PLANNER PERFECT

November is perhaps my favorite month of the year.  Catalogs are filling our over-sized mailbox and among them is one of my favorites.  Franklin Covey advertising their Franklin Planners.  I have had a decades long love affair with Franklin Planners.  It began in the early 1990s when I was a hotshot banker type wearing a suit and heels to work each day.  I needed a planner (to complete my hotshot look) and Franklin fit the bill.  I purchased a "Monarch" style (8 1/2 by 11 1/2 inch pages) complete with green leather monogrammed cover, pages for all occasions (calendars, client notes, telephone reminders, address book, etc...) limited only by the 1 1/2 inch diameter rings holding it all together.  I had made a perfect match.

A few years and five bank mergers later, I lost my hotshot-ness.  Sadly, it was time to pack away the "Monarch" and move on.  I chose the slightly smaller "Classic" Franklin Planner for this next phase of my life.  Reminiscent of L.L. Bean, my Franklin Planner cover was black canvas with tan leather trim.  No need for a monogram this time...I knew who I was.  I drove a four-wheel drive Ford Explorer, remodeled a 70 year old house in a wonderful neighborhood, loved my independence and roared whenever I felt like it.  Those were good and powerful years until early one morning, just as the coffee began to drip through its filter, I detected a most unwelcome odor and traced it to...to my Franklin Planner.  Yes, Winston, my beautiful, but moody, Main Coon cat, had peed on that L.L. Bean black canvas Franklin Planner cover.  In that moment of his insanity, my illusions, delusions and lifestyle were destroyed.  I was a sailor without a ship, a farmer without a field, an insecure woman with no identity.

The following years were filled with confusion, indecision, and numerous Franklin Planner covers and pages.  I thought I was home free with the "New Yorker" edition.  But, far too soon, it was discontinued.  Then began several seasons of "The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People."  Pithy, serious, intense...it simply became too much.  I spent a pared down year with "Original" followed by a stint of classicism with "Monticello".  But, nothing was working.

So, as I looked through the 2013 catalog,  my heart dropping more with each page turned, I knew it was time for serious reflection.  The Franklin Planner had moved in a different direction than I.  We are no longer compatible.  We have irreconcilable differences.  This is a sad day but a hopeful day.  I'm going to the internet to find the planner that will walk into the future with me.  One that will fit in my purse, but have sufficient writing space on each page.  One that reflects my interests in a classy, personal sort of way.  One that...Mon Dieu...this is it!

I am in love again and my life has new meaning.  This little beauty, about 5 by 8 inches, gives me one page per day to schedule my appointments plus a small area for notes.  Its cover is "Inspired by an antique leather binding from the 1843 volume of "The Poetical Remains of Henry Kirke White of Nottingham."  Does it get any better?  I'm already filling in January dates and tucking small things into the secret pocket.  You have no idea how wonderful it is to have a reason to get up every morning...just to gaze at this reflection of my artistic and creative side.  This next year will be the best yet!

PS--These people have no idea that I'm waxing eloquent over their product, but my little lovely is made by Paperblanks and was purchased from jennibick.com.  It comes in a variety of styles and sizes and if you can handle a week on two pages, you'll be in heaven contemplating the choices.