And there’s one thing that all my so-fabulous-I-could-just-burst days have in common. I helped make them happen. Oh sure, there are days of spontaneous amazingness in my life, but for the most part, the best days are the ones that I prepared for. The days when I wake up and find that my fantastic self of the day before has laid out clothes, set the table for breakfast, packed school bags, set food to defrost in the fridge, done all the dishes, tidied the house, etceteras and so forth . . .

See what I mean? Made. Of. Awesome.

So, Saturday night I started having contractions. The inbetween kind that kind of hurt but not enough to induce panic. It wasn’t the first time this had happened this pregnancy and at first I wasn’t too alarmed, but when they were intense enough to wake me up, and when they started coming ten minutes apart, I became . . . shall we say, concerned? I’ll skip to the end of the story so you don’t wonder if I’m writing this post from a hospital room, ultimately it all came to nothing, but I had several VERY uncomfortable hours this weekend wondering if our carefully laid plans for a c-section next week were going to be tossed out the ole window.

I can’t claim to be happy about the HUGE dose of uncertainty that’s been added to our current life situation. I’ve really come to love looking at that date on the calendar, KNOWING when this baby will arrive, and suddenly that date’s gone all wibbly-wobbly in my mind. But what did make me seriously happy this weekend was realizing that we’re ready for this baby. Oh sure, there’s still a small list of things I’d LIKE to get done beforehand. The house could be cleaner. There are a few loads of laundry I should get folded and put away. But the really important stuff? Like have childcare for the other kids arranged (and backup childcare to boot), and food in the fridge, freezer, and pantry. Like having the car seat ready and bags packed and our list of maybe-this-one-or-maybe-that-one baby names picked out. That’s all done.

And as I enjoyed the peace of that this weekend, I realized that many of the most awesome moments in my life are the ones that I’m prepared for. The ones I’ve put at least a little bit of effort into. And for a former fly-by-the-seat-of-her-pants girl, that’s a pretty darn huge realization.

That said, Yesterday Kim did NOT do the dishes (she claims having contractions as her excuse – the whuss), so I’m going to tackle them now so that Afternoon Kim can read a book instead of worrying about getting the dishes done before it’s time to make dinner. I’m awesome like that.

How do you prepare for awesomeness?

But sometimes the done list isn’t quite enough and the need for a to do list creeps up on me. Times like when I’m going to be having major surgery and a newborn baby in only fifteen days. Yeah. That kind of amps up the pressure a wee bit. I have to consider things like the feeding and clothing of my family during my recovery period, having things organized for the people who will be coming to help out (because I’m awesomely lucky like that, you know), and remembering that two weeks from now using any of the stairs in our three-story house will be a big no-no.

There are things that NEED to be done. There are things I really WANT to have done. And at times like this, as my inner-procrastinator takes over, my done list fails me. While it’s great to have a long list of accomplishments at the end of the day, and to bask in the glow of self-respect that comes with, the warm fuzzy feelings can be seriously messed with by nagging worries and thoughts of I-Really-Should-Have-Such-and-Such done by now.

The solution? A to do list. An honest to goodness to do list for me to cross things off of. Because my brain feels heavy right now, and when I’m holding my new little [gender unspecified] I want my mind to feel light . . . focused on him/her exclusively.

I have this crazy desire to make my house **PERFECT** before the big day. My mum is coming to help out. Friends are going to be coming in to help with laundry and cooking and cleaning. And I am proactively ashamed of what they’re going to learn about my poor housekeeping skills while here. But I need to let all that go and focus on what actually matters. I need to add things to my To Do list like Spend Oodles of Time with My Three Girls, Play Piano, and Read Stories.

In doing what needs doing, and what I want done, I need to be sure not to forget the things (people) that matter most.

Do you To Do or To Done?