List Placed Back into Spotlight; No. 65 Gets Axed

I’ve started to put an emphasis on my 101 List again.

Unfortunately, death is the catalyst. It has recently reminded me over the last couple of months how short life really is. I had a loved one pass away (my Aunt Edie), and I have a half dozen friends who recently lost someone close to them. (That’s not even mentioning Michael Jackson, Walter Cronkite, and Steve McNair.)

Reminder: I consider my List as a road map to living life to the fullest, and a working thank you note to God for allowing me to wake up every morning.

Needless to say, I decided it was time to start marking some 

things off.

I wanted to share some recent “cross-offs,” and provide an update on other tasks that I’m hopefully about to accomplish. This is the first in a series of three blog posts bringing everybody up to speed on my List (not to mention reminding myself to keep it on the front burner of my grenade-juggling life.)

NOTE: There is one upcoming event that could jeopardize the entire project. Stay tuned for that wonderfully great post (it will be No. 2 in the three-part series).

RECENTLY COMPLETED ITEM:
• No. 65 (Plant a tree):

To honor our five-year anniversary, I planted a tree for my wife, TK.

Over the last five years, I’ve stuck closely to the recommended anniversary gifts – traditional AND modern. I try to add a little twist of romance and surprise to each present – and I’ve definitely used some artistic license through the years.

Here are a few examples:

FIRST ANNIVERSARY
Traditional Gift: Paper
Modern Gift: Clock

DETAILS: I gave her a sundial (a.k.a. Clock Gift) for her garden, which she didn’t have at the time. We were living in an apartment. But the Paper Gift was the completed mortgage paperwork for a new house and, of course, a new garden.

THIRD ANNIVERSARY
Traditional Gift: Leather
Modern Gift: Crystal/Glass

DETAILS: I bought her a baseball with the NY Mets logo on it (Leather Gift) and a shot glass with “I Love NY” on it (Glass Gift). Here is that before-mentioned artistic license...those gifts represented the trip to New York that I had planned for us.

Here is the breakdown for this year:

FIFTH ANNIVERSARY
Traditional Gift: Wood
Moderns Gift: Silverware

INQUISITIVE NOTE: Who came up with this list? (click here to see it)

DETAILS: I planted a Magnolia tree in our front yard (Wood Gift). I thought it was appropriate on several levels – the main one being the fact that Tanya wanted a new tree in the front yard.

I specifically chose a Magnolia, though – that was the tree that greeted us every time we visited our Great Aunts, four of my grandmother’s sisters who all lived
together in Dallas. They were like 

“extra” grandparents to me 

and my cousins.

This particular tree was on my mind, because of the recent death of my aunt Edie, the last living sister. (FYI: I stole the idea to honor her memory from my cousin, Christine.)

Anyway, I thought planting that Magnolia was a PERFECT way to say,
“I love you” to my wife.

For the fifth-year Modern Gift – I got extremely “poetic.” (Reminder: 

Silverware)

I definitely wasn’t going to buy my wife a fork, but we were in dire need of a new silverware caddy – a little sexier, huh? (Silverware caddy? You know the thing that sits in the drawer and organizes your utensils.) The one we received for a wedding gift bit the dust after 4 ½ years. (How do these things wear out?)

I wrapped the new silverware caddy and attached a note for her to replace the broken one “Right Now!”

In the drawer where the “crappy caddy” once lived, I filled it with baby utensils – the kind you use to shove stewed peas and creamed carrots down an infant’s throat.

Confused?

Oh, yeah...TK and I are having a baby. We found out last week and we are SO EXCITED! (Ironically enough...having a child is No. 2 on my 101 List and the one item that could derail everything – again, blog post coming.)

Does that make more sense?

At this point, you can scroll to the bottom of the blog and tell me how sweet I am. Actually – instead of that solicited compliment – can you give me some ideas for our sixth anniversary? Candy/Iron (traditional) and Wood (modern).