The *not bucket* List; or, It ain't over 'til it's over

Two years here, and there's still much to do.

I'm working on finding ways to keep on keeping on with fun in the sun in our little exclusive gated community. I'm calling it the Things I Must Do Before I Escape GTMO list (I refuse to say it's my GTMO bucket-list, because I hate that over-used phrase, and honestly, I associate either fish bait or vomit when I think of a bucket).

The Things I Must Do Before I Escape GTMO List:

1. Get a boating license

2. Do some sea kayaking

3. Get back into doing pottery

4. DEFEAT CANDY CRUSH

5. (okay, play less Candy Crush)

Isn't this the most disturbing this you've seen all day???
My mutant foot, thanks to a severely sprained ankle.
Ugh. 

6. Run again. It's been a long, slow journey to recovery from a sprained ankle. Who knew?
7. Soccer, again (the ankle. . . )
8. Dive again (damn ankle!!)

9. Catch a lobster

10. Gathers some conchs

11. Visit Ft. Conde again

12. Paint: 

Recent painting of my favorite GTMO banyan tree 

13. Spend less time at school (no more staying until 6 pm)

14. Spend more time at the beach

15. Master the homemade loaf of bread (nothing but abysmal failures thus far)

16. Go sailing

Sailboat for rent

23. Figure out something creative to do
with the 500# of sea glass I've collected (thus far)

17. Grow some peppers
18. Get off this rock more than 1 time a year
19. Ride my mountain bike on the trails
20. Teach son 1 how to drive a stick shift (life skill!)
21. Finish my ESOL (or Reading?) certification (or both?)
22. Save, save, save money

28. Go to the lighthouse museum

24. Clean out the hall closet
25. Clean out the garage
26. Have a killer garage sale
27. Take more photographs with my amazing new camera

29. Eat more Jerk

30. Learn to play "Blitzkrieg Bop" on the ukelele

31. Whittle down my shoe collection to a reasonable size 

32. Finish the Diana Gabaldon "Outlander" series

33. Do a craft fair at least once with son 2 (he has some creative ideas)

34. Invite people over more often

35. Go to Leeward for a day, this time with the entire family

36. Spend more time visiting our nice little community library

37. Continue my back porch wine sessions with my awesome neighbor

37. Figure out how to get grass to grow in our yard that looks like the moon

38. Photograph a deer and a boa (not necessarily at the same time. . .)

39. Spend more time at the plant nursery

40. Walk JPJ hill

41. Spend less time talking about work or thinking about it

42. Spend more time talking with my family and planning new adventures

43.Clean out Pearl to restore her to her former somewhat pristine glory

44. Fly a kite

45. Go to an astronomy event

46. Get prints of some of our better GTMO photographs

47. Not sweat the small stuff

48. Remember it's all small stuff

49. Give away more seedlings/plants

50. Downsize, downsize, downsize (got to tread lightly)

51. Yo-ga, yo-ga!

52. Continue working through viewing a large list of amazing 80s movies with Son 1

53. Enjoy 100s of more hours with my board game loving Son 2:

Ticket to Ride. . . 

or Life? 

54. Finish at least 1/2 the books stacked up on my bed side table

55. Hablo mas español, aunque nadie habla español en US-Cuba. (No estoy en Cuba-Cuba).

Also, last week we cooked what we thought was a cut up pork roast in the crock pot, only to find out that it had skin. And maybe hooves. I don't know. It was crazy-scary.

Add to that list that I'm working on finding ways to cook with what we have here (and no more surprises, please).