random reflections

The New Normal

We arrived home from Wisconsin two weeks ago Sunday afternoon. By Monday morning, news of the coronavirus had become dire enough that we began cancelling all the moving parts of a planned 17 day vacation to California and Hawaii. It’s taken almost two weeks to get everything taken care of as best we can. As disappointing as it is, it pales in significance to the people whose lives have been totally disrupted and upended by the virus. My prayer list now includes all those whose livelihood is jeopardized by the closure of almost all businesses and cancellations of major events, those suffering from the virus, and the many, many health care workers and caregivers offering their skills and risking their lives to those who are ill.

We have gone from one confirmed case of the virus in our county last week to a total of forty-six this afternoon. The governor of New York and our local officials have moved swiftly and consistently to the current situation where people involved in non-essential services/businesses are required to stay home. We are allowed to leave our homes to get groceries, go to the pharmacy, and take a walk---as long as we stay appropriately distant from anyone we encounter. It’s all transpired so quickly. A week ago Thursday night, my interfaith book group met here. No one would consider such a meeting today.

On Monday we felt comfortable walking outside with Matt and the girls, but now even that level of contact is gone. We cancelled Tracy’s birthday dinner celebration, and are relying on video contacts now even though they live just over a mile away.

Walks are the saving grace. It’s good to get out of the house once a day, and we’re accumulating steps in numbers we haven’t seen in a long time.

We try to find a new route each day. Monday it was the Brickyard Trail with the girls.

Betsy had given Skylar (8) and Ella (5) a list of 10 things to look for on their walk. All the schools in New York are closed indefinitely, and both of my children are now homeschooling their children. Sarah is also trying to work from home, so it's a challenge. Her church (as well as ours) is also closed indefinitely, but both churches are providing worship experiences for their congregations online. Our church is live streaming a service each Sunday. My Lenten Study Group met via Google Meet on Tuesday.

Maddy (3) walked part way, and rode part way.

The end of the trail.

On Wednesday, we walked the Erie Canal path from the Jewish Community Center to the lock on Clover Street.

Not a sign of spring on this walk. You can see the lock in the distance.

Thursday, we took our longest walk. We walked to Mt. Hope Cemetery. Frederick Douglass (famous abolitionist) and Susan B. Anthony (women’s rights activist) are both buried here.

Yesterday the temperature was in the 60’s, and we took an early walk before the high winds and rain began. The high today is not quite 30°.

There were, however, some signs of spring walking through the city neighborhoods.

It’s taken me some time to adjust to the new normal, and get productive. I finally made a list early this week of creative projects to work on and as part of my OLW, COMMIT, decided that working on two different projects each day would be a good start. So far, so good, so there will be some blog posts coming more regularly now.

 

 

Me on Monday: Christmas Eve

Merry Christmas to those who celebrate! The meteorologist wasn't sure if we'd have a white Christmas, but it looks like we're well on our way. I took this photo about three hours ago, and it has continued to snow ever since.

It was a busy weekend. The highlight was celebrating Christmas with Betsy, Matt, and the girls on Saturday night. Ella and Maddy were particularly excited.

After our gift exchange, the rest of Betsy's family arrived for dinner.

The only "fail" in this photo, was forgetting to pull Maddy's highchair out so she could be seen! 

Sarah's gifts for the girls didn't arrive in time for the gift exchange, but arrived yesterday. After wrapping them, I took them down so they could open them this afternoon. Sarah had made each girl a beautiful book pocket pillow. Maddy had hers turned backwards, but on the other two you can see the lovely quilted patchwork on the pockets. Off course, there was a book in each pocket.

Tonight, the table is set for tomorrow's dinner--fourteen strong, and Tracy and I will go out to eat. That's been the tradition for many, many years. Once the house is ready for company, off we go. It makes for a relaxed evening, but not an early one. We'll be attending the Christmas Eve service at 11:00, and this year I am one of the readers. It's an opportunity I enjoy fulfilling. I hope your holiday is also relaxed and fulfilling!

