Friday, January 16, 2009

Timber!

Surely a small forest of trees has fallen victim to my habit of making lists. However, my list making talents cannot hold a candle to a former co-worker who kept a list to organize her lists!

She knew something was terribly wrong when she found a list in her eight-year-old daughter's room that included a detailed plan for her day including "bathroom break" and playtime scheduled down to the minute. Something had to give. She has since learned to relax a bit.

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My lists are definitely a bid to stave off the ravages of time on my memory. It's impossible to count the times that I've returned from a shopping trip with everything except what I went for in the first place. I was wasting alot of time and gas, since I live 9 miles from anything.

Three-by-five index cards are my material of choice simply because they're sturdier than post-it notes or just plain paper. But index cards ain't what they used to be. They are flimsy, flimsy, flimsy!!

Why all this talk of lists? Because when I opened up my wallet at the post office today there were no less than four lists inside! Some things had already been crossed off and usually before this point I combine and create a new list. The colorful list in the center is a post-it note taped to a recipe for bruschetta. I've been using this as a bookmark.

I make myself laugh when I read them. A perfect example of humor is the use of exclamation points.

flowers
vase
circle labels
lettuce
salad dressing
find sunglasses
butter
cheese
big pot
eggs
make sauce!
get money!

Yeah.....get money, for sure!!

Nature's Miracle is one of the items on a list. Here's a plug for that stuff. This stuff is terrific if you have pets that have accidents. That's me! I need more.

Included on the lists are places I want to remind myself to visit when I'm out running errands, such as.....

CUPCAKE SHOP

There's a new one in nearby Geneva and I still haven't visited. I really need to get over there before they close their doors. It has been known to happen to me.

I've heard there's a guy out there who saves all his lists and publishes them. I'm quite sure mine aren't that interesting. I've also see a book at the bookstore comprised of lists someone has found in shopping carts. Amazing material. You could write interesting stories based on someone's shopping list.

kitty litter
olive oil
chocolate syrup

Please tell me I'm not the only list making fanatic, besides my former co-worker of course!

27 comments:

Heidi said...

I am a list maker - I put it on the fridge then cuss when ever I walk by it because I cant get anything crossed off of it. My town list looks like a recipe for nuclear waste because it is so long..... then there is not being able to read my own writing - which is a subject I prefer to leave alone - yah, completly alone.

The Cutting Edge of Ordinary said...

Oh no you are not. Check out this post on my blog from back in July called I am the list maker

http://thecuttingedgeofordinary.blogspot.com/2008/07/i-am-list-maker.html

CatHerder said...

OMG your post made me LAUGH...I am THE list maker. The biggest joke is how I break down one job, into 5 little jobs on paper...this way when I cross it out during the day, I feel like i did 5 times as much LOL!!!! When I was working full time, my co-workers branded me the "post-it" queen!!!! Have a happy!

Lori said...

No list - no groceries. I just wander around the grocery store getting frustrated trying and usually never remembering what I need. And at work that's a whole nother story. My monitor is framed in stickky notes for fear I will forget to do something. Pretty sad, huh?

chocolatechic said...

I am with you, note cards have become more and more flimsy as the years go by.

I like to use them for lists as well.

I think I could have written this post myself.

Anonymous said...

Funny you would discuss this today. Have you seen this website: http://www.grocerylists.org/? I stumbled upon it last night, and it was amazing how many grocery lists they have collected.

Anonymous said...

NOpe. I am a listaholic (lol) I make lists fior everything, and I have been known to make a list so I remember my list...? Quirky huh? I love your blog by the way!

Significant Snail said...

I put small post it notes on the back of my cell phone. My daughter teases me because I could just set an alarm on my phone that would send me the message at the right time...

StitchinByTheLake said...

Maybe we need to start a 12 step group - Listaholics! Here's the list that is beside my computer this morning:
allergy shot
gas
Kroger
mail shampoo
Books - Country Sampler & John ?
schedule physical therapy
Makes you wonder...does the allergy shot cause gas? Do I mail the shampoo at Kroger. And who mails shampoo anyway? Since when is Country Sampler a book? blessings, marlene

Anonymous said...

We make lists at our house every week... otherwise we forget things at the grocery store... I have post it notes on the front of my computer.... My computer program offers 'post it notes', but I don't use them... seems easier just to jot in on a real live post it note that I can just grab and go. Takes too long to print one out of the computer. My purse has notes floating around in it... my wallet is jam packed with old ones I need to toss or condense onto another list. Just plain crazy, but without the notes I just plain forget stuff. In younger years I seemed to have a photographic list in my head, but it's faded and dirty now... lol

Di
The Blue Ridge Gal

Texas Gardener said...

