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I’m a planner. I like to make lists. I like to cross things off of my lists. I like to make a list and transfer non-congruent items from one list to another list so that like items are grouped together.

It’s a little OCD. I know that and I’m cool with it. I’ve got a list of reasons why (kidding).

I was on Twitter the other day, which in and of itself is an action I still can’t believe I’m about. Anyway, my girl Yo twatted twittered tweeted that an entry on her bucket list is to “dive off of a yacht”.  I love everything about that and all that implies.  It’s not like you’ve got a yacht in your backyard, right? Well, maybe you do.  For us mere mortals, in order to get to a place where you are diving off of a yacht, you have to consider all of the dynamics that get you from where you are sitting right now, to looking over the edge of a luxury sea vessel, about to do a Greg Louganis into the ocean.

Seriously, I read that tweet and was completely overcome by a feeling of delicious luxury and indulgence as I pictured myself doing a swan dive from the bow (prow? — let’s call it the back).  In my head, I’m a bronzed, bikinied, vision of aquatic strength, but we all know, I’m more likely to take a running leap and cannonball into the ocean.  Whatever, I’m sure I’d be all Andy Samberg about it.

But back to the idea of yacht diving and it’s place on a bucket list.  When the movie of the same name featuring Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman came out in 2007, there was a considerable upswing in conversations about the creation and fulfillment of bucket lists.  In 2007, I was a 26 years old, a new mom,  so ideas of squeezing in lots of stuff in before I die wasn’t high on my list of priorities.  I ended up seeing the movie several years later, probably one lazy afternoon as I plowed through several buckets of laundry.  The premise, for those of you who don’t know, is about two terminally ill men who take a road trip to fulfill some longstanding adventures before they “kick the bucket”.  A Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman road trip movie? Not bad.  Still, I didn’t feel compelled to make a list of my own.

The hubs and I created a board several years ago of things and experiences that we’d like to have.  It didn’t matter if we didn’t achieve these goals before we die; I doubt me and my halo would be floating  on a cloud with my lip poked out.  The board we dubbed the “S#*! I Want” board. Classy, right?  It was kind of like an art project. The hubs and I sat down with some magazines one day and just cut and pasted things shit things we’d like to experience.  The hubs put a picture of the US Open because he’d like to take his dad to all of the Grand Slams.  I put a picture of a piano because I’d like to learn how to play.  He put a picture of some gold bars to represent financial security.  I put a picture of the Rosetta Stone language system because I’d like to be fluent in French (quelle surprise).  The tri-fold board stayed in our closet and we would look at it from time to time, checking off images if we accomplished them.  We shared the idea of the board with some friends, one of whom made one and began steadily ticking things off, much to her and our delight.

When we moved, the board came with us.  Over time, with the demands of work, children and daily life, it just sat, a cardboard sentinel keeping watch over our clothes and shoes in the closet.  As we settled into the house, the board was soon hidden behind stacks of winter clothes and blankets, or summer clothes and beach bags, depending on the season.  Pretty soon, all that you could see of it was the uppermost left corner and a meticulously cut, pasted on image of a pair of red-soled Bianca’s (guess who pasted that up there?). Fast forward to several months ago and the great closet re-do.  When everything came out of the closet, so too did the board.  The hubs and I looked at it, running our fingers over the things we’d seen and done, as well as those things that were still left to do.  Somehow, by some unspoken agreement, we decided to say good-bye to the board.

(image) Part of me feels like this list is going to be personal, that it should be kept private, but I do love a Pinterest craft challenge! I suppose having some ideas (beyond yacht diving) to put in the bucket would help.  I guess I’m going to have to come up with a list for that.