To-Do List Overload

Sometimes my most meaningful accomplishment of the day is making my To-Do List.

I prefer scrawling it on Lilly Pulitzer or Vera Bradley paper--rosy pink, paisley-patterned, or showing a picket fence with flowers. I also like to add swirls and swags of hot-pink marker, to cheer myself up. But today, Figgy asked me at the last minute if we could leave 15 minutes earlier for school [7:15 A.M. vs. 7:30], so she could pop into Kings to buy Skittles for H.'s birthday and Hershey's Kisses for I.'s birthday. Hence, I had no time to grab my pretty pad.

Random Act of Kindness
I was really stressed about everything I had to do. After dropping Figgy off on Park Street [where she joined H. for the rest of the walk to MHS], I went to the ATM to deposit a check. I saw a white business-size envelope on the counter. All it said, in black ink, was Mr. Tobias Truvillion. I saw enough blank space for my list.

I took my pen and, sitting in the driver's seat, made three sections on the envelope:
Dad! [schedule appointment to see assisted living place, mail card, etc.]
Life! [make this list, go to boot camp, call Oxford Health Plans, plant two flowerpots, make bed*, etc.]
Work! [pitch Rich, pitch K., book proposal skeleton, etc.]

I just counted.
Number of items on my list: 39
Number of items checked off [task completed]: 26
I guess that's not such a bad ratio.

Thank you, Mr. Tobias Truvillion. I just googled your name and found that you are an African-American actor who grew up in Montclair. I feel lucky to have made my list on a discarded envelope that touched famous hands.

Fare thee well. [I've decided I want to start using Irish sayings more often--a nod to my heritage.]

*My Sis, who is generally much more organized and punctual than me, gave me a good idea. "Write down everything and check it off as you do it. You'll feel better," she once said on the phone. It works. I write down small things like shower and get Brita filter because these are things that are necessary to keep my life and my family's life running smoothly. I can't just take my time and energy for granted. It all takes time. Yet life involves so many minute details that I could never fit them all on my daily list. For instance, I watered H.'s sunflowers today, when I was over at our house to clean out the bathroom before it's demolished and rebuilt. That's not on my list.