I've been retired for awhile now and I have managed to divest myself of a number of habits developed after years in the workforce. I now check the time only occasionally, whenever I have a specific appointment or engagement. The only time I set my alarm is when I am headed to the airport, either for my own trip or to chauffeur someone else. I am able to spread out household duties throughout the week; no more having to cram everything in on Saturday. I can go for a walk at ten in the morning or, now that daylight savings time is here, at 7:00 in the evening. But there is one habit I can't seem to break: the dreaded list-making.
My name is Edie and I am list-maker addict.
It started in Nursing School (yes, at one time I was going to be a nurse) where, at 17 and on my own for the first time, I quickly learned that without some kind of organization I was going to be overwhelmed. Thus began my list making career. At that time my list was simple, scratched on the inside of a notebook and it read: 6:00 a.m. get up, 7:30 breakfast, 8:00 biochemistry, etc.
Later on I branched out into lists of things I needed to pack before a trip, clothes I needed to put away for the summer, books I wanted to read and so on.
I was married for the first time 6 days after graduating from college and by that time my list making skills had grown appreciably as had my lists. That spring semester before I embarked on real life I had a notebook full of lists that included the times of final exams and reminders to call the florist and what to take on my honeymoon.
Over the years my skills developed and I added pro and con lists to the mix. Decision to make? Draw a line down the center of a piece of paper and write "pro" on the left and "con" on the right. Our children will recall, with annoyance I'm certain, the lists stuck to the refrigerator with magnets. These lists, hand written at first and then, with the advent of our first computer, printed neatly on 8.5 X 11 paper, enumerated the dreaded weekly jobs. Initially I signed these "the wicked witch of the west," all sarcasm intended; later I simply used the acronym TWWOTW. I am amused that one of our daughters has used that signature for her own missives to her daughter.
The list making habit did not abate throughout the years, indeed, it reached its pinnacle as Larry and I began to plan our move from Florida to Mexico. This was a gargantuan effort and both he and I had legal pads covered with lists and reminders. I finally used an excel spreadsheet to outline where our belongings were going: with us to Mexico, to be sold, to be loaned to friends or family members, to be stored in a rented climate controlled unit or to be placed in a storage unit we owned on North Carolina property. Whew!
Even now I cannot break to habit of making lists. My time is pretty much my own, yet I still start out most days with a list on the kitchen counter. It may contain everyday things such as buy birthday present for T____ or a grocery list or a reminder for an appointment.
But next to that list is the most important list of all: things to do before rejoining Larry on Milagro. While enjoying my life here in North Carolina I spend a part of each day accomplishing those things that need to be accomplished before we will be reunited. It is with great pleasure that I draw a line through each entry.
Oh well, list making is not the worst habit one could have; it beats the heck out of biting fingernails or smoking!
No comments:
Post a Comment