50 Things Update.....

It's been almost a year since I posted the "50 Things to Do" in the year during which I turned 50.

(Prepositions really give me trouble. Could we just do away with them?)

Surprisingly, I didn't do all 50 things on my list. It's surprising because I'm mildly sort of extremely OCD about lists and goals and things like that, and I shocked myself by NOT killing myself to cross every single one of them off the list.

I'll post the ones I managed to complete, along with a link to the blog post explaining how and when I finished them.

3. Take a hot air balloon ride
6. Eat a new type of food
8. Get a massage
11. Take a yoga class
12. Take a spinning class
13. Take a water aerobics class
14. Knit something
15. Attend play at local theater
16. Take a kayak trip
18. Run/walk in a 5K/10K/half marathon
19. Run/walk the Peachtree Road Race
20. Become debt-free
21. Take golf lessons/play a round of golf
23. Perform random acts of kindness
25. Try vegetarianism for 7 days
30. Take a trapeze class at Canopy Studio
31. Have $______ in savings
33. Go to a UGA basketball game
34. Go to a UGA women’s basketball game
35. Go to a UGA baseball game
36. Go to a hockey game (Gwinnett Gladiators)
38. Ride my bike 2500 miles
40. Attend gymnastics Regional Championships
43. Be “overweight” on the Wii instead of “obese”
44. Ride bike in at least one of the counties in Georgia where I've not yet ridden
47. Ride local roads I’ve not ridden before
50. Go to the chiropractor


Now for the ones I didn't accomplish. Some of them are things I still have as goals; they just didn't happen this year. Some of them I've either lost interest in, or I just put them on the list to begin with because I needed 50 things. Full disclosure here.

1. Take a pottery lesson - I met a woman on the kayak trip in June who teaches pottery, and she has "clay church" at her house on Sundays. This one is still in the realm of possibility, but to be honest this woman ... and she's VERY, VERY sweet ... is one of those types who, if you show interest, will have you staying at her house for a week while she grooms all of your pets and has her mechanic look over your car and signs you up for a weeklong hike in the Adirondacks.

2. Take a photography class - I've kind of lost interest in this one. I have a so-so camera and what I consider a very nice camera, and with both of them I occasionally take (accidentally, you understand) some quite passable pictures. That's enough for me. I watch them scroll by on my laptop or my iPad, and the memories they provide are enough for me. I don't want to turn it into something I have to understand.


4. Visit a national park - I realized I had already done this one, although I wasn't aware it was a national park at the time. I dragged Hubby here on our way to Florida very early in our marriage, and he hasn't spoken to me since. It wasn't really on the way, and while it was fraught with history ... it was standing in the way of the beach.

5. Study a new foreign language - Well, at least I picked a language. I would like to learn some Italian, because I fully intend to take Hubby to Italy someday. He wants to see Rome, and I would love to see it too, since that's once place Sweet Girl and I didn't get to see on our trip to Italy. Oh, SWEET GIRL has since been to Rome (thank you, U.S. Navy), but I've never been. It's sort of cheating to choose Italian, since it has so many similarities to the little bits of French and Spanish (and teeny tiny bits of Latin) I already know.

7. Meet a blogger in person - Definitely still on the table. This one will be much easier to accomplish after retirement.


9. Learn more about how to play the hammered dulcimer - I don't know why I haven't approached this one yet. I have the book, I have the DVD, and oh yeah, I have the hammered dulcimer. And I would really like to do more than just pick out a tune on it. Still on the table, but obviously not a priority.

10. Take a formal art class - Have completely lost interest. I would still love to paint and perhaps do some watercolor work, but kind of like photography, I don't want it to be like "school."

17. Write some poetry - I have done this one. But the poetry is so bad (and so personal) that I'm not willing to offer it up as proof, so I'll just pretend I haven't done it.


22. Read 5 novels from the all-time list (I think it was published by Time magazine) - I'm wavering on this one too. Because reading a book because SOMEONE thinks I should is too much like school too. I'd rather read what I choose to read. For now.

24. Volunteer at a hospital/hospice/nursing home/homeless shelter - I'm not ready for this one. And that makes me just a teensy bit ashamed of myself. Those people probably weren't ready to be in those places either, and they don't get to choose.

26. Take ballroom dancing lessons - I was kind of cheating on this one. My intention was to wait until our next cruise and then either shame Hubby into taking a couple of lessons on the boat (doubtful and completely dependent upon the quantities of beer consumed) or go alone (much more likely). But I don't think we are going to take a cruise this year after all, and I'm certainly not going to sign up for 6 weeks of lessons by myself.

