July Monthly Blog
Barnaby’s solemn expression!
Hello, Hello July! I just told Barnaby’s (our dog) walker, Aaron, that I couldn’t decide on a theme for this month’s blog. There are no holidays beyond July 4th and this year the constancy of news reports does not make me feel like using that as my central idea. Aaron suggested that Barnaby probably would think the theme should be treat treats, but I suspect that writing about Barnaby being spoiled and indeed rewarded for that is not a suitable topic. Meanwhile, to quiet Barnaby and keep him from annoying me while I’m writing I’m handing him treat treats. Aaron is correct – we all spoil Barnaby. However, Barnaby’s very cute. Instead I’ll write about the conundrum July always brings me.
Teacher Planner
Many years ago I started purchasing my year’s planner sometime in July for starting in August. It was all due to my various assignments in education where the work year begins in mid-August and ends the end of June. Purchasing the planner meant so much more than purchasing annual calendars for which the artwork was important or the cute messages for each month would hang exposing one to museums to visit or thoughts to ponder, It also was a more profound choice than lesson planners that teachers fill out each week with the high hopes that such organization would miraculously be imposed on 30 some odd youngsters who were usually more interested in inspecting their pencils or asking if they could sharpen said pencils. Sometimes I would think that I should show the youngsters my lesson plan and ask them if they understood that by all of their interruptions they had caused themselves to not fit inside my neatly constructed box, but then that would indicate a lack of flexibility on my part. No, the monthly planner was much more important than that. It included appointments for the doctor, Diana’s (my daughter) French Horn lessons, her symphony orchestra rehearsals, my mother’s doctor appointments, Diana’s project deadlines so I’d know when to nudge her, and friend dates. (hers and mine). It contained the slips of paper that I wrote new passwords on, or hurriedly written phone numbers of important people, all of which I promised myself I’d transfer to the correct home. I carried it around like it was a gem. This monthly planner was my Bible in its use and effect; thus, its choice had to be made with terrific care.
Too cute to use and velcro closures make an awful sound!
For a couple of years I used the Franklin Covey monthly planners. There was a comfort with them because each came with an imitation leather cover, and it snapped closed. Each time I snapped it closed I felt so virtuous, as if all of my problems were neatly contained inside the binder. This ended when Target started to carry them, and the colors of the covers became more garish. I was forced – for my dignity – to find another brand.
This started me on trying Levenger’s organizers. Levenger used a different form of paper holder that was neither rings nor coils and one had to purchase the hole punch if one wanted to add extra forms or pages. I tried, I really did, but it was all too complicated. The few years that I tried the brand were my desert years. I wandered in the strange morass of oddly constructed organization that I could never master. Finally I’ve settled on Erin Condren’s style of monthly planner. There’s no snap closure, the inserts are on a coiled ring, and I can’t add any extra paper unless I tape it in. Little scraps fall out, so I’m forced to transfer information to the place it belongs.
What I use now…
The boxes are at most 1.5 by 1.5 inches so only so much fits in a day. The promise of “you can only do so much in a day” is implicit in the size of the box. It provides a certain satisfaction that each box means I can start fresh the next day. So, I’ll send for the ’25-’26 edition and sharpen my pencils. I’m not like Barnaby because I’m not being rewarded for my historically bad behavior. No treat treats unless I use my monthly planner correctly.
See you July 27th for our meeting! Zoom information will be included in the July Newsletter!