I am the Leader of the Lists

Well hello and welcome sweet blog friends of mine. Summer has arrived at the nest. Temps are up, sun is shining and I am glowing and gleaming with joy. We really had to wait a long time for this. I packed away the winter clothes already a month ago, and then had to take my winter coat and gloves back out again. But today I am going to make the complete and final switch from winter to summer. No more (well almost no more) blacks and greys for me. Let the color in.

The other thing that is making me really happy is my new toy I bought myself. It is shiny, it is white and you all look so good on it! I stalled and hesitated for a long time. This isn’t exactly something that you would call a need. And these baby’s are not cheap. But finally I convinced myself I would get so much use out of it, and that if I don’t buy myself presents who will, and that I need to help the economy in this time of recession……

…… so I went out to buy it, only to find they were sold out everywhere. So I had to wait for two weeks! But now I have it in my hands and I am not letting go. I put it next to my pillow at night, just like a new teddy bear.

This new toy comes with many extras, among those that promise you more effectiveness and orderliness. And that you will get things done, and never forget anything anymore.  I am a sucker for that. So I have stuffed it with all kinds of list making and reminder giving tools.

And they are all great…..

……….. except I usually prefer pencil and paper.

I am a list hoarder. Yup, if I still had every list I ever wrote in my life, I would be one of those people they would have to excavate from under a paper mountain.

And if I still had all the time that I have spent making those lists, my house would be finished by now and I’d have nothing to blog about anymore.

I make a list of everything. And I have confessed it before: I even make lists of lists. For every room in my house I have at least one list of things still to do. I usually have another list of things I might do after the first list is finished. I have work lists, and play lists. Lists of books I have read and lists of books I still want to read. But most of all I have to-do lists. Short term, medium term, and long term lists of things I want/need/plan to do one day (or in the next hour).

I always feel those lists keep me sane. If I have written it down I don’t have to fear anymore that I will forget. The internal voice can relax and stop reciting those lists to me. I think that lists are simply a part of me, whether I write them down or not, I carry them with me anyway. And written down they take up much less mental space in my head.

There is something so gratifying about writing down a little list of chores and jobs for the day and feeling confident that that will help get them done. Not true of course, but the feeling is nice anyway.
And what is even better is when one gets to strike something off the list. That feeling is so good that I sometimes add things to a list that I have already done just so I can put a big, fat strike-through it. I guess that’s why I keep using pen and paper besides my electronic gadgets. Putting a little mark before a task is just not that gratifying. One little touch of a key on my keyboard just doesn’t compare to that physical sensation of marking something off by hand.

That’s why I still collect little notebooks. And carry at least five loose pieces of paper with lists scribbled on them in my purse on any given day.

Lists of lists…….

Do you do that?

I hope the weather is as nice at your place as it is in mine. Enjoy it!

PS Can you see how happy I am that the sun has made all my bushes bloom at once. My roses are full out, my peonies and lots of other flowers too. Yeah for picking flowers galore for your and my enjoyment on the blog.