By Sun and Candlelight

How Many Tools Do You Use?

When it comes to managing your time, household and family?

You all know it's no secret I love planners. I'm forever talking about them, tweaking them ... tempting myself with new ones. And I'm always curious about other people's planners - specifically, what they look like, and how they use them. And this is what I've been thinking about recently ... about the tools I use and the methods I follow. My "domestic management system" if you will. :)

{tools + methods = system}

But most of all, I'm thinking about how I can simplify it all!

It would be super convenient to have ONE THING that manages EVERYTHING, but I just can't make that happen. That "thing," whatever shape it took, would just be too big and unwieldly. That said, I feel like I may have too many tools currently in use.

I'm wondering then, as my title suggest, how many tools do you use? What do you use to keep up with - and track of - your domestic duties?

 The tools I have "in play" right now are as follows:

Homekeeping Binder

Yearbook Binder

Months @ a Glance Calendar Binder

Weekly File Folders

(a MomAgenda - which is kind of on standby)

Daybook/Homekeeping Blog

Daily Chore Cards

Marketing Binder

Curriculum Binder

Clippings Journal

In-Basket

Reading Basket

Financial Drawer

Correspondence Drawer

Recipe File Drawer

Household File Drawer

*

(Am I forgetting anything? I probably am. I'm looking all around my home office right now, reminding myself what's what ...)

Now, I highlighted the "weekly file folders" in magenta because these are my favorite tools of all. (And the color matches my new banner, lol.) I'll pin most of my planning onto these folders once I figure out how.

Well friends, I'm going to end this post here because A. it's all I have time for, and B. this is more or less, step one, and, C. I'm trying to make my posts a little more manageable these days. (In other words, not so wordy!)

So have a great Wednesday night ... we're keeping things simple here on the supper front, as I just noted in my homekeeping blog. As I was cleaning out the fridge today I realized we had a LOT of leftovers to use up ... so the chicken pesto pasta will have to wait for tomorrow and tonight will be a little mix of this and that. :)

See you all again very soon!

❤

Cleaning Up the "Mom" Corner

Fridays are the day I clean the learning/sitting room, and today I decided to spend a little extra time on my "mom" corner. It is, after all, Mother's Day weekend, and it is my sincere hope I'll be spending most of it parked right here ...

:)

So, I pulled the chair out and swept in back there (found Earlybird's long-lost Percy train) and then took apart the book shelves, which had become quite disorganized and dusty.

As you can see, I had the usual help:

On the top shelf I keep my collection of Everyday Food magazines, my favorite food magazine of all. (I have every issue!) I'm going to look through them this weekend for meal plan inspiration.

Next shelf down, I have yummy books I own or borrowed, and a few DVD collections, too.

Just a few momentos on this shelf ...

On display I have one of my favorite pictures of the boys, my reading glasses, cheerful little knicknacks and my Mary Engelbreit page-a-day calendar.

And then there's the shelf where I keep magazines to look through, and my clippings journal:

I keep a pair of small folding tables beside my chair when I'm "working" in this spot. The table on the right holds my laptop, and the table to my left holds whatever it is I'm working on at the moment. 

Here I have a planning binder with next week's file folder on top.

And I have to show you the cleaning checklist I stapled to the inside folder cover:

This was an idea I gleaned from a kind reader, Suusi. (I loved reading how she utilizes her weekly file folders - her thoughts can be found in this comment thread.) I'm not sure I'll end up using this checklist (I already have those daily chore cards and now my online diary) but I thought I'd give it a try. I basically just took the whole weekly chore list (divided by days) and printed it out on one sheet of paper. Then I stapled it to the inside front cover (the weekly planning sheet is on the opposite side). I envision checking things off as I work through the week ... but we shall see how it goes!

And finally, here is my reading basket. I've let a lot of things pile up recently. :)

I'm really looking forward to poring over all these magazines, catalogs, newspapers, etc. and working in my clippings journal a little. Puttering like this is a little slice of heaven for me.

Aside from all this reading, my Mother's Day weekend will also include an early soccer game, a trip to the nursery, and breakfast with my family after Mass. It will all wind down with a Sunday supper I have not prepared, and then my two favorite shows of the week: Once Upon a Time (season finale!) and Masterpiece Theater. (Can't wait to see what Sherlock gets up to this week!)

*

Well, my friends, I'm going to wrap up now, as my kitchen timer is ringing it's third alarm, reminding me I need to start supper early as it is the boys' practice night. So I'll be off ... but I thank you for stopping by ... and I hope you all have a lovely weekend!

(And if you're curious what I'm serving for supper tonight, pop over to my housekeeping blog. I'll be posting today's entry in just a few moments.)

:) 

See you all again very soon!

What's in Yer File Folder this Week? (Part 2!)

(Part 1 can be found here.)

So, I just pulled out a new folder for next week - the first from my new batch - and today being Thursday, I took a look at next week and started planning ahead as much as possible. I love the clean look of a new folder, and the bright promise of a new week!

But for this purpose of this post, let's look at what I have in this week's folder. There are lots of notes on the front, with some check marks indicating what's been accomplished so far. And inside, I have ...

Library request sheets (Right now they will remind me what I'm waiting for ... and later on they will help with the end of year reports.)

A coupon for Staples (An online printable - I probably should have cut it right out and stashed it in my marketing binder, but I was in a rush so I just threw it in the folder.)

Recipes to try, or file. (I may get to making them this week, otherwise they'll be filed in my recipe drawer. Recipes I have here: lime butter cookies, lemon curd, oatmeal apricot squares, chicken "Caesar" meatballs.)

A print-out from the Mass. Audubon site with hummingbird feeder information. (This is THE week to put those feeders up.)

An invitation to a party that needs a reply.

The New England Patriots 2012 schedule and analysis. (After I note the games - times, opponents - in my calendar, I'll file this sheet in my Yearbook, under the August tab.)

Our Parish Religious Ed. registration package. (Must be filled out and returned ... we're still deciding on whether to enroll CJ or go it alone - i.e, do the book at home. I taught 7th grade last year and it was not really an atmosphere conducive to learning: one week in which to fit an entire Faith & Life text, working with 20+ mostly nice, but also mostly inattentive kids.)

A flyer for an interesting homeschool group field trip. (I need to look into this further.)

A print out of an email from my cousin with lots of excellent health information I need to read and "digest."

A print out from a website regarding morning glory instructions. (I vow to grow morning glories this year! They are my favorites and I can never find nursery plants at the garden center. They can be tricky to start from seed, though.)

Two catalog pages with great Mother's Day gift ideas.

A print out of my housekeeping routines post because I need to update my daily index cards.

*

So that's what's in MY file folder this week ... and if you're inclined to share, I'd love to hear what you have in yours! Or maybe you use file folders in a whole different way - and I'd love to hear about that, too!

Now, a few days ago Nicole asked me how many systems I have going at present, and I just had to chuckle. :) I'm sure it seems like I have all these systems running at once, but really, everything is all part of one system. Or I'd like to think it is, but I'm constantly trying to streamline that system as much as possible. I do have different tools that (hopefully) work together in this system (i.e. the file folders, the daybook, the monthly calendar AND the yearbook!) and yes, I will address this question further a post of its own - because it's a very good question, and I like to clarify whenever I can.

