She placed the book in my lap.  Pure joy!  I ran my fingers over the pages.  The paper was thick.  The colors were brilliantly chosen, all of them pleasing to the eye, but not boring or flat or tired looking.  This planner invited participation on its pages, and I was ready to participate.  It had everything I wanted…a monthly calendar for seeing the big picture, and weekly pages for keeping all the details.  There was a section for notes, a pocket for loose papers, and a zipper pouch for stamps and stickers and anything else that needed safe keeping.  There was a perpetual calendar for birthdays and anniversaries, and a year at a glance calendar with 18 months for the really big picture!  There were motivational quotes sprinkled throughout the pages, and each month boasted a new duo of color, creating a mood for the season.  There were customized birthday stickers, event stickers, and blank stickers designed to fit in the weekly boxes.  I took a deep look at those boxes.

This was the only part that I had to think about.  I had never seen a planner organized simply by “morning”, “day”, and “night”, each with a simple box of space to write in.  I was used to a daily schedule, with specific time slots down one side, requiring me to fit my day onto the lines, demanding my performance precisely at the scheduled time.  I stared at the more flexible option of simply morning, day, and night, and my brain fought against this freedom.  Yet, at the same time, I could feel my resistance melt as I considered how much sense this made for my day.  This would break my day into 3 parts, and allow me to set goals for each individual space of time.  I felt challenged and excited at the same time.  “I think this planner could really work for me”…the words were settling into my mind like cement drying in the sunshine.  This planner offered flexibility within the daily schedule, something incredibly valuable and appealing to a working mother with 3 children in school.

She told me I could customize my cover and choose from many designs.  I couldn’t wait to get home to check out the website.