Have I remembered everything?

I think I am at that age where my grey matter is getting a bit frayed round the edges, the stuff I need to remember drops off the edge and floats away into the distance never to be seen again. I no longer ask a new acquaintance their name, because I know that five minutes later I will have forgotten it, so I greet everybody with, 'hello there', when I meet them again.

I find that now I don't have the daily routine of going to work, I don't have to remember what time to get up, remember to prepare my pack up the night before, and remember to lay my clothes out. I don't even have to remember what day it is. Most mornings when I wake up it takes me a minute or two of coming round, to work out if there is anything I must do that day. I sit up in my bed and think, aha, a free day to do as I please. I'm not sure if all this free time is a good thing, there is very little structure to my day. While it is lovely to have the freedom it does worry me that I need to keep using my brain so that it doesn't seize up altogether. I do need a little bit of structure, need to know what my plans are, need to make things happen, so I need some kind of list.

I think about a year ago, if I remember rightly, I posted about my calendar on the wall. I have another use for it, instead of writing in the appointments, the plans, and things I must do in advance of doing them, I also write in what I have done after the event. This then gives me a record of how busy I have been, and motivates me to keep it up throughout the whole year. My 2012 calendar was full when I took it down, I made sure I did something every day. This pleased me enormously, at least I didn't waste time doing not very much at all. My calendar helps my memory, helps me to remember what I have to do, and what I did do.

Making lists are a good way of remembering things. Everybody knows about shopping lists, and funnily enough, I don't make one. That's because I am flexible with my eating. If I forget something when I go shopping I just say to myself, tough, you forgot it so you won't be eating it, eat something else instead. If I forget the beans I will eat the spaghetti. No sweat.

There are lots of ways that lists can help you keep track of things and help you remember. Bank statements are lists of transactions that go through your account. You can see what money came in and what went out. Meal planning lists help you organise what you are going to eat, they can be helpfull if you lead a busy lifestyle and haven't much spare time. Not for me though, I decide what I am going to have for dinner, fifteen minutes before I eat it.

Anyone following a weight loss diet would do well  to keep a food diary, a list of what they eat. It helps with the calorie counting, something else I don't need to do. Anyone who uses their car for work will need to keep a list of the business miles they do, and how much petrol they put in the tank, to claim their expenses back.

Some people might like to make a housekeeping list, a routine to follow for the tasks that are needed to keep the house clean. My list is quite simple for that. Wash the pots when there are no clean ones left. Get the Dyson out when I am wading knee high through cat hairs. Clean the windows when I can't see out of them. Don't forget to take that with a pinch of salt, ha ha. This blog has an element of silliness about it, it's up to you to spot the jokes.

So, there must be something I need to remember, I need to make a list. Remember to take library books back, don't want to pay a fine. Remember to pay bills on time, don't want to incurr any late charges. Remember what I have done so I remember to write about it on this blog, calendar on the wall helps with that.

I need to remember when I ate chocolate. Chocolate is a treat and is only allowable once every three or four weeks. I must remember when I last had a bottle of wine. Again another treat, only to be consumed once every three or four weeks. In fact I need to remember when I have any treats, because it wouldn't be very healthy to scoff bad for you treats every day. A treat is a treat and food is food, there is a difference. One does you good and the other wrecks your health. Everything in moderation but I reckon the 90% / 10% balance is about right. So next time I pass a shop and I fancy chocolate I need to remember when I last ate some, and walk on by.

I've just realised I've got a lot to remember. There was something else, oh I remember. I must remember to answer the questions that people ask me in their comments. Someone asked about a kitty update. Here's one. These two were rehomed a few weeks ago. You may remember them as the two boys which came into here with Heidi mumcat. Look at their lovely home now, much better than living under a shed where they were found. Aren't they lucky.

There was something else, oh I remember. I'm going to be on BBC Radio Humberside tomorrow morning at about 11.20am. I shall be chatting to Burnsy, from my home phone, don't need to go into the studio. You should be able to listen live if you are in the UK.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/radio/bbc_radio_humberside/listenlive

Or later on the catch up.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/radio/bbc_radio_humberside/20130122

I'm off to make a list of what I've got to say tomorrow. If you listen in you might be surprised, it has nothing to do with money saving and frugal living. Ha ha.

Is that it, ooops, no, something else has come to mind. I had an email from an advertising company working for a well known department store, asking if I would write a review on some of their products, mainly toiletries. They said they would send me some to try out. Some may say I am mad to turn down a box of freebies, but I just can't bring myself to do it. I wonder what would happen if I agreed, then wrote that their products were a load of crap, Obviously they wouldn't be best pleased, but I suppose it would be funny. No, I have to stick with my policy of no advertising. 

I think that's all I have to say tonight, I'll go now before I remember something else. Toodle pip.