:)

As for what I have in next week's folder so far? Well, there's a couple of recipes for our Mother's Day brunch, and some printed information on National Herb Week. Over the weekend I'll go through this week's items and either recycle, file or move things forward. Then I'll return that file folder to the drawer and concentrate on the new week at hand.

***

And speaking of weeks, I hope yours is going well. But how did it get to be Thursday already? Is your week flying by, too?

My friends, I will leave you for now, but in a few minutes I'll be posting today's entry over at "Daily Bits of Domestic Bliss," my online homekeeping diary. Take a peek if you'd like ... I'm having fun with it so far! :)

And I'll see you all again very soon ...

❤ 

What's in Yer File Folder this Week? (Part 1)

Sorry if that title makes no sense to some of my readers, but everytime I read it, all I can hear is that Viking from the Capital One credit card commercial. You know the one I mean? What's in yerrrr wallet?

(Anyways.)

Let's take a closer look at my file folder this week, shall we?

We'll inspect the outside first ... then we'll go in.

:)

Now, Lynette asked: I have one question-- why did you switch to post-its on the yellow paper instead of writing directly on the paper?

And, Kristen asked: Tell me about how you use the post-it notes on your folder. It looks like you might have a specific purpose for each one.

Ok, so ... as I've blogged about before, I like to staple a paper to the front of my file folders, and this is where I plan out my week. But as you can see, I am currently placing post-it notes on top of that sheet. Originally I did this so I could play around with the content and design of the weekly information (figuring out exactly what types of information I need in a given week, sorting those pieces of information onto separate stickies, and then moving those stickies around). Ultimately, I will design a planning sheet to meet my particular needs (and yes, I know I can be quite particular, lol). For now the stickies are keeping me quite organized with my weekly planning, but ultimately there will just be a sheet here.

 And to answer Kristen's question about the purpose of each post-it note, here's a breakdown:

Currently I have six squares, one each for:

Suppers

Of Note

To Do

Posts & Photos

Notes

Projects

*

The "Suppers" sticky is pretty self-explanatory. I simply list M-S down the left side of the note (Monday-Sunday) and then I jot down anything that might affect that night's dinner - i.e. soccer practice, an evening meeting or a feast day to celebrate. Seeing these notes help me greatly when I make up the dinner plan, because I immediately know what nights we need something fast and easy, and what nights we have something to celebrate. I also know what nights I won't have Bill home to help with supper. (There are a few dishes he makes - like pizzas, panini and hamburgers - so I obviously schedule those for nights he's home early.)

The "Of Note" sticky is where I list, in chronological order, any activities, events, holidays, etc. that are happening this week. For example, this week includes: May Day, Book Group, Art Classes, "The Avengers" (a movie the boys want to see), Cinco de Mayo, Full Flower Moon, the SAT, soccer picture day, Mass. Etc.

The "To-Do" note is also pretty obvious. Here is where I list tasks that are timely to that week.

On the "Posts & Photos" sticky I jot down notes for blog posts and photos I'd like to take. For instance, I was just mixing up meatloaf and thought of a neat pantry-related post - so as soon as I had my hands cleaned, I jotted the idea down on my folder.

"Notes" are just that. A place to write something down that has no real place. I wrote down a Father's Day gift idea here the other day, as well as a website I wanted to look up online.

The "Projects" sticky is where I list projects I'm working on (or should be working on) currently. A few things I have on that note: Spring newsletter, Summer Ed. Plan, Earlybird's Science Fair Project, and Spring Planting.

*

And so far, these are the basic types of information I've found I need to look at/remember/work on in a given week. As I mentioned above, I will eventually design a weekly planning sheet (with the help of those stickies!). It will hopefully be something convenient and useful, but something that makes me happy to look at as well. I will of course, keep you all posted. :)

Ok so this post got WAY bigger than I had originally intended, so I will split it in two and post the second half tomorrow. That's when I'll show you what I actually have stashed inside my file folder this week. I don't do this to "overshare" (though I've certainly been guilty of that in the past!), but as a way of showing you how the file folder can be used. And I would love to know how you are using your own file folders - if you use them of course, and if you have time.

❤ 

So I'll say goodbye for now ... but as always I thank you for stopping by! Oh, but before I go, may I direct your attention to the link over there on the righthand side of my blog? Right near the top. That will take you over to a new housekeeping blog I've started: Daily Bits of Domestic Bliss. (Blogging is addicting, don'tcha know?) I only started it two days ago, so there's not much there to see yet. And, as you'll see from my note, it's not going to be everyone's cup of tea. I'm mainly doing it as a means of keeping a domestic diary for myself. But you're more than welcome to read along!

OK, I'm really off now! Bill's home, the meatloaf smells done and I have kept you here long enough!

But I'll see you here again very soon!

Tuesday Tidbits

 Well, I had no fewer than three posts nearly finished in my drafts folder ... but no time today to finish even one of them! So instead, I'm just going to share a few happy things with you from my day.

:)

First I have the day's ME print:

 

(How I love my page-a-day calendar. I "visit" it every morning, and it always gives me something to smile at and/or think about.)

Now, today was quite warm so we had all our windows open. By midday, as the sun grew stronger and the heat cranked up, I noticed a very sweet smell wafting through the house ... but I could not be sure from where it came. I finally realized it was the just-blooming viburnum bush out front! (The birds simply love our viburnum.)

So I snipped a few blossoms to bring inside ....

So pretty! But unfortunately they had to go right back outside because they triggered my allergies! May I point out that sweet little "cabbage leaf" vase? It was made my my nana (my dad's mom) many, many years ago. :)

Next we have a long-time favorite book ... Earlybird never gets tired of reading this, and surprisingly, neither do I. I liked how the cover caught the sun:

(I think this might be a future post-prompt ...)

And then we had a visit from the UPS man! Oh, how I love the rumble of that truck and the little "beep-beep" when it pulls up out front. What the UPS man brought me today was a nice little package from Cafe Press ...

Inside I found two new autism-awareness shirts:

The shirt on the left says: "If you think my hands are full, you should see my heart!" And the shirt on the right says: "Loving an autistic child makes your heart grow larger." ❤

I also "splurged" on these lovely earrings ...

You can barely make out the print along the edge, but it reads: "I love my autistic son and he loves me, too!"

The shirts (one or the other) and the earrings I plan to wear to our "Bake Sale for Autism Speaks," WHICH by the way, is coming up this very Saturday! I'm so very excited! There's still lots to do to get ready, but it's all coming together quite nicely. In fact, we just picked up our "approved" food permit today.

Now here's something I'm having fun filling in ...

A big lavender binder with rainbow dividers. Lots of activities, ideas and project plans for each month of the year ... :)

And a new magnet for my fridge with a thought-provoking quote:

(How important it is to remember this.)

And then there was this little fella ...

My sweet kitties never fail to make me smile! I can remember buying this cat bed - it was the first thing we bought once we were sure we were getting our cats. We thought they'd both fit inside quite nicely ... but they've grown so big, nowadays it's just one cat at a time!

Now, I didn't take a picture of my lunch, but it made me pretty happy. I used up some nearly expired wheat pizza dough and made all of us homemade pizzas. (Bill's the pizza man in this house, but I knew the dough just wouldn't last.) On my own personal pan pizza I had some pesto sauce, shredded mozzarella, sliced olives and diced chicken. Delish!