Chicago Celebrations

As always, we packed up right after Christmas and headed to Chicago. After Erie, PA received nearly 60 inches of snow, we decided to take the route through Canada. We had generally clear roads, and sunny skies for most of the trip, but had a two hour wait to cross the border when we reached Michigan. I guess we weren’t the only ones trying to avoid the mess in Erie.

By the time we got there, both kids were in the pajamas, but Caleb was eager to open gifts.

I had a hard time this visit, capturing good photos of Hannah who is now walking, but here’s one of her with her dad. She has a variety of these little animal pacifiers which she loves.

We not only celebrated Christmas, but on the 30^th we celebrated Hannah’s first birthday, and Caleb’s sixth birthday. The night before we blew up about 100 balloons and tossed them into Caleb’s room. Much to my surprise, he slept through it all.

When he woke up in the morning, he found one package on the dining room table, and a clue for the next. One clue required popping balloons until he found the six with the words to the next clue. It extended the birthday celebration through most of the morning.

One of our gifts to Hannah, was a water table. Even without water, it proved to be a popular gift with both kids.

Adam has made a poster to commemorate Caleb’s birthday every year since he turned two. Caleb remembers every one of them, reminding his dad the night before of the images he’d drawn on last year’s poster. Here are this year’s. Caleb received quite a wonderful camera for Christmas, and was eagerly taking photos of everything he could.

And Hannah’s for her nickname “Hannah the Banana”---who knows where that came from?

 

Sharing your birthday with a one-year-old isn't too bad. I think it might become a bit more challenging as Hannah gets older and has some opinions about how things get done. And one last photo of Adam, Sarah, and Caleb at dinner one night---one of my faves from the trip.

Thanks to Laura Bassen, Caleb got one of my more involved birthday cards. I pinned it as soon as I saw it on Laura’s blog, and recreating it wasn’t as difficult as I expected. It opened and closed perfectly at home, but required a bit of adjusting once it was opened in Chicago. Looks great, though, in his bedroom which is decorated with a space theme.

The card required just two sets of dies: "Space Journey," and "You're a Star," both from Simon Says as well as some Dark Indigo cardstock and a bunch of scraps (all Papertrey Ink.)

I’ve learned the hard way, not to give toddlers a shaker card. Ella took hers apart the minute she opened it on her second birthday. But I figured I’d go for it for the first birthday since Hannah was unlikely to want to play with it. I found a shaker kit I purchased quite awhile ago which made it easier to assemble, and frankly, quite a bit sturdier as well.

I've had the Mama Elephant "Carnival Cupcakes" stamp set for quite a few years. The little bunny and the cupcake both come from that set. I colored them with Copic markers and fussy cut them, adding some Distress Glitter to one layer of the cupcake. The sentiment is from Papertrey's "Birthday Bash" set--also an oldie. The balloon and strings are dies from Papertrey and the number one is from the "Typewriter Numbers" by Memory Box. I added a few Nuevo glitter drops as a final embellishment. 

That wraps up December! Now on to finishing up my reflections on 2017, and putting the final touches on the One Little Word for 2018. I'm pretty sure the number of blog posts in January will double (triple?) the number in December. 

 

 

December Highlights

Between the holidays and traveling, my blogging took a rather unexpected hiatus. It wasn’t intentional, but I have a few events to record here after the fact. Because the Christmas in Chicago also included two birthdays, I’ll save that for the next post.

The George Eastman Museum hosts an evening with Santa each year, and for the third year in a row, we’ve taken the girls. This year we missed seeing Santa come down the grand staircase (no fault of our own), but we still had a good time. None of the girls is quite sure about an individual chat with Santa so we forego the long line, but Ella expressed an interest as we were leaving, so next year may be the year Grandma hops in line to save their places.

Skylar has enjoyed the Gingerbread House Scavenger Hunt for both of the last two years.

