Mental To-Do List

A funny thing about me: I have the ability to keep an almost infinite to-do list in my head. I can remember things on my to-do list from way, way back up until the present moment.
I can't remember to get eggs when they are plainly on the top of the grocery list.
However, I can remember that I owe Mr. Koch, my 9th grade basketball coach, $12.00 for a white/red practice jersey. This was back in 1992. I hated basketball, so I don't totally feel awful about this. But, truthfully, I still feel guilty I never paid him back, and sometimes I think about sending him a check except for the fact that 1) he probably doesn't remember the debt and 2) he will probably find me to be completely insane.
I can remember sections of books I was supposed to read for classes and never did.
In fact, I can remember that in fifth grade I meant to finish reading the entire Black Beauty series but never quite got there (I think I read six or seven).
I have an entire bookcase of books on my to-read list.
And I have about sixteen pertinent houseprojects, with detailed outlines, stored in my brain somewhere.
And tonight, I crossed one very, very old item off of my mental to-do list. I made a recipe that I've been meaning to make since 1993. It was for home-made, lowfat macaroni and cheese. I got it off of my favorite cooking show from the time, The Frugal Gourmet (which was anything but frugal and not really practical shopping-list wise for a small town grocery store in the middle of nowhere). The show taught me there was more to cooking than the Betty Crocker Cookbook, though I still maintain BC to be the best cookbook money can buy. At least for the basic to late intermediate stuff.
At any rate, I have had this recipe in the back of my head for this long, and I have finally made it. Or rather, I am making it currently for myself and the husband who is actually home this evening. We are doing things that normal couples do together like grocery shop and eat supper together--something that never, ever happens.
And as I am sitting here, I am struck even further by the complete oppositeness of my husband and myself, for he is reading "The Best-Laid Plans: How Government Planning Harms Your Quality of Life, Your Pocketbook, and Your Future" by Randal O'Toole. Meanwhile, I am reading "My First Five Husbands...And the Ones Who Got Away" by none other than Rue McClanahan (who played Blanche on "Golden Girls").
Yes, that was one of the books on my to-do list as well.
It feels good to check the older items off. Especially when they involve cooking and eating.
Here's a link to Frugal Gourmet episodes.
http://tv.msn.com/tv/episode-guide/frugal-gourmet?ipp=40&silentchk=1