27. Visit the High Museum in Atlanta - Definitely still in the works. In fact, there's an exhibit at the High right now that I'd love to see, entitled Picasso to Warhol. In looking for this link I also discovered that they are also having an exhibit entitled The Art of Golf, which I may ... just may ... be able to drag Hubby to see. Have to catch him on a cold, rainy day.


28. Have a yard sale - Personally, I'd rather just donate my stuff to goodwill. It's much less trouble and I can feel good about contributing something to charity.

29. Ride a unicycle - I have taken steps toward achieving this particular item. I have a unicycle. I have been on it. And I've been off it. I haven't taken enough pedal strokes to constitute "riding" it, though, so I'm not ready to mark it off the list. When I can find a flat spot with pavement and a fence to hold onto and where no one can watch me, I'll give it another go.

32. Take pictures of places I’ve lived - I still want to do this one, too. The one place that is holding me back right now is the trailer park where we lived when I was about ages 5 to 10. It's a little bit scary now, and I'd be afraid to go in there alone. And if I start taking pictures, well.... Maybe I should just leave this one off and take pictures of the rest.

37. Go to the Tipsy Canvas - I still want to do this one too. I love the concept - take your own bottle of wine, get some lessons in painting a specific subject (would that count as a formal art lesson, I wonder?), and socialize with friends while you do it. Definitely a Warrior Princess activity. But we're going to need a designated driver.

39. Hike part of the Appalachian Trail - This one needs to be a day trip with Rozmo and Katydid, and perhaps Jenny Frog. It will require a drive of about 2 hours to get to the Georgia end of the AT.  The hard part is that any day that is fine enough to hike is also fine enough to ride bikes. Maybe we could combine them. Hmmmm....

41. Make something in filet crochet - I have a pattern, and I THINK I grasp the concept now, but my eyes and fingers are the problem. The crochet hook and thread are so fine that it causes me great frustration to try this one. Maybe I should find a pattern for a wall hanging and do it in regular yarn...

42. Join Friends of Yargo - I didn't realize that we already sort of do this when we buy our annual pass for Fort Yargo, which is the state park just across the road from our house. What I really meant was I intended to join the group of volunteers that pick up trash and trim the hedges and cut the grass around the park one or two weekends a month. Yeah, I'd just rather kayak and hike.

45. Write a book - I have the book in my head. Actually, I have 3 books in my head. And I've written a great portion of one of them. I may finish it. Them. Or I may not.

46. Buy and experiment with Photoshop - Just like the photography class, I've lost interest. I'll never have "actions" and I'm over it.

48. Ride the double-century to Anniston and back - Definitely still in the works, and I'm aiming for this year. It's easiest done during the week when the Silver Comet Trail isn't nearly so busy, so it's a nice post-retirement thing to do.

49. Write a will - We really, really, really need to do this one. When I put it on my list, I thought it would be easy, using one of those online services. Then someone told me those online wills weren't worth the paper they're not written on (I'm hilarious), so I discarded it. Plus I don't really have that many possessions anyway. Not that anyone would want.

So there they are, my 50 Things to Do or Not, Depending Upon How Capricious I Feel at Any Given Moment. (Is that a correct usage of the word "capricious"?)

I toyed with the idea of coming up with 51 NEW things for this year, but then I came to my senses. I will, however, strive for some new experiences this year, whether they are on the list or not. I may start with "suturing a wound myself" if the cut on my left hand does NOT stop bleeding soon. Apparently if the little foil tab on a bottle of wine breaks off, using a steak knife to cut the foil thingie off is not the best approach.

Not What I Was Going to Write About....

It seems I have a number of blog topics with some variation of that title. Sometimes I struggle to find something to write about that isn't just another version of "what I did today and why I'm grumpy." Other days, like today, I have a blog topic all thought-out and written in my mind, and all I have to do is type it. That was the case today, and I almost wrote my blog topic at school, but I have just enough morals to feel that isn't right, so I didn't. Okay, moral. One.

Then something happened that forced me to preempt tonight's topic. And it wasn't the incident in the parking lot where I get my hair cut, where I was crossing the parking lot and almost got run over by a businessman screeching through the parking lot. Going the wrong way. In reverse. (Good thing they took my blood pressure at the blood drive BEFORE this little incident, because I'm pretty sure they would have been checking their equipment for malfunctions.)

Hubby and I went to a steakhouse for dinner in a nearby town (since our town doesn't HAVE a steakhouse). I didn't really have an appetite, since I was still trembling from the incident in the parking lot. It is impossible for me to tell you how close he really came to hitting me. Close enough that he felt compelled to come back, enter the salon, and apologize. He left with his ears burning and his tail tucked between his legs. The adrenaline was flowing, folks. I could have set a personal best on my bicycle, if I'd had it with me.

