lists, notes, boxes, + checkmarks

I love lists. I'm always making new lists, referring to old lists, trying to find lost ones so I can remember what I wrote down so I wouldn't forget...or to prove to my husband that I DID tell him something that he inevitably forgot. Sometimes, lists save my life.

Other times, lists take over a bit.

I have a list for almost everything. Recently we went from one shopping list to two. One is for groceries and the other is for non-food items and sometimes {like right now} the 2nd one has a to-do list on it instead. Every time we run out of something I add it to the shopping list so that when we're at the store next, we won't forget. Except....I usually leave this list on the fridge and sometimes I remember to transfer what's on it to a smaller list.

The newest list is written in sharpie on an old dry erase board. It's a weekly chore list adapted the cleaning plan of another blogger. I like checking things off with my red dry erase pen. Sometimes I get more of a thrill when Ben notices how many of the boxes have red check marks than from actually checking them off..

The list from our move {packing, cleaning, address updates} is still on the wall. Below it is a list of things that need to be done here at the "new" house. Below that is another shopping list of sorts...a reminder for a lot of gifts we had to get or need to get soon for weddings, birthdays, + graduations. This one is very important in avoiding our usual trip to the store just before the event. I HATE doing that!

I also have lists that I make when I read. I jot things down when I'm reading through a magazine; fun ideas, websites to visit later, other things that pop into my head. I'm currently reading through The No-Cry Sleep Solution {more on that in the near future} and am making notes and to-do lists on our plans to implement it's advice.

Often I'll scrawl out quick to-do's in my pocket calendar, trying to keep track of all the events we have going on each day of the week/month/year. I also have a notebook of questions and advice from all of Malakai's pediatrician appointments with a list of things to ask at his next well visit.

Writing all this stuff down is really helpful for my tendency to forget things {that started with the infamous pregnancy brain}. Like I said, sometimes my lists save my life.

However, sometimes I need to stop writing stuff down and just start doing. I like to make lists of what I want done around the house. This is actually really helpful when Ben is also here and working along side me so he knows what to do next {he asks for this kind of help}, but when it's just me I need to forgo the urge to create a list and just get going.

This week- that's what I'm doing! Wish me well...