Day-Week-Month-Year Planning

I just got my new day planner-slash-date book in the mail. I have been waiting long enough, I think. I started bugging my usual source back in June because it uses an academic calender, and I run out of calendar days at the end of July.

I've looked and looked for other versions, but this one fits me precisely. Each month has a two-page spread of days, and each week has a two-page spread of days, upon which each day is divided into 12 hours, with room for a summary, and two areas for projects and primary objectives. There's even a condensed Forward Planning Calendar for the upcoming year. Dude, this calender is awesome. And portable.

I have happily used Payne's Time Management System for years, and having experienced this calender, I can't go back to somebody else's inferior version.

This year, my source dried up. I bugged them several times, left my name and number to be notified when the new ones arrived, I begged them to nag the people who order new stock, to no avail. So when I called them two days into August (last chance!), and they still had not arrived, I tracked down the manufacturer online and *ordered* one for myself from Virginia. It was a drastic step because usually I am all for supporting local businesses, but c'mon! It was August and I had run out of days. Did they think everyone takes August off?

So I have this new one that just arrived. I haven't started writing in it yet, although I have been filling up the condensed planner in back. It says things like: Olympics Start 08/08/08 and Bush's Last Day 01/20/09, and Valentina Lisitsa concert in Nov. Also things like Mammogram at 10:40 (canceled) and M&S's wedding extravaganza, Ted's house concert, and Don't Forget to Pick Blueberries This Month. Plus, oh yeah, all the gigs I've got coming up in the next 4 months, circled in florescent pencil.

I don't know what's holding me back from entering all my information onto the fresh, clean pages. Maybe I have invested so much in my condensed version that it's daunting to transfer the whole thing to the full sized calendar. Maybe that's it. Back when I had a January to January datebook, it was always a chore to transfer all the birthdays from one to the other, and I'd invariably miss a few. Now it's not just a fresh year, it's a backlog.

Well, get to it, missy. Time's not going to wait for you and the longer you wait, the more tiresome it will be.

I will be relieved when it's done, I know. I love filling in and scheduling. When I was in college, I'd spend hours picking over the offerings and requirements in the next semester's new course catalogue, and construct a schedule of clarity and beauty. I had my main coursework plotted out over *years*. The charts were something to behold. My academic advisor was *very* impressed, but it was just the way I worked. Had to get it down on paper.

I still like the visuals. I can scan across a page and ask myself if I am over-extending myself by piling up appointments and sessions and gigs. I like spacing them out so that the pages look balanced. Orange for gigs, yellow for tutoring or teaching. Birthdays and special occasions up top. Arrows to account for time spent commuting. Do I already have a lot of things packed into one day or one month? If it looks balanced, I think my life is more balanced too.

I think the satisfaction of the day planner also comes from being a concrete reminder of my decisions. Once I make a decision and put it on the schedule, it's practically done. No more (reliving the) stress over whether I should do this or that. I took the gig in mid September, but not the one in early January. Done! Nice and neat on the page. No more debating or hand-wringing. And if something gets rescheduled or deleted, I cross it out or, if that's too messy, stritch a little white-out across the box. Begone! Out of sight, out of schedule; no time to waste on regrets and what-ifs.

You know how the world tumbles around in ones head? Well, the way it does in mine, anyway. I enjoy taking the different colored blocks and blobs that tumble aboout, pluck them out the air, and arrange them so they make sense. That's my day planner, a conceptual arrangement. That's my NEW day planner, put into use. Yay!

Garden Party Green

I bought fabric! 3.5 yards of leafy green solid, perfect for that garden party look.

I had a piece of solid printed color from a wall calendar that I thought I might aim for, so I was schlepping that around. The solid I had been eyeing a couple of months earlier at the store was darker and duller than I had imagined/remembered (or at least compared to the color swatch), so I carried the fabric around the shop for half an hour, looking for alternatives.

I did find a brighter green with a subtle spiral scatter pattern, but I thought it might be a little TOO bright. Another one appeared to have an ideal color, but had a leafy-flowerish pattern. After much mucking around and holding up bolts to different swaths of colors to estimate compatability, I determined by process of elimination that the solid I had picked out earlier was actually the best for my purposes. Not too dark, not too bright, not too yellow, but yellow enough to be cheerful. Whew! You know how difficult these color choices can be--I want them all! But I am pleased with my choice of the background fabric. It sets the tone for the whole design.

Here's the fabric in situ with cat and wall. Already it's a brighter look. But see how cool everything is in that light?


Part of what I am trying to do in the bedroom is to warm it up a little. The *original* paint was burnt orange, and we painted that over asap. I was going for calm and restful, so I used a lovely dark lavender-purple. Most of the furnishing are either dark wood or green stained/painted wood. All of the artwork on the walls is very nature oriented with mostly cool colors. I do like it. We've liked it for years.

However, although the room gets lots of natural light, it often shaded enough that the colors seem a little too subdued at times. That pale green coverlet gets completely washed out in certain light. Sooo, my idea is to bring in deeper shades of my favorite blues, purples, greens, and teals, as well as some of those gorgeous, warm, subtle, desert colors. Oh yes, and to bring in some paler shades for contrast. I am a big fan of contrasting clean whites against darker or mid-tones shades. I have a yard or two of a pale "fresh garden" fabric that is the perfect tone, although I don't think I could get away with a coverlet of the whole thing. Too much cat hair floating around for one thing.

But overall, I want to bring in more of those warmer colors to contrast with all the fabulous cools I already have.

Some of the possible fabrics with the new green in ambient + overhead light. This is important because ambient is most of what it gets!


That upper right fabric (bright cream with leafy splashes) is the one I especially love. I made a mini pillow case out of it once to recover a small pillow I use for back support.

I am thinking I will keep the blocks fairly simple instead of going for a more complicated design, and let the colors shine surrounded by the leafy green. Keep in mind that I could change my mind at any time! (For instance, if I do end up with a more complicated block, I might be able to include more colors and be able to introduce a more scrappy look... Hmmm. More ideas. Can't wait to play!)

Feeling happy. It's a start.

Teh Plan

I am trying to get back into quilting again.

Again? Tee hee! Not that I have ever accomplished that much in the past to begin with. I've worked on projects in fits and starts. Sometimes I actually finish something.

Most often, I can barely decide on one plan before another variation entices me... So many ideas, so little attention span! And also, so many options and variations. Is it any wonder that it's so hard to start, much less finish, a project?

What I enjoy doing most is playing with the colors and textures, patterns and fabric, combining and shaping (I was great at this when I was in picture framing). yeah, the construction is nice, but the planning is the fun part for me. The plan, the plan! Maybe the anticipation is what I excel at, exploring all the possibilities. Oo!

Meanwhile, I have accumulated a lot of equipment and fabric over the last umpteen years with the idea that I will make beautiful things. Maybe this time (again) I will make it happen. I have a vision floating before me.... and fabric to make it happen. I hope that vision will sustain me long enough to make headway before I change my mind yet again...

Leafy green with soft greens, blues and purples offset by peachy warm desert tones... I can see it!