My favorite gingerbread house this year was fashioned after a real home in Canandaigua, New York. The facsimile was remarkable close to the photograph that accompanied it.

Upstairs in the Discovery Room, there are always fun things to explore.

And although, they’re reluctant to visit Santa themselves, both Skylar and Ella enjoy watching Santa talking with other children. This year Skylar had a list for Santa, and the kind volunteer took her list and put it in Santa’s bag for her.

The following weekend, we went to Buffalo with friends to visit the Teddy Roosevelt Inaugural Site, followed by a visit to the Albright-Knox Art Gallery. It was a wonderful visit and we really enjoyed the current exhibit: “Out of Sight! Art of the Senses.” You can see a video on the website here of some of the interactive installations. We had tea in the tea room, listened to music, and had a particularly good time in the room of mirrors. We were lucky that the museum was not crowded the day we visited. Here are some of my favorite photos from the art gallery:

A house made of green fabric.

The room of mirrors; love the second one. I had no idea what I'd captured until I uploaded it!

Light and shadows

We celebrate Christmas three times; twice in Rocheter and once in Chicago. First with Matt, Betsy, and the girls. Although they come for the early part of the Walker Christmas on Christmas Day, the event is too late for the three little girls. This year, Betsy’s family joined us. Karen, her sister, arrived from Boston just in time, and Pam, Nadia, and Betsy’s dad also joined us. These photos are courtesy of Pam, who records every family event faithfully.

Skylar and her beloved cousin, Nadia

Christmas Day is always fun with the Walker crowd. Here are a few faves from that gathering. The first two photos were taken by Skylar who wanted to try out my camera. She captured the only one of me for the day, and one of her dad with his Uncle Greg.

Matt, Ella, and Maddy

When Skylar and Ella came to bake cookies the week before Christmas, Skylar wondered if "the piano lady" was coming this year. We missed Sonora last year, but she was here this year, and entertaining the girls as always.

From the right, my niece Jasmine; her brother Mason; his girlfriend, Molly; Jasmine's husband, Hollis; and Tracy. Jasmine and Hollis had exciting news---they'll be parents
in early May!

And last, my favorite photo of the day: Miss Ella on the stairs before the party began.

If you got to the bottom of this post, thanks for hanging in there! Still frigid weather here; hoping for warmer temperatures tomorrow when I do have to go out. 

 

Memo, Mail, and Me

The first Monday in November---how quickly October disappeared. We arrived home from Chicago on Friday. The trip didn’t turn out exactly as I planned or hoped. I was sick every. single. day. we were away. First a cold, then a virus that put me flat on my back for 2 ½ days. Fortunately Tracy and Adam soldiered on with not only two children to care for, but me as well. Yesterday was the first day I felt 90%, although I did muddle through the first few days we were there, and the last several days. The project box I so carefully packed was never opened!

Being with Hannah and Caleb was a delight, however. They both have changed so much since June when we last saw them. Caleb is the perfect big brother, entertaining Hannah, and thoroughly enjoying his first year in public school. He has a fabulous teacher in a wonderful elementary school located at the end of their street. He was the Star Student of the Week while we were there.

Here he is dancing for Hannah.

Hannah was crawling everywhere when we arrived, and by the time we left had figured out how to get up the stairs. It’s amazing how fast she is.

Caleb and I made Halloween cookies.

Halloween turned out to be totally awesome for Caleb. He couldn’t wait to get to school. We were invited to his classroom for the party and then to watch the school parade. Hannah’s day care also had a parade.   Caleb appeared as Flash, and Hannah wore the same pumpkin costume Caleb wore for his first Halloween. Although Hannah smiles constantly, she only napped for 24 minutes on Halloween so was absolutely exhausted by the time we took photos.

Caleb went trick or treating with friends before dinner, and was just thrilled with his stash.

As usual, the stack of mail was huge when we returned. Most of it was holiday catalogs, but there were two pieces of happy mail. The first was the November Simon Says Card Kit. It’s particularly beautiful this month with elegant embossed papers and an oversized stamp set with an accompanying die. I have lots of cards to make in the next few days so I was happy to see it.

