My To-Do-List / 2019
…and probably 2018 too. It’s been awhile since I posted my happenings, and so when I revisited my journal of things I wanted to accomplish, along with the scratched out items of things I would probably never get around to (my “Shit I’ll Never Do List”) I arrived at a semi-clear list that encapsulates both:
-Seduce puppies
-Fantasize about writing an original screenplay.
-Call Mom
-Forget the things I buy at the Bakery and then go back to retrieve them, hoping they’re still there (and still edible).
-Reread my yet unpublished novel for the 450th time and tell myself it’s still viable.
-Finish the bottle of Sancerre.
-Get offered to write my first original screenplay
-Write that first draft of said screenplay in 19 days.
-Forget what I’m supposed to do.
-Assist that lady with the baby carriage down the subway stairs.
-Write a ‘shit I’ll never do list”
-Visit Mom and Dad
-Tell people what to do disguising it as my “opinion”
-Rewrite screenplay.
-Write new scifi short story
-Rewrite new scifi short story.
-Be jealous of friends posts of their beautiful back yard.
-Buy a plant to put in my dining room window.
-Text my sisters and ask them how the kids are.
-Leave one whole chocolate chip cookie in the bag for my husband.
-Make dinner reservations for wedding anniversary tonight.
-Throw away dead plant.
-Call Dad to talk about taxes.
-Like my friend’s baby posts on instagram when I wake up at noon.
-Tell your friend their drama is their problem for not being direct.
-Seduce more puppies.
-Show inappropriate affection.
-Answer Mom’s call during sex.
-Stuff my dog’s kong with 100 treats so I can have sex.
-Apologize for showing inappropriate affection.
-Throw away leftovers I never should have refrigerated with forlorn looking saran wrap.
-Like my niece’s shoulder baring pictures on instagram and then regret it.
-Lie to mom that I ate the Shabbos dinner beef stew leftovers because they were lovingly labeled with Tupperware.
-Write a to do list at work and then doodle all over it.
-Tense up about making plans in calendar maker more than one week in advance.
-Attempt to decipher to do list under doodles, and then throw it away.
-Write a thank you letter to Steven Spielberg for buying my short story and tell him I’m Jewish (reference Holocaust?).
-Remember to buy milk for my coffee and then not do it.
-Convince myself that my Amblin scifi movie will get made before the option expires.
-Diversify.
-Decide which puppy video to post on my wall (or friend’s wall. Both?)
-Take medication at the same time every morning while making coffee and perusing Facebook and then not remember whether I actually took said medication.
-Take a pill while focusing. A double dose is ok here and there.
-Text cleaning lady to vacuum around the freshly dug trench in the living room carpet by dog.
-Admit to college friends why I don’t want to go to the 25 year reunion (because I never liked College anyway, or high school, or any formal education).
-Look up whose going to reunion before I officially decide I’m not. Then just flake out.
-Learn how Venmo works.
-Venmo mom.
-Enjoy the much needed structure of my job, and dart out of bed in the morning to go there.
-Experience a major slap in the face creatively, and force myself to discover that it was a necessary wake up call.
-Prioritize what matters (Hi husband. Hi puppy. Hi awesome force of a father that recovered from major heart surgery like a champ. Hi warrior Mom who seems to get younger every day. No more doilies!)
-Thank my genetics, and remind myself not to take them, or anything, for granted. Ever. (Is 15 times a week enough? Thanks).
-Focus on the rest of my life, even though the slice of the pie is getting smaller, and know intrinsically that it will taste sweeter.
-Live in the present, despite all the looming expectations of what my life should look like.
-Fuck Should.
-Let go of what success looks like, and the to-do list I created that captured that so long ago, and embrace where I am now.
-Stop repeating yourself.
-Look at the person across from you with compassion and love, even though it doesn’t always feel good.
-Love you all.
This is unbelievable. I love it!!
Thank you Etai motek xx
Rediscovering my middle daughter’s hidden talent, and loving it, every time she writes.
Happy to be your dad.
Happier to be your daughter. Love you so much.
Which husband did you leave one whole chocolate chip cookie for why couldn’t it have been me? , otherwise…Love this 🙂 and you
It was under all the shrapnel, easy to miss. ;p Love you more.
Seems to me you did most of those things, if not all. Perhaps it should be called your “got done list”😊
Of course it’s funny and insightful and strikes a chord with me. Because you’re brilliant xo ❤️
Laura! So happy you read and commented. Back at you lovey. Xoxo
This is funny, vulnerable, and so relatable thank you for sharing it! xo
It’s still viable!!
xoxo