I have a list for just about everything, even a to do list that includes things like "complete wedding to do list." Yes, making to do lists is on my to do list. Neurotic? Perhaps, but if I don't have something on a list or in my planner, it's not happening. Take for example, the doctor's appointment I told my surgeon on Tuesday that I would make. Did I call her office right back? Of course not. Did I call them on Wednesday? Don't be silly. It took my co-worker asking me how everything was going for me to remember that I was supposed to put calling the doctor's office on my to do list on Tuesday, and again on Wednesday, for me to finally add it to the list and before the ink in my planner had dried, I was placing the phone call.
When I was younger, I used to get so excited when the school supplies list came out. I would rush to the mailbox every afternoon beginning about a month before school started until I had the list in hand. Visions of sugar plum fairies never danced in my head, I had dreams filled with Lisa Frank folders, pens of every color, and precisely sharpened pencils instead.
Then there were my packing lists. The entire week before we would go on vacation, I would pack and re-pack my suitcase, carefully selecting my favorite outfits then stealing them out of the suitcase so I could wear them before we left. Sometimes before I began this packing ritual, but usually after, I would sit down and write a detailed list of everything I needed then double-check what was in my suitcase against the list I had. I was 8 and my mom would usually go through everything anyway but I wanted to be prepared.
As you can see, I've never met a list I didn't like. Or at least I never thought I would, until I met The Guest List. Those who have planned a wedding know what I'm talking about. You hem and haw over a number, the type of wedding you want, the possible venues, the cost of it all, and you start making decisions. We have a venue we like that works nicely with the "b" word (it's one of the worst words in the English language and although I occasionally use it, I try not to even think it too often) and affords us the atmosphere we want, a view of the water, and delicious food. We have a number of invites we'd like to send out and my portion of the list has been neatly trimmed and I'm comfortable with it. Then, there are the other portions of the list. Portions of the list that might be longer than the allotted number of invites for that section, which include people that have similar relationships to those that have been cut from other portions of the list, which leads to other people wanting to add those people back onto their list. And the snowball continues. Suddenly I find myself preparing to calmly, rationally explain that the lists will be cut or we will be eloping and no one will be on anyone's list. Finally my dreams of a Vegas wedding and all my closest friends receiving the "Vegas, black dress, 12 hours" phone call and rushing to catch a flight to meet us could come true! If only Daisy wouldn't then hunt me down and make good on all her threats should I ever actually go through with it.
This is not the end of the world. We are celebrating a happy occasion and no one needs to lose their mind over it. In situations like these, I find it best to make a list, and so for tonight's list of things to do, we're adding "cut The List."
