Friday Reviews-Quo Vadis Jounal 21 Planner

I understand this is a long post about a calendar. I know your time is valuable. You must understand how obsessed I am with calendars,though, and how there's always a story with me.

Always.

The real deal is this:

I received a Barnes and Noble gift certificate from my daughter and son-in-law for Christmas (celebrated at Thanksgiving in Missouri) and when I got home, I got very excited about using it for my new calendar.

Confession: I'm a calendar freak.

I have too many right now. Way too many. But they bring me happiness so don't judge. Especially new calendars.

And I'm extremely picky.

So particular that I will spend hours researching. Then I will spend more time physically looking and touching and flipping through the pages.

Two years ago, I found the Quo Vadis Visual Planner. The pages were so smooth. The monthly calendar's lines were black ink and the days were blue. Just enough of a difference to make them pop and totally not gaudy and hard to look at. Actually, very soothing on my eyes.

The corners are perforated and I discovered I like that better than tabs sticking out everywhere. I also like the feeling of accomplishment when I tear off one. (Hush. I don't care if I sound silly!) It's true!

I fell in love.

Last year, I went back to Barnes and Noble and they didn't have my Visual planner. But they did have another style by Quo Vadis. Journal 21.

I had to explain to my first love, The Visual, that Journal 21 offered me a WHOLE page per day to doodle, brainstorm, do Visual Prayers, memorize Scripture, plan my daily Bible reading, makes notes about submissions for The Midnight Diner, take notes about holidays and what to do different the next year, take notes at conferences, oh the WHOLE page per day really made me happy.

Journal 21 (2009) had a yearly planner so I could keep track of upcoming events and save dates.

What it didn't have was a January 2010 page which disappointed me greatly--but it did not stop me from making another trip to Barnes and Noble with my gift card for my brand-spanking new, blank, ready for me to fill out and have all kinds of crazy happiness, 2010 Quo Vadis. And I was open to new styles. Just in case there was a better one.

Barnes and Noble, you ruined it for me. There was not a single Quo Vadis in the store. Granted, it was the first week of December, but hello? OCD planners like me need you to have them ready. We are not procrastinators. We want to fill out January and February.

So I came home with a stupid planner-thing from Target. And the first thing I did was get online and open eleventy-thousand tabs searching for my beloved Quo Vadis.

Then heaven opened up and sang a glorious song of planning.

Quo Vadis has a website.
A blog.
A Twitter (a Twitter!!)
A Facebook page.

And my planners. MY planners. I swear they were designed for me and me alone.



And just when I thought things were at their best, something even better happened. But I can't tell you about that just yet. (That's called a cliffhanger in writer-speak.)

Quo Vadis sent me a me a Journal 21 to review as well as a Habana notebook (that review is scheduled for later in the month.)

So I got my Journal 21 and guess what?! There is a January AND February 2011 monthly page!! Now--now I am complete. Seriously.

Every.single.thing. I want in one planner.

Surely you can find something you love.

Wordless Wednesday--Chuck and Patches

Now What?

It was very hard for me to hit "publish" on this one.

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In October of 1999, Zane was born. Phil was driving our semi over the road and he was home one day out of every thirty. That year, Jill and I spent New Year's Eve together afraid for Y2K. We survived.

In 2000, we filed bankruptcy on that semi and moved back to Indiana and lived with my parents for a short time. Phil found a driving in job in Chicago and he was home two days out of every seven.

In 2001, 9/11 happened and I was scared for our lives. I'd never, ever heard it so quiet outside as when all planes were grounded. That month, we found a duplex to rent, Zane turned 2, potty-trained and I was still trying to decide if I was a good mom or not.

In 2002...Phil got a local job hauling fuel and was home EVERY night.

In 2003, Phil and I bought the Knox house. I started attending a church for the first time since I was let down by a different church back in 1992.

In 2004, doctors thought Phil had cancer. He didn't. He did, however, punch a wall and break his hand and have to have pins put in.