Well, I'm sure there were other happy things that happened today, but that's what's at the top of my list. (Or at least, the top of my brain.) I hope you all had some happy moments, too - and if you'd care to share them, I'd love to listen! Please leave a comment below. :)

For now though, I wish you all a pleasant evening, and leave you with a promise to visit again soon ...

Good night and God bless!

❤

Pretty Planners in Progress

Slowly but surely, it's all coming together ...

At the very least it's quite color-coordinated!

So, on the bottom is the binder that holds my month @ a glance calendars, and on top is the daybook "Prototype B" (lol) I just had bound at the copy shop ...

Situated in between (below), is my weekly file folder.

(I've realized I'm quite needy - perhaps a little greedy? - when it comes to planners ... and I'm OK with that. It's fun to figure out what works best.)

I really like the size of my "new" daybook much better than my last (remember the one that got chocolate-milked?). This size is so much easier to handle and much more portable. (It's made up of legal size paper, cut in half ... so, it measures 8.5 x 7 inches.)

Now, I'll get into what's inside in a later post (not much yet), but I was so excited to get it all cut, bound and ready to go yesterday, I just had to put this post up.

Isn't the paper pattern adorable?

So old-fashioned, and cheerful. :)

***

Well, my friends, I should have another post for you later today ... a few folks have asked me to share my own housekeeping routines ... and I would be very happy to do so. (I know I've shared them before, but they've been tweaked a little bit.) I actually started a post yesterday but just did not have time to finish ... figure that, lol ... but hopefully I'll get it up later today.

In the meantime, let me wish you a very Happy Friday ... I hope your day goes well! I will see you all again very soon ...

❤

A Rose Sunday Hello

Today I baked a Guinness Cake ...

... and played with my pretty, new papers.

I arranged some flowers for "Rose" Sunday ...

... and spotted the first dandelion of the year.

I laughed with my kids about this ...

And I thought long and hard about this.

To sum up, I am feeling very grateful for an easy, happy day just like this.

❤

 My friends, I hope you all had a nice weekend. I hope you find yourselves feeling refreshed and restored, ready to face a new week ahead ...

Tonight we are having our "St. Pat's" supper since yesterday went all kerflooey. Nothing fancy at all ... just corned beef and cheddar panini, roasted potatoes and salad ... and of course, that pretty Irish cake for dessert.

After watching Once Upon a Time with the older boys (EB will already be asleep), Bill and I will tune in to Masterpiece Theater, to catch (endure? lol) the last segment of South Riding. And as always, I'll be here bright and early tomorrow morning to talk about both shows ... perhaps other shows ... and whatever else stikes our fancy. :)

So have a good night, everyone ... take care of yourselves and your loved ones!

Planner Recovery Project: Step One

Buy more paper.

Ivory tint again, but legal rather than letter this time. I had some "size" issues with my original planner so I'm going to play around with it a little ...

I will, of course, keep you all posted. :)

Have a great Thursday night, everyone ... See you again sometime tomorrow!

❤

Household Files and Binder Tabs

Hello, and Good Morning, my friends!

I've had a couple of requests to share what categories I keep in my (new) household file drawer, as well as in my (old) home management binder.

And so that's just what this post will address. :)

In my household file drawer I have the following categories ...

warranties

instructions

taxes

insurance

career

auto

soccer

college

special needs

health

cats

travel

church

community

miscellaneous

{I also have recipe storage in this drawer; I can do a separate post on that later.}

*

And in my home management binder I have the following tabs ...

1. cover page/contact information

2. current season planning page

3. month @ a glance calendars

4. seasonal planning pages

5. home management:

routines/cleaning notes

emergency information

room by room notes

gardening notes

entertaining notes

6. menus and marketing:

master grocery list

family dinner menus

in season overview/local sources

holiday/seasonal baking notes

idea lists: snacks, desserts, breakfast, lunch

pantry checklist

7. budgetkeeping:

monthly budget

family financial information

spending diary

upcoming expenses

8. phone and addresses:

a-z

soccer team list

businesses/services

take-out

passwords & pin numbers

9. faith at home:

liturgical seasons/yearly overview

feast day celebrations

patron saints

family Sacraments

our parish

"Sundays are Special"

 family goals/mission

10. learning with nature:

weekly themes

activities list

supplies list

nature shelf

places to visit/explore

seasons/elements

newsletter project

11. family facts:

family tree

info. for each family member 

12. personal pursuits:

blog

file crate system

planner

book

baking

craft storage/supplies list

books to read list

health/diet/grooming

13. family jaunts:

day trips/excursions

vacation plans

14. And in the very back I have a pocket for miscellaneous things - future tabs, etc.

*

Well, I hope this post was helpful, or maybe interesting to some! :)

But either way, thank you so much for stopping by. Thank you also, to those who joined in with the Downton discussion - what fun it is to follow this show all together! I love reading all your thoughts and theories on what happened this time ... and what might happen next. But the season is really flying by, isn't it? What on earth will we do when it's over, lol?

(So glad to hear a Season 3 is in the works - and how fantastic that Shirley MacLaine will be playing Cora's mother! I'm guessing a wedding brings the American grandmother overseas ...?)

Well, I'm off! But have a great day, everyone ... I'll be back later today with my weekly Teatime post. Until then, take care and be well ... I'll see you again very soon!

❤

Planning a New Week

Good morning, my friends ... and Happy Friday!

I'm hoping to get a Friday Felines post up later today, but I don't have a draft started yet, so I can't say for sure. But I thought I'd pop on really quickly this morning, and talk a bit about next week. There's a lot coming up!

Looking at the week of January 30-February 5, 2012, my notes are as follows:

Days of the Blackbird

February begins!

St. Brigid's Day

Candlemas/Groundhog Day

Crackerjack's Book Group

My Haircut :)

Focus on the Feeders Weekend

Parish Pancake Breakfast

(National Weatherman Day)

(World Nutella Day)

Superbowl XLVI!

What a fun week! February can be a tough month to love, so it's nice to have fun things - familiar things - to look forward to. I'm working on a few projects this weekend - setting up my desk (yay!), reorganizing my household binder (post to come!), and preparing for next week (of course) ...

To that end, today I'm finalizing our dinner menus for next week, and writing out the shopping & errands list for Saturday. Another thing I usually do on Fridays, ahead of weekend errands, is to organize my pocketbook and coupon collection. Now, I'm usually on top of the pocketbook pruning, but I'm afraid I've become a bit lax in the coupon department. I think the holidays threw me off, but really I can just blame my own laziness. I'd like to get back to it though, since one of my New Year resolutions is to be more efficient with the household budget - and family food takes up a lot of that budget!

I was recently reminded of my coupon failings when I spied a woman at the grocery store who had a whole binder devoted to coupons! Literally, a big black binder was perched in the child seat of her shopping cart, and it appeared to be filled with sheet protectors holding all kinds of coupons. I commented on it as I passed by - "Wow, that's quite a neat thing you've got there!" (hint, hint: tell me all about it, lol!) - but she didn't say much in return. (I think she was quite engrossed in the produce she was weighing.) Has anyone tried this - using a binder for your coupons? I find the concept fascinating, but I bet this is for hard core coupon queens ... whereas I'm a dabbler at best. ;)

Well, anyhoo there's some food for thought for the day, but for now I must be off! My friends, I hope you all have a great Friday ... I'll check back in just as soon as I can.

