How do you make it shut up?!!

We had a tenant once that called late one night. He spoke very little English, but just enough that we could figure out what he was saying. He was talking on the phone to us, and kept saying, "How do you make it shut up?!!" with a very thick Spanish accent! We couldn't figure it out at first, so he kept repeating, "How do you make it shut up?!!" We weren't able to figure out what he meant until he walked over to his problem with the phone...his smoke detector kept beeping! Every 3-5 seconds it would just beep once. Aaahhh. Now that could be very annoying when you're trying to sleep! So, we went over and figured it out. He was a much happier guy!

But, as a mom, and a person with a very busy mind sometimes (rather vacant at others, wouldn't you agree!?), sometimes I wonder, "How do you make it shut up?" My "it" is the famous "to do" list that runs over and over and over in the brain! It just runs through my mind like the blasted Dow Jones electronic ticker board on Wall Street...constantly going by with it's list, and you just sometimes want to see it stop (hopefully with your numbers UP)! So, this list, it goes, and goes...and I've noticed that whenever I don't have my mind firmly wrapped around another project, there is this constant dialogue in my head. Even when I want to sleep! It's saying in a very firm voice "You have to till the ground for your garden. Don't forget to go to the grocery store. Oh, and you need to set up your visiting teaching appointments. You really should clip those fingernails. Time to change out the toothbrushes, you know. That's been on this list for weeks, and you just keep forgetting. Wouldn't it be fun to paint this room? What color would be best? Something VIBRANT! nah. Something sooooothing. Oh, that reminds me (still talking to myself!), I need to clean up ...." And on and on this list goes. Kinda like a song you get into your head that you really want to get out of your head, but when you're off doing something, you realize it's still there, and you're humming along to it again!

I'm sure I'm not alone with "the list". I'm sure of that. There is, after all, an entire stationery industry devoted to the magical "to do" list tablet, calendar, etc! An entire marketing empire created by those that teach "time management", which must be due to others out there with that incessant "to do" list not getting done, and feeling like they need to put more into a day to get rid of the dang list! But, how do you shut the thing up!? I've done the list over and over again. When I'm done, it just adds another thing to itself (again, kinda like the Dow Jones...a constant list of 30 things, so when one leaves, another has to take it's place). But, I can't get the ticker tape out of my head unless I'm actually doing something else (that requires brain work). I don't mind having work to do. Most of you know that. It's just the list in my head I'd like to ditch sometimes. Like when I'm trying to sleep, or it's the Sabbath Day and I ain't gonna do a dogonne thing on that list, so it'd be nice to shut it off for the day.

Sometimes I rebel by doing what I want instead of what's on the list. Those are fun days!! Kinda like skipping school--exciting in a weird, knowing you're gonna pay-for-it-later way. Rebellious, eh? (Of course, I never skipped, I'm only referrencing other's stories there. Ahem. ) But, like Jose, I just want to know, "How do you make it shut up?!!" ;-) Well...now hang on there a minute...isn't that just adding another thing to my "to do" list? "Note to self...figure out how to shut off this mind numbing "to do" list. And, when you're done with that, you can make the bed and do the laundry, and learn to make pickle relish...."