Week #5 Update

It's time to get all serious. Well... As serious as this little blog's gunna get. A few things happened this week that made me realise I'm not alone in my Bucket List journey... and that my journey means different things for different people.

First, a stranger from across the interweb reached out - Melanie Bowen contributes to a support blog for the Mesothelioma Cancer Alliance and believes that people maintain a much more positive outlook when committing their plans to paper and documenting the journey. Melanie asked that I post a link to her blog within my blog and at first, I declined the invitation - see my blog is about commitment to maintaining work/life balance, pushing myself out of my comfort zone and ensuring I keep doing something new. My blog (while important) is far more trivial than the issues Melanie is confronting. But you know what... my process is at it's heart about becoming a better person. So with that in mind, I've reconsidered. I urge you to click here to learn more about the great work that Melanie and countless other contributors do: Mesothelioma Cancer Alliance 

Next I had a chance to drink beers with the chicky who gave me this idea in the first place. At the risk of exceeding my weekly shout-out quota, here is a link to the Kelly Stokes "30 things before I'm 30" blog. Check out her progress here: Kelly's ripper blog. Our conversation on the matter was actually pretty simple. "Are you lovin it?" "I'm lovin it!" "Are you lovin it" "I'm lovin it" Probably just as well as at this stage I was seven beers down and was sizing up the bartender as a slimmer, more personable and slightly hotter version of Zac Gallifinakis. Don't try googling that because I know damn well I spelled his name wrong. Just think Fat Jesus from the Hangover. Or in this case, Slim Jesus.

Then last night I had a ripper night with some of the ole' Red Rooster crowd and was informed that many are stalking my progress from afar and really enjoying the read. Siobhan told me she wasn't - she couldn't give a stuff and several other slanderous comments which I tuned out - much like most conversations previously had with Siobhan that descended into slanderous comments. Avoiding my blog is the online equivalent of not turning up to my conference presentations. I'm pretty sure she won't be able to resist having sneaky look though. She's only human.

Okily dokily. How have we gone on the progressometer this week?

The taste of 800 squash wins is tantalisingly close, like John Daly's sobriety, with the 700 mark crossed this week. 703 to be precise (Bucket List Item #3). Eulo is also tantalisingly close. (Bucket List Item #8) We just need to determine whether we will go by car or boat with Eulo currently underwater like much of the rest of Western Queensland. We tackled a 5+ hour drive through the Gold Coast hinterland with a short stop-off at "Natural Bridge" All the paths, ashphalt, ropes and such left me wondering how natural the bridge actually was though... Then on to Southport for a swim and home. Kids loved the drive and we are now foolishly lulling ourselves into a false sense of security that this roadtrip will be a walk in the park.

Interestingly, after a flood of initial commentary, only one person so far is brave enough to take on the Ribs and Rumps Meat Your Match Challenge with me (Craig) and one spectator (Angela). I'm also unconvinced that these people are all about the challenge - I reckon anything involving cows would get Craig to put his hand up and anything involving me looking stupid will attract Angela's interest. If you are also a fan of cows or me looking stupid... it's not too late... let me know!

Until next week...