to demonstrate sound waves. We never really figured it out.

Ah! The movie-maker. Big fun. 

Move over, Spielberg!

And around and around it goes:

Driving the space rover!

Experiencing the agony of fine motor skills in space gloves:

"Hey, this is really hard!"

Overlooking "the boats."

Of course we had to take an elevator video (or 12).

Making paper airplanes.

Flying paper airplanes. (Guess whose plane flew the farthest? Ahem. Mine.)

Luke standing in front of the "sun."

Happy Curt!

3...2...1...liftoff!

Cool!

Play area.