Z is for Zero

Today is the last entry for the Blogging from A to Z Challenge.  I have been blogging about items on my bucket list, things that I want to do before I die.

'Z' is for zero:  I would like to be debt free, owe zero money to anyone or any place.

It would be awesome to know that the big ticket items -- house and car -- are paid for with no monthly payments, but I don't know if that will happen in the next ten to twenty years or if ever.  I do know that we can at least pay off other debts, like credit cards, and have those zeros smiling at us soon!

100 Books in 2012: Mockingbird by Erskine

Book 23:  Mockingbird by Kathryn Erskine

After a school shooting leaves her middle school brother Devon dead, Caitlin has trouble making sense of it all.  Devon was the one who helped the eleven year old understand the daily routines of life, and now she is struggling to understand even the simplest things.  But then Caitlin has always struggled.  As a child with Asperger's, Caitlin sees the world differently than the rest of her classmates and without Devon to help her understand the world, she is even more confused and lost.   While her patient dad is dealing with his own grief, her teacher, Mrs. Brook, counsels Caitlin about finding closure with finesse.

I wonderful read:  a real coming of age story told through an autistic child.  Erskine was moved to write the novel after the shooting on the Virginia Tech campus.

Y is for Yarn

Years ago I spent more of my free time on handicrafts, including cross-stitching and needlepoint.  My grandmother tried to teach me how to make Granny squares and how to crotchet, neither of which I have ever tried again in my adulthood.

I see a lot of folks learning to knit, forming knitting groups, the new social societies, perhaps.  And I think, Sure, I'd like to learn how to knit sometime.

It's probably not so much the actually handicraft that I am craving as much as the time spent with other women, enjoying conversation about family and friends and life.  But I would happily purchase some yarn and needles and have a go at a knitting circle.

100 Books in 2012: The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

Book 22:  The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

This was the first John Green book that I had read.  Where have I been?!

This was the amazing story of Hazel Lancaster and Augustus Waters, two teenagers who meet at a cancer support group.  The characters are real, honest, and likable.  The story is funny, moving, and incredible.  I laughed.  I pondered.  I wondered.  I cried.  I loved this book.  (Thanks to a fellow teacher for recommending and sharing it with me.)

It's definitely the next book you should add to your reading list.  (And I see from Mr. Green's website, that the movie rights have been optioned!)

X is for Xyloses

Okay, so the letter 'X' was a really hard one in the Blogging from A to Z Challenge and it only sort of conveys a want, a need really, that I have on my bucket list.

xyloses - n. - A sugar extracted from wood or straw; used in foods for diabetics

I don't really want to use this sugar.  What I really want is to be sugar free.  I feel like I have such an addiction to sugar.  I crave sugar.  I crave white bread and potatoes and rice that are starchy that all turn into sugar in the body.

I've never liked artificial sugars like aspartame or sucrolose.  I don't really know what xyloses might even taste like.  I just think a sugar free life would help my system get  back to a healthy state:  a normal weight, less aches and pains, and more energy.

W is for Washington, D.C.

I think everyone should live in Washington, D.C. for at least one year.

I've had this on my bucket list for a long time.  I really enjoy visiting D.C., going to the Smithsonian, walking the Mall, seeing the monuments.  If I lived there for a year, I could finally see it all more in depth and get a better feel for the history of our country.

I picture myself working at the Library of Congress.  I would take the Metro to work every morning.  I would eat my lunch on the steps of one of the historic buildings or picnic in the Mall.  I would tour at least one museum in the afternoon:  maybe the Folger Shakespeare Library, perhaps the Air and Space Museum, or the National Gallery of Art.

My evenings would be filled with moonlit strolls by the Potomac and dinners at all the best restaurants (Citronelle or Vidalia) and performances at the Kennedy Center.  My weekends would be spent sitting in Union Station or on the Capitol steps or on Pennsylvania Avenue watching the tourists, the visitors, the residents enjoying their moments with friends and family and documenting it all in my journal.

I'm not sure why I am enamoured with D.C.  Maybe I picture my stay in Washington without politicians.

V is for Voice

I love to sing.

Every night after I read my daughter a bedtime story and say her prayers with her, I sing her off into slumber land.  No, I don't sing a lullaby, not really, or some inspirational, soft melody.  Every night we sing a version of the closing theme song from The Lawrence Welk show: 

Good night, sleep tight, and pleasant dreams to you.
Make a wish, say a prayer, may all your dreams come true.
Tonight and until we meet again.
Adios, Au Revoir, Auf Wiedersehn.
Goodnight!

I really enjoy singing.  I grew up singing in the school choir.  I had the role of Mary Poppins, singing A Spoonful of Sugar Helps the Medicine Go Down, in a salute to Walt Disney production in the fourth grade.  I sang alto in the middle school choir and both alto and tenor in the high school choir, mainly because I had great pitch and was good at harmonizing.  In high school, I also started singing in my church choir.

I miss singing these days.  Sometimes I feel like I have lost my voice, although I really haven't.  I sing along to the radio, belt out songs with my girlfriends, especially on road trips, and giggle through songs with my daughter.  I just haven't performed in any organized singing group in quite a while.

Care to hum a little tune with me?