For an important announcement!!!! 

I have found a calendar / planner that I love! 

Now this may not sound like a big deal to some, but it’s huge for me.  I am a bit obsessive about my choice of calendars. 

For years I did the Franklin planner thing…. the whole priortize 1, 2. 3 and the dot for in-progress.  Well, I just stuck a 1 and a dot by everything — so that means everything is of the highest priority and in progress.    I assume writing on my list puts anything in progress — if I’m thinking about it, it’s in progress, right?   I don’t think that’s how it’s supposed to work.

I gave up the Frankling planner thing when I left the corporate world like a hundred years ago….I just wrote notes on the hangy calendar in the kitchen.  I didn’t have to priortize — I just did it. 

 When  my writing / speaking picked up and I started working with a non-profit, I had to go back to using a planner.  I tried not using one, but people get really peeved about missing deadlines — geez.  Anyway, back to the point….. which is planners or calendars.  Planners make me nervous, just the word is uncomfortable.  When someone says,  “let me check  my  planner”  I  almost expect some little leprachuan to pop up with a pen and a notepad and reel off a list of things to do.  

So, I’ve struggled for years trying to find the right planner.  I stuck with the little binder style for a while — but who needs two pages for one day?  Seriously, if I’m that busy I need a personal assistant, not some little binder.  I went to the two pages per week and that was pretty good — but I don’t like bulky binder. 

I went to the month at a glance calendar, because I found myself using only that part of the high-dollar binder refills.  That worked okay, but that’s not quite enough room. 

I tried Time Mine Calendars and these are really nice.  I tried the Life_time.mine and the time.mine calendars — I like them, but they weren’t perfect.  But I definitely recommend you checking these out if you love a paper calendar / planner. 

I was test-driving the two time.mine planners (and yes, I do test drive my calendars / planners — it’s a commitment of a whole year, I have to know we’ll work well together) when I stumbled across my new FAVORITE calendar (okay, planner). 

Blue Sky Imagination –  this one has it all.  Two page month spread, followed by two page per week spread and tabs for the months!  So perfect for me!  I was so jazzed that I wrote the company a thank you note. 

So,  it’s December 22nd and I finally have my 2009 planner!!  I’m so thrilled.  I was starting to think I would have to settle or possibly go to a Palm Pilot or something like that.  I love techy stuff, but not my planner.  I want it to be on paper so I can touch it and scribble all over it. 

Announcement is now complete — go back to your Christmas shopping, wrapping, and party going.  Have a wonderful today! 

And I hope that you, too, find the planner of your dreams! 

I’m trying to embrace this going green thing.  I don’t want to lose anymore trees than absolutely necessary so I’m looking at where I can cut back.  I think I’ve stumbled onto something I can give up. 

The tithe envelope

I admit it — I don’t always use the tithe envelopes.  Okay, here’s the truth — I rarely use them. 

 It’s not that I intentionally overlook these ….’tools of giving,’ it’s just something I don’t really understand. 

 I’m sure there was a time when tithe envelopes made lots of sense.  Of course, there was also a time that a hitching post in front of the church made sense.  

 And why are the envelopes so small?  You can’t even mail a letter in them.  Don’t ask how I know that.  I just do.

 We do make our tithe we just don’t use the little envelopes.  It must be okay, No one’s called to say I need to get down to the church and bring my little envelopes - I think we’re safe.

 But the guilt still gets to me.  I feel bad when I look in my little envelope of envelopes (our church send us a envelope filled with tithe envelopes each quarter) that it’s almost full and another envelope of envelopes has just arrived.  

 I don’t want to throw them away - but they’re dated.  How can one use the wrong dated envelope?  I’m sure that’s worse than no envelope at all.  Just think of the mass confusion amongst the money counters. 

“Oh my stars, we have a tithe from last month - just look at this date!” 

or

“Oh no!  This is a tithe for next month - guess we’ll just have to hang onto it until then!”

 For the sake of recycling, I give you some tithe envelopes uses:

• grocery list (just don’t write it during church), and for the frugal shoppers,  tuck coupons inside
• make a snazzy (but small) cap  — don’t believe me, try it
• lipstick blotter
• used gum holder
•  drawing paper for an antsy preschooler (or adult)
• add quarters and use it to bribe a little one (add bills to bribe a teen)
• open back flap, draw some eyes and you have an odd looking face
• fold in half, insert thumb and forefinger - you have a little paper puppet
• earring holder
• old school texting (aka –write a note to your friend and pass it)

   Do you have any ideas on what we can do with all those left over tithe envelopes?

Today I got this wonderful email from my editor — book cover ideas are in! And being the sweetheart that she is, she explained that once we decide on a concept we can tweak it. I was so thrilled to see these covers — thrilled and humbled. I can’t believe we’re to this point. God is so good! He’s taken me so far even when I continually stumble and fall. This project started years ago, but I’m not going to get all misty and weepy, I’m just praising God for His incredible grace.
Now, let’s take a look at the book cover choices for Girlfriends, God, and Grace: How to Have a Great Girlfriend Adventure.

Let me say that I’m absolutely blown away by all three of these book covers!  Kudos to the designer — I don’t know her / his name, but I believe this person has either been in my closet, my head, my book, or all three. 

Let’s just take a look at these three –

Number one (boxes and shoes) — I love the shoes!  The red ones look like the Sarah Palin kickin’ red heels that I blogged about a while back, the black slingbacks are just too cute, the black low heel Mary Jane’s are just what I’ve been looking for — and the green dotted flats, well, I just have to get a pair of those! 

The colors and prints on the boxes are just …. well, just me!  The slightly funky, slightly retro blues and browns are right on point!

Number two — I just love this one too!  The photo of the two women with their hands up remind me of me and oh so many different girlfriends! I love the attitude of this cover — it just shouts ”roadtrip!”  to me.  Also the fonts are cute, the blue and brown are great, love the splashes of pink and the wonderful curvy title box, but – please forgive me scrapbooking sisters – I’m not too jazzed over the scrapbooking scissors, since these funny cutting scissors just sort of freak me out.  If we end up with this cover, maybe  we can take out the scissors.  And scrapbook girls …. I love y’all and love what you do! Please don’t judge me because I’m scrapbooking challenged! 

And I also think if we chose this one as the book cover, it’s important for me to get a cute pink jacket, some gray fuzzy gloves, and a convertible  I think it makes perfect sense — don’t you?)

Ahh, book cover number three!  Too cute.  Me and all my shoes!  That’s what it feels like, except one thing…. it’s not me on the cover, but I’m okay with it.  In fact, let’s just let people believe it’s me! And for the record, I want her upper arms… oh, there’s more that I want, but I’m practicing contentment, so I’ll just settle for her upper arms.

Now — comes your part — vote for the one you like the best:
Book 1 — the shoes and the boxes
Book 2 - the photo of the women in the convertible
Book 3 –woman and her shoes

Vote for the one you like the best — and you don’t even have to declare a party affliation. Just pick the one you like the best.

And just think your vote will count! I am turning the votes over to the Book Cover powers of Thomas Nelson. Y’all really made a difference on the title and we were able to keep Girlfriends, God, and Grace — let’s see which cover gets the most votes.