In 2005, I was reading my Bible daily, active in Women's ministry (and Phil in men's ministry) and I was really getting to know God. Jill told me she had breast cancer and had already been battling it for a year. She'd already had a mastectomy and chemo and radiation. She made me get a breast exam. And I think they thought I had cancer. I then had an ultra sound. Then a mammogram (and platypus poop.) Then I had to see a surgeon. He told me I didn't have breast cancer.

In 2006, I was called to write. "Write." (I noticed I posted that on 12/02/06. Wonder if that has anything to do with 12:26?) That year, I also lost my Uncle Ed. I'm not sure there's ever been a time when I felt as close to God. And that's also the year my church gave me a wake up call--lying about me, accusing me of ridiculous things, and leaving me alone during a time of huge, monumental need. Phil thought he was having a heart attack. Our fridge broke. Phil lost his job. Phil had double hernia surgery. We almost lost our house. 2006 was probably the hardest year of my life. I felt so alone that year. And God taught me more about His love than I could've ever expected.

In 2007, my thyroid completely shut down and I've been trying to get my brain (and my body and my life) back ever since. It's also the year I was asked to be on the editing team at The Midnight Diner.

In 2008, I lost my best friend, Jill in January. She might have survived Y2K, but she did not survive breast cancer. And then my grandma passed away in September. I was asked to be Editor-in-chief of The Midnight Diner.

In 2009, We were taken on a trip of a lifetime to Key West and Marco Island, Florida in March. Phil quit truck driving altogether! He started working as property manager for Inspiration Wood. We were blessed with a grandson in April. Around May, I finally started feeling like myself again with the help of some replacement thyroid hormone. We moved in June and I've been trying to figure out what life is now that Phil's home all day, every day and now that everything has changed.


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I started this post with the intention of talking about how I feel separated from God right now. I mean, I know He's there, He just feels distant to me and I remember hearing people talk about feeling this way and I distinctly remember thinking, "I will NEVER feel that way. I will always feel as close to God as I do at this very moment."

I was going to talk about this new Bible I got, The Books of the Bible--with no verse references--and how I was going to start reading that for the New Year.

But I got caught up in looking at the way things got so ugly during the time I was closest to God. I remember what I went through and the lessons I learned after I did Beth Moore's Believing God study. Things I haven't found the courage to write about.

And though God says, "Do not be afraid."

I am afraid.


I'm afraid that if I get close to Him again, something worse will happen. And I don't know how to let go of that fear.

I know I'm the one keeping the distance from God.

I said it.

Now what?

Wordless Wednesday--4 Birds

**Click to enlarge to see the pretty birds!

Tackle it Tuesday--Calendars, Time, Grief

You can see all of my Tackles here.

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Phil received a Pottery Barn Daily System for his birthday and the wall is now wired and Phil installed this very cool, very useful calendar, corkboard, whiteboard, charging station, and digital frame. (No pics yet!)



As if I need more reason to love this thing?
So.

Speaking of calendars...how many of you have made time to enjoy life?

Quit being so busy. Quit overbooking yourself and your family. Take control of your time and vow to spend time with those you love and enjoy. Don't you know how fast it all goes by?

I lost some very important people in the past few years and it's now, Christmas season, when I tend to miss them most because they were so big a part of my Christmases. The void is unfillable. The grief is overwhelming at times. And I know how many times I've wished I would've spent a little more time with them. I don't remember what I did instead of visiting them and making memories, all I know is the memories aren't there because I chose to do other things instead. Unimportant things.

I want that to change for the people I still have here to love.

Wordless Wednesday--Preggo Carrington

Carrington's blog.

Tackle It Tuesday--Photo Shoot

Madyson Annmarie Bishop

This week, I tackled a photo shoot of my new niece.

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You can see all of my Tackles here.

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i ♥ faces--Pets Only

Freedom!!


*please click on photo to enlarge!

i ♥ faces Pets Only

Whirlwind by Robert Liparulo

This week's featured CFBA book is Whirlwind by Robert Liparulo.



If you would like to read the first chapter of Whirlwind, go here.

Wordless Wednesday--Doorstop Art