Sofacents

Do you make lists ?   I don’t.   At least I didn’t until I opened my big mouth last week and  now I have a list that has more than 100 things to do on it.

WordPress sends out a daily prompt email with a suggested topic for you to blog about.  If it’s something interesting I’ll discuss the question with Ms. J.  They’re usually things like, ‘How did you name your first pet?”, or “What’s your favorite pasta shape?”.   We’ll talk about the question for a few minutes, maybe tell a funny story related to the question, and then move on to something else.

Well, a week or so ago, the question was something about making lists, “Do you make lists ?” , “Make a list right now”, or maybe it was “Why are you so lazy, go make a list!”    I suppose you were then to go write a post about your list and explain how efficient you are.   The conversation with Ms. J started off as usual, I think we each told some list related anecdote, maybe there was a funny story as well, but we didn’t end up doing the “move on to something else” part.  What she did, to my shock and horror, was to actually start a list.

The purpose of the list, or as we have since started to call it:  ”THE LIST” , is to itemize the things that we should get done.  They can’t be minor things like “Take out the garbage every week”, or “Clean the cat box”.  Cleaning does not count.  It has to be something major, like home improvement projects such as fixing the garage door opener, and getting rid of the ‘Monster Weed’ in the back yard.  Or the item can be related to Mr. C, such a signing him up for some kind of Summer class.  All important things, but things that I tend to keep putting off and before we know it it’s May and I haven’t done much of anything.

As a lifelong procrastinator, lists are poison for me.  Like Kryptonite.  Once some task is written down it is made official, it has to be done.  I have often been accused of having selective hearing, or selective memory, when it comes to getting things done.   This is not true.  There is just so much to get done that I can not keep up with it.  This is a 100+ year old house after all, there’s always going to be something to do around the house to keep it livable.  And the addition of Mr. C just triples the things to do, and also cuts in half the time to do them in too.  I do admit that before THE LIST came along it was easy to say something like ‘When did we talk about that?’.  Such as  when I was confronted with the broken door bell that has yet to be fixed, even though it has been ten years since  I moved in.

So far, we’re up to 106 items on the list.

I guess it’ll be productive, and a motivator.  I’ve already gotten one item done, number 86, ‘Get an Easy Pass for the car’.  For those outside the US, ‘Easy Pass’ is a pre-payment system for toll-roads.  It is a radio transponder that can be attached to the inside of your car’s windshield, sending out a signal to the toll booth, letting you breeze through the line of cars waiting to pay their toll.  Especially helpful during the 6 hour drive down to New Jersey to visit my in-laws.  We have more than once had to scrounge around in the car for the $13 toll to get over the George Washington bridge in New York City.  (What do they do if you don’t have the money?  Do they make you work the toll booth?)

So this past weekend the drive to New Jersey was clearly shorter as we zipped through the tolls.  Always helpful to get to the in-laws faster!

Here it is, my nemesis.