Lists, lists and more lists!!

There are list people and there are people that would rather........well let's just say there are people who don't like lists. List people, you know who you are. You are the person that makes a list for everything: the grocery store, the day, vacations, trips to the park, things to do, goals, finances, you name it you have a list for it. Your lists have lists. In addition, there is something inside you that gets an abnormal amount of pleasure from taking out your pen and scratching through each item on your list as you complete it. You have lists on the fridge, lists on your mirror, lists in your car, lists saved on your PDA, you manage your entire life with lists. I am not a list person. I am more of a "I hope I remember it" person, or maybe even a "write it on your hand" person. But definitely not a list person. As a matter of fact I hate lists so much that if you put it on a list and give it to me the odds are I am not going to do it.

The older I get the more I realize that my God is a comedian. As only He would have it, He has partnered me with a man that loves lists. As a matter of fact just last night Doc was making a list, savoring each bullet point, as I sat there on the couch with my skin crawling off of my body. When I went to bed last night I got to thinking, why such a loathing of the list? What is it about a list that I dislike so much that I literally rebel against it? I mean truthfully lists are very helpful reminders for someone who stays as busy as I do. This morning it hit me. I can boil all of my hatred for lists down to one word: STEPHANIE.



For those of you who do not know me Stephanie is my older sister. We are 15 months apart and as an adult she is one of my top five favorite people in the entire world. As children she fell into the top 20. I also have a hatred for mayonnaise that is so severe that for years I would not even eat anything that had mayonnaise in it. This is a huge food limitation when you live in the south! When we were kids Stephanie, on the sly, would place a teaspoon of mayonnaise in her hand and with a sweet sisterly smile she would give me a high five, or a hand shake, or just smear it on my face from behind. Hence my hatred for mayonnaise. I digress, back to the lists.

As a child Stephanie was a list person. Time for chores; make a list. Play a game; make a list. Friends coming over; make a list. Every time we had anything to do Stephanie wanted to make a list and tell me what items I was to complete on that list. Now understand that not only did she make the list, she usually was making it at a very in opportune time. For example, it was usually right before my parents were going to be home and we should be cleaning the dishes rather than making a freakin' list! Today, just this morning, I figured it all out. She was making the list, I was cleaning the kitchen. BRILLIANT! My entire childhood was spent doing chores while Stephanie was making lists.

My take away lesson for today is that lists are not all that bad. As a matter of fact, they can be a very useful tool in a busy life. Does this mean I will start making lists, probably not. But as I work through the childhood scarring that is the list, I do plan to be more receptive to the tasks it holds for me. As for eating mayonnaise....I wouldn't hold your breath.