I did it MY way....

Hear Frank Sinatra singing "My Way" in the background? Neither do I, but I did do it my way. What did I do? I decided to use a planner and begin a journal.

A person could look at Pinterest and various blogs and think something is cute, pretty, nice, clever....but know that they will never keep up with that method of planning and journaling. I've learned that I like to look at some things but not DO those particular things. I like to look at oil paintings, but not do them. I love watermelon prints but don't really care to eat watermelon. I like the idea of art journals, but doing them...not my thing.

When it comes to appointments and tracking birthdays, I use my phone which syncs to my PC so I rarely forget those dates. I also write it on the large calendar on the refrigerator. I've been married for decades and the family looks there to see what is coming up, even those who live on their own now.

So why did I buy a planner last week? I am entering important dates on the calendar grid format and journaling my day on the daily part of the planner. Many years ago I kept a written journal. I have tried to get back into that but not succeeded. In a formal looking book, I can't write in incomplete sentences. The ghosts of my former English teachers would haunt me!

The limited space on the daily pages allows me to record anything important to me. "Important" ranges from where my once-a-month dinner buddies and I ate to something precious that one the grandkids said. The spaces aren't so large that if nothing is recorded on a given day, it doesn't look neglected, it just looks like a breather.

By adding my choice of art to it, be it stickers, stamped images or something I've drawn myself, I am happy with the pages. Perhaps when I am gone (no time soon!), my survivors will find this planner fun to look through. They can roll their eyes at the puns that will inevitably find their way to the pages and be touched by the comments I've made about the people I love. I really think this is something that I will keep yearly.

This will be a fun way for me to play with my ever-growing collection of stamps, pencils and markers. The pair of dogs on the image below is my current favorite. The accompanying phrase is "All this world needs is more wagging and less barking". The stamp set is Playful Pups from My Favorite Things.

White areas on photos added to preserve privacy