Dear Neighbor,           

             Can you believe this is the two hundredth newsletter?  I considered tallying the total number of words contained in those newsletters, but that would mean I would be adding two hundred different numbers.  I know my margin of error and two hundred entries does not fall within it.

            For those of you who are new to the last one hundred newsletters, the NJP subscribers wrote Newsletter #100.  They sent in snippets they’d written describing themselves and where they lived.  There were nearly 30 different occupations listed and the neighbors were from approximately 20 states and 2 countries.

            Those statistics have grown and it would be great for the neighbors to once again see our commonalities as well as diversities.  So, for Newsletter #200 I have adapted a list that I found on the internet of various experiences.  If you’d like to participate, please mark the things that you’ve done in bold and if you want to elaborate on them please do.  Then, return the list to me at jp@neighborjanepayne.com (or post them on your own blog and let me know so I can link to them) and I will post/link them on the website under Meet the Neighbors. 

            Here is my list.

200 Things

1.                  Touched an iceberg

2.                  Slept under the stars

(I’d much rather sleep under the stars than in a tent)

3.                  Been a part of a hockey fight

4.                  Changed a baby's diaper

(many, many, but it’s funnier seeing how Calvin does it—backwards)

5.                  Watched a meteor shower

(just last summer Calvin and I went out on the trampoline and watched the Perseid shower)

6.                  Given more than you can afford to charity

(but somehow it’s not more than you can afford after you’ve done it and you see how it helps others)

7.                  Swam with wild dolphins

8.                  Climbed a mountain

(It helps that I used to live at 4,200 feet above sea level, so even the hills we climbed can count as mountains)

9.                  Held a tarantula

10.              Said "I love you" and meant it

(again and again and again)

11.              Bungee jumped

12.              Visited Paris

13.              Watched a lightning storm at sea

14.              Stayed up all night long and watched the sun rise

15.              Seen the Northern Lights

16.              Gone to a huge sports game

17.              Walked the stairs to the top of the Statue of Liberty

(one of those things you should do in 9^th grade when your knees bend easily and your breath can be caught)

18.              Grown and eaten your own vegetables

(yup, there’s nothing quite like your own vegetables.  Don’t you agree?)

19.              Looked up at the night sky through a telescope

20.              Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment

(more than once, but during a religious ceremony was the worst time)

21.              Had a pillow fight

22.              Bet on a winning horse

23.              Taken a sick day when you're not ill

24.              Built a snow fort

25.              Held a lamb

26.              Gone skinny dipping

27.              Taken an ice cold bath

(in the creeks while camping or in the cow trough at the cow camp.  [We used to have a summer range for the cows and the only place to bathe was in the water from the spring.  Youch.  It made your head throb.])

28.              Had a meaningful conversation with a beggar

(I guess she wasn’t really a beggar, she was selling hot pads on the street corner.   She asked me to wait to snap the picture until she had smoothed her hair)

29.              Seen a total eclipse

(in school.  Kids brought their dad’s welding helmets or the teachers gave us little film things to watch it through)

30.              Ridden a roller coaster

(not because I like them, though)

31.              Hit a home run

32.              Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking

33.              Adopted an accent for fun

34.              Visited the birthplace of your ancestors

35.              Felt very happy about your life, even for just a moment

36.              Loved your job 90% of the time

37.              Had enough money to be truly satisfied

38.              Watched wild whales

39.              Gone rock climbing

40.              Gone on a midnight walk on the beach

41.              Gone sky diving

42.              Visited Ireland

43.              Ever bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant

44.              Visited India

45.              Bench-pressed your own weight

46.              Milked a cow

(me and Ande)

47.              Alphabetized your personal files

48.              Ever worn a superhero costume

49.              Sung karaoke

50.              Lounged around in bed all day

51.              Gone scuba diving

52.              Kissed in the rain

53.              Played in the mud

54.              Gone to a drive-in theater

(we’d pop a few grocery bags of popcorn and then dad would fill the back of one of the cattle trucks with fresh straw and we’d stop and  pick up another family on the way to the drive-in.)

55.              Done something you should regret, but don't

56.              Visited the Great Wall of China

57.              Started a business

(not one that succeeded, though)

58.              Taken a martial arts class

59.              Been in a movie

60.              Gone without food for 3 days

61.              Made cookies from scratch

(jello, chocolate chip, peanut butter, macaroons, oatmeal, no-bake, coconut, sugar, oreos, brownies, wienerlangers, snowballs, melting moments, turtle, salted nut rolls, kit-kat bars, chocolate chews . . .)

