My Kind of Christmas List

Here you will find many of the things I need to do before Christmas. This probably isn't everything, and not everything on here must be done before Christmas, but for the most part, that's what it is.

Yesterday I was thinking about what I had to do, and I really couldn't remember everything, so it was time to make a list. As luck would have it, this pad of Christmas List paper was sitting on the coffee table in front of me, telling me that yes, I should do something while I sit on my ass. Since I'm not making a wish list this year (unless you consider this my "wish it would just be done" list), I thought I'd make my list on that. I mean, it is a Christmas list of sorts, even though it's not the usual fun kind. At least the paper makes it seem that much less miserable.

As I was writing things down, I realized how much I really have to do. Of course, the list wouldn't be nearly as long if I didn't list every little thing, but if I don't do that, I forget to do it. I become particularly forgetful this time of year, like I'm not exceedingly forgetful anyway. Multiply my usual forgetfulness by maybe three or four, and you have a person who's lucky she doesn't leave the house naked in the morning from forgetting to dress herself. Thankfully, I don't have to write "get dressed" on the list, but I'm >this< close to it.

This list certainly isn't in any sort of order either. As I would write one thing down, I would realize I had to do something else before I could do it, so I'd write that too. Sometimes that would happen three or more times. And believe me, if I didn't tell myself to copy the digital camera receipt and warranty card, so that I could pack it in the box to send, it wouldn't get done.

These are always what my lists look like. Every once in a while, I will come across an old one that got buried under a mountain of stuff I didn't do. Most of the time, only half of the things on the list are crossed off. Sometimes the things that aren't crossed off actually did get done, but most of the time, they didn't. Of those things that didn't get done, a few are outdated, so I'm able to cross them off anyway. Usually I just throw the list out, because it carries too much guilt, and I probably have a new list by that time anyway.

I hope my Christmas list won't go the way of other lists, and I can scan it in later with lines through everything. That would be about the best gift I could give myself. I'm not worried yet that I won't get everything done I wanted to do. I also have a different attitude that took a couple years to attain. I don't feel like I have to get everything done. If the gingerbread men don't get finished, big deal! If the pool sits out all winter, it made it last year, so why not this year too? If I don't make the dental appointment, I hate going anyway. Okay, so that's not such a good idea. There are plenty of things on the list that don't need to be done, I would just like them to be done, and I realize that. The only real expectations being placed on me are my own, and I have to keep that in mind as I try to be all Martha Stewart Christmas. I'll bet she doesn't have piles of dog poop to pick up though.