Maybe I shouldn'ta ...

The taste buds are about gone. That usually happens a couple of days after chemo. Doesn't mean I'm not hungry. I'm just on the prowl for spicier food.. ...
And I'm on the prowl in general. While watching the local news at noon I heard about an evacuation at a high school in my newspaper coverage area. My first thought was to call the office and tell my boss about the suspicious package police were investigating. I resisted the urge. I'm on medical leave. ...
Sitting around the past few weeks has given me plenty of time to reflect. I've reflected on a few of the changes I woulda made in my life. The wouldas, couldas and shouldas. Also on the shouldn'tas (OK, copy editors, am I just making up words?). I made a list of some things I shouldn'ta done as a kid and older teen. These aren't confessions. I'm not seeking forgiveness. They're just a few things that have stuck with me over the years. ...
Here we go ~ I shouldn'ta:
* Gone home from kindergarten with a friend without my mother's permission. I told my buddy's mother I had permission. It's the first lie I remember telling.
* I shouldn'ta whacked my older sister over the head with a toy golf club after she put my plastic golf ball in a tree where I couldn't reach it. Maybe I coulda been the first Tiger Woods. Instead, my dad broke my clubs over his knee. Oh, yeah, I drew blood from my sister's head.
* I shouldn'ta quit piano lessons when I was 8.
* I shouldn'ta been satisfied with my first "C" on a report card. It was fourth-grade math.
* I shouldn'ta puffed on grapevines in the woods behind my house with my best friend when I was 11.
* I shouldn'ta failed every one of my mid-term exams in seventh grade. It cost me the second half of basketball season. Why'd I fail? Too much shooting hoops instead of studying.
* I shouldn'ta started inhaling cigarettes when I was 15.
* I shouldn'ta drank my first beer at 15.
* I shouldn'ta turned 15.
* I shouldn'ta walked into the house with a smile on my face after having my first car wreck. I was 16. It wasn't my fault (I was rear-ended), but I had a stupid smirk on my face. My dad's '73 Oldsmobile Omega was totaled. So was I.
* I shouldn'ta got suspended for three days my senior year of high school. I missed an English test and got a zero. It bounced me off the honor roll.
* I shouldn'ta quit my high school basketball team half-way through my senior season.
* I shouldn'ta changed my mind about going to Nashville to seek my fame and fortune after high school graduation.
* I shouldn'ta wasted my parents' money for a year after high school graduation by going to Young Harris College.
* I shouldn'ta stopped writing songs and playing guitar for about 25 years.
Maybe one day I'll make a list of things I shoulda done. Maybe I shouldn't. Maybe I shouldn'ta made this list.