62.              Won first prize in a costume contest

(I was only nine and terribly embarrassed of my homemade concoction from the costume drawer, but it won and a win is a win, right?)

63.              Got flowers for no reason

64.              Been in a combat zone

65.              Spoken more than one language fluently

66.              Gotten into a fight while attempting to defend someone

67.              Bounced a check

68.              Read - and understood - your credit report

69.              Recently bought and played with a favorite childhood toy

70.              Found out something significant that your ancestors did

(sailed on the Mayflower is significant to me)

71.              Called or written your Congress person

(they haven’t cared yet, but I’m still glad I do it)

72.              Picked up and moved to another city to just start over

73.              Walked the Golden Gate Bridge

74.              Helped an animal give birth

75.              Been fired or laid off from a job

76.              Won money

77.              Broken a bone

(I’m counting toes as legitimate bones)

78.              Ridden a motorcycle

(my brother used to take me on rides)

79.              Driven any land vehicle at a speed of greater than 100 mph

80.              Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon

81.              Slept through an entire flight: takeoff, flight, and landing

82.              Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days

83.              Eaten sushi

84.              Had your picture in the newspaper

85.              Read The Bible cover to cover

86.              Changed someone's mind about something you care deeply about

87.              Gotten someone fired for their actions

88.              Gone back to school

89.              Changed your name

90.              Caught a fly in the air with your bare hands

91.              Eaten fried green tomatoes

92.              Read The Iliad

93.              Taught yourself an art from scratch

94.              Killed and prepared an animal for eating

95.              Apologized to someone years after inflicting the hurt

(it still smarts)

96.              Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language

97.              Been elected to public office

98.              Thought to yourself that you're living your dream

99.              Had to put someone you love into hospice care

100.                      Sold your own artwork to someone who didn't know you

101.                      Had a booth at a street fair

(caramel apple slices at Oktoberfest anyone?)

102.                      Dyed your hair

103.                      Been a DJ

104.                      Rocked a baby to sleep

105.                      Ever dropped a cat from a high place to see if it really lands on all four

106.                      Raked your carpet

(red shag carpet of the 70’s needed raked)

107.                      Brought out the best in people

(I like to think so)

108.                      Brought out the worst in people

109.                      Worn a mood ring

(and a yellow crocheted vest and striped bell-bottoms and a feathered ‘do)

110.                      Ridden a horse

111.                      Carved an animal from a piece of wood or bar of soap

112.                      Cooked a dish where four people asked for the recipe

113.                      Buried a child

114.                      Gone to a Broadway (or equivalent to your country) play

115.                      Been inside the pyramids

116.                      Shot a basketball into a basket

117.                      Danced at a disco

118.                      Played in a band

119.                      Shot a bird

120.                      Gone to an arboretum

121.                      Tutored someone

122.                      Ridden a train

(from Wisconsin to Utah.  We moved between the moving cars— sleeping in the sleeping cars, eating in the dining car and playing cards in the passenger cars)

123.                      Brought an old fad back into style

124.                      Eaten caviar

125.                      Let a salesman talk you into something you didn’t need

(fire alarms . . . new parents didn’t want their baby to be trapped in a house fire. . . a couple thousand dollars . . . persuasive salesman . . . stupid . . .that says it all)

126.                      Ridden a giraffe or elephant

127.                      Published a book

128.                      Pieced a quilt

129.                      Lived in an historic place

130.                      Acted in a play or performed on a stage

131.                      Asked for a raise

132.                      Made a hole-in-one

133.                      Gone deep sea fishing

134.                      Gone roller skating

(remember the skates that attached to your shoe and tightened with a key? Those were the norm for us, but once or twice a year we got to go to the Rendezvous—an indoor rink with boot skates)

135.                      Run a marathon

136.                      Learned to surf

137.                      Invented something

138.                      Flown first class

139.                      Spent the night in a 5-star luxury suite

140.                      Flown in a helicopter

141.                      Visited Africa

142.                      Sang a solo

143.                      Gone spelunking

144.                      Learned how to take a compliment

(once a friend I admired greatly complimented me and I said, “Oh no . . . blah, blah, blah.”  She looked at me and said, “Oh.  I’m sorry.  I guess you’re right.  I take it back.”  Last time I did that.  “Thank you” works much better.)

