i'll pencil you in

I was looking last night at what's left on my summer To Do list. It's depressing, overwhelming, and inspiring all at the same time. (Oh, just so you know, eating 100 orange ice cream dream bars wasn't on there, but it should have been. It would give me a much greater sense of accomplishment).

I love a good To Do list. It gives me some semblance of self and organization. If I'm lucky, I cross off a thing or two. In no way am I up with the times. I keep it simple, just paper and pen. Blackberries intimidate me and I'm gonna wait on the iPhone. I'm holding out for the model that can fold my laundry, order groceries online, schedule a pedicure and my clients' next appointments, keep track of how many orange dream bars I eat, then subtract that amount from my daily caloric intake, all while crooning Patty Griffin or Nina Simone, depending on the day. For now, I'm content with a good felt tip and a post-it.

I remember feeling like Covey invented the Franklin planner especially for me; all those blank pages, tiny little squares and the inspirational quotes. I couldn't wait until the day I was important enough to own one. They were like Trapper Keepers for big people. (And how cool was the Trapper Keeper?!) K got one first. And, as always, I wanted to be just like her. So after a few months (as not to seem too eager) and several convincing arguments with my parents, I went out and got one. We were seniors in high school and involved in everything we deemed important and worthy of penciling into our planners. As I look back, I'm sure we looked positively 45 years old, but I remember pulling mine out in AP English and feeling so cool.

I wish I could say that ever since my first Franklin I've woken up at the exact same minute every day, that I've never missed a birthday, and that I've got an address book which, if I ever decide to run for office, will come in handy. No matter the number of planners I've gone through (pocket, mini, executive -take your pick) I always revert to my old stand-by. My post-it note habit stands the test of time. My Franklin has been good place for the post-its, post penning, to land. Even if my planner pages were blank, they were bedecked almost daily by brightly colored sticky notes of all shades and sizes. I know K's life is still much more organized than mine. I don't know anyone who can tackle a To Do list quite like she does (except maybe JTH, who used to erase her lists until the page was blank. A blank page meant there was nothing left to do). I don't have anything against Mr. Covey. No, no. He's obviously done o.k. for himself. But, it's Mr. Post-it whom I'd like to sing accolades to this very day. Stick to it, dude. I'm your biggest fan.