I “borrowed” this from
Meggie who in turn borrowed it from someone else. The things I’ve done are bolded, the ones I hope to do are italicized, and the ones I might never do are left alone.
1.
Started your own blog Yep, in 2005
and a second one this year-see Laughing On the Way Out in the right sidebar).
2.
Slept under the stars Often and happily (except for the occasional mosquito and a thunderstorm or two).
3. Played in a band
4.
Visited Hawaii
A week is far too short for such a paradise.
5.
Watched a meteor shower Yes, from the open back of a pickup truck in a meadow in Northern Vermont
6.
Given more than you can afford to charity Anything I give is more than I can afford but that doesn’t mean I won’t give.
7.
Been to Disneyland/World
Been to Disney World and loved almost every minute.
8.
Climbed a mountain
Mt. Everett, the one behind my childhood home, several times. It’s 2,624 feet up to the summit.
9.
Held a praying mantis Yes, as a child.
10.
Sang a solo (in the shower) Why not?
11. Bungee jumped
12.
Visited Paris
13.
Watched a lightning storm at sea From the shore.
14.
Taught yourself an art from scratch Yep – I taught myself how to sketch, to work in pen and ink, and to watercolor, taught myself to knit and crochet (with varying degrees of success), and am a self-taught writer who went on to get a master’s degree in same.
15. Adopted a child
16.
Had food poisoning Twice, to my dismay.
17.
Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18.
Grown your own vegetables Every summer for the past sixty years or so, give or take a year now and then.
19.
Seen the Mona Lisa
20.
Slept on an overnight train 21.
Had a pillow fight I was one of four siblings – pillow fights are a given. Once we had a water pistol fight with our bed pillows as fort walls. (Notice I say ONCE.)
22.
Hitch hiked only twice and I sure wouldn’t do it again.
23.
Taken a sick day when you’re not ill It’s either that or call in dead.
24.
Built a snow fort
every winter as a child.
25.
Held a lamb Yep, and the bottle for its feeding, too.
26.
Gone skinny dipping Uh huh. Not telling where or when.
27. Run a Marathon
28.
Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29.
Seen a total eclipse Through one of those paper eye protector thingies. It was way cool.
30.
Watched a sunrise or sunset Every day (unless it’s raining).
31.
Hit a home run
Yep, in a cow field when I was 12. We used dried patties for bases. First and only ever homerun.
32.
Been on a cruise
An overnight harbor cruise out of NYC.
33.
Seen Niagara Falls in person
I can still hear that thunderous roar.
34.
Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
in French-speaking parts of Canada.
35.
Seen an Amish community
Seen one, spent a day in one, had fabulous meals.
36.
Taught yourself a new language
37.
Had enough money to be truly satisfied Not yet.
38.
Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40.
Seen Michelangelo’s David41. Sung karaoke
42.
Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43.
Bought a stranger a meal in a restaurant 44.
Visited Africa
45.
Walked on a beach by moonlight any chance I get.
46.
Been transported in an ambulance Once in the middle of the night for a kidney stone attack and once for ribs that broke when I fell hard on a wet grassy bank.
47. Had your portrait painted
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 Mm hmmmm
53.
Played in the mud I grew up rural. There was LOTS of mud ☺
54.
Gone to a drive-in theater often as a teen. We’d pile a dozen kids in the back (and trunk) of one car (admission was $1 a car) and descend on the place!
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57.
Started a business Twice. Once I sold handmade greeting cards and later I became a publishing company for a year so I could self-publish my own book.
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60.
Served at a soup kitchen
61.
Sold Girl Scout Cookies
OH! Those chocolate mint cookies!
62.
Gone whale watching Twice and was luck enough to see those behemoths breach both times.
63.
Gotten flowers for no reason Uh huh. And for reasons, too.
64.
Donated blood, platelets or plasma
Once but it was determined I was anemic and so haven’t since.
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67.
Bounced a check
and got charged $35.
68.
Flown in a helicopter
No, but I flew (and have flown in as a passenger) two light planes.
69.
Saved a favorite childhood toy I saved several that the grandchildren now enjoy.
70.
Visited the Lincoln Memorial
years ago when my children were young.
71. Eaten caviar
72.
Pieced a quilt - well, I backed and filled two quilt tops that my grandmother made from her own children’s discarded clothing but I’ve never made one from scratch.
73.
Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75.
Been fired from a job Only once and for good cause…
76.
Seen the Changing of the Guard in London
77.
Broken a bone Let’s see – three toes, two ribs, my right thigh-bone
and my collarbone.