145.                      Written a love-story

146.                      Seen Michelangelo’s David  

147.                      Had your portrait painted

148.                      Written a fan letter

149.                      Spent the night in something haunted

(there is a very cool, old home in New York that a wealthy family owned, but later donated  to Columbia University where it was turned into lodging.  It was a beautiful, but creepy place.  It was deep in the forest, by a pond and with a cobblestone driveway.  The home had big, heavy doors with wrought iron hinges.  We arrived late at nigh and Cali and Ande would not leave our sides, but instead constantly whispered, “This place is haunted.”  After two nights of Cali’s begging, Calvin finally asked the attendant if the place was haunted.  She smiled and said, “Well, those of us who work here just know that some things happen that we can’t explain; like every night the TV suddenly turns up louder after we go in and turn it down, or a book is removed from the bookcase and left open on the table . . . stuff like that.”  Haunted?  I prefer to think it was just visited.) 

150.                      Owned a St. Bernard or Great Dane

151.                      Ran away

152.                      Learned to juggle

153.                      Been a boss

154.                      Sat on a jury

155.                      Lied about your weight

156.                      Gone on a diet

(does anybody else remember the Cabbage Soup diet?)

157.                      Found an arrowhead or a gold nugget

158.                      Written a poem

159.                      Carried your lunch in a lunchbox

(our lunch box was shaped like a school bus with Disney characters)

160.                      Gotten food poisoning

161.                      Gone on a service, humanitarian or religious mission

162.                      Hiked the Grand Canyon

163.                      Sat on a park bench and fed the ducks

164.                      Gone to the opera

165.                      Gotten a letter from someone famous

(that is if form letters count or letters from their secretary)

166.                      Worn knickers

167.                      Ridden in a limousine

168.                      Attended the Olympics

169.                      Can hula or waltz

170.                      Read a half dozen Nancy Drew or Hardy Boys books

171.                      Been stuck in an elevator

172.                      Had a revelatory dream

(The Parable of the Canning Jar)

173.                      Thought you might crash in an airplane

174.                      Had a song dedicated to you on the radio or at a concert

175.                      Saved someone’s life

176.                      Eaten raw whale

177.                      Know how to tat, smock or do needlepoint

178.                      Laughed till your side hurt

179.                      Straddled the equator

180.                      Taken a photograph of something other than people that is worth framing

181.                      Gone to a Shakespeare Festival

182.                      Sent a message in a bottle

183.                      Spent the night in a hostel

184.                      Been a cashier

(during the summers in high school I pumped gas at a little mom/pop station and put the money in the old, gold cash register with pop up numbers and a hand crank)

185.                      Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt

186.                      Joined a union

187.                      Donated blood or plasma

188.                      Built a campfire

189.                      Kept a blog

190.                      Had hives

191.                      Worn custom made shoes or boots

192.                      Made a PowerPoint presentation

193.                      Taken a Hunter’s Safety Course

194.                      Served at a soup kitchen

195.                      Conquered the Rubik’s cube

196.                      Know CPR

197.                      Ridden in or owned a convertible

198.                      Found a long lost friend

(thanks to blogging, I found my friend, Jane!)

199.                      Helped solve a crime

200.                      Responded to a NJP newsletter

      Two hundred is big.  Two hundred takes a long time to read, doesn’t it?  Two hundred needs a special celebration so I have an idea.  When I was a little girl, my sister, Marcia, gave me a sack filled with penny candy for my birthday.  I still get excited thinking of that bag of candy.  So, there’s a bag of 200 pieces of candy (good kinds, I promise) for some lucky neighbor who sends in (or posts on her blog) her 200 Things list.  I’ll have Calvin draw the winner on Sunday from the names of all who participate.

      I appreciate you for making two hundred newsletters possible.  (If you aren’t a subscriber and would like to receive the newsletter, click subscribe at the top and leave your information and I will activate your account for FREE.)

Your neighbor,

                              Jane       

 P.S.  Don't forget to go to Meet the Neighbors to see others' responses and please send your link if you'd like to join in!

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Please send your comments to jp@neighborjanepayne.com  Thanks, they’re always appreciated!