Life List

On my desk I keep a little notebook where one day in grad school (3/31/2001, apparently), I wrote down a bunch of things I wanted to do in my life, big and small. For a while I then entered the dates I'd done each of the things. I hadn't opened the book for a couple of years. But when I thought of it recently, it was fun to see that I had more dates to enter, for things I'd done since then.

There are big things still undone: Write a novel. Be entirely at peace. Have a little girl, take her to the American History museum, and teach her to be great, to be ambitious to do good.

Small things, some done: Finish Linda's sampler (2002). Study Italian (2001). Have plants (2002).

Things that I've recently done: Get a cat. I wrote (2005) next to that one.

Things I will now never do: Paint my closet (I moved instead).

And things that now seem rather odd: Eat more vegetables (2002-2003) (Why the end date?)

Now I have more items to add to the list: Take down the entryway wallpaper. Adopt a baby girl from China? Develop a research project using the New England archives. Plan an adventure for next summer.