Sinclair Montgomery

Suburban Martyr

My Bucket List

I can’t believe that I actually have one of these, but I do.  John and I went to one of those executive retreats last year and I had to sit in a conference room without any medication for an entire weekend going over personal objectives and intentions with five other men and two spouses that also couldn’t get out of it…. The entire weekend just made me a nervous wreck because most of the stuff I want to accomplish involves surviving parenthood.  Once I survive that, I have a hole shit load of places I want to go, to see, to smell.

So I created this bucket list as my parenting bucket list.  Things that I can look forward to accomplishing while I’m raising my three children, and making sure they survive and still like me when it’s all over.

Spend a summer in New Zealand.  We always go to Daufuskie, but my big plan here is to eventually move to Daufuskie, and then spend my summer some place other than Daufuskie.  I think New Zealand would be awesome, and the kids would really experience living somewhere else.

Go rafting in the Grand Canyon.  I always wanted to do this as a kid, but we never did it.  As much as I hate camping, I think I could survive this experience, based on what I dream the beauty of my surroundings will be.

Eat Kung Pao Chicken on the Great Wall of China.  I’d settle for a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, but I really want to go see the Great Wall of China.

Take Kids (and John) to London and go see Loch Ness.

Take Kids (and John) to Italy and spend some time on the island of Capri.

Take Kids (and John) to the top of the Eiffel Tour.

Write and Publish a book (praying that a publisher finds me, as currently I’m drowning in motherhood and I don’t know how I would actually carve out permission to write a book unless I had someone actually interested in what I have to say).

Mignonne, Jack, and Ashton to graduate from whatever college they desire to attend.

Attend mass at the Vatican with the Pope.  I suppose this means that eventually I’ll have to go to confession.

Go to Alaska.

Go to Antarctica.

Visit the Taj Mahal.

Go to South Africa.

Take a Safari.

See an NBA game (I did this!  December 2010!)

Baby Girl is a Queen of Babylon

Take the kids to Washington D.C.  (We did this!  Cross it off!)

See Niagara Falls

Go to Catalina Island off the coast of California

See Mt. Everest.

Go to Cairo and the Pyramids

Play Golf @ St. Andrews.  I never did when I went to college there, and I really regret it.

Go to My High School Reunion (I did this, and there was a reason why I didn’t keep in touch with the people I went to High School).

Attend my 20 year college reunion.  After surviving the high school reunion, I really think that I’ll skip this one, but it’s on the freaking list now.

Pay off Mortgage by the time the kids graduate from college.

Drive down the Pacific Coast Highway

Take Minn to New York to shop for her high school prom dress.  Just her and me.  Girls weekend.

Grow a Garden  (I did the summer of 2010.  Lots of Zuchini and pathetic tomatoes.

Learn to play George Winston’s Pachebel

Send three kids abroad to study for a summer or greater than 3 months.

Go to Australia and see Rock, Koala, and Kangaroo.

See Red Square.

Go to the Olympics.

Be on Oprah.  Damnit Oprah.  You have to go and retire.  I still want to make the Odyssey to her Chicago show.  Maybe they’ll pan over me in the audience.  How does one score tickets to her show anyway?  I keep going to the website, but it’s never there.  Dear Oprah, I love you.  Shit, she has to come back, because now, I’m screwed.

See the David Letterman Show.  I better hurry this one along too.  All of the people that I adore are freaking retiring, and I’m still raising my kids and can’t leave them alone.  Post Script:  He freaking retired.  They called me two days before Thanksgiving and offered me tickets.  Yeah, right.

Spend my birthday with the four girls that I love and mean the world to me.

Take my kids rafting on the Mattaponi River.

Watch the 4th of July Fireworks with my family.  (We did this too – On Daufuskie Island, and it was WONDERFUL).