:)

The Daybook Goes Live!

Good Thursday Morning, my friends!

It's snowing here at the moment, all light and lovely, so my day has started out on just the right foot. :) It's due to turn to rain any moment though, so I'm enjoying it while I can!

Now, Charlotte and Teresa asked to see what a page in my daybook looks like all filled out, and I'm happy to do that! So here we have today's page, which I mostly filled in last evening (hence the low lighting):

Please bear in mind, this daybook is only a few days old, so I'm sure I'll adjust how I use it as time goes by. But basically what I have here on my page are the following things:

At the very top of the page is a bit of clipart designating the month at hand, and directly below that, is a box where I "make note of" what makes this day special (i.e. birthdays/holidays/feast days/natural events like the Vernal Equinox, etc.). Both bits of clipart I found in this lovely little booklet of Victorian images.

In the top left corner of the page, I have a space for the day's agenda, which is divided into three time blocks (a.m./noon/p.m.). Here is where I write in appointments, activities, the boys' classes, etc. - as well as things like "lessons and chores" in the morning area, and "lunch: use up cold cuts, lettuce" at noontime. Seeing my time divided in this way helps me get a "fix" on how my day will go.

In the top right corner of the page I have a space for listing the day's housekeeping chores. Now, my weekly chore routine is mostly set in stone (i.e. bedrooms on Monday, bathrooms on Tuesday, etc.) so I contemplated pre-printing my chores in this space, but that would have made the printing process much more challenging and time consuming. So in today's chore box I've written out things I do on Thursdays, like "trash & recycling," "sweep and dust dining room," and "begin a new file folder for next week. 

Just beneath the chores box, there is a space for writing down any spending done on this day. (For today I noted "groceries" because I plan to "Stop 'N Shop" this afternoon, as well "dinner," because Bill's taking me out for dinner tonight! Later on, I'll fill in the amounts spent.)

In the middle section of the page there are three blocks for "learning & living" notes for my boys. This is pretty self-explanatory - here I write in what lessons they are working on and any other activities/projects to focus on.

The bottom left hand corner has a box for writing down things "to do and remember." This is where I'll write down just that - non-routine tasks and reminders. For today I have things like "look up info. on bake sales," "mail Globe tip," and "check Netflix queue."

In the middle of the bottom of the page is a tiny box for writing down the day's "supper." I try to have the week's dinner menus planned out in advance (makes shopping easier and less expensive!) but I like having a reminder of what I need to prepare at day's end. (And it's a nice record, too - that's a big part of this daybook for me, that it will serve as an annual household diary.)

The bottom right hand corner has a box for "notes" and this is just a place for anything else I need or want to jot down. So far I've written down a few weather notes this morning, regarding the rainstorm and its happy, snowy start. :)

*

So there you have a pretty detailed look at how I filled out today's daybook page. I hope it makes sense! If you would like further clarification on anything, please do not hesitate to ask. Remember, I'm still working out the kinks, so it does me good to have to explain it!

As for making these pages printable, should you wish to use them for yourself - I'm working on it! Actually, my dad is working on it. :) He took home copies of both the "weekly planning page" and the "daily worksheet" (with clipart removed, due to copyright issues) and he's trying to see if he can make it a jpeg I can share. I'll keep you posted on our progress! (And if you would like, I could try to fill in the missing clipart with something I've drawn up myself. Just let me know. :))

OK, so I'd best be off now because the morning is running late, and we're barely through breakfast. Time for one more cup of coffee and then I'll (hopefully) be firing on all cylinders!

Have a great day, my friends ... I'll be back here again very soon!

*❤*

A Look at My New Daybook

Well, my "2012 Daybook" is finally done and ready to use ... so I thought you might like to take a peek. :)

Very simply, this is a homemade, spiral-bound planner - with a page devoted to each week of the year, as well as a page for each day. It does not contain a month @ a glance calendar, because that's something I like to have out in view at all times, so it needs to be separate. (More on that later.)

Here's how it looks from the side ...

(I had the plastic "coil" binding done at Staples - it cost me $4.77.)

The daybook itself is made up of scrapbooking paper (cover page, dividers) and regular copy paper (planning pages). I used "ivory" copy paper (rather than standard white) because, to me, it looked softer, and more "vintage." I also used a firm cardboard "back" piece to give the daybook some solidity. (For this, I re-used a bit of cardboard that came inside a package of binder pages.)

The cover page is a collage of scrapbooking papers, in shades I love - soft reds and yellows. And I chose these lovely crocheted roses for the front cover ...

... but!

Unfortunately, they are too bumpy! When I go to work in my planner, the flowers make the writing surface unlevel - which will drive me crazy! The whole reason I prefer a spiral-bound planner over a three-hole binder is so I can lay my pages flat.

So - as much as I adore these pretty flowers - I decided to peel them off and do something different for the cover.

And here's what I came up with:

Not as pretty, but it will do the trick. :)

Ok, so now let's look inside the daybook ...

On the left I have a spot where I'll write my personal contact information (name, address, phone, etc.). On the right-hand side is the cover page for the January-February (Deep Winter) section ...

A pretty blue gingham check with little calendars ...

Then we have the meat of the planner ... the planning pages!

Each week of the year has four pages (so there are 208 pages in all). 

The order is this:

1. My Week @ a Glance.

I used a ruler and black pen for most of my page designs. I also used some pretty vintage clipart for embellishment.

So this page has space for planning "Special Days," "Dinners," "Nature Notes," "Shopping & Errands," "Home & Garden Tasks," "Correspondence," and the week's "Budget."

After the weekly planning page, I have:

2. A Daily Worksheet.

A page for each day of the week:

The daily planning page includes space for an agenda (divided into a.m./noon/p.m.), chores, spending, learning/living notes for each of my children, things "to-do and remember," the night's supper and random notes.

After Sunday's daily page, there is the next week's planning page - and so on!

Each season has its own divider - a piece of colored scrapbook paper with tiny calendars designating the time of year. 

March-April (Early Spring) is a soft aqua:

May-June (Late Spring) is a pretty grass green:

July-August (High Summer) is a sunny yellow:

September-October (Autumn) is a warm, chestnut brown:

November-December (Holiday) is a cheerful red:

And at the back I have a page for the New Year:

And here's that back cardboard piece I mentioned above:

The planner sits out on my counter next to my homekeeping binder. I like to keep the binder open to the month at hand, and the planner open to the current day.

Eventually, once my new desk arrives, I will have this all set up in my "home office" corner.

*

So, there you have it - my Daybook at-a-(long, detailed)-glance. :)

And yes, for those keeping track (because goodness knows, I go back and forth on these matters!), this planner does take place of the "MomAgenda" I had been using. It also incorporates the planning sheet I had stapled to the front of my weekly file folders. So far I'm really enjoying it - I love the look and feel of it, and the design seems to make sense. Because I thought long and hard about what I need to plan for (think of, attend to) in a given week and on a daily basis, I have a spot for writing out the tasks and reminders I truly need. I'll keep you posted on how it's working for me as we move through the year!

*

Now, as I've mentioned, I've recently had trouble leaving comments here at my blog. Well, I finally heard back from Typepad and the solution was very simple - and the issue was kind of embarrassing! I had somehow marked my own comments as "spam," lol!

