Well Planned Life

One of the first paragraphs of Jodi Picoult’s Keeping Faith goes as follows: “I do not like surprises.   I live by lists.   In fact, I often imagine my life like a September loose-leaf binder—neatly slotted and tabbed, with everything still in place… To this end, every day of the week has a routine.” My first thought was, Wow, could this be me ?  But no.  I do in fact like surprises (like new planners!).  The story doesn’t relate to me at all except that the main character is very orderly and neat.  The story is about a little girl who seems to be experiencing stigmata.  The book asks the obvious questions: Is she?  Isn’t she?  Can you prove it?  Can you disprove it?  Is her mother causing the bleeding hands?  Will she lose custody?  Is there some sort of crime involved? I liked the book well enough, but it wasn’t one of my favorites of Picoult’s.  There are others I like much better.  But I thought the topic was a great one—one that could be discussed at length. But th

If you follow me on Twitter , then you know I have a new member of my Filofax family.   Her name is Ms. Plum .   She is one of a kind, let me tell you.   She is beautiful and she knows it.   While her exterior is soft and pleasing to look at and feel, her tendency is to shut you out—she’s a bit snooty.   She holds a lot inside, but her slim figure will never reveal it.   She’s important, and she wants the world to know it.   If she doesn’t know you, she doesn’t need to know you, but she’d lay down her life for those she cares about (like Big Brother Reggie ).   Her style is impeccable—stilettos and a feather boa, pursed painted lips and false eyelashes.   She turns the head of every man she meets, but only one will steal her heart.   But even then, she is the one in control, and so when the professor arrives on the scene, he shall take her name and she shall still remain “Ms.”   And while Ms. Plum looks sophisticated and refined, she often finds herself in colorful predicaments.

To celebrate Lime Tree's visit to New York City, we will have an impromptu mini meet-up! When: Saturday, August 4 Time: 1 p.m. Where: Joe Coffee , Grand Central, 44 Grand Central Terminal (located at Graybar passage off Lexington Ave.)  This is considered a mini meet-up because there is no Filo shopping planned .  The purpose of this mini meet-up is to enjoy the company of other Filo lovers, Filo discussions and coffee/tea/your drink of choice.  However, if anyone is interested in participating in some Filofax shopping, feel free to organize that on your own. If you would like to attend the mini meet-up, please contact me (kanalt17 at Gmail dot  com). For anyone interested in a full-fledged meet-up, I am still planning to organize one for the fall, as promised at the last NYC meet-up .

If you’ve been following my blog for a while, you know that my dad passed away and that it has had a great impact on me .   This summer marks the fifth anniversary of his death.   As a family, we did not mark the occasion with any discussion.   We just let it roll on by, though I’m sure each of us spoke to him in our own way. Although he fought his illness for twelve years, when the time finally came where we knew his death would arrive sooner than later, we were all stunned by that realization.  Parksinson’s Disease takes many forms, and like many other diseases, how it runs its course varies from patient to patient.  We never really knew how it would end, only how it could end, and there were many possibilities. Still, somehow, even before he rounded his last corner with the disease, since his diagnosis, I knew what song I would turn to when the end eventually came. It’s amazing how a song can mean so much to someone, how one’s experience can prompt that person to p

A couple of weeks ago, I was in Target and happened upon a great organizing solution.   It’s a storage box that allows you to configure the inside of the box to keep certain items together.   I was not in need of a storage box by any means, but once I saw it, I knew I had to have it. At first glance, it’s just a storage box, like so many I have seen before.  Its outside is made of a durable canvas material. They come in an array of sizes and styles.  But what makes this box different from all the rest is its interior. Again, at first glance, nothing spectacular.  But, if you look closely, you’ll see a swatch of material in each corner.  Upon further inspection, I came to realize that these swatches are bendable, allowing you to configure the box as you see fit in order to secure your items inside. Here’s one corner flipped out, while the other three are still tucked in: Here it is with all four corners flipped out: At first I had no idea