Lists

For the majority of my life there was really only one list that occupied my mind. My "Things to do before I die" list.

• Somehow convince a beautiful and intelligent woman to fall in love with me. Check.
• Reproduce with said woman. Check x 2.
• Jump out of a perfectly good airplane. Check.
• Swim with sharks. Check.
• Climb Kilimanjaro. Waiting for the boys to be old enough to go with.
• Learn to surf. Been pretty hard here in Minnesota.
• Make at least one other person's life significantly better. One of these days.
• Be seen as a hero in the eyes of my children. Ongoing struggle.
• Have a lifestyle that justifies owning my own tuxedo. I'm a ways off from this one yet.
  
• See the world... all of it. A bit ambitious I know, but it's worth a try.

The last one is encroaching the realm of possibility now as we ready ourselves for our new lives abroad. In getting ready though, I find myself needing many new lists just to keep from being totally overwhelmed (I'm still overwhelmed, just not totally). Right now most of these lists have to do with getting the house ready to sell. from lists of possible realtors to the daily to do lists of all the little things that will hopefully make our house more attractive to a buyer. Next to those lists are the lists of what to put in storage, what to ship to D.C., and what to get rid of. Once in D.C. we will be confronted with the list of open posts around the world on which K8 will have to bid. Once we find out our first post we then start down the list of things we need to buy to better equip us for life at that post. Probably a lot of toilet paper, transformers, adapters, heavy duty surge protectors, and of course diapers... lots of diapers.

All the while I've been working on a list of website and blogs that will help us prepare for the Foreign Service and a list of websites and blogs that will help us keep in touch and maintain our Minnesotan. Those lists should appear to the right and should be expanding as time passes.

Last Minute Minnesota - The Walker

In addition to the obvious high pressure of having to get everything sold, packed up, shipped out, and what have you in the next month and a half, I also feel compelled to take in as much of Minnesota as we can before we leave the state that has been home my entire life. We've already got weekends set aside for trips to the lake, my childhood hometown, and, I'm hoping, a quick jaunt up to the North Shore.

Today I took a break from setting up for our garage sale by taking the boys to The Walker... probably for the last time. If you followed my previous blog you'll know how much we love The Walker. Q, my 4 year old, could practically give tours there he's so familiar with the place. Of course, we'll soon have The Mall, The Smithsonian, The National Gallery, and the rest of the seemingly endless list of things to do and see in D.C., but, I'm still gonna miss that cherry and spoon.