5 years ago, who would have thought this day would come, i certainly had no specific plans, just open to a possibility. it is time to sum up an interesting and challenging 5 years.
i warn you, this will be full of lists, random irrelevant statistics which i like, facts that make no sense and just whatever i feel like adding, likely in 2 days i will remember a whole lot of things i should have added, here goes...
1st time things
dog sledding (perhaps the most fun experience ever), wow, 2 minutes ago i had some many things to write, why am i blanking out? (blanking out is not a new thing!). completing a post grad degree- my PMP, since project completion is not a strong item on my skill set, completing this project in project management was a great thing. OK back to the fun things. seeing a lioness kill a wildebeest, now that was awesome, first ever safari with lots of 1st sights of wildlife (zoo doesn't count) lions mating, ostriches, elephants running, cheetah's with a catch, hyenas, zebras, leopard, buffalo, rhinos, strange deer, impalas, hippos, freakishly large birds i cant recall the name. danced with the Masai, haggled with the Masai, caught some kind of parasite from, well not exactly sure, which led me to our 1st free clinic visit and my first ever shower in some medicinal lotion to get rid of that parasite, yeah science. first time visit to Africa!
first time visit to new destinations- Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, Latvia Lithuania, Estonia, Kenya, Honduras, Belize and Tanzania, Wait, that's it, i am getting weaker in discovery, need to change this trend asap!!!, in states i did better:Ohio, Pennsylvania, Maine, Vermont, new Hampshire, Georgia, Mississippi, Montana, Oregon, Michigan, Louisiana, south Carolina, west Virginia, Maryland, Virginia, Wisconsin, Colorado, Nebraska, south Dakota, Iowa, Kansas, Arkansas, Kentucky, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Wyoming, Utah, Alaska + the UN, which is a territory of its own, not a state. i had my 1st small plane ride, my 1st solo for a while flight (i held the wheel for about 10 minutes!!!!).
1st time walking on a glacier, first time leading a walking on a glacier exhibition for about 20 seconds, first time river surfing, hole jumping, jumping off a high bridge, river sliding, seeing a man take a shower naked in a public square (i guess its allowed in Copenhagen), trying an open faced bread, seeing an out door museum, seeing real authentic viking ships, jumping of a ski hill (in a simulator), hiking in snow, snow shoeing, lake orienteering, scavenger hunting, racing on a horse..or more like trying to stay on , on a running horse, getting hit by a log and being knocked off the horse, outliving said horse (it died of none log related reasons), sitting on the world largest wall nut rocking taste, seeing the world's largest free stamp, world largest apple basket, reaching the highest point of new England, highest point in new Hampshire, highest point in Indiana, highest point of Norway, highest point in northern Europe (climbed them all), first time in an ice bar, first time singing in a real Broadway play on stage (hair production two weeks ago) , 1st karaoke in English...sang sister golden hair by America (very fitting), first meet up, arranged my first scavenger hunt, first ever sauna+ lake jumping combination in Lithuania, first time losing a camera, first time leaving a camera out in the rain (on same day as hitting the log), first time dropping a camera in the river, first time leaving a phone in a cab (never to be seen again) first time losing my keys in Vegas (first for me, i am sure not the first for many others), first time losing money in a casino, first time using real bow and arrow, first time watching piano duelling, first time half marathon, first time surgery (well, this shouldn't be in the fun category), well, i am here... first time hospital admission, first time code blue (i was in bad condition but didn't really need code blue) 1st time morphine, 1st blood thinners, first blood clot, first compression stocking, first time tearing my calf muscle (not sure why i had to repeat that 2 more times), 1st deltoids muscle spasm, first back pains, OK lets get back to the fun things, 1st snow foot ball, 1st football game, 1st time trying to build a snowman, 1st time wearing a skirt (Halloween), 1st time berry picking, first time tubing, first time running in the warrior dash, first time tackling the tower, first time snow mobiling, first time bouncy ball jumping to a lake, first time eating s'mores, first time trying a new flavor in the Ben and Jerry factory, first time buying a new red car (not the 1st red car or the first new car, just the 1st new red car), 1st time seeing Elton john, rod steward, abc,the beach boys, the grass roots, Belinda Carlyle, Byran Adams, the cure, flock of seagulls, air supply, Alan parsons project, Buckingham, the monkeys, the turtles, aerosmith (well for the 2nd time), red hot chilly peppers, probably a few more i cant recall right now, did my first on river in cave tubing (Well actually my 2nd), first circus, first outdoor Jacuzzi in the snow. First A ( Israel gives grades in numbers not letter) , first A- (not fun)..notice no B's... or any other letters:), first time reaching the high point in eastern coastal us, had my 1st trick or treating
more 1st time things...
