Liz Lawrence – 10 Breaths

Somehow it is already Saturday. I wouldn’t say I’ve done nothing during the last two days but I didn’t do much. I’ve been mostly running errands for/with my son so that he has what he needs for the last couple of weeks of the semester. Tomorrow will be spent making sure he is packed up to go back.

Today also means it is just one month until Christmas. I have a lot going on that isn’t even holiday related, plus all of the shopping to do, and now there are only four weeks to go. Oof. Everything will get done, it is just a little daunting to think about.

I am not a list-maker. Many people I know are in love with to-do lists of various kinds. They derive great satisfaction out of having an ordered list and then checking things off. I might make a list to go to the grocery store but that’s about it. Sometimes I think maybe I should make a list of all the things I need to do, but I pretty easily talk myself out of it because the whole thing sounds more, instead of less, stressful. That kind of visual reminder is rarely something I want to see, and I don’t get any kind of joy or thrill from crossing things out so why take the time to write it down? If I’ve finished whatever task I had to do then it’s out of my hair and I don’t need to think about it anymore. That is good enough.

However, packing up might be a good time to make a list. I will admit that I forgot to take the meat thermometer with us up to my daughter’s for Thanksgiving and maybe if I’d had a list, I wouldn’t have forgotten it. We didn’t really need it though since I just got one of those turkey breasts that cooks in the bag and you kind of can’t screw it up. It was a low stakes situation. What I am eager to avoid is having to swing by my son’s college “on the way” home from work one day because he needs something he forgot. It is not on the way, and I sure don’t need that added to that list I won’t make of things I need to do.