Botanica also arrived. I preordered it months ago, and am so delighted to finally have it in my hands. Janine Vangool, who is also the publisher of Uppercase, is such a talented woman. Her creativity knows no bounds! I’m quite sure this will be a source of inspiration for both papercrafting and sketching for many weeks to come.

The one outing I had before the virus hit was to the Botanic Gardens. I posted a few photos from there for the 5 in 5 meme, but I’ll be back shortly to share some more.

Monday Memo

It's been awhile since I posted a Monday Memo, but I did have some great mail this week, so I thought I'd do a quick recap of our weekend which was a particularly busy one. Friday night we attended a wedding for a good friend's daughter. It was held in a barn, and was absolutely lovely!

The bride and her father

The bride and groom--sadly not the sharpest of iPhone photos

The barn before dinner

The favors: a Mason jar mug with chalkboard labels---used for our beverages and ours to keep

The bride did all the decorating and planning. She's a wonderfully creative girl, and the wedding invitations were spectacular and all handmade. 

On Saturday I helped a friend who is moving to New Mexico pack up his library. We packed 30 boxes of books, and he still had two more bookcases to go! That afternoon, our street had a neighborhood picnic. I only took one photo, and got only a fraction of the folks who attended. It was pot luck, and the food was great. It was also a good chance to meet some new neighbors and connect with those we don't often see.

Sunday, after church, was a bridal shower for Betsy's sister who is getting married in Boston over Columbus Day weekend. Once again, I didn't take many photos, but I did get one of the table where all the gifts were placed. 

I do, however, have a couple photos of the card I made for Karen.

I started by using the "Falling Hearts" stencil by Simon Says with three different shades of pink ink from Altenew. I stamped the umbrella from Papertrey Ink's "Dress-up Dolls: Rainy Day" (I knew this little $5 set would come in handy), fussy cut it, and colored it with Copics. The sentiment was computer generated and cut with banner dies from PTI. I added a silver heart and a few sequins at the end.

 

And then there was the mail. In one day, I received a pretty new skirt that was 70% off (no photo), this gorgeous hand-decorated envelope and card from Nan, and three items from the latest Altenew release.

Today was a busy day. I went to the gym before breakfast, and it's a good thing I did because once I left the house, I was only here for a few minutes between one event and the next. I finally got home about 8:30 tonight. Tomorrow is much the same, but Wednesday is clear and I'm hoping to put these new Altenew products to good use. 

Lastly, today is September 11 and a day to remember all those who lost their lives 16 years ago as well as remembering all those who worked so hard to rescue and provide help to the victims. Like most Americans, I know exactly what I was doing when I heard the news. Sadly, the world was forever changed, and I fear not for the better. In addition, I'm thinking and praying for all those in Houston who are trying to rebound from Hurricane Harvey and all those who have been in Hurricane Irma's path. Not a day goes by that I'm not aware of my many blessings, but days like these remind me how very fortunate I am.

Ah, September!

It’s Labor Day, and the start of the school year tomorrow for most students in Rochester. Caleb started kindergarten in Illinois two weeks ago. September has always seemed like a second restart to me. I’ve been living with my One Little Word for eight months, and the list of intentions I wrote in January.

It’s a good time to reassess. Actually, I started the process in August when I became frustrated with my ability to get to some of the projects I love and have committed to, and printed out a new copy of my tracking sheet. It’s rather amazing how well this works for me.

I finally finished my #100DayProject, and only sketched once after that. My card making fell into a string of days when I made sure to have the cards I needed for August and early September.

And finally, at the end of the month, I got going on Project Life. I was nearly a year behind, but have finished all the pages for 2016 and have the title page for 2017 completed.