1st time getting engaged, first time getting married, first time getting re-married (to the same woman :) ) 1st time buying a house, first time causing pregnancy (as far as i know), 1st time toast, first time learning Russian , first time not succeeding in learning Russian, first time teaching Hebrew, 1st time seeing our baby's ultra sound, first time blogging!!, cant believe i have been doing that for 5 years, first time biking over 50k, first time spelunking , first time thermal pool bathing, 1st time cold river shower, 1st snow shoveling, car window ice scraping, leaves raking, bird feeding ,tree battling, grass cutting, floor chalk painting (drew homer Simpson's face) , first time being drunk, first time wearing a suit, i was a judge on a DI program, 1st cavs game, 1st baseball game (not sure it counts as fun), 1st whirlyball, first indoor tennis, 1st co-ed soccer league (ending in calf tare...see above), saw fainting goats, 1st sky box usage (its a toilet in the woods), 1st baby shower:) , 1st time at the kotel tunnels. first time skid in the car (very scary) 1st time hitting a traffic cone (busted my side mirror), 1st time green card application, first time filling out naturalization application, first time getting my finger printed. 1st speeding ticket (i had tickets before, just not for speeding), 1st time tossing my boss into a pool (at his own home), first horse shoeing, 1st viking fair, 1st Irish fair, polish fair, Russian fair, 1st rib feast, German fair, 1st museum membership, first visit to awesome cedar point
other things, not 1st time
completed 3 puzzles (500-1000 pieces each) , assembled a crib, a bed, library, table, shelves unit, couldn't manage to ski or snowboard (stupid pain everywhere), Caribbean cruise
finished watching the following shows (all seasons of shows that made it)
heroes, prison break, lost, mcguyver ,24, notice the Simpson's is not yet on the list ( i am 7 seasons behind)
book series -reading harry potter, wheel of time (500 pages to go on last book #14) + many other books not in a series
listening- hunger games (almost true, i have half a CD left to hear), twilight (and not shamed to admit it), the shopaholic series., the hollows series +many other books not in a series
i hiked a lot (never enough), ate benget in new Orleans, saw Les miserable, shrek the musical, hair the musical, rock of ages also a musical, a Jewish kid in Brooklyn- not a musical, jersey boys, a musical, wizard of oz- a musical...i sense a theme here. drank more schnapps then alcohol in previous 31 years of life (hint hint, birthday coming soon), did a 4 day hike in Wyoming, circled the devils towers, slid on the river rock in Sidonia, fed the squirrels (not on purpose), ran over a fox :( bathed in a freezing water fall, rafted kayaked, canoed, ran , sprained my ankle. had 5 job positions at 3 companies, witness a company closure, applied for unemployment, did taxes (Israel tax comes from paycheck, no need to do something special). discovered Edamame, asparagus, string beans (each a major edition to my limited vegetables set), watched several comedians including Jerry Seinfeld and robin Williams(disappointment), went into the st Louis arch, the Washington memorial, congress (the pentagon was closed, it was there the day they caught Osama), i saw Obama and air force one, successfully landed a 'real' flight simulator, played tennis, squash, pool, bowling, ping pong, basketball, soccer, volley ball, buried a man in sand (he was still alive after), walked on a frozen lake, threw a log, almost got kidnapped in Kenya, ate a camel (yuk), ate a gator (yuk yuk), eat chicken, its better for you, didn't try a yak, i rode an alpine slide, visited mount Rushmore, went to the gates of area 51 (i didn't see any aliens i swear...or was told to swear), reached epic level in a D&D campaign , raised >3000$ for Crohns(thanks all for donating), got many people to wear green (And donate) on st Patrick days, got married by my brother, created a functional phone app (unpublished in the app store), saw the 5 great lakes (swam in 3), went to a medieval fest, got stood twice in blind dates, dipped my feet in lake Victoria (swimming there is not recommended) , Swen the Baltic sea, red sea, dead sea , med sea, the Atlantic ocean, the gulf of Mexico, saw one magician act, went dancing several times, visited 3 new Canadian states (Ontario, Yukon and Quebec (total 5 of 10), saw Niagara falls, did a text based scavenger hunt in new york, sang material girl in karaoke, wore lipstick (Scavenger hunt), appeared in front of a whole hall (work related), completed the 1st stage of a major work project (just happened today actually), completed over half of my MBA degree. flew to Chicago and Washington for school test ( open university classes), idiot me, who flies for tests. bought items from the Hamish, did night orienteering, did several bike rides, i was in a tornado (i was in a shelter, while it was outside), I proposed and heard a yes for an answer. i discovered the existence of custard, watched my 1st rugby game, wales was the all black in Cardiff, and almost forgot to add wales to the countries list.... (yes its a country , they have a national rugby and soccer team), wrote 374 blog entries... its more then one in 5 days, forgot my ring at my brother's (got it back 2 months later), visited the Cleveland and st Louis zoo's, visited a couple of butterflyirum , did not see the Cleveland hall of fame. stood to hours in the famous Philly cheese steak sandwich place in Philadelphia only to order a cheese less cheese steak sandwich in the end, almost purchased a timeshare type vacation package, bud didn't, finished GMAT course with average results
can 5 years be summed up in only few paragraphs?, well I am stuck, today is the 5 year anniversary , need to go out an find an Irish pub to celebrate (tomorrow is st Patrick's day)
what the next 5 year will bring, well i found that when i announce my plans, they don't happen, especially with items like diet, but here are some things that will happen
some trip to south America!!! i cant believe i have not been there yet
cut the cord, a whole set of new experiences awaits
finish my MBA
keep blogging
other possibles, reach all 50 states, reach 2-3 more Canadian states, reach 7+ more countries, start some other degree, write a book (its on my to do list for ages), participate in a long bike race, adventure race or one of the shorter triathlon (the one with the 5k run, not the marathon), and keep trying to find the positive in any situation
cheers
p.s , if you want details of any of the above adventures....read the blogs
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