The Year of the Bucket List

I can't really say that I set out to make this the year that everything happens, but somehow it all did. Which I'm going to use as a very convenient excuse for having not posted anything.

So, the things that I crossed off my to-do list this year:

• Went to the Super Bowl (of course, my team stayed home as usual).
• Finally got an A in an Economics class.
  
• Saw my first NCAA basketball playoff game. Almost saw my team pull off what would have been the upset of the century.
• Saw my first (and second) baseball spring training games. Also saw my (very) local college team land a foul ball through my window.
• Drove a Mustang convertible. Added "buying a convertible" to my bucket list.
  
• Witnessed the aftermath of an epic battle between man and nature and the branches of a tree poking through my ceiling. I would gladly have left this one on the to-don't list.
• Shouted myself hoarse at three NBA playoff games, including a triple-overtime monster.
• Finally went to Disney World with some of the best friends in the world.
• Got to be both a little bit country (CMAFest) and a little bit rock-n-roll (Bon Jovi).
  
• Spent an entire uninterrupted week at the beach without getting sunburned.
• Admitted to my mother that I got a tattoo.
  
• Made a well-reasoned career change that didn't scare the hell of me.
• Got my picture taken with Elvis. Actually, with five Elvises. (Elvii?)
  
• Toured the World of Coca-Cola.
  
• Crossed the Golden Gate Bridge and experienced my first two earthquakes all within my first 12 hours in California.
  

Somewhere in between all of that going and doing were a lot of small things that were, in some ways, just as big as the things that made my list. And that's what this year was supposed to be about: being happier with who I am and where I am. Fixing the things that made me feel broken. I did that, too, but along the way I think I got too protective. Kind of like the difference between driving a beat-up Corolla and a brand-new Mustang. I was afraid of going back to bad habits, but I might have let go of some good ones, too. If you really want to enjoy the drive, sometimes you have to loosen your grip on the wheel. So now I'm looking for a little more balance, and hoping that I'm heading down the right road to find it.