A lot of advance planning for the next several months is also done. I gave up on my Christmas Journal, and decided to include the holidays in the Project Life album. I think that’s probably the path of the future as well. The mail brought a package from Gossamer Blue this week. They had a Half Price sale so I bought one full kit as well as a Life Pages kit. This is only some of the goodies. I put away the stamps and several other items before I thought to take a photo.

Exercise was the biggest improvement. I scheduled a meeting with my personal trainer and started a new routine at the gym. That plus walking meant that there were only a few days in August that I wasn’t active.

Journaling didn’t happen, and it’s on the list for September. I’m trying a new eating plan which I added to the list for September and a 4 week shopping ban---only groceries, gifts, and necessities. I’ve had some serious issues with my feet, and have purchased several pairs of good shoes which allow me to wear new orthotics which were prescribed by the orthopedic surgeon. Somehow that seemed to give me leeway to go on a shopping spree.

You can see that I only missed one day of reading, and it paid off with seven books read in August, possibly the most I’ve ever read in a month. Two of my favorites were theology-based, but I can recommend two novels.

The first is our September book group book, A Stranger in the Woods: The Extraordinary Story of the Last True Hermit. It’s a compelling story of a young man who parks his car on a dirt road, throws the keys on the dashboard, and walks into the Maine wilderness. The next time, he emerges is 27 years later. How and why that happens is the plot of the book, but much of what I loved was the author’s inclusion of the research and history of solitude. How is it that one person can thrive on total solitude, but it drives most people crazy? (Sometimes literally.)

The second book is Gail Godwin’s Grief Cottage. It’s a ghost story of sorts, but also a meditation on loneliness, solitude, memories, and grief. I've long been a fan of Gail Godwin, having enjoyed Father Melancholy's Daughter, Evensong, and Flora, among others.

We’ve had a busy weekend. We were invited to a lovely Shabbat Dinner on Friday evening, entertained two couples here on Saturday, and went to a Fantasy Football picnic yesterday. Today has been very quiet, but there are more good things coming in the week ahead.

A Quick Update

It's not often that a week goes by without a blog post, but it's been quite an unusual week. Shortly after I posted the news about Hannah's arrival, we received word that Sarah had been taken back into surgery for internal bleeding. The surgery went well, but when we arrived in Evanston on Saturday, we found her in the ICU. On Sunday afternoon she moved back to the Women's Hospital, and spent another three and a half days there. The staff at the Evanston Hospital is first-rate as is the facility itself. Thursday afternoon Sarah and Hannah came home. It's been a surprisingly easy transition for both mama and baby. Needless to say, I haven't been on the computer much, except to post on Facebook and Instagram for two photography projects (both daily 365 projects). I'll be around to catch up with all of you next week some time, and I have a couple projects I hope to post as well.

I'll leave you with a photo of Caleb and Hannah's first meeting. Caleb wore his Superman T-shirt, and brought his new sister a Wonder Woman sticker. He's been wonderful during the time his mama was in the hospital and at home with Hannah as well.

I think my end of the year reflections, and One Little Word posts are likely to be a month late this year. But, in fact, holding a baby and entertaining a five year old takes precedence over almost anything. Hope your year is off to a good start!

Ten on Tuesday: Memorial Day Weekend

This week's list for Carole's Ten on Tuesday asks for 10 things you did on the weekend. Mine was a busy one, but most of my photos are from the last part of the weekend. It was a three-day weekend in the U.S. although mine started on Friday and spans four days!

1. I walked with my friend, Debbie, from Pittsford to Bushnell's Basin (about a 5.75 mile walk) which we end with breakfast at the Coal Tower. 

2. Friday afternoon I picked up my pots for the patio. For the last three years, I've taken my three biggest pots to a local garden center and have them planted. It's proven to be very cost effective, and I'm always pleased with the results.

