I make no promises

I'm a list person. Surely, you know the type - I make a list for everything. For example, I just made a list while waiting on coffee at Starbucks, and here's what it says:

• wash clothes
• read
• buy father's day cards
• post to blog
• finish uploading 365
• buy wallflowers

Because I was extensively trained in the Franklin Covey sort of way, I will prioritize this list with the ABC method, and I will go about checking things off as I do them. What doesn't get done today will get an arrow (i.e. -->) beside it which means I will move that task to the next day's list. I typically finish all the A priority tasks in a day, and I usually finish most B's, but the C's? Not so much. It's rare that I get to a C task. Suffice it to say that "post to blog" and "finish uploading 365" have been C's for a while now. And so that's why I haven't posted very much. 

I had a roommate in college who told me my lists were annoying. She claimed I was "showing off" because I would have these legal pad pages all scattered everywhere with lists. At that time, I didn't use the ABC method, I just drew a line through things I had accomplished. So there were these long lists of all the things I had done in a day staring her in the face while she watched All My Children and flipped through the latest issue of Vogue. Here's the thing, though - I wrote all sorts of things on those lists - and not just stuff I needed to do. The most mundane and insignificant of tasks went on the list, and the majority of the time, random thoughts went on the list, too. Once I had pondered the random thought for a moment, I would mark it off the list. For instance, I recently found a list I had made in college inside an old journal. Here's what it said:

• Shower
• Class
• LAURA!
• Mktg reading
• Work  2-6
• Where's my bangle?
• CFA or EC?

I've spent several days wondering what was so exciting about Laura that day that made her deserve all caps and an exclamation point. Because I have to tell you - I do not like exclamation points. Additionally, did I have a bangle? Is that a bracelet? And if so, how did I lose it? Why don't I remember it? I must have found it because I marked it off the list. 

And seriously, did I really need to put "shower" on the list? And "class?" I mean, why did I need to be reminded to take a shower and go to class? What else mattered then? (Thankfully, both tasks have a line through them.)

What has driven me the craziest is the last thing on the list: "CFA or EC?" What is that code for? I've tossed it around in my head for days, fallen asleep at night thinking about it, and even tried writing it down to see if I could remember. 

Nothing.

Well, today, in the middle of a very long lecture on the effectiveness of various pedagogies in higher education, it hit me. 

Chick-Fil-A or El Chico? 

HA! 

Where did I want to eat after work? Chick-Fil-A or El Chico? 

It's marked off the list, so I'm assuming I finally decided. I'm also assuming I chose El Chico because it's rare that I turn down an opportunity for a chip or a margarita. 

Oh, that life were so simple still. 

But hey, I can mark "post to blog" off my list now. 

By the way, I hope my former roommate is reading this, and I hope she is annoyed. 

Comments

[Virginia]

I IMMEDIATELY thought, "Chick-Fil-A or ??"

Sounds like you made a good choice.

Maybe a bangle was some sort of 80's device for making really big bangs?

I love listmaking. And I add many insignificant things to my list just to see them marked off.

I'm glad you accomplished blogging today. It made me smile to see it pop up in my google reader.

[lisa]

I'm with V - I got CFA but not EC!! I make lists, too. On a few rare occasions, I've actually packed for a trip without making a list!! I'm a rebel like that. And now I know that you don't like exclamation points - reading my blog posts and Facebook updates must make you crazy. Sorry, I like them!! :D
And I've missed you!

[PJ]

So you can be creative and ABC? Some folks won't understand that this is possible. But that won't be the only thing they don't understand:) Like V and Lisa, I got CFA but not EC. I miss EL Chico...there was something there with cheese sauce that I really liked. I'm glad we still have CFA. I'm also glad that you blogged.

[Veronica]

Mandy, Glad you blogged!!!

[Kindredly]

LOVE IT!!! When you wrote CFA my brain immediately translated to Chick-fil-A. it's an addiction.