Shop 'til you drop (and other ways I over do everything)

Where should I start? I found myself in a bit of a pickle yesterday. So much to do... do I do, or do I plan? Should I plan what I need to do next, or just do what I need to do? I love lists. Make a list and check it off. I love a box with a little check mark in it. At work I make lists and each "to-do" item has a little box in front of it, then when I have desk time, I look for all those little boxes and check, check, check. Planning would be required if I want all those little checks. The little checks represent sanity. They are like a bank account, if I have too many boxes and no checks, that is very, very bad. I always have to be ready with the checks to keep my accounts balanced.

In my head there was a list, it included endless, endless, huge stacks of paperwork that needed to be completed for travel, impossible to make phone calls to government agencies, packing ten suitecases filled with carts and carts of items to be purchased from Target. And these HUGE tasks in my head were not possible to complete... There I was in my head pushing around the red shopping carts, with nearly a thousand dollars in merchandise at Target I had to pull two on my own, and my kids where their hungry and needing to urgently use the bathroom. How would I ever survive?

Thank God (litterally) for my friend who is willing to give me a reality check. "Kamille, snap out of it! What do you NEED to do? I need to make a list. So I did, I did make a list. And after 2 hours of paperwork, copies and forms, the paperwork was done. After printing 5 pages of lists of items to purchase, we made it through half the list in an hour for around $300 at Target, with two content little girls who only needed to be bribed with the purchase of Polly Pockets to tolerate this shopping trip. After two weeks of insane worry and anxiety and several sleepless nights I resolved the issue within 3-4 working hours. I shouldn't say I - we resolved it. Trent and my friend helped me through it. Less then 24 hours from the chaotic list in my head there are 5 pages of lists just full of checks.

I feel better.