Things To Do Before I Shuffle Off This Mortal Coil

I love all those euphemisms for death. Frankly, I just love euphemisms. I think "shuffle off this mortal coil" is probably one of my favorites. Let me be clear, though, I am not dying. Please don't call the Make-A-Wish Foundation, and don't send flowers. I'm not going anywhere. I've just been thinking lately about all the things I have always wanted to do, but have never had the time/money/energy to accomplish.

I figured that if I made a list, then maybe when I have time/money/energy (or two out of three), I'll start checking things off. So here it is. This is in no particular order, and is not at all a complete list.

Before I die, I'd like to...

• ride in a hot air balloon
• take the ski lift up to the top and back
• volunteer with Habitat for Humanity
  
• visit the places my grandparents were born
• see the entire Smithsonian
• take ballroom dancing lessons
• learn a foreign language
• renovate an older house
• be a size 8
• taste desserts from all over the world
• learn to quilt
• go back to work
  
• serve a humanitarian mission
• get a massage
  
• live in a foreign country
• take my kids to Disneyland
• go geocaching
• understand how the stock market works
• write a children's book
• learn to roller skate (or ice skate) backwards