A Planner A Day...

After getting Twin A and Twin B to bed, Husband announced he was heading to Land O' Office Supplies to buy a calendar, which was odd to me because I never see him use a calendar.

We have a family calendar, on the fridge, the same place it's been forever, but apparently the days on THAT calendar jump around because "it can't possibly be recycling again today because they were here JUST the other day..." Never mind the big green stickers, but whatever.

So, Husband was gearing up to go buy a calendar.

"Why are you buying a calendar?" I asked Husband.
"Seriously?" He shot back, wondering if I was joking or not.
"No, really. Why are you buying a calendar?"
"Well, NaziJo, I'm buying a calendar so I know where I need to be when. You might remember that it's 2006 now. Would you like to psychoanalyze this? Do you want me to reuse a calendar from 1986? What?"

My look must have spoke volumes. He sat down, sighed and knew that with the kids asleep he was trapped. We both calmed down -- I was annoyed that he wasn't going to think twice about buying something after we vowed to more thoughtfully consider all of our purchases, and Husband was annoyed, feeling like I had just accused him of wiping out the remainder of our home equity line of credit at a gambling casino.

We put our smart-ass selves on hold, and, without either of us flying off the handle, we discussed the calendar using the Cheese Puff Theory. Husband acknowledged that he may not need a calendar, since he does most of his scheduling through Outlook at work. I acknowledged that maybe, yes, he does need one. But without knowing, it seemed ridiculous to run out and buy a $15 planner that would likely be heavily used for about three weeks and then probably lost the remainder of the year. This we both agreed on.

Somewhere during our discussion, Husband grabbed a black, mini three-ring binder off the nearby shelf, and his wheels started turning. Knowing he could print a calendar from Outlook, he decided to see what the print options were for a calendar, punch it, and put it in the mini-binder.

At the very least, we thought, this would buy him a few weeks to see if he uses it, and if he did use it and didn't like it, then a new planner it was (hopefully further reduced further into the new year) and if worked, then great -- a free planner. So far, so good. Husband likes it, uses it and hasn't missed a recycling day since.

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PRINTING OUT A PLANNER

SUPPLIES: Assuming you have access to Outlook and a printer.

• paper
• hole punch
• mini-binder (or binder of your choice)

TIPS FOR PRINTING LIKE EXAMPLE:

1. Open Outlook
2. Select Calendar
3. Choose your start and end dates
4. In Page Set Up, choose "Weekly Style"
5. From the "Paper" tab, choose "Letter Half" (this will allow you to double side the pages of your calendar)
6. Print.
7. Back to back the copies, punch and insert.
8. Customize as needed.

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