78.
Been on a speeding motorcycle Well… it felt awfully fast to me clinging to the seat in the back.
79.
Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80.
Published a book
I self-published Writing Down the Words, a collection of some of my newspaper columns written over 15 years, and I wrote half the entries in a book on libraries published by Berkshire Publishing Group.
81. Visited the Vatican
82.
Bought a brand new car Oh and a lovely little thing it was, a cinnamon colored Subaru, and the first new car I ever owned.
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84.
Had your picture in the newspaper The paper I wrote for ran a feature of me when I published my book and that article was accompanied by a photo. I appeared again in the same paper when I wrote an account of my first flight lesson.
85.
Read the entire Bible I have.
86.
Visited the White House
Well – visited DC and walked around the White House but didn’t go in for the tour.
87.
Killed and prepared an animal for eating
We homesteaded in the 70s and 80s and raised chickens for meat. We butchered them ourselves. The pigs we raised were butchered elsewhere and by a professional. When I was a child, I hunted with my dad and once (only) I helped him skin a deer he'd shot.
88.
Had chickenpox
Yes, and measles and whooping cough and rheumatic fever, too.
89.
Saved someone’s life I hoisted my two year old onto the roof of the car with one hand when a Cujo look-a-like came rushing at us, barking furiously. My little fellow would have been no more than 3 bites for that dog!
90.
Sat on a jury
Twice. Once for an assault and battery trial and once for a traffic violation.
91.
Met someone famous I was racing along a path through the woods at Lime Rock Racetrack in Connecticut, hoping to reach the ladies room and get back in time for the beginning of the first race. I ran smack into some fellow coming in the opposite direction and fell inelegantly onto my derriere. I looked up to see an extended hand. Taking it, I looked at the fellow I’d crashed into and found myself staring into two of the bluest eyes I’d ever seen. “Thanks, Paul,” I managed, and sped into the ladies whispering, “OhmygodthatwasPaulNewmanthatwasPaulNewman!” And oh my god, it was. Years later, I helped edit a book written by William J. Lederer, author of The Ugly American (and my next door neighbor in Vermont), and sold some hand drawn notecards to Anne Lindbergh, widow of Charles Lindbergh and mother of my friend, Reeve.
92.
Joined a book club
For about two months. The talk devolved into gossip and I tired of it and quit.
93.
Lost a loved one Mamma and Dad to early deaths, a husband to divorce, a lover to another woman, and a good friend to cancer.
94.
Had a baby Gave birth to four of the most wonderful people I know.
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
and still do though I use it only for emergencies.
99.
Been stung by a bee Oh, ouch! Cutting logs for our cabin in Northern Vermont, I was stung on the hand by a wasp. The resultant swelling encompassed my entire hand and most of my forearm.
I wanted snow and snow I got - there's about five inches on the ground and more falling by the hour. More is on the way Sunday. Looks like it will be a white Christmas after all.
Snowfall on December 31, 2007 
The main collection is housed on shelves in the library area of my cottage. There are upwards of 1200 books on 14 shelves. I've read them all at least once and some several times.
This smaller case in the office area holds reference and writing books as well as my cd collection and my printer.
An old but sturdy wooden crate holds children's books - some of my childhood favorites, others from my own children's collections, and still others I've added over the years.
Marcel Proust was a French novelist, essayist and critic. He is quoted as saying, "All our final decisions are made in a state of mind that is not going to last," and "Our intonations contain our philosophy of life, what each of us is constantly telling himself about things," and "The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes." I like the way he thinks.
The best china, the set handed down from my grandmother, is waiting to be taken from the cupboard, the turkey is waiting to be stuffed, the potatoes and the vegetables are waiting the paring knife, the delicate china cranberry dish is waiting to hold the shimmering sauce, the pies are waiting to be baked to golden perfection, and I am waiting for my family to arrive. Tomorrow and the next day will be a flurry of cooking and talking and eating. Happy Thanksgiving to those that celebrate it!
This morning the air was cold; frost covered the bent grasses and a shifting ghostly mist obscured the pond. My footsteps startled a pair of ducks resting in the reeds and they lifted, quacking furiously, from the water. The silence resettled in their wake.
Behind me the sun was lifting above the horizon, lighting the treetops first. Ahead, a yellow maple blazed in the first light. Slowly the grey, swirling mist turned gold. My own breath, visible in the cold, lifted past my face and drifted out to join the breath of the morning.
The pond across the road from my house, dressed in its autumn best. 
My grandson saying farewell to summer...
