1. In the past, I've had traumatic experiences making lists.
2. Like the time I made a to-do list so long that my husband sent it into Simon and Shuster for publication. As a trilogy. With sequels.
3. I once made a Christmas card list. The day after Christmas, a cousin's wife called me to say she received the list in their card and thanked me for giving her a head start on her own list for our next family reunion invitations. My high school drama teacher showed up to the reunion.
4. When we moved into this house five years ago, I made a list of things I needed to purchase so I could get us settled in, like a shower curtain, picture hanging nails, a new broom, a welcome mat, etc. We'd just written a monster check for the closing costs and I wanted to keep myself in budget - you know, no bank-breaking impulse purchases that would lead us to starve to death in our nice, new home. When I got to Lowes Knowes, I saw something I needed that wasn't on the list and didn't know what to do. It threw me into such a quandry that I had a panic attack right there in the store. Fortunately for me a psychiatrist was there shopping for rose bush food and stopped to try and help me. The last I heard, he was still in therapy, but he's off his psychotropic meds now.
5. I can never find a good pad of paper on which to write lists. I know I've purchased at least a gross of those small legal pads in really cool assorted colors like cerise, puce, celadon and flax; some of them with the Post-It sticky stuff on them so I can stick them up in places where I might actually find them. I'm sure they're around here somewhere.
6. I can't find a pencil, either. I'm addicted to mechanical pencils. My favorites are the 0.7mm Pentel QE407F. The only place I've ever found them was in a book store in Seattle. When I ask her to, my sister will buy some and mail them to me. They're very hard to find. Which could account for my having lost several dozen.
7. If by some miracle I do find a nice pad of paper and my favorite type of mechanical pencil, I start the list with a "1." That's about as far as I get before I remember I'm supposed to make a phone call or need to throw a load of wash in the machine. Or play my bass guitar. Or feed the dog. Or read my new magazine. Or water my plants. Or visit a couple of blogs. Or...
8. Then, days later when I come back to the pad and pencil, I tend to doodle a bit while I collect my thoughts. By the time my collage of illustrated thoughts collects itself all over the paper, I've forgotten that I was supposed to be making a list. So I hang my artwork on the fridge with a chip clip magnet, which reminds me that I'm hungry.
9. So I take a snack break. But, I'm out of snacks, which reminds me to make a grocery list. But, I'm so hungry, I can't think straight to make the list.
10. So, I go to the grocery store and buy whatever looks good. As usual. It's hard to make a list while you're shopping for groceries.
11. I'm a Registered Nurse. I took an elective course on handwriting analysis. I thought the course was to make our handwriting as undecipherable as possible so it more closely resembled that of a physician. I failed the course. So, I couldn't possibly read any list I might make anyway.
12. Even if I did make the list to remind myself of things I'm supposed to do or buy or read or remember, and even if I typed it and printed it or stored it in my harddrive, I'd probably forget where I put it.
13. Or why I was making a list in the first place. Like now!
(Gracias a Janice)
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I can make the list but finding it afterwards is my problem. And then doing what is on the list! I have some things from 20 years ago I would love to scratch off the list but just can't get to that place!
You are so funny and talented in your writing. When I grow up I so want to write like Carol!
Have a great day!
Posted by: Debbie | August 17, 2006 at 07:49 AM
You are so funny, Carol! And yet I always come away knowing that you are a deep and thoughtful person.
And I love your fall look.
Posted by: Kim from Hiraeth | August 17, 2006 at 07:51 AM
LOL!
Posted by: Shannon @ Rocks in my Dryer | August 17, 2006 at 07:57 AM
You crack me right up! I promise I'll never ask you to make a list for anything!
Posted by: Susanne | August 17, 2006 at 08:19 AM
Hee. You're so funny, Carol I make lists because my memory is, to be gentle, failable. Without my list, I find myself in the grocery store hopelessly wandering the aisles.... I did not know that you were a Registered Nurse!
Posted by: Rebecca | August 17, 2006 at 08:20 AM
# 3 made me snicker and laugh. I'm not a fan of lists either, my hubby tells me all the time that if I want him to get something done in the house - Make a list! I don't run on lists why should he... ;-) I have troubles even putting together a grocery list... maybe that's why my budget is non-existant too... hhmmm
Posted by: Shash | August 17, 2006 at 08:42 AM
You are too funny! I'm going to have to learn to make lists. My budget depends upon it!
