One of the things I am slowly accepting is that having three kids, two businesses, a needy cocker spaniel and a list as long as I am tall of things I want to do means that there is more “I’d like to…” than I really have time to do.

I just got back from BlogHer and that list has grown exponentially—a blog redesign, a shift in topic, and a renewed understanding that inside of this mind and body that I so often put down, there is a whole lot of talent and skill.

I want to winnow the chaff from life, eliminate clutter and impediments, both real and perceived. My fingers itch to weed the garden to make the coming bounty of tomatoes easier to spot.

I look at the laundry room and want to purge the stained and too-small socks to make room for the tights that will be called for before long. The courage to say certain things to heros of mine is building, the resolve to diffuse the negativity that sometimes settles is growing.

Then just as feel like I know what to do next, my goals and hopes collide with each other. Laundry meets meal prep meets self-grooming meets planning. I can’t quite get my footing to create order from my dreaming. The mundane act of sorting the piles I took out of my suitcase, but did not file brings a kind of calm.

Stack the business cards here.

Toss the unneeded papers here.

Prop those brochures there.

The mint green Martha Stewart notebook, with its textured surface and soft corners beckons. Just 46 pages, it offers me a refuge from my worry. I can jot a few things down and store the hope between the pages. Organize the things I want to do and discover connections that make accomplishing one put me halfway down the path to completing another. Things I hadn’t even considered wanting to accomplish whisper at me as the first several pages are dates and then places for phone numbers.

Birthdays. Half-days. Spirit days. I can keep them here. I need to mail Alexandra a thank you for her kindness, and so I transfer her contact information from my phone to the pages.

Alexandra from Good Day Regular People

Address:…

A camping trip before school starts, to the pages it goes. The back-to-school shopping list goes there too. Another gem from BlogHer, a catalog from Naturalizer along with a coupon good through August 31st. Great! A deadline that puts me ahead of schedule. I write the code down in the pages:

FALL20L

As I categorize the things we’ll need for the first four months of school, I also draft chores that will help us all. Steps for stowing galoshes, scarves and gloves. Setting a shower schedule and reminding myself to let the girls decide if they want baths the night before or showers in the morning. Forecasting new facets of independence is foreign to me.

3rd grade

1st grade

Pre-K

Writing it down makes my eyes sting.

Write more.

I will write more, both in my mint green notebook and in my heart. These days, months and years pass so fast, but with a tiny bit of planning, a list here and there, I can find a patch of order.

*This post is not sponsored. I’m honestly just excited about getting a handle on the mayhem, maybe winning a bit more of Martha Stewart’s gorgeous Home Office line for Staples and, of course, shoes. You can go here to get a coupon to buy a part of the line for 50% off.