Listing Life

I've never been a list girl. I hate lists. Hate them! I make lists...and then I forget them. The running joke in our household runs a bit like this...

Thing 1) Mom, I need shampoo...
Me:) put it on the list
Thing 1)but you never take the list...
Me:)look kid, here's the deal, if you put it on the list there's a good chance if I have the list with me at the time I'm shopping I'll get everything on it. If it's not on the list there's a 100% chance I will not buy it, so put it on the list!

Thing 1:)Mom..did you buy shampoo?
Me:) was it on the list?
Thing 1) Yes...did you TAKE the list?

OR as we arrive at the store, we get out of the car, grab the grocery bags at which point I'll exclaim loudy "OH SHIT!" and Thing 1 or Thing 2 will say "you forgot the list didn't you?"

With the move as well as all the personal issues lately I've had pages of lists to sift through. I cross them off one at a time slowly but surely. I'm not one of those that alphabetizes, or organizes her lists either, I'm lucky enough just to write them in the first place. There's no rhyme or reason to them, I have Extra Crunchy Peanut Butter written right under Call The Landlord and right above Schedule School Registration. It's just not a part of who I am to organize the lists in order of importance. By the same token, I can't go down the list as it's written and do it either...I do one set of tasks until I'm bored with it or for whatever reason (timing, etc) it's impossible to do that set, then I move on to the next.

Sometimes I AM able to do what needs to be done FIRST and other times I just can't make that distinction. I'll prioritize in my head how things are going to go according to my mood...going to Panera? here's a list of things to look up and addresses I need to take down. Going to the laundry? Here's a list of phone numbers I need to call and services to set up while I'm waiting. The thing is, these lists are scattered amongs the "buy peanut butter" and the " call the landlord" items...


One of my greatest joys these days is to have an entire page of items crossed off so that in theory I can tear that page out of my notebook. The page doesn't ever get torn out though because somewhere along the line, someone will invariably ask did you do/buy/call x,y,z? and I'll have to go through my list of crossed out items to determine if I had or not.

I've noticed the last couple of days, that my focus is gone. Oh stop laughing...I mean G-O-N-E Gone! completely! Shot! I open my eyes, reach for my phone to see what time it is, then reach for my list to see what the first item of the day is going to be. If it's something like oh, I don't know, something I don't feel like doing or something that needs to be done at night etc, then I simply move on to the next chore..

I think I'm getting bored with the whole move process because right between "set the alarms for 8am for cable guy" and "don't forget to stay home for the fridge guy" was "look up nature centers" and "check into local wildlife programs" and "buy beer for the slugs" (my husband will have an absolute COW if I give them HIS beer...they get the cheap stuff) I've also noticed that I started listing basic things that no one in his or her right mind should ever have to look at a list to complete. For instance, I found "shower, wash hair, use lotion, drink water, eat breakfast, and go potty" on my list yesterday. I'm not kidding. I think I'm losing it. Apparently I'm not the only one, I just saw my cat chewing on my new broom!