I wasn't crazy about the idea of going out to eat, and I didn't want to drive that far. But Hubby said I could drive his new car, and it DID mean I wouldn't have to cook on a Friday night, so we went.

I ordered rainbow trout, something I've never had before in my life. That has absolutely nothing to do with this blog post. (For the record, I prefer salmon.) When we were finished eating, the waitress approached our table. She looked kind of sheepish.

"Someone in this restaurant," she said, "is paying for your meal."

Hubby didn't hear what she said at first, so I repeated it. He looked around, I made a joke to the waitress about it being impossible because we don't HAVE any friends (at least that aren't too cheap to pay for our dinner), and she said, "Nope, it's this table. He said table #55, and that is your table."

Hubby went to the bathroom so he could glance around the crowded restaurant, and I saw the transaction take place while he was gone. The family at a table near ours got a check even though they had just received their food, and I saw the woman cut her eyes over toward our table. I made sure I didn't make eye contact with her, but I was trying to see if I knew them. We were near a town where I used to teach, and I thought it might be possible that a former student was buying our dinner.

Then the waitress returned and murmured to me that this man has done this before. He comes in the restaurant, chooses a table, and pays for the whole meal. I wanted to tell him "thank you," but the waitress said I shouldn't, that he wanted to remain anonymous.

We were grateful for the free meal, but it gave us a strange feeling. I told Hubby that it was a wonderful thing to do, and I appreciate people's random acts of kindness as much as the next person, but I almost wish the man had paid for a meal for a family that couldn't afford it. Missing the point COMPLETELY, Hubby said people who can't afford it don't come to a steakhouse.

I don't mean that to sound like I'm ungrateful. It was a totally cool thing to happen, particularly after almost being murdered by vehicle AND finding the road home closed due to some repairs, necessitating a left turn in evening traffic onto one of the worst roads in our town.

All by itself, that little act tipped the barometer of this day from "leaning toward sucky" all the way over to "almost impossibly cool."

I understand the concept of paying it forward and random acts of kindness, and believe me when I say I fully intend to pay it forward. And not just because random acts of kindness are on my 50 Things to Do list.

I still wanted to say "thanks."

#30 - Take a Trapeze Class.....

It never occurred to me until my brother pointed it out last Saturday, but the fact that riding a unicycle and taking a trapeze class both appeared on my 50 Things to Do list might indicate an unhealthy obsession with the circus. He didn't exactly call it "unhealthy." He merely asked if I had also considered taking up lion-taming.

I have been fascinated with trapeze artists as long as I can remember. It couldn't have been from the circus; I don't remember EVER going to the circus, at least as a child. Maybe I saw them on television, I don't know. I wanted to be ANYWHERE that was up THERE, above the crowd, above the treetops, above everything. I climbed trees, I sat on top of the house, I jumped out of airplanes.

When I originally put this item on my list, I said I wanted to take a class at Canopy Studio, a place in Athens where they teach lessons. But they (at least to my knowledge) are more focused on aerial dance and other forms of flying, and when I read that a new company had opened that focuses on outdoor trapeze, I knew that's where I wanted to go. I didn't want to sign up for an 8-week workshop, I just wanted a single lesson. Or two.

I paid for the Warrior Princess' daughter to go with me, because that way I had an excuse. It was her birthday present, so she couldn't say no. I told her I hope when she's 50 that she will have to find 14-year-olds to do things with.

Getting ready. In the background are Kaz and Shane, co-owners of the facility. 

This girl was a natural.

This girl was NOT a natural.

The trapeze was great fun, but I was not physically prepared for it. It didn't require the upper-body strength I anticipated, but they really, really wanted me to swing my feet up, between my hands, and over that bar.

Yeah, that did NOT happen.

I was able, on the second try, to swing my legs OUT and AROUND and put them over the bar, but it was still not graceful. Or pretty. Or easy.

It wasn't at all scary standing on the edge of the board waiting to jump off. I guess the safety net made it not as scary as I thought it would be. It DID, however, require a very unnatural starting position: standing with my toes over the edge of the board, reaching out but keeping my upper body straight, poking my stomach OUT over the board. All these years I've been trying to hold my stomach IN.

I had fun, I did fly, and I might go again. Because I felt like I didn't get it "right" the first time. My upper body and abs are sore, as I figured they would be. I have no idea how I got the bruise on the outside of my right thigh. When I went to bed last night, I kept playing and replaying the jumps (I think I made 4. Or maybe 5.) over and over again in my head, trying to figure out where it went wrong.

