by Regena Handy

About this time of year, little children all over the country begin making their Christmas lists. I’m right there with them—I may very well be the master of list makers.

But mine are not of the naughty and nice ilk, in hopes that the little fat man in red will find the latter to be at a sufficient level to grant my wishes. My lists involve much more mundane subjects.

At the risk of divulging too much personal information, it’s a little embarrassing just how excessive my record keeping has become. Here are just a few of the things I keep up with.

I make to-do lists, as I call them, of what needs to be done. I maintain a large day-to-day book calendar of activities not only on a particular day but next week, month, year—you get the picture. My husband calls it my other bible. When I retired I decided to stop that practice but after a few months I realized without my daily journal, none of the things I’d planned were happening.

Aside from my main daily log, I keep a separate list of my short-term goals and another for long term items. I have a bucket list of things I’d like to accomplish while I’m still on this side of the ground.

The many books in our house are cataloged in a notebook by title and author.  I have a file drawer listing ideas for future stories and novels, along with their characters and individual traits.

Of course, I do a grocery list. And monthly budget/expenditure lists. I maintain a birthday list as a reminder to send cards. To go with that, I have a binder with addresses. Plus, now that I’m older there are all those lists of medical stuff to keep in mind. And, yet, these are not all my lists.

Once a former co-worker caught me, as she said, making a to-do list of my to-do lists. That was a good joke around the office for a while. I am such a fanatic that sometimes I even add accomplishments to my existing lists just for the pleasure of marking them off. (Has anyone said OCD yet?)

I bet those of you who don’t know me very well imagine by these revelations that I live a highly organized life. (That would be debatable.) Or, at least, have a neat and orderly house. (Nope, you have the wrong Mrs. Handy; that was my dear mother-in-law).

And just like the children I mentioned earlier, I do have a Christmas list. But mine includes not only suggestions for this year’s gifts, but what I bought last year and many before. In addition, how I decorated the house in the past and special holiday meal ideas have their own list.

Now the problem with so many lists is I can’t find them all. Some are in my downstairs office; some are in the computer cabinet. Others are in the drawer with the financial records. Maybe I should do an inventory of where I’ve stored all my lists. That’s an idea! I’ll put it on my long-term to-do list.