The List

I work better with a list.  There has been so much we've needed to get done and it feels like we're getting behind on more and more of late.   Perhaps we're not, but the number of little things, as well as the few big things, seem to keep not getting done.   I suggested to my husband that we create a list, on paper, and leave it out in the kitchen where we both will see it.  We've done this before in various incarnations.   Even though we have lots of things we keep track of via electronic lists, for some reason having the to-do list on paper, in plain sight, works better.

Perhaps we don't like looking at the list.   Maybe it's a constant reminder or irritant, or maybe it's just that little bit of additional motivation it takes to get going on things we've been putting off.  Last night we created the list and put on it things we remembered at the time.   Today, I remembered a lot more things as I worked on some of the existing list items.

For instance, as I took the dog outside and played some coveted fetch time with her I remembered we needed to go through the front yard and remove the debris of all the things she'd chewed up.   The nerf gun ammo from the battles the neighbors had that she happily gnawed into bits and left all over the front yard as well as other things that somehow landed in her area that had been reduced to scrap. Fortunately, the dog doesn't swallow anything, but she does enjoy chewing any and everything plastic or soft.

Oh, and the garage door pad needed the battery replaced.   That was another thing to put on the list.   All-day long I remembered things that needed to be done.   The list got longer, but I got things done and cleared off the list as well.   My husband was away working a lot of the day but he also checked off several things.  

Some of the items are bigger tasks that will take some time to get done, but we've made a start—again—and hopefully will get back to where it doesn't seem like we're so far behind.  Today at least it seems like we got things accomplished.  Two children back in school definitely helps.

The Big Boy Update:  My son spent the afternoon with Morgan.   Tonight, he didn't want to go to bed because he wanted to draw.  Morgan went to design school and is an excellent artist.   She always inspires him when they're together.

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  My daughter brought me homework from school today.  She had taken her vocabulary words using contractions she was working on in VI and pasted a little piece of paper with each braille word on it in columns on pieces of paper.   I had about thirty words to translate largely using the "of" single-character contraction.   I had fun telling her the translated word and her telling me if I got it correct.