Shipwrecked & Comatose

My bucket list isn't made up of crazy stunts and bizarre experiences.  My main goal for the end of my life is to travel more.  I want to see as much of the world as possible.  In 2013 I made a rather unfocused blog post about my biggest travel priorities.  Since I made that post, I have crossed a few destinations off the list.  I have also made some more focused travel goals for my priority destinations for the next several years.  I thought it would be fun to compare the notes and share my revised lists. Places that were on my previous list that I have been to since then: Costa Rica - I saw much more of this beautiful place in 2014 than I saw on that cruise ship 10 years earlier. I explored rain forests, rode a horse on the beach, and swam and snorkeled in the Pacific.   This is a definitely bucket list destination. Italy - I said I wanted to return there and particularly wanted to return to Venice.  The 2015 cruise took care of some of that.  (I would still go back to It

Do it. Don't do it to lose weight.  Don't do it look hot in a bathing suit.  Don't do it to make yourself more attractive to current or potential sexual and romantic partners.  Don't do it because you fear obesity.  Don't do it because you fear other health risks. Do it because you can. As a klutzy, unathletic nerd, I spent years developing physical skills and a certain level of fitness that I felt I could be proud of.  My accomplishments were never impressive to most people, but to me they were everything.  I was proud of my strength gains and the crazy stunts I could pull off at the gym.  I was proud of how I managed to ride a green pony through the phases of her education.  I was proud of the complex tap dancing steps I could execute.  I was proud of my endurance for long hikes in nature.  I was proud of the time I was able to swim out to a sandbar and tow a drowning man to safety on my boogie board.  I was no athlete, but I proved to myself that I was fit.

Thanks to following Spandau Ballet on Facebook, I learned that Tony Hadley has released a Christmas album this year .  I'm not a fan of celebrity Christmas albums.  I don't like most contemporary Christmas music and most popular Christmas songs, both traditional and contemporary, have been done to death.  I wasn't sure what Tony Hadley could bring to the table.  Still, Tony Hadley is my long-time crush and the man can sing Row Row Row Your Boa t and make it sound like a choir of angels singing.  I considered giving the album a chance. I took a look at the song list online. To my horror, the second song on the album was my Christmas musical nemesis Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas .  Why ? I lamented.  Why why why does  every singer need to record that song on a Christmas album?  Does any pop singer every consider that not everyone loves songs that are so hokey and maudlin?  I remembered how several years ago when Sarah McLachlan (my favorite female singer) put out a

So I survived my first phase of getting my fitness back and moving my body forward. The first week felt pretty good.  I started my Piyo workouts and my new habits on a Sunday morning.  The workouts were both easy and difficult at the same time.  The workout consisted of simple moves that I have done all my life, but I haven't done them much in the past year.  My body hasn't moved in certain ways for a long time.  I really had to struggle with some of them.  However, muscle memory began to kick in after two or three workouts and they felt more comfortable. Midway through the first week, I was tempted to check in.  I wanted to see if I had made any progress at all.  I found myself staring at my scale and tape measure, wondering if I'd see a difference.  Is that crazy or what?  I wanted to see if I had results after 5 days?  After all this time trying to learn that my body is going to change slowly and on its own time, I still want instant results.  I knew that a few days

I see memes like this all the time around the holidays.  These are usually posted by well-meaning liberals who just want everyone to get along.  I understand the sentiment.  "Stop this War on Christmas crap!  Stop being too sensitive if it's not your holiday.  Can't you just take it when someone wishes you well?" Here is my take on it.  We can all just get along fine, but being forced to feel the love whenever you receive a holiday greeting is not required to get along. Every year around this time of year someone passes around this little bit by Ben Stein, Republican speechwriter, character actor, and the Token Jew of the Religious Right. I am a Jew, and every single one of my ancestors was Jewish. And it does not bother me even a little bit when people call those beautiful lit up, bejeweled trees, Christmas trees. I don't feel threatened. I don't feel discriminated against. That's what they are, Christmas trees.  It doesn't bother me a

I almost titled this post, "Getting My Body Back," but I realized it's not a good post title. I didn't lose my body.  The body I have spent the last ( number deleted ) years living in is still here, where it has always been.  I can't even say I want a previous version of my body back.  That is not quite right.  My body is always changing.  I may not be able to make it look the way it did two years ago.  That time is passed.  My body will be what it's going to be.  As I have learned so painfully in the past year, there are going to be times when I have limited control over how I look and feel. I know these paragraphs have nothing to do with the main subject of this post.  I wanted to say it anyway, because I realize I'm not the only woman who has referred to a change in diet and exercise, hoping to slim down, as "Getting my body back."  In other words, women often feel the body they currently inhabit is somehow not the correct one.  We feel

The world is a book.  Those who never travel read only one pa ge  - Quote on the wrapper of the chocolate placed on my bed in the evening After nearly a year of anticipation, the Mediterranean cruise has happened and is now just a memory.  It was a special one, and I am grateful to my family for giving me this unique opportunity.  To preserve the memories, I am writing about it in my blog, as I do for every vacation, and I hope that some of my readers will enjoy sharing them with me. Day 1+ - Kevin and I packed our bags on Saturday morning and  Saturday afternoon we hopped in our taxi to head to the airport and begin our adventure.  We met Dad and Beth at JFK so we could all check in together. Most of our flight was uneventful, but we did have some incidents at the airport. Dad and Beth have enough frequent flier miles to fly business class.  They wanted us to stay with them in the business class lounge prior to the flight.  We were happy to do that.  They asked at the check-in