So I got a couple of my comments out of "spam jail" and posted them - I will work through the rest of them as time allows this week.

Well, I hope you all enjoyed this peek at my new daybook, and I hope you are all having a nice week. Very bright and chilly here today ... but a storm's moving in late tonight. I have my fingers crossed for snow - it always snows on January 12th! ;) - but it sounds like it will mostly be rain.

Oh well ... the Winter's still very young!

So have a great Wednesday, my friends ... I will see you again very soon!

:)

National Clean Off Your Desk Day

Did you spiff up your workspace today?

As I mentioned last week, I have a new desk arriving sometime later this month, but for now I'm still using one end of the kitchen island as my primary workspace or "desk." And since today is "National Clean Off Your Desk Day," I figured I'd tackle this "hot spot" of mine.

Because as you can see, it really needed it:

(Yikes, that's bad!)

Now I call it my "hot spot" (a la FlyLady) because it does attract clutter like crazy - but it's not usually quite so messy! But I was so busy this weekend - just so caught up in my daybook project - that I really let everything pile up ... random papers, store receipts, coupons, bills, notes, etc. etc.!

So the first thing I did was to clear EVERYTHING of this counter space ... and boy, that felt good! And it looked so nice and open, I took a good look and thought, "Well, this is how it will look once I get that desk!" (In theory anyway.) Next I scrubbed down the counterop - first with Method Lavender Cleaning Spray and then a damp, clean cloth. Once the surface was dry, I started sifting through all that stuff - sorting/tossing/and putting things back in place - a little neater than before.

Much better, I'd say!

And as you can see above, I did finally get my "daybook" spiral-bound today! First I made sure I had it all in the correct order, then I stacked the pages as neatly as I could:

Then it was off to the Copy Center at Staples where I paid five dollars and waited five minutes for a binding, and then I was out the door and on my way home with my brand new daybook!

I love how it looks beside (or on top of) my homekeeping binder!

Now, I will definitely do a thorough post on the daybook itself - and I hope to get that up by mid-week. (Maybe tomorrow before my "Teatime" post, but most likely early Wednesday.)

But before I go I want to tell you two more things ...

One, I still can't leave comments here for some odd reason, so I apologize that I have not responded to the questions and comments left over the past few days. If I can't get this issue cleared up in another day or two I will write up separate posts addressing those queries.

The other thing I wanted to mention was something I just learned today ... this week is Universal Letter-Writing Week! (Thanks to Dana at Save Snail Mail for the tip. :)) I think a week devoted to the practice of letter-writing is pretty fantastic ... I don't (hand)write my correspondence as often as I used to, but I love the whole idea and institution of letter-writing. (Especially as I absorb all these beautiful movies and tv shows set in a slower, more genteel past - aka, Little Women, Emma, Sense and Sensibility ... and Downton Abbey of course.)

I think I might add a trip to the post office this weekend to pick up some new stamps and I'll assess my correspondence needs. (I used to have a whole basket devoted to letter writing but these days it all gets stored in that wire basket you see above on my counter.) Winter is the perfect time to consider (perhaps reconsider) our correspondence habits - in fact, I have a special spot in my daybook for planning just that!

So, my friends, I'll let you go now ... our night is upon us and the boys are awaiting my attention. Thank you so much for stopping by ... have a wonderful night ... and I will see you all again very soon.

:)

Happy Epiphany!

Many blessings to you and yours on this special feast day! I hope your Sunday's going well ... I'm just stopping by to say hi, and share a few pictures from our day.

First of all ... isn't this just lovely?

This beautiful creche is on display at our church; it extends all along the front of the altar. We've enjoyed watching the nativity story unfold all through Christmas (figures appear or move in a certain direction) ... and just this morning we spied the three magi, kneeling in adoration before the newborn king. I just had to take a picture today, since the creche will be put away soon, not to be seen again until next Advent.

(We had to retire our own nativity set early this year, because the cats - Oliver, mostly - just would not leave the poor figures alone! Hopefully he'll get over his little obsession, but I'm planning/hoping to make/build an outdoor creche next year ... something I've noted on my "Next Christmas" page.)

After Mass, we had Nana and Papa over for coffee and pastries:

Nothing homemade here - just a bunch of supermarket baked goods the boys picked out "special" for today. (It probably helped that I was famished while we shopped, allowing them to pick out just about one of everything, lol!)

A little later in the morning we performed our home blessing, using chalk distributed at church.

As for the balance of the day, I spent my time finishing up the daybook ...

And I was thisclose to being done - and I was really hoping to get this thing bound before the end of the day - but alas, on the first page of December, my black ink just completely gave out! 

{>.<}

So yes, I headed back to Staples.

{+_+}

Again.

Luckily there are different people working there on the weekend, so there were no eyebrows raised at my repeat visits. And you know, I just have to laugh at myself (and feel free to join in) because I'm putting all this time and energy into getting organized - but I'm being pretty disorganized about it!

***

Well, now it's a few hours later (I broke away from this post for a bit) and I'm happy to report that the printing is finally all done! Of course, now all the copy shops are closed ...

No worries, though ~ this actually gives me time to comb carefully through the daybook and make sure the pages are all in order and lined up just right. Had I finished this a smidge earlier, I would have surely foresaken proofreading for fast spiral-binding ...

Tomorrow, though - it's the copy shop for sure!

*knock on wood*

 Well, that's all for me, friends ... I do hope you all had a nice weekend. (Is it me, or did this weekend fly by especially fast?) I see I've had a few questions/comments left this weekend and I will get to those first thing tomorrow morning ... right now, though, it's suppertime for me and my brood!

So have a great night, everyone - you-know-what is on in just under three hours! - and I will see you all again very soon ...

:)

Calendar Crafts & Paper Play

* Happy Wednesday, everyone! *

Now, I don't know what it's like today where you live, but good gravy is it COLD here in New England! I think we peaked at 17 degrees just after lunchtime? And here we had ourselves fooled into thinking we'd have a mild winter this year ...

Well, depsite the rather "brisk" weather, the boys spent almost an hour playing outside after morning lessons (what we like to call "recess"). More power to them, I say, lol! They came in all rosy-cheeked and out of breath ... to find the fireplace cracklng and a lunch hot from the oven. I'm so glad I can give my boys days like this. :)

Anyhoo, I've been playing around with all that pretty paper I showed you recently, and making up some fun things for my "home office" space. I thought you might like to see what I've been working on ...

First of all, it was time to make up a new "clippings" journal. My old one was filled to the brim:

I've blogged about this journal before ... it's just a simple, spiral-bound notebook (a Mead 3-subject, college rule to be specific) that I cover with seasonal paper and a Mary Engelbreit calendar page. Inside, I keep clippings I take from magazines and newspapers, as well as ticket stubs, jar labels, meaningful receipts, ribbon scraps, post-it note sketches and other random bits and bobs ...

I've kept these humble little journals for years now; I generally fill them up in about three months' time. I think of them as a colorful, mostly cheerful, collage of my thoughts - and to a smaller extent, the world - at that time in life. Someone once told me it was what they would call a "brain dump" - a term that made me laugh and cringe at the same time. ;)

 I'm also in the process of updating my big homekeeping binder ...

