As you’re reading this, I might be out running on the first cool morning of the season! Perfectly timed for Halloween…
The first dip into the 50s is always a cause for celebration in South Florida- it reminds me of the first spring day up north. We can breathe again, after all the hot mugginess of summer. We can OPEN THE WINDOWS! I wish the 50s would last a little longer- but we’ll have more coming our way.
So! I had a lovely planning day on Wednesday! I sat in Barnes and Noble for several hours. First I looked at the school calendar and put the important dates in my planner…
And then I did some NaBloPoMo planning. I don’t have a lot of posts planned in advance, but I did go through the calendar to see which days are already spoken for, with Weekly Rundowns, Coffee Dates, Tuesday Topics, etc. I’m taking a page from Kae’s book this year, and will be striving to keep my posts around 500 words. I think everyone should write whatever they want- but I know it’s hard for people to read really long posts when so many people are posting every day.
Then I browsed around the bookstore. I contemplated getting this:
I don’t usually love short stories, but it could be just the thing for a busy season. We’ll see how I do on the books I’ve already picked out for December, and I may come back and get this.
Then I looked at planners:
How is it possible for them to have so many (there are just as many on the other side of this display) and for them all to be wrong??? Here’s my biggest pet peeve:
Most of these planners were 17 month planners. WHY. WHY??? The majority of people shopping for planners probably already have one for 2025. Yes, there are people who don’t currently use a planner, but would like to buy one and get started RIGHT AWAY. For the rest of us, why would we want all those extra pages (the 17 month planners start in August of 2025)?
Other reasons for rejecting a planner include- I don’t want spiral bound, and again, that’s what most of these were. I want a nice big space for each day, but I don’t need hourly segments. And I want Saturday and Sunday to be a full day each, not a half space. Is this really too much to ask? Apparently the answer is yes, if you’re shopping at Barnes and Noble.
(Afterwards I went online and currently have my eye on this one. The only thing I don’t like about it is, it’s undated- but I can deal with that).
After Barnes and Noble, I went to Trader Joe’s! Here’s a photo, and I’m not including it because I look good (what’s up with my hair?) but so you can see my Halloween shirt:
Here’s my Trader Joe’s cart- I got the usual staples and some things for our charcuterie board on Sunday:
…and I had to add these at the checkout.
Later in the day I had time for this…
I hope everyone has a fun and spooky day!
Do you ever use a 17 month planner?
Do you dress up for Halloween? – I don’t, but I have a couple Halloween shirts and a Halloween hair clip.
21 Responses
I have been using hobonichi for 3 years and am sticked to it, although a smaller version next year. I don’t get why a planner needs 17 months.
oh i miss trader joes and their seasonal offerings!
I would be interested in the Hobonichi planners- I know a lot of people love them. But I don’t want to deal with ordering one at this point. Maybe another year. Yes, i love Trader Joe’s in the fall- so many fun items.
I usually don’t dress up for Halloween, but today I’ll wear my black jumper and sweater with the gryffindor scarf my daughter knitted a few years ago. Just feeling the need to be a little playfully without going all out. ( I guess I’ll be McGonagall , though I have glasses and a head scar so I could be harry.)
I like short stories- my brain has had trouble getting into new books- so I’ll look for that Otto Penzler .
Enjoy your spooky night!
I like your costume! You can just let people decide which Gryffindor they think you look like. Have fun!
When I got my first wonderland 222 planned it had Nov-dec of the current year and I did use them because I wasn’t in a planner but that is the only time I would use a partial year! And now I am not in a planner at all again and get by with a notebook and my outlook calendar at work. I miss it but I was not using it enough! I, too, hate spiral bound! I like a bound lay flat set up!
Your planning day sounded great. I need to find a day to take off to do something similar and get a massage. I should pick a day in December when things start to quiet down.
Happy Halloween! I love your festive shirt! It is going to be in the 40s here so chilly and now it might rain. But we will carry on and hope that the rain is light and short-lived. I really thought this was the year when it was going to be nice. The last 2 years we had snow!! Also I need a count down like the one you have!!
Yes, you need a “should-less” day. December would be the perfect time, because there’s always so much going on. I know you don’t go crazy for Christmas, but there’s still lots of planning (food, presents, travel, etc.) so it would be nice if you had a quiet day to do that.
I think I could forgive a planner if it just had November-December of the current year. But to go all the way back to August??? That’s a bunch of useless pages.
Have fun tonight- eesh, I hope it doesn’t rain! 40s and rainy is… too cold.
Love your Halloween shirt!
