Lists and lists

There are lists and then there are lists.

I'm actively working on/attending to a list of Christmas gift ideas for our kids' grandparents and cousins. A list of ideas for gifts from us to our kids. A list of Important Things To Do this week, and on the weekend, and before Christmas. A list of requested meals (who knew Son2 would remember he likes tomato soup?). A list of household to-dos. A list of church-related to-dos. A list of chores for the kids to do. Trying to cross things off and keeping things moving along around here.

And then there are the other lists.

The list of movies we have seen lately thanks to a free trial subscription to Blockbuster Online:
- The Polar Express (saw that in the theater last year, wow)
- The Incredibles (never saw it in the theater despite good intentions)
- I, Robot (just dear husband and me)
and those we'll watch this weekend:
- Whale Rider (dh and me)
- Million Dollar Baby (dh and me)
- The Adventures of Shark Boy and Lava Girl (kids and/or all of us)

The movies we are recording with our DVR to watch soon:
- A Christmas Story (huge favorite of dear husband's)
- It's a Wonderful Life (for perspective and sentimentality)
- The Santa Clause (huge family favorite, but our VCR broke so we haven't seen it in a while)

The Christmas-holiday-winter specials for the DVR to record:
- A Charlie Brown Christmas (of course!!)
- Dr. Suess's The Grinch Who Stole Christmas (the animated version, a HUGE favorite for dh and me; we dislike the Jim Carrey version rather a lot)
- Santa Claus Is Coming to Town (what parent can resist "Put One Foot in Front of the Other...")
- Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and the Island of Misfit Toys
- Frosty the Snowman, and Frosty Returns (not favorites, but they're fine)
- A St. Olaf Christmas (always wanted to see this but always missed it)
- Some other Christmas music specials, I forget what
- Christmas from St. Peter's, the televised Christmas Eve/Day midnight mass with Pope Benedict XIV

It's time to scan next week's schedule for versions of the Christmas Carol; I want to see the 1930s one, the 1940s one, and the Patrick Stewart one. This year I really want to read the story (for the first time), and I DO have a copy now.

Another list is obvious from earlier posts: the list of knitting projects on the needles. I added another -- a dishcloth using the dishcloth cotton my mother-in-law sent me and one pair of the many family knitting needles she sent me as well (wonderful gift!), and using a "DW" pattern. Super easy and quick, and I need more hand-size dishcloths, so it's perfect.

Then there's the list of books borrowed from the library, mostly (about 10?) fun little mysteries that I plan to enjoy during Christmas vacation, next Thursday through the Monday after New Year's Day. I have a bunch from a needlework-shop-owner detective series, a series of coffeehouse-related mysteries, and a scrapbook-related mystery. Who knew such things existed? They're fun. I also borrowed the new Anne Rice novel about the young Christ, Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt. I borrowed Guns, Germs, and Steel AGAIN because my nonfiction book group's discussion inspired me to finish it. I also borrowed a Ken Haedrich cookbook about soups, breads, and salads, in hope of being inspired by one of my favorite cookbook authors.

Lists, lists, lists. I'm making those lists and checking them twice. It'll work, so long as I spend as much time the next seven days on the to-do kinds of lists as I do on the for-fun kinds of lists.