To start with, I gave it a pretty new cover - all red and cream, to go with the new colors in our sitting/learning room. This print above (also seen at the very top of this post) has what looks like an old-fashioned, crocheted coverlet laid on top of a vibrant red background. It's homey and feminine, I think.

I made up the date label myself - it's just an ecru tag with number stickers. I also used those tiny red stickers to make up a new clipboard:

And here is the homekeeping binder resting beneath a calendar I'm working on ...

(See how nicely it all coordinates? :))

In that thick stack, I have many soft ivory pages and several seasonal dividers ...

As well as a cover page still under consideration ...

(I can't decide if I like tiny calendars or crocheted roses for the cover!)

And all those inside pages are still on the drawing board, lol.

I'll post more about this project once I get it further along, but for now I'll just call it my "daybook." Because I'm really taking my time with this ... I've already missed the January 1st deadline, so I figure I might as well putter to my heart's content! And maybe, if I don't rush it, I just might create something useful. I made a calendar book like this a few (several?) years ago, and while I loved the overall look and idea of it, it just didn't stick. Now, I could blame this on me being fickle (which I certainly can be!), but I do think I rushed the project and didn't really think it through carefully. This time around, I'm spending a lot more time designing the pages. I started by calling to mind exactly what things I need to address in a given week or day, and once I had my lists I started in on the designs you see above.

As I say, this is still very much a work in progress, so I'll post more details once I have it all buttoned up and home from the binder!

Well, for now, I'll be off ... but not before I wish you all a good night and, of course, thank you for stopping by. It will be a quiet night here ... Bookworm is out for the evening so we've had an early supper (in fact, I'm finishing this very post while ignoring the dishes in the sink, lol). And sadly, we're all caught up on Downton Abbey so we do not have a new episode to watch this evening. Both Bill and I absolutely loved the whole series and can hardly wait for the new season to start! How fun to have something really good to watch again - and mull over - each week. :)

So good night for now my friends ... I'll see you all again very soon!

*❤*

Happy 2012!

~•❤•~

Well, I hope you all enjoyed a nice New Year's!

We welcomed our new year with quiet contentment ... we had no parties to attend (or throw!) and we had not much to do, except relax and enjoy our time together. I think it's nice to start off a new year doing the things that make you happy - the things that make you who you are. For me, that's spending time with my loved ones, cooking up something good, blessing my home with attention, appreciating nature, puttering with paper, and spending time in thought and prayer ... envisioning a happy and healthy new year.

:)

Here are a few pictures from the weekend ...

The onion-beef stew was a hit! (This is just before cooking, of course.) I'll definitely make this one again.

It was mild enough on Sunday that Earlybird asked to play outside with his trucks. While he dug in the dirt, I wandered around taking pictures of the yard's "bones." These photos will be helpful in late winter when I'm eager to plan our spring gardens - but everything's covered with snow!

On New Year's Day, the air was cool, but the sun was gentle and - if you stood still long enough - almost warm.

In fact, it was so nice, I enjoyed my tea (and a British Country Living) outside on the deck.

(Goodness, that table is weathered!)

Back inside (it did get cold after a bit), I played around with some beautiful paper I bought at my favorite scrapbooking store. Such warm, sunny colors!

 I just get so itchy to make calendars at this time of year ...

Now, I'm just playing around with all this right now, but naturally I'll let you all know what I end up making. If I end up making anything worth talking about, anyways. ;)

Well, my friends, this second day of the new year is now coming to a close - the sun has set and my family's getting restless for supper - so I must be off. But I'll be back here again soon - at the very latest tomorrow, roundabouts 4 p.m. As it is Tuesday, it's time for another Wintertime Tea ...

And I do hope you might join me!

:)

Planning Ahead vs Real Life

Before I jump into my "cranberry week" post (that will come next for sure), I wanted to address something that Kristie mentioned in a comment she left yesterday ...

I love the weekly themes, but I can't see that working for me. My weekly themes would go like this: this week is flower week, but the flowers I wanted to observe have not bloomed yet...at the beginning of evergreen week, I would find that trees were going to be half off the week after...during our state week, we would end up out of state on a trip. =) (Just examples, I never thought of theme weeks, but the above would drive me crazy!)

Does that ever happen to you? How do you deal with it if it does and if not, then how do you get that not to happen?!?

Lol, yes Kristie, these things happen to me all the time! And this is a really good point and I actually should have addressed it in my original post ...

The thing is, these seasonal themes are very flexible! Not only do I often shuffle them around, but some weeks nothing - absolutely nothing - gets done according to theme. 

And that might be disappointing, but well - that's life. I don't mean to sound glib, and sure I get frustrated when things don't fit in like I planned, but I try to remember that keeping things real is my ultimate goal.

"Real" meaning, whatever our family life was that week - the highs and the lows. So maybe other things captured our attention and took over our time (and my energy). Maybe our week was too busy to fit in any "extras" at all. Or maybe we got sick and it all "flu" out the window!

Case in point, this week - which I dubbed "nest and hibernation" week. I had all these ideas - so many great ideas! And then Monday afternoon I got hit hard with the flu. At first I thought I could still pull some things off since we could "nest" on the couch as I recovered. But what actually happened? I slept all day! I just could not stay upright, lol. And I wasn't particularly pleasant to be around. So I didn't have the energy to make up our "winter nests" as I planned (flannel sheets, comfy quilts) and nobody felt like taking a "nest walk" while mom was sick at home ... so what happens to "nest" week? Well, it could just be dismissed, to be revisted next year ... or I could take those ideas and fit them in some other time. "Nesting and hibernation" works as well in December as it does mid-November.

Remember those "gratitude leaves" I didn't start on time? Well, I caught up and we kept going with it ... but I can tell you, we fell way behind on leaves this week! I do plan to catch up as best we can - but if we don't have 24 leaves hanging from the window on Thankgiving Day (as originally planned) that's OK. Because it will be US. And remember, I'm going for real. :)

As I've said, this is all very casual ... because these activities are supposed to be subtle. They're supposed to fit into our life, quite naturally. I don't want them to feel forced. (This is so key!) I want them to resonate with the seasons but also with our reality. I don't want to manipulate our family experience - I want to enhance it.

So to address your potential scenarios, Kristie (which made me giggle!) ... I'd suggest you might move things around a little! Wait a week on your flowers, or perhaps make "waiting and watching" part of your week. Visit the yard daily and keep track of any new growth ... look up the language of the flowers you've chosen ... visit a nursery to look at flowers already in bloom. And as for the evergreens - why not get a head start? Learn about them, identify evergreens in your own environment, collect cones and make crafts. Do all this before you head to the farm ... you'll be all the more "geared up" when you get there!

Keep your themes in mind - plan for them, certainly! - but try to remain flexible and work things in around where life takes you.

(Now, I try to take my own advice as best I can - but I well understand the need to keep things neat and tidy - you know how much I love schedules and plans! Themes look so nice all written down in order, especially when matched up with specific events - say, a field trip or feast day. But I try to work with what life hands us because goodness knows - I'm not the one really in charge!)

So I guess, Kristie, my advice would be to do what feels natural and try not to worry if things don't go as you hoped. In my experience things almost never do! I'd also say, if you know you'll go crazy when things don't match up - don't overplan! Just pick a couple of things for a week, or just brainstorm a list of activities to pick from through the month. Then if you don't get to them you won't feel like you put all this energy into planning things that never panned out. 

