The List

I'm fond of lists. Here's a list of some of my favourite types of lists:

• list of things to do today
• top ten lists
• favourite things list
• list of things to pack
• "don't forget these items!" list
• list of seeds to buy

Of course there's the ever-present grocery list... but it's not my favourite.
I like to write my lists in those brightly coloured notebooks - I've got a whole pile of them scattered all over the house. Here's a list of places I sometimes find my notebooks:

• on "my" coffee table (on "my" side of the couch. By the way, this is one of the places where my notebooks actually belong.)
• in the drawer of the dresser labelled "mama's paperwork". This is the other place that my notebooks belong.
• on the bookshelf with the cookbooks
• or on the bookshelf with the phone book
• under the couch
• under the bed
• shoved down inside the couch cushions
• in the closet
• in one of the reusable shopping bags
• in the truck
• at the church
• at BestFriend's house
• in the garden
• on my workbench in the shop
• on the easel
• on the coffee table on the deck
• on OtherHalf's coffee table (it's generally OtherHalf that finds this one, and shakes it fiercely at me and says stuff like "this is why you can never find your things!")
• in the library basket

You know it's time to stop a list when you forget what you're actually listing.
 As demonstrated, I also forget where I've left my notebooks, and I forget which list is in which notebook. So I have lots of notebooks, and OtherHalf has a drawer in his desk with a fresh supply which I'm not supposed to take but I do.
I also need notebooks for jotting down ideas, which flow into my brain like sparkling springwater and then seep down into my sandy consciousness to momentarily refresh before vanishing altogether. Water must be stored in the cistern of my many notebooks. One can often find me scrambling about the house, red-faced and panicked, searching for "no! not that one! The OTHER blue notebook! The one with that cake drawing on the left-hand page somewhere in the middle!"

However!
This is supposed to be my list of things I like to do. To give you some background into the distractedness of my existence. So, without further ado:

List of Hobbies and Interests

or: Things I Have Tried, Currently Dabble in, Or Am Trying to Learn

• artistic painting (which includes: watercolours, acrylic, oil, pencil drawing)
• painting murals
• window painting
• face painting
• henna (and other body art)
• cake decorating
• catering
• wood carving
• stone carving
• concrete sculpture
• metal working (well, I haven't done this YET, but I have all the stuff ready to start!)
• crochet
• designing crochet patterns
• writing (children's books, poetry, essays, novel)
• illustrating (mostly childrens' books)
• graphic design (I actually made money with this!)
• gardening
• landscape design
• sewing (I'm really bad at this, so I'm happy to drop it!)
• gourmet cooking
• music (this includes piano, guitar, penny-whistle, accordion, djembe, singing, teaching my kids music, and songwriting)
• acting

I like to think that I'm reasonably good at most of these things. Now, here's a list of my actual responsibilities:

• homeschooling GiantBoy and Tweenie (including making sure they get to their activities/lessons)
• feeding family
• cleaning the dwelling (this includes all kinds of vomitous tasks that suck the life right out of me!)
• keeping OtherHalf happy
• leading worship and playing piano at church
• helping out with other random church activities/functions

Somehow it seems like I must be missing stuff in this list, since it looks so short but seems to be all-consuming. Must be because while I'm fairly good at the creative stuff on the previous list, I'm not as good at some of the items on this list - particularly the putrid housekeeping which I abhor, and the homeschooling which ranges from baffling to devastatingly heinous, depending on the day.

Now, my aim here is to move some of my happy, sparkly creative items into my responsibility list by properly working at them and actually making a little money, and therefore being successful at them. In the past, I've tried to take the things that are proven money-makers (like catering and cake decorating) and turn them into businesses. However, since they're not my favourite things, they quickly become drudgery once they are mandatory and I'm back to square one. So, part of my six month success plan is to focus on some of the creative things that are purely joyful and relaxing, and if they can make money, so be it. Hopefully the fulfilment of these activities will counteract the mind-numbing responsibilities of day-to-day survival. I've pared my Things I LOVE to Do list down to these few:

• painting (mostly with oils)
• wood carving (rocking horses, to be precise)
• metal-working (well, we'll see how it turns out, anyway)
• food service (in this case, an espresso-pod which is a work in progress. More on that at a later date)
• window painting

The window painting is not actually a favourite, but it's one that sneaked into this Plan due to its tenacious ability to make an honest buck with little marketing or effort. It's a SureThing. So humble little window painting will shoulder the responsibility of paying for the supplies for the Fab Four Faves, which are more diva-like and will require marketing assistance. I've roped MotherDear into this. (By the way, she was overwhelming helpful yesterday with the clean-up, and also quite supportive and not mocking at all. Take that, naysayers.)
And with that, I can cross off an item from my To Do Today list, and get on to other things. (Grind venison, make frozen hamburger patties, make frozen meatballs... oh dear, I didn't mean to start listing again, it just happens...)
I bid you adieu.
CreativeGenius