The List of a Lifetime

So, in between my final last week and a half crunch of exams and final papers and pulling together my grad school apps, I barely have time to sleep, let alone blog. =/

Oh! And I need to squeeze in some time to brush up on my basic Japanese because I, being the only one with the longest winter vacation, get to accompany my mom back to Japan and Taiwan this year. Woohoo! Mmm, I need to start watching my cheese, pasta, and dessert splurges in prep for the 5-7 lbs I know I'm sooo gonna gain. When I'm jetlagged, the only things I want to do are basically eat, sleep, and eat some more.

Whoops, that intro got longer than I intended. Back to the topic.

As some of you may know (or can already tell), I love, love, love making lists. My planner is sprinkled with colorful post-it notes full of mini daily to-do lists. The irony is that I'm definitely more of the messy type. *glances over my shoulder at my desk and four corners of my room for confirmation*

Yeeeah. There's no point in making excuses for my reality.

But hey, who says impulsive, generally laid-back people can't compulsively make lists anyways?!

It's only human to be an enigma. :)

My Current To-Do List for Life

1. Pierce ears...check! At the "tender" age of 20 ;)

(Travels)

2. Live at least one week in an ashram in India
3. Sleep at least one night in an European hostel
4. Spend at least 3 months helping natives in a third world country
5. Visit China and...*oh boy, lots of stuff* (yes, surprisingly I haven't been there and I've got royal blood running thru my veins, I'm such a disgrace to my ancestors!)

(Language-wise)

6. Learn to read Chinese fluently aka beyond the current 60-70% (and a newspaper without the help of my dad and not the Chinese characters in the subtitles of a Korean/Japanese drama series)
7. Be able to quote the Chinese proverbs
8. Become more familiar with ancient Chinese poetry and philosophy
9. Have a more comprehensive knowledge of Chinese history
10. Learn beyond disjointed, basic Japanese and be able to converse
11. Have calligraphy skills that looks better than a 10-years old
12. Be more confident in using my French
13. Finish reading a French novel (can use French dictionary...hey, might as well be realistic here!)
14. Learn Taiwanese

(On Yoga, Physical & Exercise)

15. Get my full 200-RYT (aka 200-hour Certificate of Completion) in yoga
16. Be able to come into a hand/forearm stand w/o kicking up against a wall
17. Do a complete forward fold (so close!)
18. Be able to look cool dribbling a basketball between my legs (as opposed robotically idiotic...this adds to the reason I'm a shooter)
19. Be able to do 20 full, no-cheating push-ups (in a way that doesn't cause onlookers to snicker *sigh*)
20. Have skin as soft as Mom’s
21. Have a toned stomach (those tricky side lines...which! I noticed over Thanksgiving that my 55-year old mom has!!! Her regular morning swims for the past 10 years were no joke, wow)
22. Stop biting my nails, for good

(On exploring, pushing my limits)

23. Skydive (jeez, I get heart palpitations just imagining that)
24. Hang-glide (can I request to have someone hold my hand?)
25. Go spelunking
26. Hike and mountain bike the Canadian Rockies with my kid sis
27. Karaoke in front of a *small* crowd (excluding family members and under the influence of alcohol)
28. ...swim naked outside (Japanese onsens do not count here)
29. Ride a motorcycle (no piggybacking, scooters, mopeds, etc!)
30. Learn beyond beginner/intermediate Argentine Tango
31. Get a small tattoo
32. Jump off a cliff (ideally a pretty swan dive instead of looking like a monkey scrambling out of hot water)

(Not categorized yet)

30. Be able to buy an overseas trip for my parents
33. Grow my own garden
34. Learn to make my own cheese and yogurt

Whew. And knowing me, that list is probably going to get longer before it gets shorter.

Someone's got a lot of living left to do! Is it any wonder I need a list to maintain the illusion of my sanity? :)