Bucket List

     It is farther into January than I am ready for but as usual time marches on and I skip, trip, dawdle, detour, sprint and gasp to catch up. Since Christmas we have had some enjoyable projects completed in our home. It feels so good to have something checked off my list.  I like lists.
    Years ago I made a master list. We were in the process of building a home and I needed to see a timeline of events. I literally calendared everything I could. It was four pages worth of notes. At the end I was like, yeah some order in this crazy life of small kiddos, working Hubby, house building at night and weekends, part time job, church activities, community activities, homeschooling, etc... For me it was a compass and road map.
     Hubby didn't quite see it the same way. He was completely overwhelmed by a four page list of TO DO's. I was thinking of all the accomplishments we would be making and he was thinking of drowning in the never ending list. We talked, compared and revised. I carefully tucked away the list for safe keeping and we moved ahead with plans and projects. Days went by, even weeks and then he asked "Do you still have that list?". Then he asked how we were doing on it. I was shocked. He knew I would keep it somewhere and figured out that with all the many things going on it wasn't too bad of an idea to have a "reminder". What I learned was that occasional reminders were fine, but not a four page legal sized packet taped to the fridge for continual torture.
    Today I keep the visible list's short and topic specific. My mom has said many times to NOT eat the  whole elephant in one bite so I try to keep my desire to accomplish much in smaller portions. But I do still have my dream list of what I would like to get done. I put it where I can refer to it as I feel the need but well out of sight for the rest of the family. Ironically I will forget it for a time, maybe even a year and then take a look to see how things are going. Some things will get checked off as they were accomplished other left for another time and some make me laugh because they are no longer necessary.
    Here are some projects that were completed last month.

A place for shoes, yeah! I guess rocks too.

Pictures on walls.

  

The garage coat rack. Less laundry=happier mama!

Home school classroom's new cabinets.  Still working on wiring for computer and printer.

Other side of classroom. 

I like lists:)