I was hungry when I got home today (imagine!), so I treated myself to a bowl of Reese’s Puffs.  As I was eating, I read the back of the cereal box, which contained this interesting checklist:  18 Things to Do Before You Turn 18.  Here’s the list, along with how I measured up (or…didn’t):

1.  Ride the world’s biggest rollercoaster.  Unless it happens to have been the Texas Giant, nope.

2.  Bungee jump! No.

3.  Score the winning goal/basket.  Not even close. My only claim to fame is that I made the first basket in CTCS women’s b-ball history.  Unfortunately, it was the only basket I made all season.

4.  Win an award, trophy or prize.  Do academic awards and participation trophies count?

5.  Learn an instrument.  Too bad it didn’t say “quit an instrument.”

6.  Go backstage at a gig.  I’ve been backstage to see Point of Grace and Twila Paris.  While these were certainly momentous events, it wasn’t like they were Hanson or anything.

7.  Meet your idol.  Haven’t even glimpsed a celebrity from a distance.

8.  Play a part in your favorite TV show. What teenagers get to do this?

9.  Meet someone with your own  name.  Just first name?  Okay, check.

10.  Make a discovery.  Pretty sure I haven’t, unless you count the fact that I was wearing cardigans before they were cool.

11.  Get away with the perfect practical joke. Aside from Abbey’s and my hilarious “Glen from Pizza Hut” prank call, I’m not much of a practical joker. I hate them, in fact.

12.  Own a pointless collection.  Okay, I definitely can check off this one.  I lovingly named and stored many useless objects (plastic tops, balls of clay, paper clip chains…)  in the 8th grade.

13.  Invent a word that makes it into the dictionary.  Nope.

14.  Conquer your biggest fear.  Nope.

15.  Raise money for charity.  Not really.

16.  Pass your driving test for the first time.  I did this, but is it really a great accomplishment?

17.  Complete a road trip from coast to coast.  Pretty sure when I was 17, my big road trip was driving by myself to visit friends in Galveston.

18.  Reach 18 years of age.  Yes!  On June 24, 2000, I had officially gone for 18 years without dying.