Julie's list of life experiences by Sue

The bolded things are things I've done; The italic things are things I'll most likely NEVER do.

1. Started your own blog (duh)
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors (Nova Scotia & Scotland)
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted (one of those guys on the street... still counts)
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy (all my books)
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Seen Mount Rushmore in person
101. Learned to play an instrument

Gosh, there's still places to go, things to do!

Good Times

Well, this is just a funny story from when Julie was last here over the summer. The title is something she would say. I had my car (Sequoia) in to check/fix the brakes and had just gotten it back. I kept complaining to Julie as we were driving around (yes, she let me drive) that they just didn't feel right. We decided to go to Sacramento to visit Joanna and the kids. I complained some more about the brakes. After visiting, Julie demanded the keys and said "Let me drive." She said the brakes seemed OK to her. We drove down Watt Avenue and went on Highway 50 East. We got off the freeway on Prairie City Road, no problem. The speed limit there is 55 MPH and we were probably doing that as it was around 11 PM. We came up to the intersection of Prairie City and Iron Point Road and the light was red and we weren't slowing enough for me. I said "Julie, you can slow down now. Julie, JULIE!!!!!!" And we both screamed halfway through the intersection as the brakes FAILED!!!!! Thank goodness it was so late and on a weeknight so no traffic or we would have been killed. She looked both ways; no one was coming. We kept going home at a VERY slow pace. Good times in Folsom.

I admit it!

Well, I admit it! I watched the world premiere new Brittney Spears video. Yep, there she was in all her glory repeating "Womanizer" (in song of course) and chasing around a quite handsome young man. Showing her roots (and other parts of her body). Interesting. Catchy tune. Now (according to 20/20) the most looked up person on the internet thus upsetting Paris Hilton. What are we thinking? At least I don't look her up.

Kind of reminds me of my husband watching a movie and then comes home, looks up the actors/actresses in the movie and finding out all sorts of information about them (on the internet). Does the same thing for those based on "true stories". Then can even quote the cost of the movie and for the next few weeks gives me a running total of whether the movie broke even or not and what was #1 at the box office last weekend. (We all have to have hobbies and this just happens to be one of his.)

What would be one of YOUR more interesting hobbies?

Yay for Fall!

Well, summer is over and I have officially welcomed Fall by removing my spring/summer flowers on my porch and putting out my fall leaves. Finally, the weather will cool off . My pool will be cold and the spa will be hot. What an interesting life I lead.

I just found out that I'm a bigot. With this Proposition 8 thing all around us Californians, I am in favor of passing it and leaving marriage to heterosexual couples. This doesn't mean gay people have no rights, just that they aren't legally married. So I was listening to young radio station last week and this DJ does a commentary on the news and his last comment was on those backing Prop 8 and something about those bigots. Hmmm.

Still reading a book on autism written by an autistic adult woman. It is very interesting and informative but I'm almost on information OVERLOAD and I'm only half done. I think it is so good information wise that I think I'll get one for everyone to read so they can know what makes Braden tick. He is so cute and he needs so much help/loving. I pray for him each day (seriously).

Well, Maren's cheer is progressing, but I don't know into what. She knows her motions but when she actually performs sidelines her motions are all over the place. Joanna (and I guess a few other "cheer moms") mentioned this to the instructors last week and they asked her what they should do. She told them to practice the sidelines. What a novel idea! Here are samples of the sidelines (that no cheerleader in her right mind would do): Boom! Boom! (we did that one TEN years ago); Shake that skirt (how stereotypical); Bounce, bounce (something or other and they jump up and down with each time they say bounce); Explode! (but not ignite, our team is dynamite -- something else equally dumb); Rowdy! (again old school); and the list goes on. Seriously, Joanna (the cheer mom) needs to get on them. haha

I am seriously having problems at night -- not enough quality of things to do. I worked one night last week, watched the grandkids 3 nights (kids were sick) went to movie two nights. Seem to be in kind of a rut. So I'm trying to widen my horizons and get back to finishing Craig's scrapbook and working on my genealogy stuff, and ..... any ideas?

BUT then again as I was leaving to go to work at 10:30 AM on Wednesday I was thinkings "Hmmmmm, life is good when YOU get to make the work schedule and no one cares if you work early or late." And it is. Good, that is.

Spring was fantastic!

Well, no cheer this year -- just the stupid bookkeeping part! Ugh! But the best thing this year was my visit (short as it was -- 9 days) to Scotland with Julie. Yep! We actually had a great time together (driving on the wrong side of the road etc) and saw LOTS of the countryside, castles and way too many abbeys! I stayed in my first hostel with a rude English woman. Whatever! The country is beautiful and it was just long enough to relax. The problem with overseas vacations is that you want to SEE EVERYTHING there is to see, so it's not really too relaxing. But I kind of count on that. So here's the very best thing to ever happen in my life (OK, maybe my wedding day, and OK maybe the birth of my kids) -- the flight from JFK to Edinburgh was overbooked and they UPGRADED ME TO FIRST CLASS!!!!!! Can I tell you how wonderful this was/is??????? Wow! I wish I could do that every time I go overseas.

Dave stayed home to work (and miss me). Now he knows how tax season was with no one home most days and the other days sometimes I wished I was alone. Too much talk or no talk!

It seems I live just to go on mini-vacations. But my just is such that I can do it and as long as we can afford it, we will continue to do these each year. I'm hoping for a big vacation/cruise next year though.