And if you only fit in only a fraction of all you had "planned" - well, you still did some really nice things for your family. I doubt very much they'll miss what you didn't do ... but I bet they'll appreciate and remember what you did. 

❤

So I hope this post helps a little, Kristie - if only to share with you my own take on "fitting it all in." It's something I work on too, adjusting my own expectations. (Life with a special needs child has taught me that well!) And I don't mean to make it sound like I'm completely laid back on all this - I tend to be too "Type A" for that! But as I say, I do try to go with the flow as best I can - working with the seasons as well as my family.

Sorry to ramble on so long but your comment really got me thinking! And by the way Kristie, please don't stop asking your questions - I love them! They get me thinking and let me know when I'm unclear or missing something or need to address something further. I appreciate that you take the time to read and "review!" :)

To all my readers ~ I hope you have a lovely weekend. I'm feeling so much better and ready to catch up with all my pre-Thanksgiving preparations. Needless to say that farm visit didn't happen last week, but we'll fit a Whole Foods trip in this weekend. And there's lots to do around here before Turkey Day ... my list has lots of little boxes to check off!

So I'll be off for now ... but I'll be back again soon. Have a good one, my friends!

~**❤**~

Assigning Weekly "Seasonal" Themes

Dear readers, this quiet Friday morning I'm working on our "plan" for next week and, as I check our calendar and jot down ideas, it got me to formulating this post ...

Now, as you know, I just love to compile big lists of ideas for the seasons (both natural and liturgical), and I gather ideas from various resources (books and magazines, etc.), but mostly from my own deep appreciation of the seasons themselves. I've been keeping these lists, and nurturing this passion, since I was a young girl, so I guess you could say seasonskeeping is a longtime hobby of mine! :)

And lists are always wonderful things, but taking all those general ideas and turning them into specific actions (moving them from the list to our life) takes a little extra thought and planning. In other words, looking over my "late autumn" list and seeing inspirational thoughts like "cranberries," "nests" and "evergreens" is one thing - but scheduling activities like "sketch cranberries for nature log," "go on a nest walk," and "visit a tree farm" is the essential next step. 

(Actually, taking those broad themes and brainstorming possible activities based on those themes comes next - then we can pick and choose and fit those ideas into our week.)

But of course, our weeks are already so busy! So how do we fit in all (or just some of) these "extras?"

Well, this could (and probably will) spark a whole post on managing our household in such a way that we make time for the extras, but for today I'll just focus on this one thing ...

I find it very helpful to assign seasonal "themes" to our weeks.

It's often (though not always!) as simple as that.

By doing this, I find it a little easier to fit fun seasonal activities into what is, assuredly, an already jam-packed week. These activities are usually simple things that connect us in some way with the season at hand. And here's another key - they involve all different aspects of our everyday life. An activity might fit into our home learning, or it might become a fun family outing, while many ideas are simply worked into my weekly homekeeping (baking, cleaning and such).

The end result (hopefully) is in keeping our children aware of the natural world and in tune with the rhythm of the seasons - in a casual, yet memorable way.

So this week - when the leaves are tumbling down and the trees are just about bare - our theme is "nests and hibernation."

Next week (Thanksgiving week), we'll work in a "cranberries" theme.

And the week after that, we'll visit the Christmas tree farm, so our assigned seasonal theme will be "evergreens."

These are all easy but meaningful connections ~ and simple, good fun!

Now, I have an outline of themes that mostly get repeated year to year, (seasons may change, but they're comforting in their familiarity and renewal), but as the children mature I change up our activities and focus. I'm currently outlining next year's weekly themes, and I will share them here just as soon as I can.

Also, later today (or possibly tomorrow) I'll post my cranberry week ideas here ... right now I'm just finishing up my weekly planning as I sit here by the fire, sipping coffee and admiring the rising sun with my Earlybird. We're both feeling so much better and this day feels so full of promise!

(From EB himself, as he peers out a cracked-open familiy room window: "Mama! Come here and smell this wonderful morning air!" How that warms my heart! For the verbal skill as well as the heartfelt expression! That's seasonskeeping at work right there, my friends!)

So I hope you all have a nice Friday ... I'll be back here again in a bit.

:)

Talking Shop*

*i.e. file folder and calendar questions. :)

Good Thursday morning, my friends!

I'd like to catch up on some more blog comments, so if "shop talk" is not your cup of tea - feel free to skip this rather lengthy, detail-oriented post. I'm very sorry I've fallen so far behind on addressing reader questions - this is one area of organization I obviously need to work on! ;)

This first one's from Michelle ...

Thank you for the filing posts! I am feeling much better about mine now, because you showed pictures of where you keep your papers. My countertop looks a lot like yours. I like the idea of keeping folders in the basket as well. Do the big paper clips hold the bills to be paid? Also, do you keep your daily calendar open on the countertop? That seems to be my big dilema... going back and forth from the papers in the calendar to the papers in the files. I do love the feeling of being organized!

Michelle, thank you so much for commenting! I love the feeling of being organized too, which is why I'm constantly tweaking my "systems" to make them work as well as they can. I know I can never be on top of it all, but feeling some sense of control really makes my days flow more smoothly. And then "mama" feels happier ... so then everyone feels happier! ;)

Now, to answer your questions ... 

Yes, one of the binder clips holds our bills to be paid and there's another one holding business cards (from various health professionals, our hairdresser, the vet, etc.). I LOVE binder clips - I use them constantly, and keep an assortment of sizes on hand at all times!

As for my calendar ~ I do keep it out on the countertop, with the file folder just beside or beneath it. I generally keep my calendar open to the week at hand - so I can quickly see the day's agenda (aka, where we have to go) and specific daily to-do's (i.e. clean out the freezer, bag up the recycling, mail check, etc.). 

And this topic leads me to a question asked some time ago by a reader, Briar (such a pretty name!), about how often I repeat information ...

My other issue is that my calendar and to-do lists are online. This *mostly* works for me, but I find that it makes dealing with the paper aspects of my life difficult, because they aren't in sync. Which leads me to a question: how often do you repeat information? What things get written in the your calendar versus what gets written on the planning sheet? If, say, you have a book group meeting, does that go in your calendar, or just the planning sheet, or both? Do you also write that down in the lesson planner? I love the idea of the FCS, so I'm really hoping I can figure out a way to make it work for me this year.

This is something I struggle with, Briar. I love putting pen (or as the case may be, pencil) to paper, so it's very easy for me to get carried away. Graphophilia aside, and in the interest of time and efficiency, I do try to limit myself and keep things as streamlined as possible. And yet, I often find myself writing some information more than once. 

For instance, as you mention above, when I write down our Book Group event, I first write it down in my month-at-a-glance calendar:

"Book Group, 12:45"

> This information is helpful when I'm scheduling appointments, get-togethers and other activities. <

> I'll do this ahead, once I know when Book Group will be. <

Later, as I prepare for a new week ahead, I first consult that month-at-a-glance calendar. In my week-at-a-glance calendar (another section in my MomAgenda) I write the event/time in the Friday column, and if there's something I need to remember for that day - something I need to bring or do on the ride over or back, I jot it down here, too.