3. Although I have photos from my very special evening on Friday, they aren't ones I can post on the blog. The agency where I volunteer once a week has conducted a year-long project funded by a generous grant for the fourth and fifth grade girls. They've had the opportunity to visit a college, attend etiquette lessons while having a tea party (their favorite activity), go rock climbing, and visit local businesses. It expands the horizons of girls who are growing up in one of the worst neighborhoods in Rochester. The culminating event was a very fancy dinner at one of the nicest hotels in the Rochester area. The staff acquired fancy dresses for all the girls, and transported them. The girls chose the menu, picked out the color of the napkins, and created a lovely invitation. I was lucky enough to receive one of them. The girls loved every minute of the dinner, and everyone received a diploma for "graduating" from the program. The staff has applied for another grant for next year, and I hope they get it. It was such a positive experience for everyone.

4. Saturday morning was hot and humid. Not a great day for cooking for a crowd in a kitchen with no air conditioning, but that's what my Dining Room Ministry team did. The food is always appreciated and I work with a great group of people from elementary school age to over 90 years old from my church. Our church hosts a lunch every Saturday (even on Christmas if it falls on a Saturday). We serve 80-90 meals each week. There are 10 teams, and we rotate throughout the year.

5. When I got home, Tracy and I went to visit our friend, Bob. Keep your prayers coming. The chemotherapy is doing some good, and he is feeling stronger. He was able to enjoy visits from both his daughters, and from family who was here visiting from California this week.

6. Late that afternoon, we attended our final performance at Geva Theater, our wonderful local repertory theater. The play, The May Queen, takes place in a small city in the Hudson Valley, just a few miles from where I graduated from high school so I was familiar with all the places that were referenced. It was an odd play (neither Tracy nor I know quite what to make of it), but it was well acted and the staging was great---as always.

7. It had cooled down considerably by the time we left the theater so we treated ourselves to dinner outside at one of our favorite restaurants on Park Avenue. It's a Lebanese restaurant, and the food is always excellent. Watching the folks parade up and down the street adds an element of entertainment to the dinner.

8. Sunday, after purchasing some plants for the front circle and our vegetable beds, we went off to Home Depot to buy a new shower head for my bathroom. On the way out of the store, we happened to find a sale on a wonderful new umbrella for our patio. Sarah had recently found a solar-powered, lighted patio umbrella which we loved. We hadn't had any luck finding one that was affordable online or in the one or two places we'd previously looked. This one is rectangular so provides a lot more shade for our rectangular table. It was the final touch to setting up the patio for the summer. I turned on the lights for the photo, but I'm sure it will be more charming in the evening. In the background you can see Tracy's lush shade garden. It's really in top form this year. We still need to set up the fountain, and do some transplanting, but it's ready for use. We'll be eating breakfast and lunch out here regularly. If it's hot, we usually choose to have dinner inside since the patio gets the strong afternoon sun. This photo was taken about 7:30 at night, and then it's great for reading and having a glass of wine.

 

9. Monday was Memorial Day---a day to remember all the veterans who have given their lives in far too many wars over so many years. One way people commemorate the day is with parades. Matt and Betsy's neighborhood has traditionally held a parade for the kids (and their parents) in the neighborhood. After a short speech to help the kids understand the reason for the holiday, a fire truck and police led the parade through the neighborhood. Ella and Skylar were all ready for the event.

Skylar rode her bike which she and her dad had decorated.

10. Betsy's father recently moved into a new house, and he hosted a huge picnic for family and friends Monday afternoon and evening. The girls absolutely love his new pool. Ella is amazing as she floats around the pool (adult close by). She couldn't wait to get into the water.

Skylar and two of her friends spent a LONG time jumping into the pool on the count of three, climbing out and jumping in again. It never lost its appeal and finally, the parents told them it was time to get out of the pool. Miss Skylar is the one closest to the camera.

In between all this activity, I managed to get some reading, planting, and organizing done. I recently completed a free four week online course hosted by InkWELL Press. I'd already cleaned out a lot of the areas covered in the course, but still had some things I wanted to clean up in our bedroom. Spurred on by Honoré's book sorting, I redid the book shelf in our bedroom, purged some volumes, and reorganized all the rest. Let me just say, I have enough books on those shelves alone to keep me busy for at least another year or two! 

