Friday To Do List

1. pack the kids' weekend bag
2. wash, dry, fold, put away 4 loads of laundry   Or most of it.
3. pack up a few more odds and ends
4. unpack my new coffee maker
5. vacuum
6. clean toilets
7. wipe down counters
8. sort out clothes to be donated
9. drop off donations  Boxed up and ready to go.
10. go for a run? maybe?    Nope, not gonna happen!
11. lunch meeting at work
12. relax, minus children    In progress.

Tomorrow's To Do List

I am, unexpectedly, not working tomorrow morning and possibly not the afternoon, either. This is nice because I have a bunch of stuff that really needs doing and extra free time is so needed. In order to maximize my time (I've been known to waste entire mornings at this laptop with coffee in my hand), I'm making a list. I will cross off everything I do to keep myself accountable.

1. organize my desk, file old bills and school projects
2. fold two loads of laundry
3. sweep and mop all hard surface floors
4. make a Target run
5. pick up the Holiday Shop gifts Samuel left at school
6. send candy grams to the kids at school
7. finish making _________ for some Christmas gifts
8. dust the furniture
9. unload the dishwasher

Alright. It's bedtime and I'm already one step ahead of tomorrow. I hope to keep it that way.

Thursday Thirteen: To Do List

1. Cut the kids' hair. Both the boys need to be buzzed and Miriam's hair desperately needs a trim.

2. Take Solomon to the doctor. He swears that there is something "stuck to the thing that makes me be able to hear."

3. Wash the car. And vacuum it. And throw out the accumulated junk in it. And clean the fingerprints off the inside of the windows.

4. Stay on top of the laundry. I'm caught up and I want it to last as long as possible.

5. Call the apartment manager about the lights being out in the breezeway. Remember to tell them the kids' bathroom doorknob is jamming up.

6. Take the kids out for ice cream. They've worked hard this week and they deserve it.

7. Sweep and mop the kitchen floor.

8. Make lasagna to use up all the extra marinara I made this week.

9. Watch the season finale of 'Swingtown.' And hope that it comes back to CBS instead of going to HBO.

10. Plan an outdoor activity for this weekend. Biking? Kites? Hiking?

11. Play trains with Samuel. He asked me tonight while I was busy with something and then we both forgot about it later.

12. Catch up on my Sim families. I haven't played in almost 3 weeks. I'm a little ashamed to say this, but I miss playing dolls.

13. Unwind. The last two work weeks have knocked the wind out of me.

To Do List

I have had a 3-mile long To Do List since we moved here. In the last few weeks I've shortened the list considerably but there are still a few things that must be done and must be done very soon. If they don't get done, the To Do List demon is going to continue terrorizing me and send me completely over the edge into insanity.

I can't seem to focus on the few remaining things on my list. I am not sure why this is. Maybe because they are tedious chores that no one wants to do ever, much less when they are new to a major metropolitan area and don't know where anything is. Anyway, no one else is going to do them for me and since I can't stay focused, I'm posting my To Do List here. You could gently (gently!) remind me to do some of these things if they stay on the list too long.

1. Register my vehicle in Colorado
2. Register myself as a licensed driver in Colorado
3. Pick a daycare for Samuel and enroll him
4. Buy a couch
5. Get a library card
6. Get vehicle maintenance done
7. Find a family doctor/nurse practitioner and dentist
8. Finish remaining documentation for nursing license application
9. Continue plugging away at the never-ending homework
10. Contest false insurance claim attached to my name from last year (yeah, a lot of fun that's going to be.)

It feels better to have it all written out. Maybe now I won't spend 20 minutes reciting the list to myself when I go to bed. I hate that. It's the only time I spend thinking about all the stuff I didn't get done during the day and then I remember things I hadn't even considered that needed to be done. Wow, I'm tired.
I do derive a bit -- okay, a lot! -- of personal satisfaction from knowing that I have accomplished a hell of a lot since arriving here, though. Let's review:

1. Apply for nursing license
2. Find a job
3. Enroll children in school
4. Move into apartment
5. Familiarize myself with major streets
6. Unpack a U-Haul's worth of stuff
7. File tax return
8. Find a proctor for my computer exams
9. Take a computer exam, schedule another exam
10. Ensure that the children are adjusting well
11. Start new auto and rental insurance policies
12. Grocery shop from the beginning to fill a pantry and refrigerator
13. Buy kids' snow boots

There has to be more. I feel like I haven't breathed deeply in almost a month. To be fair to myself, many of the above mentioned things entailed many, many steps. This would explain the all-pervading sense of exhaustion I am experiencing.
Finding a job? It's a job in and of itself. Enrolling kids in public school in a district that is the most confusing I've ever seen? Two jobs. Ensuring that the children are well-adjusted? I'll never finish that one. Familiarizing myself with major streets? I have wasted more gas on U-turns and back tracking through parking lots than I used to drive here from Texas.
Okay, now that I have succeeded in relieving my brain of these lists, it's past time to sleep. See ya.