And it wasn't THAT wrong. I didn't break anything. I'm probably not going to have a career as a trapeze artist, but it isn't too late for the Warrior Princess' daughter. She was gorgeous. She (and most of the others **ahem**) actually got to do a "catch," transferring from the trapeze to being held by Shane. That in itself should have been an incentive for me to do a better job. Just seeing him in tights and that tight shirt should have done it. But I digress.

They have a free show on Nov. 6th, and I may go see that. I just love watching anyone fly.

I have some video, and as soon as I edit it properly and get it uploaded, I'll share it with you. After a long, long, LOOOOOOOOONG day on Grand Jury duty, I'm not up to it tonight.

#31 - Have $_______ in Savings......

When I put this item on my 50 Things to Do list, I had a specific number in mind. My mama taught me that it's vulgar to discuss money, though, so I didn't reveal what my number WAS. (See, Mama, I did listen to a lot of some a few that one thing.)

You'll just have to trust me that I reached it. I could offer photographic proof if I took a screen shot of my account balance, but there's that vulgar thing again.

I've had this online savings account since 2004. I call it my orange account, and it just occurred to me as I was composing this post that I'll have to start calling it something else, given my intense antipathy for all things orange. No wonder I hate Halloween. And October.

When I opened the account, the economy was good and these online folks were paying much better interest rates than traditional banks. I set it up for an automatic transfer from my checking account, and that lets it build up pretty quickly. I just deduct that transfer at the beginning of the month just like the rest of the bills, and it's like I never had the money. (Do any of us actually have any MONEY anymore anyway? Isn't everything electronic?)

In the past few years, of course, the interest rate has declined, dwindling down to almost nothing. (Although I was surprised to find that in the seven years I've had this account, I've earned over $500 in interest alone.) I still like socking that money away, though, even though I don't have a specific thing I'm saving up for. I have occasionally withdrawn money from it, and then I start building it back up again. I have this silly idea about withdrawing money from savings, even an online account. I picture a little person sitting inside the computer, tsk-tsking me for taking what is MY OWN MONEY in the first place. When we bought the RV two years ago, we needed a substantial down payment, so I pretty much drained my online account for that. But I considered it a good use of the money, and I didn't regret it at all. Ironically, when it came down to draining it again this past summer to put money down on the marsh house, I balked.

And I think the reason I balked is that it was ON THIS LIST. Ever since I created the list and had a certain dollar amount in mind, I have been more reluctant than ever to take money out of it. And now that I've reached my goal, I don't think I will now go crazy and go spend it all. It's comforting to know it's there in case of a true emergency.

Like a much-needed trip to a tropical place.

#38 - Ride my Bike 2500 Miles.....

When I put this item on my 50 Things to Do list, I was pretty sure I would get there. I had monthly goals that would add up to 2500, and most months I was ahead of my monthly goal.

I never dreamed, however, that I would reach my goal of riding my bike 2500 miles in a year with three months still to go.

Rozmo and I did a 56-mile ride today, and the weather was gorgeous. It would have been an absolutely PERFECT day except for a relentless, brutal wind for the last 7-10 miles. It wasn't ALWAYS a headwind, but I'm pretty sure it was NEVER a tailwind.

Here is proof about my cycling goal for the year. In addition to a yearly goal, I've had a goal for each month plus a cumulative goal. Yes, I realize I'm obsessive.

My new goal is going to be 3000 miles, which I should be able to reach if I meet each of the three remaining monthly goals.

I have this thing for chimneys. I tried to snap this one my FIRST time by, but I realized I was taking a video. (Does anyone else do that?) So I turned around and went back, but I still snapped the photo from my bike. I'm taking lessons from Rozmo, but she's a pro.

I loved this shot of the cows feeding. What I didn't realize was that as I approached, some of them would abandon eating because I scared them. I can just imagine the locals as they drove by, noticing us with our cameras. "Citifolk. Humph."

What a wonderful way to start my Fall Break.

50 Things to Do List - the Update......

I began the year with the lofty goal of completing an average of one of my 50 Things to Do per week, hoping to get them all done by the end of the year. I hit a bunch of them in a row for a while right after the first of the year, then I hit a dry spell. It's funny, though, how often my list is in the back of my mind. Or in the front of my mind.

I'm thinking I probably won't get to all of them. Some of them I will roll over to next year, but some of them have already lost their appeal for me. I may revise some of them to better meet my (current) interests/needs/desires, and I may just scrap some of them. I may add additional things. You can bet what I WON'T be doing is coming up with 51 new things for next year.