Posted by: Heather | August 17, 2006 at 09:32 AM
This was too funny and I can totally relate. I can find the paper to make the list, but I forget to consult the list after I've made it. It's a wonder we've survived in this life! :) Thanks for the smiles today!
Posted by: Janna | August 17, 2006 at 10:34 AM
I don't care for lists either. I lose them, I want to add to them, they make me feel boxed in..... but yet I make them so I can stay on budget. Sigh...
Posted by: Laurel Wreath | August 17, 2006 at 12:36 PM
Wot, no blue and green?
(You'll get that later).
Love the new look. Loved the other one too but it's nice to see a new layout that looks good too.
On lists, I do make them but I make ones I feel like making at the time and not ones I would probably do better to make.
Posted by: Catez | August 17, 2006 at 01:01 PM
I make lists, then lose them or forget them or change my mind or,or, or. Yeah, no point in making a list. However, I have a notepad fetish!! I have a kitchen drawer full of the cutest notepads!!! ;D
Posted by: Faith | August 17, 2006 at 02:00 PM
Your drama teacher showing up to the family reunion made me laugh out loud!
By the way, I resorted to a little innocent bribery last night at your suggestion...and IT WORKED! Thank you for the tip and for my 7 glorious hours of sleep.
Posted by: Big Mama | August 17, 2006 at 03:11 PM
Your drama teacher showing up to the family reunion made me laugh out loud!
By the way, I resorted to a little innocent bribery last night at your suggestion...and IT WORKED! Thank you for the tip and for my 7 glorious hours of sleep.
Posted by: Big Mama | August 17, 2006 at 03:11 PM
LOVE it!
Posted by: Zoe | August 17, 2006 at 03:58 PM
And I'm the flip side. I constantly make lists, and I'm rather helpless without them! Also it gives me great pleasure to check things off as "done." I don't always finish accomplishing the things on the list, but it gives me direction...otherwise I tend to be aimless and ineffectual.
Posted by: Cindy Swanson | August 17, 2006 at 06:19 PM
Excellent list post. I'm still laughing. I played too. Beware...HNT pictures involved. ;0]
Posted by: Pam | August 17, 2006 at 08:35 PM
laughing over here!!
I procrastinate on making lists. Seriously. I am that bad of a procrastinator that even the list overwhelms me. I make grocery lists when my husband goes to the store because otherwise he would only buy milk. But even that list is usually dictated to him over the phone while he sits in the grocery store parking lot. Yes - I really am good at procrastinating!! I should win a prize. But then I probably wouldn't get around to picking it up. Oh yeah - i just realized that is true!!!!! I never put my I helped Kristen Cook award on my site. Nor did I put the Blogging Olympics silver medal. Good grief! And I haven't added the Gave All or Sept 11 buttons to my side bar!! But now those two are on a list. I finally started a blog to do list but it isn't helping that much. I still procrastinate and then move the undone itmes to the new list. But hey - I have made a pretty good list here. Maybe I should past it into a word document....yeah I will get to that after I finish...
Posted by: Janice | August 17, 2006 at 11:10 PM
This was absolutely great. (Of course nothing less seems to come from your place!) :-)
Number 11 made me laugh. I can relate!!
Posted by: momrn2 | August 18, 2006 at 12:48 AM
Great list! Loved the Christmas card story!
I made a list of things to do on one day once, I don't think I've finished them yet, so I totally understand!
Posted by: Phil Nash | August 18, 2006 at 11:00 AM
Great list! I always forget to take my lists with me - so I end up with multiple half-finished links all over the place. ;)
Posted by: Shadows Edge | August 18, 2006 at 02:31 PM
https://www.pentelstore.com/catalog/index.php?grp=718&osCsid=399c029198254c886d47674a14f36b7c
you can find the pencils there!
and those seriously are the best pencils in the world. ive been using the same one for the past couple years, and then it broke yesterday! so i gotta order some more.
Posted by: Amanda | February 27, 2007 at 08:13 PM