I’ve been making lists and then trying to follow through on them. This procedure, which seems normal to most people, is very difficult for me. I often make lists of things I think I need to do, and when I’ve written down all those things, I go do something that’s not on the list, but that does need to be done. Why didn’t I just put it on the list? Because I didn’t remember it until I had written down all the other things.

Unfortunately, (or fortunately?) one of my current To Do lists was written by other people and completing it is a requirement for achieving certain health goals I have.

Hmm. Actually, I have done this before. I do have a Master’s Degree and I did have to follow someone else’s list to get there. That’s a very comforting thought.

The second list I’m working on is what I need to take to the beach. This list has been refined over several years and the danger involved in that kind of list is, that I think I’ve memorized it. So I don’t look at it. So I forget things. I do this with recipes as well.

The thing I am remembering most clearly about the beach list that I need to bring TP. Some bathrooms are used way more than others while we are at the beach. Although the group, in general, had plenty of paper products last year, such things weren’t always where they needed to be. So… tops on my list to bring, and have under my own control. I note in respect of this reaction, that last year, everyone brought a secret stash of paper towels. Because the year before last we ran out of them. This year I’m also considering bringing cashew butter instead of peanut butter because we have an allergic child floating around and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches have been common beach food.

I’m working on a list of what needs to be done to finish my current novel. I realized, all of a sudden, that I’m actually getting close to the end of the current revision. So I need to talk to my cover artist, start remembering how to get a manuscript out of Scrivener, boot up my Kindle dashboard, and discuss life with a couple of readers.

I’m going to have small visitors in October. I’ve been making a list of all the most fun things I can think of to do in the house. Yesterday a couple of friends mentioned parks that I haven’t visited. I might need to scope them out.

I actually have a list of topics that I considered writing about for my blog, along with bits of writing that didn’t work out in the time I was working on them. This is list number five this morning. I never get to number five on my To Do list. At least, not deliberately. Other things always pop up, and move into first or second position.

Just to be clear about what I’m going to do next, I’m going to leave the house on an errand that isn’t connected with any of the above items, and when I return I’m going to spend half an hour on my sewing machine. I have six, no actually, seven projects lined up across my dining room table which must be finished or put away within the next two months. And I find when my hands are occupied for a while with something manual, it helps my brain cope with the overload being induced by the above lists.

And none of those lists include keeping the house clean or arranging any kind of meal.

Happy Feast of the Queenship of Mary!

Stairs at the Chapel of Loreto in Santa Fe, New Mexico, because I am climbing something steep… The railings are not part of the original build.