I’ve been MIA. I didn’t even do the listicle last week…. Even though it was my friend Bridget’s and I can’t believe I missed her listicle! Which is why you get two for the price of one today. Yessiree, cause you can’t not do the listicle when one of your favorite bloggers and very supportive internet friend comes up with it, and the one that Lisa came up with for this week is pretty cool too so there you have it, double lists. Sooooo, first ten things my parents did right thanks to Lisa of TheSprog and then ten people (more or less) alive or dead I’d like to have dinner with.

Before I begin, I’d like to add that I realize I’ve been crap at blogging, and more importantly, at reading all the blogs I love the past couple of weeks, but I’ve been enjoying the summer, and having my kids with me more than I had for the almost two months since summer started. We’ve been having adventures, and sleeping in, and seeing friends, and discovering new, fun, play areas around here, we’ve been hanging out with family and friends visiting from all over, we’ve been cooking, and lazying in front of the tv, well, in a word (or three) we’ve been having fun. And who can possibly blame me for having fun? There’s so much heartache and anger and frustration and sadness and tedium in life (even when there isn’t much, it’s still too much) that we need to just stop everything and have pure, unadulterated and simple fun some of the time. So my appeal to you is: have fun. Pick a week (or even just a weekend) and stop everything else, no commitments, no guilt, no yelling, just fun, just whatever you want to do, even if it’s completely ridiculous. Having a little fun all year is great, and it’s healthy, but having a whole lot of fun, all together, an overdose of fun and joie de vivre, every once in awhile is crucial. Trust me, try it!

Back to listicling, here goes…

Ten things my parents did right:

1. they taught me to be an optimist (by example)

2. they sent me to Italy when I was nineteen

3, they let me work, even though it was going to affect my studies a bit

4. they loved my husband as soon as they met him (unlike all the boyfriends before him)

5. they showed me the world and taught me to navigate it

6. they (well, my mom mostly in this case) taught me to cook decently

7. though my Dad taught me to make the perfect breakfast omelette, no mean feat.

8. they let me be me, and showed me that I was more than I expected

9. they were firm and unapologetic

10. they stayed together, through the hard times, and loved each other till the end. (and beyond).

My parents did a lot of things right so I could probably go on and on and on… but now it’s time to list ten people I’d want to have dinner with:

1. My paternal grandparents, since they died before I was born.

2. Henry the eighth, mostly because I’m watching the Tudors right now and would really like to know what’s with the obsession with Anne Boleyn.

3. Harry Dresden, because he’s the coolest wizard of them all (this list accepts fictional characters, yes?)

4. Marie Antoinette, so I could tell her to keep her freaking mouth shut and possibly get the hell out of dodge.

5. Tomàs de Torquemada, so I could tell him to just chill out a little with the inquisition please.

6. Prince William and Kate, cause they’re cute and I wonder whether they wouldn’t rather have eloped to Vegas.

7. Ryan Gosling – no explanation needed.

8. E.L. James, so I could hand her a dictionary, and a thesaurus, and a book on grammar and writing and… maybe I’d just ask her to please stop writing crap or alternatively to get an editor already,

9. Picasso – cause he sounds like he was a good time.

10. Bridget – cause I’ll probably never make it to Alaska and I’m sure I could persuade her to come to Italy, our wine is exceptionally good!

Linking up with Stasha for another great listicle monday!