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Bucket List

Hmmm... a bucket list, you say? I wasn't going to keep one. Just another cancer cliche, how dull.

The other day, I went to the California State Fair. I had a wonderful time, and as we walked inside looking at the shopping area, we came across a little storefront. It was decorated with white, wrought-iron tables outside what appeared to be a little bayou shack. There was a sign that said "Beignets, $5.00 for 2" I realized that I have always wanted to taste a beignet, and I may never get another chance. So, I ordered one (or two).

They were delicious. Whether they were authentic or not, I don't know, but sitting there under the fake overhang of the fake front porch, sharing the beignets with my husband, I could almost hear the frogs of Louisiana singing, see a 'gator tail under the porch and hear some jazz playing in the background.

And, I realized that I'd hit one of my bucket list items. And, it wasn't a movie moment or a big expensive thing.  I'm not Jack Nicholson. Just something I'd always wanted to do and didn't realize it until I did it.

So, I decided to put them down. Some of them will be "reverse bucket list" items - things I've already done and didn't even think were on my bucket list. Some are things I want to do. I may shoot big on a few things and I know they won't happen. I'm okay with that. What I'm not going to put down are the things I thought I'd always dreamed of and realize aren't that important.

The truth is, I have realized my life's goals. I married a nice man, I have two wonderful children and two wonderful step-children.  That is all anybody could really want and I have it.  The rest is just....beignets.


Most of these things below are old.  I'll keep them for posterity.  But I am unable to do these things.

Ann's Bucket List

  • Ride a Segway (why I haven't?  Rental and insurance places insist you weigh 110 pounds, something I have never done in my entire life)
  • Have an Op-Ed published in a newspaper
  • Find a marrow donor for Kurt Lee (well, not personally, but you know...) 
  • Be on a TV show or movie set (SET, not in a show).  No, I don't want to harass famous people, I am interested in the technical stuff behind it.  I'd like to be a Walker on the Walking Dead
  • Taste a beignet
  • Have a perfectly trained dog that will do tricks and everything I say. (In process but not going well because I got too tired to continue lessons)
  • One last family trip: a cruise (or easy on the body trip) with my husband, children and step-children and their spouses.
  • Chanel bag.  Or Balenciaga.  Maybe Hermes.  Maybe all. :)
Have people realize that StandUp2Cancer is a better charity than Komen



  • A house where every room is clean at the same time. Even the bedroom where you throw stuff when people come over.
  • Eat at the French Laundry
  • See my son graduate high school. (This is really #1) This happened June 5th, 2014
  • See my older son get married (Also #1)
  • See my first grandchild. (No pressure kids. :))
  • Short trip to NYC with son who would like to see a big city that is not San Francisco
  • Wear red-bottomed Louboutins for a photo
  • Go to a fair in another state - maybe Texas State Fair
  • See Solvang   (Solvang has offered and this should happen this summer)
  • Finish my scrapbooks for the kids
  • Have my son meet those internet guys he likes, Mega64
  • Have my first biological grandchild