Tonight I borrowed the newest issue of Family Circle from a friend. It's the January 2009 and one of the front taglines says, "101 Ways To Get Organized." They are speaking my language!! "After Christmas" is probably my favorite time of year. It is my maximum declutter-and-get-everything-in-order period. I love, love, love all the articles in magazines (I guess I can add "blogs" to that now) that I read about the newest heaven-sent products that will radically change my life for the better.
Tonight after we got all the kiddos to bed I sat down with my magazine immediately started to almost hyperventilate (see above article link and you'll know why!) Eventually I had to get up and start my "calendaring." This is my own term inspired by my love of all things "calendar". I truly enjoy sitting down and getting things on the calendar (with my Sharpie permanent marker of course)! A few years ago I somehow managed to talk myself into a palm pilot. Since then the battery has ceased and so has my use of it. I still have the palm desktop application on the computer and all of my updated contacts and birthdays are in it. So tonight I dutifully copied all the important birthdays into my new google calendar. The google calendar is truly a lifesaver. I'm enjoying it so very much! Especially the automatic email reminders I send to myself. I pre-set the birthdays calendar to send me an email four days prior to a birthday, so I have a little bit of time to get the card in the mailbox. I started a menu calendar too, but so far haven't been on top of it and dinners are not super organized like they should be. We still manage okay but I would like to eventually get all the meals planned out at least a week ahead of time.
Now we also have a "paper calendar" that we keep on the wall by the kitchen. Underneath I have a wall mounted clear acrylic file holder for various papers and momentos that we need to keep handy when going out. I keep this wall calendar for the benefit of the rest of the family so they can keep somewhat organized. Last year I bought a Gooseberry Patch calendar and it was fine. This year I've reverted back to using a spiritually enriching of our Christian life calendar. I like to surround our family with images that inspire us of the divine, you know?
So now I'm off to follow links even though I should be in bed. Tonight, in the midst of a wonderful Asian meal with some dear friends, we got off to Mass. So tomorrow we shall sleep in and enjoy some nice family down time.
God bless your day and Happy Organizing!
Mary in MN
Comments