I am an on and off list maker. I DO keep every list I ever find at the store in a cart or on the floor. Great stuff! I once found a love letter, a very graffic love letter. My family was with me and they all snatched it out of my hands to read it. Steamy stuff!

Abbie said...

Hi Suzanne!
:) I am a list keeper too. But my favorite of all tools are those large binder clips. With one of those I clip TO my lists (also done on index cards.. damn we are GOOD!) coupons, receipts for items that need to be returned, more lists, etc... Also, my pen clips to it better than just the thin card.
Hope you are keeping warm. We hit -19 this AM.
xoxo~
Abbie

Doreen Frost said...

I make lots of list..however, I always forget to look at them....!!!!!!

Doreen

Lisa said...

I make lists to remind myself of things to get while I'm out, then forget and leave the list at home....very frustrating when you get to the store and realize you have no idea what you needed in the first place!

Anonymous said...

I'm a list maker too. One time I had a grocery list on my work desk. Went to the store that evening with the list. At the end of the list a coworker had written "crane flies". They didn't have them at Safeway!

bv said...

list on going
#1 food
#2 drug and personal items
#3 path to take when in town
#4 weeks jobs
#5 broken down to daily jobs
we are so bad that my husband puts a rock on the table to remind me to let the horses in together after they have eaten, kinda like smoke signals.
did you get your drugs?
bv

Mogsie said...

Oh my dear girl, you are so not alone. When my girls were younger, I had lists within lists, and I had to put dates on my lists, so I knew which one was which. (easy way to prioritize things)

though my lists are much shorter now, I still use them ~ I seem to be more easily distracted these days, (a nice way to say I have memory burps too) and sometimes, now I actually get a list DONE!!!

:)

:D

Sabina said...

I am a list person too - couldn't make it through a day without them!!

Have a great weekend!!

:)

PatQ said...

CUPCAKES! Thanks for the info. I'm going to have to go over there. And it's right across the street from Grahams. Oh man I'm in trouble. I'm also a list maker and if I don't have my list with me I'm lost and don't do anything.

Laura said...

You're not alone. I make lists.. all the time. Most of the time I try to make duplicates of my lists, because it never fails that I'll lose the first one. :-(
~*~

Liane said...

Oh, you certainly are not alone. Usually my back left pocket of my jeans contains a list of to do-s * mostly grocery items. Whenever I have any appointment I tape the reminder to the bathroom mirror, and if I have to bring something to work or church, I tape the note/list right on the door frame at eye-level. I, too, am known for getting every-but-what's on the list. And I laugh whenever someone else tells ME "remind me to . . . . ." 'cause it ain't gonna happen!

Have a great weekend!

dina said...

Oh my gosh - I am SO a 3x5 index card kinda girl, too!

How is it possible to make it through life without lists? I can't begin to imagine...

However... a few years ago my Mom started making lists. Wierd lists. Not just life is busy, you gotta know my shorthand language kinda wierd. But really wierd. Little did I know that that was an early sign for dementia. That was the start of a very long season of life.

Since then, I've backed off on lists a little - with the goal of cherishing life more, and forgiving myself if I don't get everything checked off.

But life without them completely? ABSOLUTELY NOT!

Anonymous said...

Your lists made me laugh...thanks. I'm not a list person but I should be. Maybe I'll write it on a piece of paper that I need to start a list.

Kara S. said...

I write lists all over the place - computer desktop, calendar, office bulletin board, planner, etc. etc. etc. I definitely do not enter a store without a list because I always forget at least half of what I needed without a list.

I agree 100% with your Nature's Miracle plug!!! There is simply no comparison to other products. Their kitty litter treatment stuff is amazing too - bye bye odor. :)

LIBERTY POST EDITOR said...

I agree. Flimsy. Flimsy. We need to have a 3x5 revolt. And no, you are among friends. Lists, lists and more lists. It's not the list that's satisfying...oh no. It's the crossing stuff off the list that gets me hot. Yippee!

Mary said...

I don't know where I've been all week -- I missed the staff meeting, the comfort food and the meds! You guys got a LOT of snow out there.

I have to write EVERYTHING down or else I forget it. Sometimes, I even forget it if it's on the list. I used to tell people that motherhood fried my brain, but I'm beginning to think that I'm just an airhead.

My SIL was telling us about my 11-year-old niece, who writes herself a timetable every day which includes: "7:30-7:45am -- Beautify." That's when she combs her hair and applies makeup. And let me tell you, her makeup looks professional. LOL

Hope you are staying warm out there!
xoxo,
Mary

Ruta M. said...

I like lists, they give that feeling of satisfaction when you can cross things off. I have a 2x3ft whiteboard on the wall in the kitchen where I write everything from jobs to diary dates. For shopping lists etc I keep the picture halves of all my Christmas cards and they usually last the year. I can choose the size I need and as well as being 'green' it's something pretty to look at.