So far I've marked 23 things off my list. Almost half, which isn't bad. There are two that will almost definitely be accomplished within the next week, one that has already been done but I'm too shy to share it (yet), one that is in the works but may not officially be finished by the end of the year, and a couple that won't be that hard to do if only I can find time in between watching baseball, watching football, riding my bike, crocheting Luke's baby blanket, reading the bazillion books I've downloaded onto my Kindle/iPad, watching recorded episodes of Dancing with the Stars, and cleaning house. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha on that last one.

I'll keep you posted.

#3 - Take a Hot Air Balloon Ride.......

I had just about decided this particular item on my 50 Things to Do list would have to wait until next year. Once football season starts, the change in weather isn't far behind, and I didn't think we would be able to work it in. The last time Hubby and I tried to schedule a balloon ride, we got on a waiting list and didn't hear from the guy for a couple of months. This time I decided to try a different company. Duh. He got right back to me and said, "How about this Sunday?"

We were in a balloon with six other people, plus the pilot, Daryl. He was super friendly, and his crew was excellent. They were all so friendly, not only to us the paying passengers, but to by-standers (a hot air balloon in a grocery store parking lot attracts a LOT of attention), and even to people on the ground as we flew over neighborhoods.

First the crew has to put the basket together....

Then the balloon part is stretched out. And out. And out. And out. And out. (Man, I thought a parachute was big.....)

Then they use two high-powered fans to direct air into the balloon...

I loved the American flag touch...

This is me standing in front of the balloon, just to give you an idea of its size. I'm short, but I'm not a midget...

Then Daryl fires up the burners to direct hot air into the balloon, causing it to rise. We were certain he was going to catch the balloon on fire. Then we remembered he had done this a time or two...

Skies were a little hazy, but you can see Lake Lanier in the background...

We cruised along at about 3000 feet above ground, then we started descending. Hubby asked Daryl if we were going to land in this field. Daryl said, "Nah. I'm not ready to land yet." As we got lower and lower, Hubby murmured to me that Daryl might not KNOW it, but we were definitely going to land in that field. Trees were getting closer and closer. Then when it looked certain we were going to have to land, the balloon eased upward and the basket brushed the treetops. Yes, Daryl has definitely done this a time or two.

I loved the shots with our balloon's shadow in them. I have about a gazillion of these, in case you're interested. That's Sawnee Mountain in the background...

We landed in a field behind an auto parts store (Daryl says you're ALWAYS trespassing, and most of the time the land owners are friendly), and the crew van took us back to where we left our cars. They had cheese, strawberries, brownies, cookies, crackers with cream cheese and pepper jelly. And champagne. Even though I swore after our last trip to the Dominican Republic that I would never drink champagne again, I did have a little bit. Apparently it's the part in the BOTTOM of the bottle that makes you sick. Who knew?

 

Riding in a hot air balloon has been a lifelong dream of mine, not just since I put it on my 50 Things to Do list. I've been obsessed with hot air balloons I believe ever since I saw The Wizard of Oz for the first time when I was about 3 years old. I would go back again and again if I could. I'm so, so, so, so, so, so glad we did this.

Not a Real Blog Post.....

Not a real blog post, just an apology for not having one.

But trust me, I have a very good excuse. Hubby and I just got home from marking one of the BIG things off my 50 Things to Do List. I didn't dream we would be this late getting home, and we still had to put his mother to bed. Poor thing, she was worn out, and no way to go to sleep until we got back.

Oops. Sorry, Granny!

I promise to write something a little more substantial and have some (I hope I hope I hope) beautiful pictures to go along with it. Perhaps even a video. (Fingers crossed.)

AND it's only a four-day work week this week. We have next Friday and the following Monday and Tuesday off for our mini fall break. We are used to having a whole week, but we're so disausted we won't be greedy. Much.

Have a wonderful week!

#15 - Attend a Play at the Local Theater.....

I've been trying to get this item marked off my 50 Things to Do list for a while. Well, at least since I .... wrote the list. I've asked the Warrior Princess a couple of times, but our crazy schedules never matched up. And if she couldn't go, I didn't make the effort to go alone.

We had originally planned to go to tomorrow afternoon's performance, but the stars have aligned themselves correctly and if all goes according to plan, Hubby and I will accomplish a different item on the 50 Things list tomorrow afternoon. For that one I'm missing an Atlanta Falcons football game, so you know it must be big. I hope to have pictures. Lots of pictures.

