Makin’ a List, Checkin’ it Twice

As I get older, my memory is beginning to fade.  Actually, if you ask my mother, I’ve been forgetting things since I was two.  Because of this mind of steel (steel because everything bounces off and nothing gets through), I have a tendency to make lists in order to remember things. 

I always need a list for the grocery store.  On one side of the list I write the decided menu for the week, and on the other I list the items needed to make the meals on the menu.  Simple enough, right?  However, I always manage to omit one particular item, usually the main ingredient of one of the planned dishes.  For example, if the menu item is Macaroni and Cheese, I usually forget the cheese.  Or if the menu item is pizza, I usually forget the crust.  The best one though was when I was going to make Chicken Enchiladas, and somehow forgot the chicken. 

In addition to the grocery list, I have active Wal-Mart and BJ’s Club lists.  When we run out of certain things, they go on the list in order to be refilled.  All paper products, cleaning products and bulk items such as juice go on these lists.  The problem with these lists is trying to get straight answers from the daughter and the husband of what they need.  “Do you have deodorant?” is heard, most likely to be followed by an “I don’t know.”  “Do you need shaving gel?” “I don’t know.”  Therefore my visits to Wal-Mart and BJ’s are followed by additional visits the same week to those same stores.  And people wonder how I have over 60,000 miles on my car when I have no job…

In my purse, I have a small notepad onto which I write items I must look up on the internet.  These items are usually curiosity-induced, with no important meaning.  If I see a website on the van in front of me on the highway, for instance, I want to know what kind of business it is.  The website goes onto the internet list.  Or if I hear a song on the radio and want to know whether it’s sung by Lady Gaga or Ke$ha.  This list has absolutely no bearing on everyday life, and should probably make its way to the Happy Hunting Grounds, but for some reason I can’t let it go.  Curiosity killed the cat, and satisfaction brought it back.  In my case, I think insanity lures the cat back, only to be slaughtered again.

As the cold weather hits, one can only be reminded that the blasted holidays are approaching with runaway tractor trailer speeds.  Thus the season for Christmas lists.  I have a list of things that I either need or would like to have.  My husband likes this list because he usually waits until the day before Christmas Eve to go Christmas shopping.  I have a list for the each of the kids; what Santa is going to buy for them and what they actually want.  I have a list of presents I’ve already bought, and where I have hid them in the house.  There was one year I didn’t make this list and I found wayward presents that never made it into the hands of the intended. 

On days that I try to cram all of my errands, I have a list telling me where I need to go.  I start with the store the farthest away and end with the one closest to my house.  This list is helpful until I realize that I left the house way too early and nothing opens for another hour.  I guess I will have to start writing store hours next to the stores on the list.

In all, I must say that the creation of the list really does help the memory challenged such as myself.  Now if there was some sort of invention to help me remember my list before I leave the house, I would be all set.