The Tangrens

I'm really not a list person. Except for questions for the doctor or lists for the grocery store I almost never make them and even then I usually don't need them. But the weeks before Christmas I found myself drowning. I'd lie in bed at night thinking of all of the things that I had to remember to do to to keep everything running. I really felt like the surface of the water (having everything done) was so far above me. I couldn't sleep until I wrote them down. With Derek being sick I knew everything depended on me. So I made lists and I kept them on me or within easy reach at all times. I wrote EVERYTHING on them and a lot of the time I wrote out every detail so I could mark off every step( ie write the christmas letter, put the letter in the envelope, address the envelope, put a stamp on the envelope put the cards in the mail). It made me feel like I was accomplishing things. Sometimes I would even write things down that I hadn't intended to do after I did them just to feel like it wasn't wasted time. The pictured list above is one of the first of many lists. I still have the urge to cross out the things I haven't marked off yet. :) So how do YOU all survive the chaos of Christmas?