Tonight's play, though, was called Delval Divas. "Delval" is short for Delaware Valley Federal Correction Facility, a "low level security prison for white and 'pink' collar criminals." The cast was all-female, and the script had some wonderfully funny lines. One of the characters was played by a woman who taught drama (what else) at one of the high schools in our county, and she is marvelous. She even improvised when one of the other ladies began to cough during her lines, bringing her a bottle of water from the refrigerator in her "cell."

I think I will go see another performance at this wonderful theater. I'm not sure what the building used to be, but they have beautifully renovated the inside into a charming facility. I think I will make a point to attend future performances on Sunday afternoon, though. This is way past my bedtime, even on a weekend.

#44 - Ride my Bike in a New County........

A while back I wrote a post about all the counties in Georgia in which I've ridden my bike. Out of the 159 counties in Georgia, I reported there were only 25 in which I had not ridden my bicycle at some point. It should have been 24, as Rozmo corrected me when I told her about the map. She reminded me that the Silver Comet Trail goes through Cobb County, one of the counties I thought I hadn't ridden in.

As of today, the count is down to 23. Katydid and I did a ride in our hometown, and it went into Greene County. I found it odd in the first place that I had never ridden there, since it is A) only one county over from where we grew up; and B) not far from where I live now.

Today's ride was called the Teardrop Metric Century because of the shape of the map. It only took me about twelve trips to their website for it to dawn on me why the ride was named that. I'm so glad I went to college. Imagine how dense I might have been otherwise.

The county lines aren't visible (at least not readily) on the map, so I offer the following as evidence that we did indeed travel into Greene County.

Rozmo told me to point at the sign with my left hand. My left hand was busy saving me from falling off the post.

In addition to these pictures, Rozmo also took a VERRRRRRRRRRRY flattering one of my backside as I was climbing/stepping up onto that post. Don't think there won't be some payback for THAT. I'm so glad there's a "delete" key.

Katydid and I always wear our UGA jerseys when we do a ride on game day. I was a goober and forgot to wear the matching shorts.

We rode 64 miles, and it was a lovely ride. It started out cool (almost too cool for comfort, but we toughed it out), but the sun FINALLY came out and warmed things up. To make things even better, UGA finally got a win today by a score of 59-0. Okay, so we didn't exactly play a REAL team. But a win is a win. And we hadn't had one since last Thanksgiving, so we'll take it.

This ride was a perfect combination of pluses. #1 - It was closer than the ride we were scheduled to do on this date, which is about two and a half hours away and has a bear of a parking problem. #2 - It had a later start time. #3 - It was in our home county. #4 - Its route took us into a county I wanted to ride in.

The only downside was that the OTHER ride, the one we DIDN'T do, started and ended at the Budweiser plant.

Further proof that you can't have everything.

#23 - Random Acts of Kindness.....

I feel awkward talking about random acts of kindness. If you publish them, they aren't really random anymore. This one wasn't all that random anyway, since it wasn't something I did for a perfect stranger. But it's been a while since I ticked anything off my 50 Things to Do list, so I'm by golly counting it.

Hubby's great-niece is a very sweet girl who just started high school in our county. She couldn't wait for school to start back, unlike most teenagers. She loves school, she loves reading, and she loves learning. She was born the day Princess Diana died, and she has a brother almost 10 years younger than she. Yes, I realize those two things have nothing to do with one another. In addition, they now have another youngster in the household since this unfortunate incident, so she gets called on a lot to babysit.

She told my mother-in-law the other day that she didn't have any money to eat lunch at school. I realize teenagers are prone to exaggeration (and outright lying, if you can believe that), but I don't get the impression that this girl would resort to that. It wasn't like she was trying to extort money from her great-grandmother, and she's not one to play the sympathy card. Both her parents work, but they haven't always managed their money well. (Who has?)

It didn't bother me so much that she said she didn't have lunch money. It was the fact that her daddy, Hubby's nephew, spent Sunday afternoon at the golf course. Playing a round of golf probably cost him around $70. That would buy her school lunches for more than a month.

What is WRONG with people?

I sent a check to her school via a co-worker, and I emailed her English teacher asking her to tell the girl that her lunch account would have money on it starting tomorrow. I don't want her to know where the money came from, but I realize there may be too many people involved to keep it a secret forever. I don't care. I don't want her to have to go all day without eating lunch.

Maybe it doesn't fit the true definition of random acts of kindness, but I felt better for having done it.

#21 - Sort of.......

I had my first golf lesson today, but I'm not ready to mark it off the 50 Things to Do List. First of all, I want to be able to play at least 9 holes before I consider the task "accomplished." Second of all, when I put it on my list originally, I intended to get real lessons. From a professional. Who is NOT my husband.

He had other ideas, though. First of all, we'd have to pay someone else. Second of all, we'd have to pay someone else.

