What's Next On The Agenda?

September and October were ridiculously busy

• There were the fixed points where I had to be somewhere else - Cyprus, College Thanksgiving, Bayeux Tapestry, Thrive Conference. 
• Special local events - Harvest Festival, Choir Concert, Lunch with friends, the Family Funday at Church. Four PLACE assessments at local hospitals.
• Half term with the grandchildren.
• And all those medical/dental appointments - between us we had fifteen appointments in seven weeks [and an extraction this coming Thursday - a large molar, which will then mean an implant]

On Saturday I stayed in my pjs until 1pm! Then we had a pub lunch, because Bob had been busy all morning and a break together was a good idea. But I came home and wrote a new to-do list for November. It is alarmingly long. There are so many little tasks which have been deferred because of all the other stuff. I have a definite system for my lists.

1. I begin with a totally random list writing things down as they occur to me
2. After another cup of coffee I add in some more things
3. Then I rewrite it in a more sensible order [eg'meal planning' has to come before 'making shopping list', and 'putting things back into loft' must come after 'sorting out craft stuff on spare bed']
4. There are always instant tasks which I can do easily and tick off quickly to make myself feel better [put purple trug back into the garage

And occasionally I put things in categories - craft tasks, home tasks, Christmas planning.

I may put stars by more important activities or write due dates in red before 7th November

35 years ago, I admit I would write things like
Get Dressed
Eat Breakfast
Take Girls to School-
simply because I knew those things would get done, so I'd have at least three ticks on my list by bedtime, no matter what other urgent matters had taken precedence over ironing, or mending.

But I am so much more laid back about lists and deadlines than I was back then. I was working part-time 2 days a week at the Primary School in the next road to the one my daughters attended. On the days I was there, my two would wait patiently at the school gate, and I would be there about 10 minutes after they came out. I'd often walk up the road with another parent from 'my' school. One day she said to me "How do you fit in all the work, and home and church stuff? I mean, I am just a stay at home Mum and I can't manage it all. I haven't washed my skirting boards this week" I was dumb-struck
Admit it, readers, how many of you washed your skirting boards down last week, and plan to do it this week as well? Apart from redecorating, we haven't had serious skirting board ablutions since the great Chocolate Mousse Disaster of 1991 [when the visiting missionaries who had come for lunch knelt down to help us, even though their dessert had been comprehensively splattered everywhere]

Next on my agenda right now - another cup of tea, I think
Do you have urgent things on your to do list?
And what about the less important feel-good tasks?