In Preperation for 2010...

I was just watching the premiere for Real World DC and saw the latest trailer for MTV's newest hit show, "The Buried Life." Basic premise: 4 guys made a list of 100 things they wanted to do before they died. They bought a bus, traveled around the country (world?), made their wildest dreams come true, and filmed the whole thing. For each item they were able to cross off their collective list, they helped a complete stranger accomplish one of their own goals. Check out there website here, and some of their footage below.

Here's one of the older trailers:

And the newer one:


After watching something like that, you can't help but think about your own goals, and New Year's Eve being upon us....your resolutions. Of the 100 items on the guys' list, I've already managed to accomplish the following:

7. Plant a tree (gotta love middle school earth days...)
9. Destroy a computer (it's called college, and, well...my life in general.)
10. Learn to fly (I took flying lessons one summer when I was a camp counselor.)
11. Get a college degree (Graduated in '07 baby!)
13. Help someone build a house (I helped build two houses when I spent a summer as an assistant site supervisor for Habitat for Humanity in Portland, Maine.)
23. Learn how to play an instrument (I think with piano, viola, saxophone, and drums under my belt, I've got it covered.)
25. Drive across North America (We roadtripped to Derby last spring...does that count?)
27. Give a stranger a $100 bill (I gave $100 to my favorite sober, smiling, cvs-door-holdinghomeless man at the end of the summer I lived in Cambridge.)
29. Scream at the top of your lungs (who hasn't done this?)
49. Take a stranger out for dinner (I actually did this once when I made bff with a slightly crazy older woman at the MAC counter in the mall. We had a blast and met up a few more times after that for mentor-style lunches.)
51. Climb a large Mountain (Katahdin baby!)
58. See a dead body (Sadly true thanks to a handful of funerals.)
65. Learn how to sail (I used to sail at camp when I was younger and spent this past summer relearning how with Bobby as my coach.)
72. Throw a surprise party (My parent's surprise 25th wedding anniversary party was a huge hit!)

82. Win an award (This counts, right? Seriously? Why not?)

86. Teach an elementary school class (DONE. And this list didn't even specify that I had to teach them about sperm, trannies, and lady parts! Seriously though, that happened to me last spring. Sex ed in 5th grade is apparently no joke.)

88. Jump off a waterfall (Thanks Adventure Camp!)
90. Ride a rollercoaster (I still remember the first rollercoaster I ever rode...the Scooby Doo one at King's Dominion in Virginia when we moved to Savannah. Embarassing, but true. Cut me a little slack though, I was 9, people!)
92. Learn how to surf (I halfway accomplished this during one of my visits to my parents' condo in Florida. Too bad I got stuck in a rip tide and then crashed into a reef that we later found out was installed by the association next door to "maintain the shark environment." Good times.)
98. Race horses (I used to ride in Jimcanas at camp.)

Total: 20

Twenty out of one hundred? Without even trying? Not too shabby!

Here are some of the things I'd like to accomplish in the coming year(s):

In 2010...
1. Go paintballing (something I promised Ali for her bday last year and we still haven't gotten around to doing.)
2. Run a half marathon...full marathon if I'm feeling gutsy.
3. Relive my childhood summers by convincing all of my friends to go camping with me.
4. Head up to Maine and tackle the Class 5 rapids that almost killed me back in the day.
5. Become a poor man's Former Roommate Jenn, meaning that I not only want to teach myself to cook, but I'd also like to make it look half as effortless as she does.
6. Smoothly and successfully reonvate and decorate my new condo (more to come on that in 2010!!)
7. Get ballsier with my snowboarding and wakeboarding skills. Breaking my wrist while snowboarding left me a little gunshy, but I'm slowly getting my snow legs back.
8. Suck it up and hop the bus/train to visit my friends/family in NYC more than...never. The lofty goal: 4 times in 2010, versus 0 times in 2007, 2008, and 2009 combined. I'm looking at you, Lee.
9. Be outside all summer, hopefully while working at a non-profit day camp on one of the islands outside of the city.
10. Buy myself fresh peonies every week while they're in season (May and June). Few things make me happier than a vase full of these can.
11. Apologize to everyone I was bitchy to in 2009, namely the match.com date that looked like Tony Soprano's half-sibling who I disappeared on last spring, among others. It's never too late to say you're sorry, especially if you mean it.
12. Write more thoughtful birthday messages to all (okay, most) of my facebook friends.
13. Send Christmas cards for once.
14. Finally get my helmsman certification for sailing.
15. Go to more live shows, especially if Kings of Leon, Vampire Weekend, MGMT, La Roux, Drake, Jeremih, Lil Wayne, or Jay-Z come to town.
16. Be the best friend/daughter/cousin/niece/dog owner I can be.

Long term goals (to cross off in the next 5-10 years)...
1. Skydive
2. Swim with sharks (preferably in Australia...Bobby, you in?)
3. Sell the condo I just bought and buy/build a dreamhouse/penthouse.
4. Fall in love (cheesy, but we're talking long term...who doesn't want to fall in real, non-high-school-boyfriend-forever-and-always or maybe-gay-college-boyfriend-who-lives-down-the-hall-and-is-convenient, love? I promise to still be just as ridic after this happens, though I may have to retroactively delete some of my more risque posts...talk about a dilemma!)
5. Publish a book...or two...or, you know, three.
6. Be a contestant on a gameshow...or win a bananagrams tournament, whichever comes first.
7. Travel. Everywhere.
8. Make a tangible difference in the lives of my students. Help them get into Prep to Prep and ABC programs so they can go to prep/boarding schools for free.
9. Open a summer camp so city kids can experience the backwoods of Maine or New Hampshire.
10. Say yes to every spontaneous adventure proposed to me.

Lofty goals? Perhaps. Acheivable? Absolutely. Looks like I've got my work cut out for me come Friday...wish me luck! And get ready, the Best/Worst of 2009 post coming later today!

XOXO - Christine