We had a set of clubs that Sullen Teenager had used when she was taking golf lessons, so at least we didn't have to go buy new equipment. (Hubby plays left-handed, inexplicably, so I couldn't use any of the bazillion clubs he already owns.)

I had enormous reservations about allowing Hubby to instruct me in the ways of playing golf. I balanced those against having a perfect stranger guffaw at my attempts, though, and I agreed to let Hubby give me lessons. I figured he would probably be standing within striking distance, and I would have a golf club in my hand. I would swear it was an accident. Me being a novice and all.

The lessons went much better than I would have predicted. Hubby didn't give me too much grief, and I didn't take his criticisms personally. I tried to use his instruction to make my swing better and hit the ball farther, and I think I accomplished that. To some degree. Can I do it again tomorrow? Ummm..... maybe.

Golf is not without its own perils. Hubby doesn't wear a golf glove, and there wasn't one in the golf bag that Sullen Teenager had used. To be honest, I didn't think anything about it. After hitting only half a bucket of balls, however, this happened to my thumb. I apologize for the blurriness of the picture. It was hard for me to take a picture of my own thumb, and Hubby didn't really see the point. He's not very blog-savvy.

I think I might be willing to take the game up, but it's never going to be my first choice of free-time activities. Not as long as I'm physically able to ride my bike. And play Mario Brothers.

#19 - Run/Walk in the Peachtree Road Race........

I was hesitant to put this item on my 50 Things to Do list, not because I didn't think I could do it, but because I knew it would be a logistical hassle.

The Peachtree Road Race is the largest 10K race in the world, with 60,000 LEGAL participants and countless others who join in without credentials. There is no way in the world to get close to the start of the race, so you have to take a MARTA train and then follow the hordes of people to the general area of the start line. Participants are assigned a "wave," a time in which they begin the race. Notice the "Y" at the beginning of my number. I assure you they started with the beginning of the alphabet, not the end.

Not only did I have the challenge of finding my way to the beginning of the race, I also had to find my friend Sara. She was on a different MARTA train, and they made her get off the train at a different station. Arrrggghhhh. She was assigned to wave "M," but she assured me that I could leave with her group, because "they never check numbers."

Oh. Yes. They. Do.

I got turned away enough times that I shrugged and said I would just head on over to my "legal" start wave, but Sara was persistent. (She never indicated an interest in being a criminal before today.) We ducked into a parking deck, and a security guard was waiting for us when we emerged. He sort of barked at Sara (but relatively mildly) that he had already told her not to cut through that parking deck.

We finally made our way into the start wave for group "H," and I stood around with my arms folded over my chest so people couldn't see me for the fraud I was. (I really am basically a rule follower. I THOUGHT Sara was too. Not so much.) Not only did my race number start with a "Y," it was a different color from the ones in wave "H." Those race organizers think of everything. I was very self-conscious, and I was grateful when the race started.

We had little tags on our shoes that apparently had electronic chips embedded in them. They were activated by something above us at the start line. Isn't that cool? Technology amazes me. I don't know yet what our "official" time was, but Sara said we did the race in about an hour and thirty-seven minutes. That's just slightly more than 15-minute miles, so I was pretty proud of that. For someone who doesn't consider herself a runner (and had run NOT AT ALL since the May 1st 5K when I hurt my hips), just to finish the race was enough for me. The winner finished in 27 minutes. What? They had already finished the race before our wave even STARTED. I can't believe they didn't wait to see how I would do before they declared a winner.

I ran a lot more than I thought I would, although we walked sometimes to give ourselves a break. Sara and I have no business running together: she loves running downhill and walking up; I prefer running UP the hill and walking DOWN.

This is the scene behind us when we stopped for Sara to use the porta-potties.

I'm not sure what these guys' costumes were. But they smelled funny.

Here I am at the Finish Line, to prove I was really there.

It's hard to describe this race. Some folks just amble along, stopping in stores and restaurants along the way. Others are more serious, and woe be to anyone who gets in their way. (Those folks tended to be more toward the front, though.) Thousands of people line the streets, cheering and high-fiving the runners. Some runners dress in costumes (there were a LOT of ballerina tutus in the race). There were half a dozen helicopters hovering overhead, and there was a military jet flyover just before the race began.

Man was I glad to see that Finish Line come into view. I'm a little sore, but I'm not dying. I wasn't even very tired at the end of the race. My hips are tender, and I may have trouble navigating the stairs tomorrow, but I'm not crippled. Maybe I can turn out to be a runner of some sort after all. 

I'm glad I did it, and I may run in this one again. I would love to talk Hubby into doing it with me next year.

