Are You a Listmaker?

I live my life by lists. It started sometime in college perhaps, but I'd be lost without my personal list of to-dos. I like to be organized and list making helps make that possible. Now, looking at my desk, you may scratch your head and wonder how. I know my husband does. So I may have a few piles here and there, or my filing drawers may have a piece of paper sticking out, so what? I know exactly what is in that particular pile, and I know that the paper sticking out is exactly where it should be. It may not be neat as a pin, but damn it, I know where everything is!  You want last year's power bill? Here it is. You want the manual for the weed eater? There it is. You want that receipt for the watch that no longer works? It's right there.

But I digress... Back to the lists. I am not scatterbrained - I don't think - but I do have a lot on my mind. Any mother out there will tell you the same. Between the kids needs, the schooling needs, the husbands "wants," your own needs, including the writing needs, the pet's needs, the housekeeping, the cooking, the errands, ad nasuem, you know the picture.

Most mornings I wake up (late, I am NOT a morning person by any stretch of the imagination), grab my cup of coffee, my notebook and pen and try to find a few quiet minutes. Usually it's outside, but the weather's getting nippy so it's a little corner inside for now. I sip my coffee, thank God for the new day, and write down, in list format, things I hope to accomplish today. Not only for me, but for my family as well. I'll have a list for family to-do's, personal to-do's and writing to-do's. Do I always finish these lists? No. Sometimes my day completely veers from the list. That's okay though, because I always have something to go back to.

My husband likes to tease me about my lists, but I would be a miserable lost puppy without them. What about you? Are you a lister too, or are you more of a fly by the seat of your pants type person and how does that work for you? I'm always curious about these other sides of life.