FLASHBACK FRIDAY: ARE YOU A LIST MAKER?

Here's the funny thing about starting a new blog: for the first time in ever, I went back into my old blog … way back … and re-read some of my earliest blog posts. Some of them were cringe-worthy, some of them made me laugh, some were still relevant, but mostly they made me nostalgic. I'm sappy that way and not ready to have all of my old words sink away into the blackhole blogosphere or wherever old archived blogposts disappear to when their mean old author decides they want to move to a shiny new blog (Oh wait, that's me...)

Never fear old blog posts, I'm here to rescue you! At least some of you … and only on Fridays … when I remember. Sounds fun, right? Yes! This week, the post that caught my eye is ARE YOU A LIST MAKER? Not only did I write it exactly 8 years ago (total coincidence), but I STILL have a 7th grader (not the same child), I'm STILL planning a Bar Mitzvah (not the same child), and I'm STILL a major list maker.   ... Here it is, from October 12, 2010:
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​Are You A List Maker?

From Wikpedia: A checklist is a type of informational job aid used to reduce failure by compensating for potential limits of human memory and attention.

I am a list maker. Some people prefer sticky notes, some leave messages for themselves on their voice mail, some email themselves, and some people can keep it all in their heads (I hate you by the way.) Not me, I need a list – and not just any list, I need separate lists - there can be no commingling.

So how exactly did I turn into my mother? Well, it turns out that mom’s lives are complicated!

For shopping, I have my my grocery store list (sometimes two separate grocery stores depending on what I need), I have my Target list, my Walgreens list, and my BJ’s list. 

I have my to-do list, which has now broken out into a Bar Mitzvah to-do list (only a few weeks away -Yikes!), a phone call list, a forms list, and a general to-do list. Speaking of Bar Mitzvahs, I also have a guest list I am trying to wrangle (sorry if you are not on it, I wish we could have invited more, but at $75/head, I need to be able to still pay the bills). Oh yeah – I also have a bills list - funny how I keep forgetting about that one!

Then there are the kid lists. Since my 7th grader has selective memory, I try to go on the school website daily and make a list of his assignments to make sure he has them all. I’m happy to report his organizational skills are improving & he will be making his own lists in no time. We also have reading lists, school supply lists, activities lists and at one point, we had a chore list that seems to have suspiciously gone missing.

Since I have finally finished my book (Yay!), I now have an agent & publisher list. Sadly, I also have a growing rejection list as well…. but fear not, I also have a list of ideas for a second book that I hope to start  soon.

No, I haven’t started my holiday list yet, but I’m sure it is only a matter of time before I get cracking on those. Yes those – there is the Hanukkah list, the Christmas list, the card list, the company list, and the meal lists.

I know I am missing some of the other lists I have floating around. Hmmm – perhaps I need a list of my lists.