1. Football is coming! I’m so excited for the beginning of the football season. High schools are back into practice. I’m tinkering with my draft board for my fantasy league…trash talking is in full swing. #mostwonderfultimeoftheyear

   

2. I have been thinking about this book a lot lately. It is one of my go-tos for finding the motivation to pull all the frazzled ends of my life back together. I have read this book at least 10 times – so much that I’ve got a good deal of it memorized. It is a solid, practical book for organizing your life to serve the purpose of glorifying God in your work. This is not a book for a woman who has a job outside of the home, or for mothers, or for young women, or for old women. It is a book for everyone and I find so many of her hints reflected in the lives of women I admire. It’s an easy read and it is relatively inexpensive online. I highly recommend it.
3. I was reading about Ivanka Trump the other day because she is my favorite person. If you don’t understand this, I dare you to look through her Instagram and not like her. Also, this article. This is all a rather long introduction to tell you about my new Moleskine planner. Ivanka recommended it and I pretty much love all of her recommendations.
4. Anne Ortlund (book in take 2) recommends a rather elaborate notebook system. It’s a lot more than those of us with laptops and smartphones will ever need, but she was writing in the 1970s. Lately, however, I was finding that even with merging my calendars and putting my assistant completely in charge of all of them, I was still getting caught off guard. How does this happen? I decided that I needed some sort of system that would let me kind of see the big shape of my days and also provide some place to keep my running to-do list. Enter…
5. TA-DA!!!!!! Isn’t it great?! Okay, this may not be THE solution for everyone and keep in mind that I have a very detailed electronic calendar and a rather extensive work to-do list which are maintained with the help of my assistants. This little thing is just to let me jot in activities that are outside of normal. 6am deposition? Into the Moleskine it goes. PTA meeting? Into the Moleskine it goes. Work reluctantly taken home for the weekend? I’ve got a running to-do list on the blank page next to my week. I’m using this for all the crap that happens during the day that I never remember. For instance, I took a rock to the window during my commute the other day. At the very next stop light, I made a note to tell my husband about it. It’s helped me more coherently plan my weeks and keep track of those the random things I’m always kicking myself for forgetting.
6. They have so many formats. I’ll bet you can find one for yourself. And colors! And ribbon markers! And elastic do-hickies so that the thing stays closed when it bounces around in your purse! And little hidden pockets!
7. My girl lost a couple of teeth. The tooth fairy forgot to come the first night for the first tooth and such tears. I felt horrible. She lost a second tooth yesterday and I was determined not to forget. (I made a note in my Moleskine.) I glanced at my to-do list last night even though I didn’t go to bed until almost 2am after staying up to finish work that I didn’t want to do any earlier on my Saturday. There it was, “Tooth Fairy.” I ran back to her room, collected the tooth, slipped a bill under in its place, and went to bed with the comfortable knowledge that I am the best. I really wanted everyone to high-five me, but that would ruin the magic of the tooth fairy. So, y’all, I’m just going to let the internets know right here and now that, thanks to Moleskine (not a sponsor, they can use Ivanka for that), I’m like a saint, mom of the year, and Wonder Woman all in one. From now on, think of me as looking exactly like this:

but with my little Moleskine planner clutched to my heart. Happy weekend. Click on over to Kelly’s for much more meaningful QTs.

Evie