![\"Happy](\"https:\/\/fromabirdseyeview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/Happy-new-year-2013.jpg\")
<\/a>\u00a0Thank you to my sister, Suzanne for introducing me to the idea of the \u2018upside down bucket list\u2019, for it\u00a0was that concept that has inspired me to look at New Year\u2019s resolutions differently.\u00a0 Like many, I typically resolve to be a better spouse, parent, friend . . . person and include the requisite increase in exercise and consumption of much healthier food resulting in a painfully slow, if ever, decrease in weight.\u00a0 Like many, I also have a bucket list of places I want to visit and things I want to do and resolutions always include checking off a few of those items during the ensuing year.\u00a0 While resolutions and bucket lists look great in late December, reality seems to find its way into the new year and render many, if not most,\u00a0of our resolutions unattainable.<\/p>\n\u00a0So this year, rather than \u2018dream\u2019 about the places I\u2019d like to go in 2013, I thought I\u2019d do the \u2018upside down thing\u2019 and look back at 2012 and review what I\u2019d done and where I\u2019d actually been.\u00a0 Then, rather than be disappointed at not doing or getting to the places I resolved to get to, I\u2019d be able to just \u2018grade\u2019 myself based on what I\u2019d done and where I\u2019d gone and hopefully put a few checks on that big bucket list.<\/p>\n
Twenty-twelve will not be marked in my memory by the many places I visited or the life I led, but rather by the life I lost \u2013 the passing in Those who have followed our blog know that I\u2019ve had the privilege of going to some wonderful places this year.\u00a0 In January I was in Hawaii, on the Big Island to watch the PGA Senior\u2019s golf tournament at Hualalai and then on to Maui to play golf and just watch some sunsets at Wailea.\u00a0 I had a much too up-close and personal look at \u2018senior living\u2019 at my mom\u2019s facility in Sonoma and while I was in the area I hiked through historical Jack London State Park in the rolling hills of Glen Ellen.\u00a0 I traveled across country on business to Sunriver, Oregon, Minneapolis, Minnesota, Holyoke, Massachusetts and I\u00a0HAD<\/em> to return to the island of Kauai to attend a conference.\u00a0 I lived on a boat in the harbor in Cabo San Lucas for three days while not That\u2019s an upside down list that I may have a hard time topping in 2013.\u00a0 I feel so very privileged to be afforded the opportunities to experience all that I have\u00a0in 2012\u00a0and I know I was privileged to have such\u00a0a great best friend for over 50 years.\u00a0 It was a memorable year in so many ways. I recommend looking back at your year and the only resolution I would make is that in a year from now you’re going to look back at 2013 – make it memorable.<\/p>\n I know I speak for my dear friend and wonderfully talented sister, which she doesn\u2019t often let me do because she can speak so well for herself, in thanking all of you who read our blog and especially those who send us back comments to let us know our words don\u2019t all end up in cyber space.\u00a0 May you all have an extraordinary 2013.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n And now a word from our sponsor<\/b><\/p>\n Most of you know I\u2019m now working for Zipz Gear, a unique shoe company, but may not know that I\u00a0am now writing a \u2018shoe blog\u2019 called \u2018From the Lipz of Zipz\u2019.\u00a0 You can find the blog by going to our website at www.zipzgear.com<\/a>.\u00a0 Feel free to check out the shoes while you\u2019re there.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Bob Sparrow \u00a0Thank you to my sister, Suzanne for introducing me to the idea of the \u2018upside down bucket list\u2019, for it\u00a0was that concept that has inspired me to look at New Year\u2019s resolutions differently.\u00a0 Like many, I typically … read more![\"scan0041\"](\"https:\/\/fromabirdseyeview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/scan0041.jpg\")
<\/a> February of my best friend, Don Klapperich.\u00a0 For more than 50 years he was a best friend, a mentor, a singing partner, a moral compass, a confidant, the little voice in my head and so much more.\u00a0 He was a most talented, intelligent, entertaining and complex man.\u00a0 He knew me better than anyone and I knew him as much as anyone could.\u00a0 I miss him dearly.\u00a0 I regret not spending more time with him, not talking to him more on the phone, not emailing as often as I could have, not going to visit more often.\u00a0 I suppose it\u2019s natural to now have a better understanding of the tenuousness of life; to better appreciate each day we\u2019re given and to not take those around us for granted.\u00a0 I don\u2019t know if it\u2019s a resolution, but I will try harder to remember these things \u2013 they have become more important to me.<\/p>\n![\"photo](\"https:\/\/fromabirdseyeview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/photo-771.jpg\")
<\/a>catching a single fish, but I did get to hang upside down at the Giggling Marlin.\u00a0 I spent a week in our timeshare in Palm Desert for the 18th<\/sup> year in a row and hope I can play another 18.\u00a0 I revisited the differences between northern and ![\"photo](\"https:\/\/fromabirdseyeview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/photo-74.jpg\")
<\/a>southern California as I returned to the palm and pine trees on Highway 99 out of Fresno, and I spent\u00a0several days\u00a0not quite 26 miles across the sea on Catalina Island. \u00a0I thought I saw John Lennon at the Laguna Sawdust Festival, twice!\u00a0 I stood at the lowest point on the North American continent in surprisingly stunning Death Valley, and I stood on top of Half Dome in not-so-surprisingly stunning Yosemite National Park.\u00a0 And I had my annual martini with my Dad in his final resting place at Lake Tahoe.<\/p>\n