Wish life wasn’t so busy, but I guess that’s kind of my fault as I’m the one saying yes to everything and adding it to my calendar.  I’ve been feeling a tad stressed of late and thought perhaps if I got back into writing more it might help, so here I am.  Nothing concrete, of course, just some babbling I suppose.  The stress is only partly related to the busyness.  I guess the busyness is my way of ignoring that which is stressing me.  Back and forth, and round and round.

Maybe I should start writing poetry again or continue writing my stories.  Just thinking about them makes me feel guilty.  Guilty because I keep putting things off and not thinking I’m good enough.

Wow I’m not sure I’m feeling all that better writing this down, but at least I know where I’m at.  So maybe tomorrow I’ll start putting things together or just continue to procrastinate.  We’ll see.

Okay that’s my little rant – now just waiting for hotmail to come back online.

I’ve been trying to distract myself all day but I just keep going back to it.  I know it’s silly and practically impossible but  still it persists.  There is also no way to resolve it either but still it’s there at the back of my mind pushing its way forward.

It’s the kind of thing that makes me want to write poetry – maybe it’s just been my subconscious telling me I should write more and giving me something to write about – something of a muse I suppose.  Interesting thought – I think I could change this into a muse.  I’m going to give it a try.

Afterward – Well, I have found that writing (albeit cryptically) has definitely helped.  Must try it more often.

Okay, I know that many people don’t even think about Christmas till November or sometimes even December, but I find because I love Christmas so much I can’t help but think about it year round.

Anyway, I kind of follow a few Christmas notebook planners (Christmas Notebook, FlyLady Holiday Control Journal, Organized Christmas, and Holiday Grand Plan).  These plans help help you get your house ready for the holidays.  I don’t do exactly what the plans ask because a few things are outdoor and because I live in a Northern climate it doesn’t make sense to do them at the times recommended.  So I’ve adapted the plans a bit to suit me and my family’s style.  Most Holiday Notebook plans begin at the end of August and go until the beginning of December, leaving December free for you to actually enjoy the holidays.

Here’s I how I have my notebook organized:

I prefer using a big 3 ring binder so I can move pages around and add pages when needed.  I divide my notebook into 6 sections:  calendar, plans, to do lists, decor, gifts, and media.

• Calendar – pretty self-explanatory.  I use a month at-a-glance style and briefly note events, birthdays, etc. on it.  I put it at the front of my notebook so every time I open it I look at the calendar.  It’s a great reminder tool.  This year I have a separate calendar, so the whole family can use it all year.
• Plans – here I keep the printable calendars of the various Christmas plans I follow.  These calendars tell you what week to clean which room and what Christmas item to organize.
• To Do Lists – these include weekly cleaning items (ie. Weekly Planning Pages, room-by-room major work to do), shopping (grocery, etc), and general things to do.
• Decor – in this section is how I decorate each room -what decorations go into which rooms and a list of all the Christmas decorations I own (still working on this – I want to take pictures of each items I own, jot down any special memories, and add them to the notebook).
• Gifts – this is where I keep a list of everyone I need to buy Christmas gifts for and how much to spend on each person.  I also record what gifts I already have stored away, plus ideas of what to get each person.
• Media – This is one I will be working on over the course of many years.  I have so many Christmas movies and books it would be nice to know what I have and not duplicate any.

This year as in previous years, I’m going to see how far I can get following the various plans (I’ve yet to complete one, but I keep trying and get a little bit further each time. )