Like many people, I love checklists.

I love writing things down because honestly, I feel like I am less likely to forget everything that needs to get done. There are many times that I know I have a lot to do, but I sit there not knowing what I need to do, just that I know that I should be doing something!

I love marking things as I complete tasks. It gives me the sense that a lot has been accomplished, as if though I AM successful at something. I have been known to write things on the list that I have completed before the list was written just to give me the boost to keep going. Like a false hope that I can mark everything off the list like I just did the first few items. You know how the game shows start out with questions like, “How many sides does a square have? A) one B) twelve C) one million D) four” and the contestant is thinking, “I am totally walking out of here a millionaire!”

The problem is that I usually don’t have a lot to write down, it is just that the items written on the list take a very long time to complete (complete online course – which is a 16-week program) or they are things that are never ending (do laundry/pay bills/make dinner). So I have found that I should break them down and feel more accomplished as the little stuff gets done. . .

I asked my nephew, Kosta, to pick me up from an appointment and take me to my mom’s house where I had my car. I called him and said, “I will be ready in 20 minutes, leave now.” The temperatures in Chicago have been brutal these last couple of months so I waited inside the building until he arrived. After about 15 minutes, I called to see how faraway he was so he wasn’t looking for me.

“ETA is 7 minutes,” he said as he answered the phone, knowing exactly why I was calling him. “Wait inside because it is really cold.”

“I am. That’s why I called. I didn’t want you to be outside and you couldn’t see me. I will see you in 7 minutes.”

After 10 minutes I walked outside to make it a quick pick-up since I was putting him to trouble to pick me up and drop me off, especially in 14 degree weather. I waited outside for 5 minutes!

When he pulled up, he looked at me like I was crazy. “What are you doing outside? I told you to stay inside!”

I looked at him with my death stare and yelled, “I am freezing! You said you were 7 minutes away! I was inside for ten minutes and then outside for an additional five minutes! Where were you?”

I was on my way, but come on! We are Greek, we are never on time! I looked at the GPS, and subtracted about 8 minutes so you wouldn’t get mad. That’s why I told you to wait inside. I figured you wouldn’t notice how much time has passed if you were warm.”

I shook my head, swore at him, thanked him for getting me, and said, “I guess it really isn’t your fault . . .it’s in your genes!”

“FaceTime me later so I can say goodnight.”

It amazes me that when I need to be elsewhere other than home at bedtime, I have the option to FaceTime my kids (Tessa really) to say goodnight.

It makes me think of my parents with their parents and siblings. My parents left Greece when they were teenagers, moving to Canada for better opportunities, not knowing when they would be back home to see their parents. How different would it have been for them to be able to see their parents instead of having to wait years to see each other?

So tonight I will look forward to my FaceTime call with my daughter to say goodnight face to face and I will even kiss her! I wish my parents were able to see their parents every time they missed them to say goodnight.

Tessie loves slime, making it, playing with it, trading it with friends . . . UGH!

Lucky for her, Daddy loves her and her hobbies. He decided it would be a great idea to take her and her two cousins to a slime convention. Yes, a slime convention. Six hours of walking around and playing and smelling slime on a Saturday! I was excited to have a Saturday off . . .

And then Tessi came to me and begged me to come with to the slime convention. “Please! You don’t ever do any of the fun stuff I want to do.”

She is absolutely right because the fun stuff she wants to do involves slime, glitter, confetti, paint, markers. Anything that makes a mess is fun for her. Anything that makes a mess, gives me heart palpitations. So I went . . .

She was in heaven and I will never go again! One and Done!

Today was spent driving from one place to another to another. The first stop was taking Tessie (my 10 year old) to Greek School. Then off to work on those essays and grades at my school, and then to Andrew’s (my 14 year old) All-Star Basketball Game.

Once the game ended and we were back in the car, I asked Andrew to call my niece Maggie (17 years old). Maggie volunteers on Saturdays at the Greek School in the preschool class. I wanted to know if Tessie was at her house or if she had dropped her off at my mom’s house.

After a short conversation, I hear Andrew say, “We are going to be at Yiayia’s house if you want to come by. Love you.”

I asked him if he always says “Love you” when talking to his cousins. He looked at me confused and replied, “Well I do love her, so why shouldn’t I tell her so she knows?”

How amazingly simple! If you love someone, tell them so they know.

John, my 15 year old, jumps into the conversation and says, “Yeah like when you tell me, ‘John you are so f’en annoying, but I love you anyway.’ That’s your way of making sure that even when I mess up you still love me.”

And just like that I realized I do tell my kids EXACTLY how I feel about them!

I am Greek! Greek people have their own time. Americans eat dinner at 5 pm, Greeks eat at 10 pm (8 pm for us Greeks living in America). Greeks take naps in the middle of the day and go out at 9 pm instead of going to sleep. It is no wonder I can’t meet American-timed deadlines.

Grades for report cards are given to teachers from the first day of school, but  four times a year (3 times now . . . THANK YOU TRIMESTERS) I always asked for an extension. Eight in the morning was not happening. Not because it was an unreasonable request, but because this Greek needed until 3 pm. Greek time!

Like everything, I need more time. The baseball/softball league offers a discount if you register by January 31st, so I emailed on February 5th asking if it is too late to get the discount. They extended it.

Field trip form and money was due by February 28th the latest. I emailed the teacher and apologized that the form and money will be at school on Monday, March 4th.

The fact that my first Slice of Life writing is due on March 1st, and here it is March 1st and I posted my writing. This is a miracle! Or could it be that after 45 1/2 years in America, I am finally becoming Americanized? Well grades are due Tuesday at 8 am. Let’s see if I need an extension!