To-Do List

Today I made a to-do list to relieve the pressure in my brain from trying to remember everything. I am a reluctant list maker...and I do keep a calendar...but I am also fairly notorious for dealing with everything else in a semi-MacGyverlike fashion. You know...failing to stress about anything because it is assumed that it will all come together as it should in the end. Every now and again something blows up and I feel bad...but most of the time, there is something oddly comforting in having less options to muddle through and just "making do" instead of having a contingency plan and three backups. I'm not exactly a "backup" kind of girl.

At all.

The only exception to the last minute rule is when there is a true emergency. I don't handle the unexpected well if the situation requires a functional adult. If someone is sick, choking, or otherwise freaking out...I am about as much help as Prissy in "Gone With the Wind." Which...in case you have failed to watch this cinematic masterpiece...means I'm about as helpful as a third armpit.

But most of the time I get tickled at my friends who are incessant planners. Not only do they have the big Roman numerals filled in (neatly, of course)in the outlines of their lives...they have three reams of paper dedicated to the details. The details comprise an airtight, foolproof, amazing plan. In fact, that much detail makes me downright nervous. Part of the fun of life - to me, anyway - is filling in the outline as the story unfolds. Plus, any "airtight, foolproof, amazing plan" that I've ever devised has made God roar with laughter.

I mean...when you have a group of people...you need to make some decisions so that folks aren't going hungry or worse than that...whining. But I've always found it a lot more fun to just let people have the latitude to figure it out like the adults that they are. Worst case scenario? Dominos delivers. Well, not out here in the sticks, but you get the drift.

I love how MacGyver could escape from disaster by channeling his inner nerd to make something out of nothing. I do that frequently myself. I'm a big recycler...and I have no problem with leftovers. I love to find a unique use for something...or being able to find something creative to throw together at the last minute. Southern Living? Well, no. But then again...in a way...literally, that is...why yes! Most women I know from the South can throw together an appetizer for unexpected guests or deal with more heads at the table than were originally expected. After all...it is the surprises of life that can make life interesting.

Don't believe me? Ask any 42 year old pregnant woman whose other children are already out of elementary school. "Interesting" is an understatement.

So, as you head out into life tomorrow, see if you can quit stressing over the details and just learn to fly by the seat of your pants a little bit. Not when people are counting on you to be precise...but in those little interludes when it honestly doesn't matter if you do a homecooked meal...or hit the drive-thru. When the houseguest doesn't care if the washcloth matches the towel...as long as he doesn't have to plunk down $100 for a hotel room. Or when nobody gives a rat's behind if you use the china...or the Chinet. Just chill...be creative...and enjoy.

Unless, of course, you were me last Thanksgiving. Chilling out was definitely in order.

Tomorrow, I have that list of things to do that is a mile long. I've been apparently saving these up in some dark crevice of my mind to drag out and try to get done in one 24 hour period. And that is SO like me. Never mind that I have to go to work, and that some of these can actually wait. I'm burning through that list so that I can clear my head. Because for whatever reason...I am on a tear to get things done, cleaned out, sorted, and checked off the proverbial box. If I can find the list, that is.

After all...I need a clear head so I can think a little faster. My tendency toward the broad brush means that I sometimes have to scramble to get the details knocked out. Having clutter...physical or mental...is just detrimental to that objective.

So, tomorrow is broadly outlined to include registering Brian for Selective Service, returning a literature book that the school has kindly (not) billed me $91 for because they assumed that he had lost it, registering him to vote, renewing his passport so he can go on the French trip next year, figuring out something with one of the car tags that is messed up, calling the vet to get shots for the dogs, and about a gazillion other little things that need to crawl out of my head and translate to checked boxes.

Or not. We shall see...