One week until my 68th birthday and time to refer back to the 67 goals that I set in anticipation of the occasion. (See Post #642). Here are some of the things I didn’t get done and some related excuses:

  1. Get my grandkids to Portland (maybe when the Cubs play the Mariners in Seattle)
  2. St. Louis for a baseball game
  3. Spring Training game in Arizona or Florida
  4. IU Basketball Game (tournament season please)
  5. Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame
  6. Las Vegas weekend to celebrate 18 years of marriage
  7. Repair Solara and Lexus dents
  8. Go to a Ducks football game
  9. See 3 Oregon State baseball games
  10. Go to a Timbers game
  11. Write a book
  12. Visit my sister and friends in Elkhart
  13. Ski at Steamboat
  14. At least 5 ski trips to Mt. Hood
  15. Visit Jessica Fletcher’s House
  16. San Diego for a baseball game
  17. Go to a Hops Game
  18. Attend a high school football game
  19. Go to my 50th High School Reunion
  20. See an NFL game
  21. Go to a high school basketball game
  22. First class flight upgrade

There were actually 72 items on my initial list, meaning I was able to cross-off 50 – not bad. Of these remaining 22 unfulfilled items, I did at least ski once (not five times) at Mt. Hood and went to two (not 3) Oregon State baseball games, in freezing cold temperatures no less. Plus, we’re headed to Steamboat next week but not to ski, and we’re scheduled to see a Timbers match in just a few weeks. Regrettably, I did not get back to my hometown of Elkhart for my 50th high school reunion or to visit my sister and her family. Nor, did I get my grandkids out here to Portland as I had planned, but I am going out to see them in Florida next month. When the Cubs came to Seattle, we instead flew to Hawaii, so the alternative turned out to be much better. None of the other sports-related activities were time sensitive, and will simply be added to next year’s list. I would also love to go to Williamsport, Pennsylvania for the Little League World Series.

I did get some seat upgrades from Alaska Airlines but never got into first-class. We didn’t expect my wife’s daughter to move to San Francisco with her fiance, so there were certainly pleasant surprises like this that changed our West Coast travel plans. However, she now lives very close to Mendocino and Jessica Fletcher’s Blair House and memories of my favorite show, Murder She Wrote. When we were in Arizona, it was a week early for any spring baseball, nor did we get to San Diego or take the time for high school games, the Hillsboro Hops, or Oregon college football. I almost made it to a Yankees game, but a death in the family changed those plans. As it turned out, the game was postponed by rain anyway. We’ll be back in New York in about three weeks, but for Broadway not baseball.

There are still dents in our cars that I continue to procrastinate on getting fixed. I.U. basketball failed to make the NCAA tournament again, so they weren’t worth a trip to see. We will probably not get back to Indiana at all for the holidays this year, without my wife’s mother to visit. The Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame Museum in New Castle has been on my list for many years now and looks like it will continue to be. Last year we were able to include St. Louis in our Midwest travels, but a funeral changed everything. 

Another year has passed without writing that book I never seem to get accomplished. Maybe this will be the year? Two weddings will top the year’s list of events transpiring before the year 2020 and my 69th birthday.  With the sale of our home, there are many things up in the air, including where we’ll be living. We could even be in Florida to celebrate the new year, or maybe elusive Las Vegas? As life settles over the next few months, I’ll try to put together a 68-point plan of goals and dreams, and maybe this time so many won’t go unfulfilled?