Thursday, April 23, 2009

Wants and not-wants

I was reading Semi-desperate Housewife's Fuck It List, and it got me thinking about things I don't care about, but also about things I do care about. Because there are a lot of things that I want, and thinking about what I don't want only reminds me of what I do want. So, here's my bucket/fuck-it list, except that they aren't all things I do or don't want to do before I die.

Want: A beautiful, well-designed, nicely landscaped yard. With a water feature. And fruit trees.
Don't want: To do the work myself. I just don't see myself ever getting into gardening. I kill everything that grows under my care. Including cacti. The only plant that I've ever managed to keep alive for any extended period of time is an orchid that I left behind in my sister's care when we moved to Colorado.

Want: Kids. Two of them, I think. Preferably first a boy and then a girl, but I can be flexible on this.
Don't want: Twins (or triplets, etc.). Dear god, please save me from multiples. I do not have the stress management skills to cope. (And, if I do have twins, please don't let them read this. Or, if they do, please don't let them take it personally.)

Want: To travel. A lot. To everywhere. I want to go to South Africa, and maybe on a safari. I want to go nearly everywhere in Asia, especially Japan and Thailand. I want to go on a cruise to Antarctica. I want to go to Australia and New Zealand. I want to go to Brazil and Argentina and Panama. I want to visit more of Europe. I want to go EVERYWHERE.
Don't want: To have to fly to get there. I am so over flying. It's expensive, frustrating, stressful, and uncomfortable. Ugh. Perhaps I shouldn't have moved outside of driving distance of nearly everyone I care about, huh?

Want: A hot tub. So comfortable. So relaxing. So romantic. The Colorado climate is perfect for a hot tub. Our yard even already has a hot tub foundation built in. This WILL happen.
Don't want: A swimming pool. I had one growing up, and while it was definitely fun, I don't miss it. It was a lot of work, and expensive, and also (obviously) dominated the back yard. I'll stick with the lap pool and water aerobics classes at the gym.

Want: To continue in my current job for a long time. I love the work that I do and the people that I work with, and I love working from home
Don't want: To have to get up early to start working. I want to sleep late. And by late I mean "until nine," which would have the college-age me cringing in horror, as I regularly skipped my 9 a.m. classes because they were just so early. And was lucky if I dragged myself out of bed before noon. Ah, how times have changed.

Want: The house to be all pretty and unpacked and nicely arranged. With lovely furniture.
Don't want: To make the house all pretty, do the unpacking, and arrange everything. Or pay for the furniture.

Want: To try new things that interest me, like snowshoeing and exotic cooking and, I don't know, raising children.
Don't want: To try new things for the sake of trying them, like skydiving or climbing Mt. Everest. I mean, not that I could do the latter, but I don't lament that fact at all.

Want: To be able to accessorize without feeling like an idiot.
Don't want: To learn how to walk in killer heels. I'm fine in my flats and kitten heels and low wedges, thanks.

What about you? What do you want or not want?

20 comments:

  1. oh dear, better not to mention that orchid...

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  2. Want: To only work part-time so the puppy can be outside alllll day!
    Don't want: The pay cut that comes with working part-time.

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  3. Want: To be at home full-time with my girl.
    Don't want: The isolation (and pay cut) that comes with that choice.

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  4. I am great with pets but awful with plants. I feel you on that!

    Want: To do work that is fulfilling but not overwhelming. I'd prefer to cut back my hours at my main gig so I can focus some more time on apartment management and writing and not feel so stressed out all the time.
    Don't Want: To take a major pay cut in doing so.

    Want: To be madly in love with an awesome man who treats me with respect and love.
    Don't Want: Another jackhole who throws up his issues all over me and expects me to fix it. Also, to have to wait forever for him to show up.

    Want: To be more comfortable in my body.
    Don't Want: To give up ice cream sandwiches to get it. ;-)

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  5. But but butttt I love swimming pool :P
    But i would like a hot tub too, I'm greeeedy :D

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  6. I totally adore "Don't want: To try new things for the sake of trying them."

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  7. Great list. I can't even remember what it's like to sleep till 9AM, btw. If the kids sleep till 6 I feel extremely lucky.

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  8. Want: A baby of my/my husbands genetic material
    Don't want: To eat the depressingly strict diabetic diet I'd need to have a healthy baby (but I will).

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  9. I totally agree about not wanting to try new things for the sake of trying. Although I actually DO want to climb mountains and go sky diving.
    Also, number one on your list, about wanting the beautiful yard and hating to garden? Ah. This is my eternal conundrum. How badly I want our yard to stop being a blight on the neighborhood. But how deeply both of us dread yardwork...

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  10. want: to understand investment strategies and have my money work for me, etc etc
    don't want: to figure out how to understand all that crap

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  11. I want twins or triplets pretty badly! Nobody in my family has them at all though, so it's probably unlikely. But then I could give them matchy-ish nammmmesssss. (Swistle reads this, right? Swistle, it's your fault. I just love names)

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  12. This is a GREAT list! I always laugh at friends who tell me they want twins from their first pregnancy. Har! I can't even imagine. I think I wouldn't have had any hair left after the first week!

    Want: To be finished packing and still have energy left over to do anything besides sleep.
    Don't Want: To actually do the packing myself.

    Want: One teletransportation device to get all our stuff from here to Manitoba.
    Don't Want: That sort of debt.

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  13. My college self thought 9 AM classes were insane, too! I was such a jerk about it. Live and learn, I guess.

    Also, I wish I could accessorize without feeling dumb. I have a couple of adorable, fun necklaces that I FREQUENTLY put on, squint at in the mirror, and take off before going to work/school. I need to figure out how to just work it.

    And I think you're right about the pool/hot tub. Use the lap pool at the gym, and have a hot tub at home. MUCH better!

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  14. Want: To live in California
    Don't want: To be an American

    (I tease because I love.)

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  15. I worry that if I ever got pregnant, I'd have twins. I've heard being twin-prone is genetic but skips a generation, and in my family, my grandma was a twin and my cousin had twins, which puts me in the right generation to have them too. Yikes. On the up side, at least you have to go through that pregnancy and labor thing only once?

    I want a lot of the same things you want... A beautifully landscaped yard without the work, travel, and better accessorizing skills (I'm sorely lacking there). I do NOT want fancy designer shoes or handbags. I will never, ever understand the justification for a $400 pair of shoes or a $300 handbag. Never.

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  16. Ha ha I TOTALLY want twins so that I only have to go through child birth once!!! :-)

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  17. The other day I randomly told my sister I wouldn't mind having twins, and she looked at me like I was CRA-ZY. So she probably agrees with you. :)

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  18. Want: a spotless and cozy home in which to love, that "rises up to meet me" Oprah-style.

    Do Not Want: to clean my house ever when I get home from work.

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  19. "Kids. Two of them, I think. Preferably first a boy and then a girl, but I can be flexible on this."

    this made me laugh. you kind of have to be flexible on this don't you? ;)

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  20. I say this with much confidence: TWINS WOULD HAVE KILLED ME.

    Want: to have homemade dinners regularly
    Don't want: to cook regularly

    If THAT makes any sense at all.

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