Checking it twice, and then again, and then again...

Those who know me well are aware of my little obsession.

I can't seem to get anything done, nay, I can't seem to FUNCTION, without making lists. You'd be hard-pressed to find me wandering around town without my notebook and pen, scratching things off and scribbling things down, attempting to keep my life together. I am notorious for taking on too much, completely overloading, and then somehow getting it done anyway. I keep telling myself that I am Learning Important Things and Improving My Skills. Other days I wonder if I have completely lost my mind.

I still can't decide if it's a good or a bad thing that I am so busy. I certainly like to be busy, and I am lousy at being bored, but hell, lately I've had to tell myself to "make dinner" and "sleep." This is why I love my lists. Could you please, for a moment, picture me without them? I would show up for work, naked, without my security pass, lunch, wallet and morning shower. Somehow though, I've managed to put on some socks. I would be clutching the one thing I did remember, my umbrella, but I would not know why. I might accuse you of conspiring against me. I would stare vacantly out the window, cradling a house plant, muttering to myself. This is serious stuff, people. I would become Crazy Office Lady.

So instead, I keep a notebook. It tells me when to write cheques, take out the garbage, hem my pants, meet deadlines and buy groceries. Sometimes it tells me to pick someone up at the bus station, or when I need a break, it tells me to take a night off and watch a movie. It is always encouraging, because it reminds me that I am getting things done every time I cross something off. I am moving forward. It keeps me together when I can't do it myself.

And besides, it's not all serious and mundane. I like to keep a list of things I find funny. Today I added something I saw on the news: a station ran a segment on unusual news stories, and called it "Strange, But News." This, to me, is hilarious. When I was studying journalism, we had a list of requirements with which to measure news. Is it timely? Is it new? I would like to go lobby my profs to include "strange" to their curriculum.

"Yes professor, I realize that this story has nothing to do with anything of real relevance, but it's just so weird! Ha HA! What do you mean you're giving me an F?"

I also keep a list of words that I like, of my loftiest goals, and of music I would like to hear. My music list takes up a disproportionate amount of my notebook. And so, on my main list I wrote, "Buy a separate notebook for music." Will do. This morning I wrote, "Make new entry in blog."

This is the sound of my pen scratching satisfied a line. Moving forward.