Coincidence or chance? My life is awesome!

I have never claimed to be particularly "together" in fact, I probably would be inclined to claim the opposite. So in perfect accordance to this statement, I managed to lock my keys, my phone and my computer in my car in the parking lot of my job. Fantastic! One of the wonderful perks of having a 16 year old car with no automatic anything. I meant to unlock the passenger door, get out of the car, walk around and grab my thing on the other side. The plan was perfect, except it was not fool proof. This morning evidently, I was indeed a fool. So, my morning was not off to a great start. Luckily, I have the best roomies in the world who also happen to have smartphones AND check their facebook. I logged on the office computer and arranged for one of them to come and unlock the car. Success!! While I was on Facebook, an old friend of mine messaged me on the chat. To understand how amazeballs what I am about to tell you is, you have to know this person.

[caption id="attachment_552" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Sunset over Malta's Capital, Valletta[/caption]

In 1994,when I was 15, I visited the small country of Malta situated in the Mediterranean sea. I was there for an EF English language course. In hindsight this seems like it was a tremendous waste of money as I knew how to speak English already. My brother had spoken English to my mom and I at home since I could remember and I had English class in school 5 hours a week since I was 9 years old. Anywho, off I went.

At the time, I believe the population was somewhere around 350,000. This small island had one stop light and you could drive around it in a day. I met Danielle there. She was half English, half Maltese. I met her again in 1996, when I came back to the island on vacation with some friends. Somewhere in between there or after, I met her in London for a few hours. We have not stayed in touch per se but we have always stayed friends. I think the last time I saw her in person was in 1999 when I was back in Malta working as a bartender after high school. Did you ever have one of those friends who you just click with? That person that no matter how long ago you saw each other last, you pick up right where you left off? That is who Danielle is for me. so when she sent me a message, it was like getting a message from any of my friends. i was happy to hear from her and figured she just wanted to say hi. Well, it turns out that the universe has a weird way of making my life super interesting and coincidental in an amazing way. I am not sure why i got this cool life, but I am glad i did! It turns out that Danielle now lives in Athens, GA - A 4 hour drive from my house!!! I am planning to visit her as soon as I can, hopefully within the month. I can't wait to catch up with my friend of 17 years. We have not seen each other in over a decade so I am sure there will be a lot of chattering. Stay tuned for a follow up post with pictures and update! The Meeting with Danielle! Cecile

BUCKET LIST, SCHMUCKET LIST - make your own

I was contemplating what to write about for my next blog post and came to think of a bucket list. If you don't know, a bucket list is a list of things that a person wants to do, see, accomplish or experience before they "kick the bucket" or pass on. This practice has been popular for a while but I guess gained even more popularity after the release of the movie with the same name starring Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson. Now, I must say that I did enjoy that movie and I really like the idea of having a list of the things you want to do. Here is the problem: Where do you keep said list? The odds of me keeping a list of anything, let alone a very important one is highly unlikely. I lose my keys at least once a week. I once lost my wallet in my bedroom. I knew it was in the room yet I could not find it for 12 hours. The odds of me having said list in my possession as I walk on the Great wall of China or feed a koala, are fairly low. The other problem with having a list of thing you want to do, is that you easily forget the value of the things you are doing or have done. I don't know about anyone else, but I have been lucky to do some pretty cool things in my life and half of them, I had no idea I was going to experience. I most certainly did not have them written down on a laminated paper prior to the event. So, I decided to make a different kind of list. A list of thing that I have done already that I think are pretty awesome and memorable. Perhaps this list will inspire someone else to write down their own awesome experiences. Please note that my list is in no particular order of importance but in a sort of chronological order... but not really. Here we go! 1. Move to a different continent. I was 22 years old, I had $2,000 and a ticket to the Big Apple. The rest is history. 2. Ride across the U.S. on a Greyhound Bus. Perhaps not everyone's number one choice for transportation but definitely an unforgettable experience. New York, NY-Frisco, CO. Denver, CO- Waterloo, IA. Jacksonville, FL- Denver, CO. Denver, CO-Minneapolis, MN. Chicago, IL- Denver, CO. Never again!!!! 3. Make the front page news. So, it was the front of the summer special edition of the free Metro paper distributed in the subway in Stockholm. It was still the front page....maybe not news....Still. 4. Visit the grave of Franz Kafka. Nuff said.

Franz Kafka and me!

5. Visit the Great Pyramids of Egypt. I was even climbed inside the top of the big one. it was UH-MAY-ZING!!! Twice as old as Jesus that tomb is. Crazy cool!!!

about an hour after this picture was taken, I was inside that pyramid, right where my index finger is!

6. Own a used bullet  I found on the side of the road in Cote D'Ivoire. True story... and a bit creepy....

The African bullet.

7. Be an extra in a music video. It is kind of cool that my friends across the world can see me anytime just by looking at a video.

8. Be in the general vicinity of a President. In 2008, I was lucky enough to be able to attend Barack Obama's speech at the Democratic National Convention in Denver. It helps that my cousin is a delegate and could get me a ticket. 9. Graduate from College. No explanation needed. 10. Visit 2300 Jackson Street in Gary, Indiana. YES!! The family home of the King of Pop...Pretty great stuff!

11. Drive across the country with a somewhat complete stranger. In 2010, I drove from Denver, CO to Atlanta, GA with a person I had only met for lunch once before. It was a lot of fun and we are still friends.

12. Visit an authentic Juke Joint. Yup, Queen of hearts in Jackson, MS. Bring your own booze, buy the setup(ice, cup and mixer) at the bar.

13. Live in Montgomery, AL It is kind of amazing to live in a place where people like Martin "Luther" King, Rosa Parks, Nat King Cole and F. Scott Fitzgerald have also lived. The birth of the Civil Rights Movement, a place where John Wilkes Booth performed (obviously BEFORE he shot Lincoln), yeah, i live here. 14. Find the half of your family that you never knew before. See the resemblance. Truly priceless!

So there you have it - My Bucket list thus far. I hope to add at least two more things to this list within the next 12 months:  Participate in a 5K Race in November and Drive on the Pacific Coast Highway with my best friend in March... If I could fit in skydiving  somewhere around my birthday, I would be a happy camper. until next time! Cecile