I have been making good on one of my resolutions - to dust off my household management notebook, refresh and utilize. New Years Eve I pulled it out and began to sort through its contents, discarding outdated items and figuring out what items were still relevant to my life. I organized the organizer. My notebook contains a daily schedule, master to-do list, weekly routine, weekly and monthly cleaning checklists, blessings for each area of my home, monthly calendars for the year, yearly calendar, lists of monthly events, activites, related foods and activities, important phone numbers and addresses, and other cleaning-related information. There is more yet to do - I need to add menu planning information and chores and responsibilities for the kiddos. I may also include broad educational goals for the year and each month. Yesterday I gave alot of prayerful consideration as to how to structure my time, how to be a good steward of the time that God has gifted me. My kitchen, laundry room, and mud room will be tended to on Mondays, grocery shopping and errands on the north side of town on Tuesdays, bedrooms and baking on Wednesdays, bathroom and errands on the south side on Thursday, dining room, living room and hall on Fridays, and Saturdays will be used to clean the van, front porch, art studio, and the (soon-to-be) rec room. My daily schedule will include quiet time, exercise time, "school" time, meal prep and clean up, time for the chores and for addressing business, planning, and blogging, 'independent' time, family worship and family read-alouds. Although I have not clearly defined every aspect of the plan, I have begun to implement what I do have in place. Today, I have not completed everything that I set out to complete (ie. I didn't get my exercises in because I am fighting something bronchial; I failed to get my floors done in today's designated area) but I have accomplished a great deal. Among other things, I read the book of James and I completed two loads of laundry, cleaned the fridge and freezer and inventoried the contents, cleaned all the appliances, and began to catechize the boys using Training Hearts, Teaching Minds. I feel more balanced, focused, and productive. I will continue to tweak my organizer, making it more functional. I also want to personalize and prettify my binder just a bit. That particular task I will place on my p.m. list. The p.m. list is another aspect of my organizational plan that I need to put into place. The p.m. list is a list of tasks that I can complete during evening down time, tasks that could be done while watching a movie or listening to a radio broadcast. I remember my granny, after a long day of cooking and cleaning, would sit in her green upholstered rocker doing some mending or crocheting an afghan while the evening newscast was playing. My granny had her p.m. list that allowed her to be productive even during her "down" time. My p.m. file presently includes organizing recipes that I have clipped, assembling my traditions notebook, working on scrapbook pages or other art projects, writing letters, painting my toenails and prettifying my household management notebook. I have to decide how to keep track of my p.m. file ideas. I used to jot them down on a dry erase board but I don't have that board anymore nor do I have a place for it. I will come up with something creative. I also plan on getting an index card file with monthly tabs and setting it on my kitchen counter after prettifying it. This file would allow me to quickly store seasonal ideas that I might spontaneously come up with. I suppose that this is another project for my p.m. list. I have so enjoyed getting my notebook out and refreshing it. There is so much peace to be found in an ordered life.
I wanted something pretty, more inspirational. Looking in my craft supplies I found a paper crafting kit by Cosmo Cricket that I had purchased years ago and I purposed to use it to makeover my notebook. This is how it looks now. Isn't it pretty?
Here's a look at the inside. On the left is my daily schedule utilizing a form from www.avirtuouswoman.org. It also has a small tag with my personal information. On the right are notecards, one for each day of the week. 
Then there are seven tabbed categories - weekly, monthly, meal planning, annual/seasonal, lifestyle of learning, business, and routines.
The notecards have daily information - appointments to keep, calls to make, things to do, the days menus and chores. Just behind these is the weekly category with next weeks set of notecards and a master to-do list.
Then comes the monthly section with month-at-a-glance calendar pages printed from www.avirtuouswoman.org and special days highlighted. After this would be the meal planning section where I have a list of our favorite dishes, meal-related ideas for upcoming special events and the weeks menus.
The next section is the seasonal/annual section. Tasks or events that are annual, bi-annual, or quarterly are noted on a yearly calendar. For example, it reminds me that property taxes are due in December, that files are purged and reorganized in February, and toys are purged in June and December. 
Behind the yearly calendar are sheets of simple notebook paper where I jot down ideas relevant to each month. I brainstorm - what does each month bring to mind? January: Bishop's birthday, epiphany, stars, snow, black-eyed peas, a new year, Unschool Art Exhibit and decorate front porch for Valentines. As I run across seasonal information that is new to me I jot that down as well. January: national drinking straw day and squirrel appreciation day. Civic holidays, liturgical events, and seasonal food, craft activities, household and garden tasks are all noted here. These help me plan menus, events and educational opportunities.
The pursuant categories are lifestyle of learning where I jot down broad annual and monthly educational goals and ideas, business where I keep important phone numbers and spending records, and routines where I keep track of chores and tasks related to maintaining the home and property. This notebook is a gift to myself - the gift of organization wrapped in a beautiful package!
