Monday, July 13, 1998

        I think I've successfully avoided being sucked in again. Maybe. I got out the package of Day-Timer filler pages that I bought, and I got out my Franklin Planner binder, and without opening the package, held it up to the binder to be sure that the pages would fit. And they will, but it's not ideal. The Day-Timer pages are about a half inch narrower than the Franklin pages, which doesn't sound like a lot, but these are the small size pages, about 4 x 6, and a half inch makes quite a bit of difference. I was hoping to be able to use all the Franklin stuff that I already have--tabs, sheet protectors, various forms and unprinted pages--with the Day-Timer printed calendar pages. I could, of course, but it would look pretty dumb to have two different sizes of pages.

        I suppose that's by design, so that you can't intermingle both systems, and it's annoying. So then of course I started thinking, well, maybe I should just go ahead and get a new filler for the Franklin Planner binder, since I already have all of the other stuff, and I got out their catalog and started looking through it. I used their "Seasons" filler once, and that's what I have in the binder now, but I'm tired of it. And the flowered pages really aren't me. But there was a really cool purse/binder in there that I really liked. I started thinking maybe I should just go up to the Franklin store and look around and just see what's available . . .

        I really love all this stuff, but it's just not practical. I could spend a fortune on it and never use it. I have the best intentions, but frankly I just don't have that busy of a schedule. Yes, of course I could start charting my goals and finances and things like that, but as much as I probably should, I just don't want to. My little checkbook-sized one page a month calendar that I carry in my wallet is just fine. It's really all I need, although I could look at it a little more often. But it's fine. Along with a few index cards, it allows me to keep track of appointments and lists just fine. I don't need to start carrying around a big, heavy binder everywhere I go.

        So I think what I'm going to do is go to Office Max and return the Day-Timer filler package and not look back. I will force myself not to go to the Franklin-Covey store, and hopefully within a day or two the urge will pass.

        The fact that I've spent this many words talking about this tells you how important it is to me. I've been through it before, I'll get through it this time. Interesting that my addictive personality comes out in office supplies and not gambling or drugs. I guess that's good . . .

        Several people wrote to bring this paragraph from a previous entry to my attention:

        . . .I don't know what to do with the rocket, exactly. My plan was to stencil white stars on it, but that didn't work out very well. I didn't like the way it looked and I ended up cleaning off the stars . . .

        I was, of course, talking about a "rocker," a miniature chair, one of a group that I've been refinishing, not a "rocket." It was pretty funny though, taken in context with the sort-of-new spaceship design of the site. I actually made the rocker/rocket mistake more than once, and caught it, but missed this one. I decided to leave it rather than go back and correct it. I kind of like the idea of a navy blue rocket with white stars.

        This morning I put ivy decals on one of the other chairs, one that I had painted off-white and varnished last night. This morning I painted another little stool, and after it dries and I varnish it, I'll put some of the decals on it, too. The next one I plan to do is to sand one of the chairs until it's very smooth, then put on a color stain in "Gardener's Green." It's one of those that you put on, then rub off, so that the stain goes down into the grain of the wood and brings it out, but doesn't cover it up like paint does. I also bought some pickling gel yesterday while I was out, and another sheet of stencils. Bob was looking at all this stuff that I have spread out over the dining table, and commented that maybe I have a new career going here. He really did like the white and ivy leaf chair, though.

Later . . .

        I went to Office Max and returned the Day-Timer filler. I went back into the store and looked at them again, though. I couldn't resist. I almost bought a "Collegiate" planner--the pages were white with a cool atom design in the middle, and they start in August for the school year. I liked the binder, I liked the filler, but I was finally able to tear myself away from them. I told myself that if I decided I really had to have one, I could get it later, or order it from the catalog. I know it's not necessary, I know I don't need it, I've bought them before and not used them at all, but still I can't resist.

        After the emotionally wrenching trip to Office Max, I took myself to lunch at Chili's and finished "Running with the Demon," by Terry Brooks. It's a sort of Stephen King-esque "good vs. evil in a small town" story. A knight in tarnished armor, a 14 year old girl who can do magic, a little man made of twigs and leaves, a ghost-wolf, and an owl named Daniel. Along with assorted friends and relatives and an evil spirit trapped in a tree. A lovely book, very engrossing. When I got home, I was trying to decide what to read next. I picked up Barbara Bretton's new book, "Once Around," from my to-be-read pile, intended just to read a couple of pages, and ended up reading about halfway through. I may stay up and finish it tonight.

        It's a novel about a pregnant woman whose husband leaves her, cleaning out her house in the process. On the same day, a handyman shows up, having been paid a deposit by the errant soon-to-be-ex husband, and, being an ethical sort, arranges to work off the deposit doing odd jobs around the house. Of course they fall in love, there's really no question about that, but it's an interesting fall.

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