I've got a list for that

I am a compulsive list maker. With everything. I carry around a set of neon green post-it notes with me in my purse so that, in case a series of thoughts come into my head that need to be organized in such a way that I know I’ll remember them, I have a place to write them down. These lists are promptly stuck into my planner (which is also a mecca of lists as well) because I know by the end of the day I will have opened my planner and seen my various lists, reminding me of what still needs to be accomplished or planned for later. Lists keep me organized. Being organized makes me happy. Lists make me happy.

If I’m having a particularly busy and/or stressful week, I will make sub-lists of my to do lists, usually broken down into the major categories of responsibility of my life. At any point this year I probably could have had 5 separate running to-do lists: School, Teach For America (both as a CCC and incoming corps member), Sigma Kappa, practicum, and “other” (which is really code for everything else that I have to do that doesn’t fall into one of the other categories-- grocery shop, laundry, cleaning my room (sometimes), go to church etc.). If lists aren’t written on green post-it notes, they are written in my planner highlighted by color according to their category. These colors are also coordinated with the labeling system I use on both my gmail and SLU mail accounts. Some of you may think I’m a bit neurotic, but like I said, lists make me happy.

I tell you this story because, as of Thursday at 1:30pm all of the “school” related items that were on my to-do list disappeared, as I completed my last undergraduate final and submitted my last undergraduate paper! Both were slightly anti-climactic as most finals are, but it is still good to be done. I have 18 hours left to complete at Southside before I have fulfilled every requirement of my bachelor’s degree. Having this new found freedom also has an incredible impact on the above mentioned to do lists, and THAT my friends makes my heart EXTREMELY happy :) So for those of you who are still struggling through finals or the end of the school year, take heart in knowing that this is what I need to accomplish in the next 8 days....

1) Get my eyebrows waxed
2) Make dinner reservations for my family on Thursday, May 19th and Friday May 20th
3) Get a manicure
4) Participate in a photo shoot with my BFFLs from SLU
5) Attend two more happy hours and/or bar crawls with various organizations that I am a part of
7) Pack my room up (OK, this is kind of a big one).
8) Go to lunch and/or dinner with my friend Katy

I will relish in the fact that this is my life for now...because I know that in about 17 days (May 30th AKA the day I start TFA) life will be real different. But I’m sure that my list making will come in handy as I juggle lesson plans, seminars, institute, house hunting, packing, moving, and starting my life in Memphis...

Now let me just get a green post-it note to write all of that down!