"Book Group, 12:45-2:00 - atm/gas" 

> This information is helpful when I'm planning out my day. <

> I'll do this several days ahead. <

Next I prepare the weekly planning sheet (the one that attaches to the front of my file folder), and here I write (under "Of Note") the event, along with a little more information:

"Book Group - Bridge to Terabithia"

> This is helpful when going back and writing end-of-year reports. <

> I do this on the Thursday before. <

So I do repeat the information, but I use it in different ways in each instance. The month @ a glance helps me schedule ahead, the week @ a glance helps me manage my day, and the weekly (file folder) planning sheet helps me give shape and feel to our week. It also helps me reflect on our week when I go back at year's end - I write yearly academic reports for the school system.

Now, all that said ...

I think it would be much more efficient and convenient to combine the second two actions - the week @ a glance calendar and the weekly planning sheet - thereby keeping all "weekly focus" in one place. I have yet to make that happen, but I'm working on it! It would have to be something of my own design - something that would work within the framework of the weekly file folder.

Because ultimately it would be great to have a (portable) month @ a glance calendar and a weekly file folder with all the planning space I need for the week, in general, and the days of the week, specifically. Then I'd just be writing down information twice - once on the monthly calendar and once on the weekly file folder. But until I get that all straightened out (envisioned/created*) I will go with what's working well for me now.

(*I'm thinking the inside file folder cover would be a great place for that week @ a glance calendar ...)

Now, if I haven't bored you all yet, lol, I'd like to also quickly address a relevant question left by by Trish a while back, about why I choose paper planning over computerized ...

Hi Dawn ... I have a question for you. I notice you have a MacBook (I do too) and was curious why you don't use iCal for your planning purposes? I go back and forth between paper planners and iCal and can't seem to figure out which I like best! I love the physical act of writing (I was an art major in college long ago and understand the joy of writing on nice paper!) but I also enjoy the wonderful portability and ease of the MacBook/iPhone combination... especially at the grocery store and out running errands. Any thoughts?

Tirsh, while I find digital planning intriguing - especially in the case of grocery shopping as you mention above - I can't seem to give up my paper paraphernalia!

First, there's my aforementioned paper passion - but there's also my overall comfort level. I just find it easier to check in with my planner stuff as it is spread out on my counter - than it is to hop on my computer.

Then there's the whole trust issue - plainly put, I don't fully trust my computerized tools! Recently my MacBook crashed (due to a crimped wire inside the hard drive) and I could have lost all kinds of things. (Thankfully, I didn't!) Sure it's pretty easy to misplace a list or a folder, but in the end, I'm just more comfortable using my low-tech systems.

For example, I have this handy little shopping notebook - it's small enough to fit in my purse, but big enough for a good amount of notes. In it, I write out a weekly grocery shopping list which includes other errands like the pharmacy/library/etc. 

Now, I know I could keep this list on my iPhone, but I really just like using that notebook! I clip timely coupons to it - I jot things in it through the week as I think of them. I keep it in my hand - or propped up in the child seat of my carriage - as I walk around the store. All these actions just seem easier to me in notebook, rather than phone, form.

Now, I don't mean to disparage digital planning as a whole - I think it works fantastically for some people! (In fact, here's an article on digital planning at Parents.com.) And it probably is more efficient overall - and it's certainly less environmentally taxing. I won't rule out that someday I might be converted - but for now my paper junkie nature still rules, lol!

~**❤**~

 Ok, that's all I have time for right now - I do have more reader comments and questions "on file" and will be getting to them just as soon as I can.

In the meantime, I hope you all have a lovely day ~ stay safe and be well!

I'll be back again very soon ...

:)

This Year's Holiday Planner

It's hard to believe how fast Fall has flown by - Halloween is just six days away! Have you squared away your costumes? Laid in your candy stores? Picked out your pumpkins?

Now according to the local mall, I'm waaaay behind schedule, but now that October is coming to a close, I'm ready to set my sights on Thanksgiving and Christmas, the busy, bright and beautiful holiday season ...

To that end, I recently assembled my holiday planner, and placed it in the front section of my homekeeping binder. I keep it here, in this "place of honor," since I'll be concentrating on holiday plans now through the end of the year.

In our home, we host Thanksgiving dinner and a Christmas afternoon gathering. These are the two "big" entertaining events for us. At this time of year I'm also planning for a few feast days, a meaningful/magical Advent, and a homey/happy New Year's celebration.

Lots of fun to be had! Lots of plans to be made!

And so, as family "cruise director," I really depend on my holiday planner ...

Behind the cover page, are all my planning pages. I used my greenroom legal pads (with soft green and blue accents) for these pages.

(A list of those planning pages is included below.)

I also added in a print-out of Martha Stewart's Thanksgiving and Christmas checklists.

And I used some pretty scrapbooking paper to make a November and December calendar.

(I doodle a lot - I'm silly like that.)

Next, I set up an open folder for the various holiday "clippings" I collect - recipes, catalog pages, craft ideas and the like. I just used a leftover bit of scrapbook paper and folded it in half, like a bill-fold.

A small metal clip holds it all together.

In this way, it's easy to flip through the assorted pages and see what's what.

I stuck the clippings in my counter basket, where it's right in-view and in-reach. I've been adding things regularly - in fact, just this morning I added a recipe for mini mince pies. :)

The planner itself rests on the countertop - alongside my weekly file folder and calendar. Behind the holiday planner is the rest of my homekeeping binder. After New Year's I'll retire the whole planner to the back of the binder. (And next year I'll review and start afresh.)

Here's a list of the planning pages, in order:

(Green = Thanksgiving ~ Blue = Christmas ~ Red = New Year's)

This year's Grateful Tree project

Notes for November feast days & birthdays

Thanksgiving Dinner: guests, menu, make-ahead and cooking times

Shopping list (items/itinerary)

Table notes - seating/decor

House cleaning & prep list

Random to-do's

Activities & family traditions

Special words

This year's Advent Calendar project

Advent Sundays

Notes for December feast days & birthdays

Christmas to-do's: general, weekly

Christmas Cards 2011

Holiday newsletter-blog notes

Christmas Gifts 2011

Shopping list (items/itinerary)

Decorating: inside, outside

Gifts to make and bake

* Cheerful Hearts *

Activities & family traditions

Christmas Eve/Day timetable

Christmas Buffet: guests, menu, make-ahead, cooking times

Epiphany

Welcoming 2012

New Year Family Goals

* Charitable Hearts *

*†*†*†*†*†*†*†*†*†*†*†*†*†*†*†*†*†*†*

It seems like a lot, doesn't it? Well, the holidays do take some work, after all ...

Of course it's easy to go overboard, but hopefully with a cushion of time and perspective, we're able to keep things in balance. Because it's such a special time of year, and I don't like to spend it rushing around, stressing out or feeling low. If starting this far ahead and making all these lists brings us a little more peace and contentment this Christmas, then I'm all for it!

Well, I hope this post posed some ideas that might be useful for you. I'm sure we all have different lists - not to mention expectations - for the holidays, but I hope you enjoyed this all the same. :)

I also hope you all have a great week, and that you enjoy these last days of October. Our foliage here is just past peak, but with a rainstorm in the forecast for Thursday (not to mention a bit of snow!) I'm sure the trees will be bare before week's end. Such is the passing of seasons ~ and Autumn certainly goes out in a fiery hurrah!

As always, thanks so much for stopping by today. I wish you all well, and I look forward to being here again with you soon ...

*❤*