#16 - Take a Kayak Trip.......

I may not have finished it, and I may not have paddled as far as I intended, but I DID take a kayak trip, so I'm counting it as fulfilling one of my 50 Things to Do. I did the whole sleep in the gym, get up at the crack of dawn, try to figure out whether to eat breakfast or pack or dress or fill up water bottles first, work hard all day, finish up very very dirty, do it all over again routine. I never said #16 on my 50 Things to Do List would be "complete the entire Paddle Georgia trip." Maybe I hedged just a little.

I didn't really feel guilty for coming home early, because my philosophy is generally not to have any regrets. Make a decision, come to terms with it, and then go on with life. I did wonder, though, if the trip improved significantly today, if Rozmo would be calling me and saying, "Girl, you went home too soon. It's getting good now!" But I didn't fret over it. Even the realization that I would have to cook the rest of the week didn't dampen my excitement over being home instead of on the river.

Just as I was folding the laundry from the trip (did I mention how FILTHY kayaking is?), Rozmo DID call. She asked if I would come get her tomorrow.

In her defense, it isn't JUST that the paddling didn't get any better today. She has plumbing problems at home and a family member with a dire need for a root canal (unrelated to each other, I assume), so she felt obligated to go home and take care of things. It was interesting, though, how much better her coming home early made me feel about MY coming home early.

I have a few pictures to document the fact that I did indeed take a kayak trip. Or at least part of one.

Rozmo and our little corner of the gym. While my part was still neat. Rozmo's is ALWAYS neat.

The gym where we "camped" for two (or three) nights. You've gotta love the irony - this gym is at the school where I taught for nine years. This gym wasn't there when I was there, though. They had pictures on the wall of all the athletes from that school who have gone on to the next level, both college and professional. I got a kick of counting all the kids I had taught.

Our initial launch site.

On the second morning, just finding my blue kayak among the gazillion other blue kayaks was my toughest challenge. To that point.

This is how it looked at the beginning of the day's paddle. After a little while, the paddlers got strung out along the river more, but we were almost always in sight of other paddlers, both ahead and behind.

We often had to create our own "pit stops" at sand bars along the river. This sign let us know that this particular location was off limits, and everyone respected it.

A self portrait. I call this my "goober hat," and that was BEFORE I saw that I had it on crooked. (Almost) Always a rule follower, I kept my life jacket on at all times on the river.

This is what most of the trip looked like. Brown water, green trees.

That is what I call a tire swing.

This is Drew, firing his water gun at Rozmo and Deb.

Rozmo, probably hoping I wouldn't run my kayak into hers, like I did with my bike.

An overpass that I travel across every time I go to a gymnastics meet. Or pretty much anything else on campus.

Rozmo and me clowning around with some bronze statues at the State Botanical Gardens. I kept seeing these statues appear on my screensaver, and I couldn't remember where they were from. Katydid and I took pictures of them on BRAG 2009.

Deb wanted in on the clowning around too.

This dragonfly perched on the bow of my kayak for a long time. Later there was one on my deck bag, much closer to me, but he flew away as I was getting my camera out of the dry box.

Passing under a train trestle. I don't know if this one is still in use or not.

We had to get out of our kayaks as we approached this dam. Although there are two openings in the dam, allowing water to pass freely, the force of the water at those two openings was too great for us to go through either of them. A line of volunteers passed our boats along, and we crossed over the dam on foot. The take-out location was just on the other side, so we then walked our boats across the river to leave them for the night.

Hard to see, but perhaps a double-decker tree house? Lucky kids....

The take-out location for portaging around the dam, about which I wrote in yesterday's blog. You can see the old power plant behind the kayaks. I'm not sure if it's still in use or not.

And this is why we had to portage around the dam. I have no idea how high that drop-off is, but it's pretty high. Drew said, "Shoot....we could have done that." I agreed, "Yeah....50-50 chance of landing upright!"

The power of water is simply awesome.

The view from where I had to go..... make a pit stop. The cows didn't seem to mind.

Rozmo in her umbrella hat. It was the time of day when we would do anything to break the monotony.

I'm not sorry I went, and I'm not sorry I came home early. I have a lot more empathy now for folks who try BRAG and don't come back. Or go home in the middle of the week. Some things just aren't for some people. I'll be a lot more understanding the next time someone says he or she doesn't see the point of riding a bicycle across Georgia. I now feel that way about paddling. I'm not going to give it up for good, and I still made sure I tied the kayak down securely enough this morning that it didn't blow off Hubby's truck. For me, though, kayaking is something I'll do for a couple of hours and then go home. I don't need 106 miles of it.