I have a 17 month planner for work and hate it — it so SO HEAVY — it’s spiral-bound, has tons of extra pages I don’t need, including some plastic ones that add to the weight, and did I mention that it’s so HEAVY! Since I cart it around in my work bag, its weight annoys me every day.
That Christmas mystery book looks like fun. I’m not usually a huge fan of short stories either, but maybe they would entice me from doomscrolling.
Coco, anything is better than doomscrolling! Maybe we all need some short stories right now. And- your work planner has EVERYTHING I hate! It sounds terrible!
You know, I’ve always wondered that about 17 month planners. Who is buying them? Because they all end at the same time – December. I mean, I get that the school year starts earlier than January, but if planners all end in December, then we are stuck in a weird loop until the end of planning time.
That’s a great shirt!
I love short stories, there is something so fabulous about such tight and evocative writing.
So you see what I’m saying! I mean I can see if there were a few 17 month planners, but not ALL of them! So annoying.
Okay, you’re convincing me- I should go back and get that book.
Ooooh, your weather looks like ours (minus the rain)! It’s soooooo nice to run in temps in the 50s or 60s after a summer of much hotter weather, though now I’m finding it hard to dress because it starts out feeling cold enough for a long sleeve but then I get hot by the end.
I haven’t tried the pumpkin chips but I really like the fall leaf chips and I’m hoping they still have them when I go this weekend!
I don’t usually dress up for Halloween either but we’re supposed to dress up as ghosts with sunglasses for a team pic at work. But I realized last night that I only have one sheet and it’s currently on my bed (and it’s striped, not solid white) so I don’t think I’ll be able to do it, and I’m not about to go to the store to buy a sheet because I have to run before work! So I’m just gonna wear a black lacy dress I have and call it good.
Yes, I wore long sleeves this morning and really could have worn a t shirt- but I only ran 4 miles and it was dark the whole time, so long sleeves worked.
You’re lucky you don’t work at my husband’s school- each department has a theme for Halloween and there’s a prize, and it gets VERY competitive! His department’s theme is Shrek, and my husband is the wizard. His costume consisted of a wig, beard, hat, and cape. He said the head of his department is very competitive and wants that prize. It seems very involved!
I have to teach live today. No costume.
I thought about nobo for a mega second. I don’t have that much to say or time to say it.
We have a Trader Joe’s now. Yay.
Oh, you will LOVE having a Trader Joe’s! I hope you’ve already been there for all the fall items.
I’ll bet you could think of plenty to say if you did NaBloPoMo- you would probably think of more and more as the month went on. But, I can see why you wouldn’t WANT to do it. You do enough things as it is!
The only time I’ve used a funky planner like that was when I was transitioning AWAY from academic planners and TO a normal year – the whole time I was in college and working at the University post-grad, I kept my academic planner schedule, but once I moved to the public library (thankfully in January!) I needed a regular calendar. I ended up with a weird transitional planner that year … and then I did pick up a 15-month planner last year to try and use as my flower farming planner for this year: it started in October 2024, when I was starting fall seeds to overwinter, and would carry over to this year. It worked, but not as nicely as I hoped so we’re not doing that again, lol
Clever fox is a great option! Lots of space, goal content, lots of people love them. I think that would be a good pick! And prices generally really good, too! I’m so glad you got to enjoy a fun Planning Day!! Also, i LOVE those pumpkin chips, they are perfect with chili.
As soon as you said “undated” I clicked so fast! I am TERRIBLE about keeping up with my planner, and the only hope I have is if it’s undated so I can drop in and out when the motivation seizes me. I wish I could be a Planner Person! It seems so lovely and organized!
So glad you are loving Ninth House! It is one of my favorites!!!!!
Your Halloween shirt is so cute! Happy Halloween!
Yay for cooler mornings! That’s got to feel so good.
I think I’ll probably stick with the planner that you and I both got last year. I don’t love spiral but I do like books that lay flat, so I put up with it.
Love the Halloween shirt!
Cute Snoopy shirt. I use a giant desk calendar that I keep on my island. I also have a huge dry erase board in the kitchen. Then I have a notebook where I write my to do lists and grocery lists. A 17 mo planner seems wacky to me. I don’t get it.
I do not dress up for Halloween but I would wear your shirt! Cute!
I also love your planning session… I’ve done a little pre planning too (but digitally) and hope to get into using a paper planner again next year.
Are the pumpkin tortilla chips any good? I saw them at TJs today.
I also don’t see the point of a 17-month planner. Why are they so popular? Get it together, B&N! I need to figure out my planner for 2026, eeks. It’s coming up soon!
I don’t dress up for Halloween. If I lived in a house that got trick-or-treaters, I would! I don’t even have any Halloween shirts. I need to at least get one cat-themed Halloween shirt!