 

 

 

18 Minutes--and a New Plan of Action

This is a post I started writing in September, and have finally returned to, but now with two months of history, so I think the delay was a good thing.

I suppose it's because I spent 37 years in a classroom, but September always seems like a good time for a fresh start. In August, I noticed one of Sarah's Good Read posts for a book called 18 Minutes: Find Your Focus, Master Distraction, and Get the Right Things Done. 

When Sarah gives a book 4 or 5 stars, I always pay attention. (Unless, of course, it's one of her dystopian novels which are definitely not my thing.) Our library had a copy and I picked it up on the way to the pool a couple of weeks ago. My friend, Tina, leafed through it, and said, "You don't need this book!" But she was so wrong. Although it's intended for business people, there were lots of applications for someone who's retired as well.

I've been playing around with the concept of block scheduling for the last year or so. In an effort to make it work, I purchased The Action Day planner in early April. Every Sunday I sat down and filled in all my out-of-the-house commitments. It helped me see where the blocks of free time were each week, but I still wasn't getting a good balance of the things I need and want to do completed each week. Sometimes I filled in the empty spaces with specific projects, but not always. Since reading this book, I've been much more intentional in how I fill my calendar, and much more productive. Things still slide by. I'm four months behind with my Project Life pages, but it never leaves my mind because each week, there it is under the Projects category.

So, today---November 5---I woke up thinking about a presentation being given this morning, and trying to decide if I wanted to give up two hours of my day for it. Suddenly, I remembered my Five Annual Focuses and knew right away that it wasn't a priority. And then, remembered this blog post and decided to finish it up!

Bregman's first task is to have you identify five or six areas that are important to you. When you're deciding how you'll spend your time, if it doesn't fall under one of those areas, you probably should pass on it. I have a list of things I want to do, want to learn, and care about. Gathering them together into broader categories took a bit of thinking. I'm still not sure that everything is just where it should be, but it helps me think about where I want to spend my time. This morning I redid it for this blog post and made a few revisions. I used one of Bregman's printouts available on his website to write out my five categories, and put a piece of Washi tape over the title that doesn't match its purpose.

Here's a look at this week's Action Day Planner pages. It's been a busier week than usual, probably because we were away for 10 days. Nonetheless, I've started a new Self-Directed Study project each morning that I'm home, and have done a daily sketch (I started again on October 1 and have managed to keep it up.) My Christmas cards are more than half done, and I'm finally back to working on Project Life. You can see that I've changed up some of the headings to meet my needs. I've also learned not to plan each day's activities too far ahead. I usually do it first thing in the morning. SDS stands for Self-Directed Study (more about that coming soon), PL is Project Life, and Midtown is our gym. Names typically indicate an appointment or meeting. Voices is a weekly discussion group at our church. Everything else is self-explanatory. (I write in pencil which doesn't photograph well.)

I also wrote out some of the key points (for me) from the book, and find it helpful to look back on them:

• "Failure is inevitable, useful, and educational. Just don't give up---stay focused over the year---and it will pay off."
  
  
• "Create an environment that compels you to do the things you want to do." For me that's keeping my sketchbook on my desk in front of me, and my supplies for card making and Project Life easily accessible, and easy to put away. (Having a neat workspace is critical for my productivity. If I don't clean my desk before I go to bed, it's the first thing I do in the morning.)
  
  
• "You need to be motivated for only a few seconds. Know when you're vulnerable, and you'll know when you need to turn it on." (Critical for my desire to snack at odd times in the day. I need to stop, and focus on a new task, and move on!)
  
  
• "Don't forget to schedule transition time; it can help make the next task shorter, faster, and more productive." (I don't actually show transition time, but I account for it when I schedule.)
  
  
• "Don't multi-task."
  
  
• "The world doesn't reward perfection. It rewards productivity." 

I'm always interested in how people plan their time, and organize their projects, so I hope something here will interest you as well.