To Do List--Still?

I have been able to get so many things done this summer simply because I tried. I learned how to put up insulation and drywall. I played with stucco. I painted. I decorated. I hired the right contractor for the job (not the cheapest). I still have 5 days until I'm officially back at work and I could, no make that will, get some more things off 'the list'. But why oh why does the list still exist?

The list is there to remind me to keep moving forward. The list is my way of learning more about myself and more about the way I can grow. Much as writing has become something that gets my thoughts out of my head and on to something else, the list makes me think and move forward. I love the list because I am excited to get to the next task.

I spend the time in between projects, like today, looking and planning for the next one. I'm pretty sure I'm going after the kids bathroom next. It will take a week and will be so impressive afterwards that no one will recognize it. Once that is done I'll hit up the whole house fan that is on order. I really need the weather to cooperate (not like it hasn't been a very temperate one to begin with) so that I can get into the attic spaces and insulate. Then comes the big one--painting the house.

A few people have asked me why I choose to do these things instead of hiring someone. I want to do these things. I want to have control over all of it. I want to be able to determine the way something looks because I say so, not because some contractor or designer comes in and says it has to be this or that. It is much like what my wife has done with the skating apparel, she makes it now because she knows she can and she knows she can do it the way she wants. In the end it is a money saver (after you hit the payoff time) but it isn't always about the money. It is about the desire to learn how to do it for yourself that really matters the most.

School is looming around the corner. I'm not upset I'm going back to work, I'm disappointed that I don't get to spend the additional time I want working on the list I've created for the house. The list that I get to take care of, and whittle away or add to, but the list is something that I will never forget or walk away from.