A Snowstorm and a Useful App

"Major snowstorm pushing toward D.C."

This is the headline on our local news and weather web site tonight.   We're expecting snow to fall tonight with snow, sleet and rain tomorrow.  Five to ten inches are forecast in my zip code and more in other areas.  

Around here we don't take this amount of snow in stride.  Grocery stores were very busy the past two days as everyone stocked up and schools have already announced that they'll be closed Thursday.  This is said to be our biggest snow in the past four years and it's quite exciting.   

Do you know the Wunderlist app?  It's a great free tool for list making, so I thought I'd mention it here.  I started using it a year or so ago to keep my own "to do" list and found it easy and fun to use.  Then I realized that I could set up a list and share it with Ben, so I made a "Get the house ready to sell" list which the two of us share.  

Sharing a list means that when one of us thinks of something that should be done and we add it, it pops up on the other person's list as well.  Conversely, when we take something off the list because we completed it, Wunderlist deletes it from both our copies of the list.   And in both instances, the person who didn't add or complete the item gets an email telling them how the list has been modified.   So, for example, if I add the item "Paint bathroom" it shows up on Ben's copy of the list and he gets an email telling him it was added.  If he completes that task, he marks it as completed on the list and Wunderlist deletes it and sends me an email telling me that Ben completed the item. 

It's brilliant for keeping a family grocery list.  We have such a list shared between me, Ben, and Paul.  Paul can add "oreos" to the list and it not only shows up on the list but Ben and I get emails telling us that Paul added it. And when Mom or Dad buy the oreos and take it off the list, Paul gets an email telling him it the item was completed.  It's a great app for introducing kids to idea of using their digital devices as productivity tools instead of just entertainment.  

Wunderlist syncs the lists across all your devices so if I add something while I'm on my computer it shows up on my iPhone app as well and visa versa.  

Recently Ben discovered that you can set up your list so items you complete aren't really deleted but moved to an "inactive" area of your list.  Then when you want to add them again you just check them and they move into the list again.   So you don't have to keep typing "oreos" over and over each week.  Pretty cool. 

There's a "pro" version for business use that costs money but we find the free version is just fine for us. And no ads!  You don't find that too often in a free app. 

Well, the snow has started to fall!  I'm really hoping it doesn't turn to rain tomorrow.  Many a good snowfall has been ruined by rain around here.  Ben's making chili for tomorrow's cocooning; should be good!