100 accomplishments

Another sunset from the Gaborone Yacht Club, Gaborone, Botswana

(Can you tell I've been looking through old trip pictures?)

I always have a running tally of things I want to do and accomplish.  I've been tagged as an "avid learner" or "curious".  Whatever it is, I like doing different things.  So I've decided to put together my 100 things I want to accomplish list. But even for me, it's not that easy to do.  Not only because 100 things is a lot, but figuring out the balance between the big momentous things (climb Kilimanjaro) with the smaller (learn to swim) is a bit tricky. So I've decided to first put together my list of 100 random things I've already done to help inspire me into organizing the 100 things I want to do.  So here are 100 things I've managed to do in my life, in no particular order or level of importance:

1. Fell in love
2. Got married
3. Had a child
4. Visited 4 continents
5. Been in 16 countries
6. Tasted 3 oceans
7. Walked in 34 states and the District of Columbia
8. Went on Safari while 7 months pregnant
9. Lived on a beach for 30 days
10. Learned to speak Portuguese fluently
11. Got a Bachelors Degree
12. Got a Masters Degree with a 3.996 GPA
13. Ran a Boy Scout camp
14. Ate cat (unknowingly!)
15. Skinny dipped in the ocean
16. Drank a mojito in Havana
17. Got mugged
18. Summitted a couple of mountains
19. Got fired from a job
20. Followed Mma Ramotswe's tracks through Gaborone
21. Learned I have psoriatic arthritis
22. Took up photography as a hobby
23. Fished for piranhas in the Amazon
24. Hang glided over Rio de Janeiro
25. Drank beer with Pete Coors at Oktoberfest
26. Sang the American National Anthem with Canadians at a Leafs game
27. Drank wine in Napa
28. Went whale watching in Nova Scotia
29. Camped alone without a tent
30. Got Robin Yount's autograph
31. Visited Niagra Falls
32. Have held 5 full-time jobs
33. Ran a 5K
34. Learned to make a killer brigadeiro
35. Had my left ACL repaired
36. Taught a wine tasting course
37. Had a cow named after me
38. Visited Corcovado
39. Got confirmed at the age of 20
40. Became a Godparent
41. Took my ACT exam hungover
42. Drove a forklift
43. Visited a chocolate factory
44. Figured out how to geocache
45. Geocached in Italy
46. Got the penny to fall in the grate at the Florence boar
47. Visited a Nazi death camp
48. Saw David
49. Rode the steepest cogwheel train in the world
50. Rode on an un-airconditioned bus for almost 60 hours one-way
51. Fundraised over $6000 for the Arthritis Foundation
52. Taught myself how to knit
53. Roasted my own coffee beans
54. Ate mangoes straight from the trees in a grove
55. Survived a tornado
56. Felt an earthquake
57. Found the elusive green sand
58. Snorkeled
59. Haggled in foreign street markets
60. Smoked Cuban cigars
61. Made chocolate soufflé
62. Bought a minivan
63. Got 2 Old English Sheepdogs
64. Won first place in quite a few sporting events
65. Won a 22" TV for a photo I took
66. Got soaked in Foz do Iguacu, twice
67. Broke my hand
68. Taught my son how to bake cookies
69. Rubbed John Harvard's boot (and later learned how gross that boot is)
70. Sat behind home plate at a Brewers game
71. Went to gymnastics camp with Bella Karoli
72. Breastfed my kid for a year
73. Stepped over lava
74. Watched the Bay of Fundy fill up
75. Sang a Happy Schnapps Combo song with Francis McDormand's cousins in Brier Island
76. Learned how to golf
77. Made my own beer
78. Learned to play piano, trumpet and baritone
79. Played soccer with kids in a Brazilian favela
80. Memorized every word of Major League
81. Made my own marshmallows
82. Learned to walk on stilts
83. Drove on the left-side of the road with a left-hand stick
84. Danced to Olodum in Salvador
85. Tried acupuncture
86. Participated in a 4-month fitness contest
87. Was anchor of a prize-winning beer drinking team in college
88. Got my naval pierced
89. Learned the difference between a seal and a sea lion
90. Watched a soccer game in the world's largest stadium
91. Watched every James Bond movie and every episode of 24 ever made
92. Made my own vanilla extract
93. Learned to snowshoe
94. Discovered how to make a killer caipirinha
95. Won the pitcher drinking contest as captain of the volleball team, The Superdupers
96. Played softball for 10 years
97. Learned to dance a foxtrot
98. Read the Bible
99. Spun pottery on a wheel
100. Started and maintained a blog for almost 4 years