Sometimes, I wonder why I put myself through it. Because, quite frankly, there is no perfect planner out there.

Oh, sure, I’m a big fan of Franklin Covey, but at the beginning of every year, no matter how many planners I look at, I still come away somehow unsatisfied.

I know I’m not alone, based on the number of customers in the store, in the same aisle, staring at the same planners, and reacting as I was:

Pick one up, look through it. Put it down, pick up another one.

And so it continued. Not only at one office supply store, but at every one I visited over the course of a week or so. I suspect I wasn’t the only one who left empty-handed. OK – so I watched everyone else, and know I wasn’t the only one.

I think the main problem with these yearly planners is that we secretly count on them to do much more than keep track of our appointments and to-do lists.

We tend to look at these planners as a cure-all.

We wonder which planner will make our lives better. Which one will actually improve our quality of life.

We wonder which one will represent total transformation – turning the unorganized into the organized, or the less-than-successful into the total successes.

We ponder what format serves us best – daily? weekly? monthly? Daily on one side with the month on the other side of the page? Weekly on one page (with great big squares for each day, so every second of the day can be planned) with another page of blank space for everything that didn’t fit into the little weekly square? Or maybe a giant notebook would work best, sans calendar or any form of dates, filled with grocery lists, store errands, hockey practice and Operation Athlete info?

I think it was at store 7, where I turned to look at one of the guys who’d been in that aisle before I arrived. I asked him his opinion:

“Why is this so difficult?” Nothing like a rhetorical question. Especially when the questionee drew a blank equal to that of the  questioner.

“I don’t know,” he’d said. “All I know is I have 15 minutes to make this decision, and wish I had all day.”

It occurred to me that perhaps I should employ his technique and put a time limit on my decision.

I came back to my senses in relatively short order, though. Because somewhere out there are planning pages with my name on them. And when I find them, this year, I may take things one step further and actually write on them.

-Liz

While it’s tempting to leave you hanging on this one, I’ve decided to lay out my case for the decade beginning in 2010, not 2011.

Think back to when you were a child. Remember how important it was to turn 10? It meant you were no longer in single digits – heck, you were almost a teenager! It is a rite of passage we continue as adults. We celebrate the big 3-0, the big 4-0, the big 5-0 and etc. We do not celebrate turning 31, or 41, or 51. Because at that point, we are already in the corresponding decade.

Granted, I can hear you nay-sayers out there, who insist, “But, Liz – we celebrate turning 21, not 20.”

To which I’d respond that there is an exception to every rule, then defy you to find other examples.

To further illustrate the point that the new decade is in full swing, I ask you to look back to New Year’s Eve, 1999, when we sat wating to usher in a new decade. The decade, thus, began in 2000. We counted 2000 as year 1 in the new decade. So 2009 was year 10 – or a full decade.

Of course there are those who believe we don’t start counting at 0 – that we started counting at one. While I see their rationale, I still say they’re off-base in a belief that the new decade doesn’t begin until 2011 – not to mention they’re also a decade behind.

-Liz

Enjoy your Coffee Break!

Don’t forget to leave us a comment or email lizandkate@live.com for a chance to win this week’s giveaway!

Even though two of the biggest holidays are over, we won’t be bored here at Holiday Palooza, because as I’m sure you’ve come to know, the weird, insane and often unjustifiable holidays just keep coming.

Let’s begin with Festival of Sleep Day which falls on Jan. 3. This one sounds like it’s right up my alley, especially seeings how it falls on a Sunday this year, and is also the day before the kids go back to school (dread it). Fruitcake Toss Day is Jan. 3, as well, although some maintain this holiday is the 9th. Take your pick of dates – just make sure to work this one into your schedule.

I’m not sure I’ve ever eaten any fruitcake, and honestly have no desire to. There are those who insist it’s ambrosia fit for the gods, though. Whatever floats your boat, I suppose. I would, however, take great pleasure in a fruitcake toss.

On Jan. 7, we celebrate I’m Not Gonna Take It Anymore Day. I like this one already. No matter what is bothering you, no matter what seems to be going wrong, today is the day to take the bull by the horns and make a simple declaration: “I’m not gonna take it, anymore.” I feel better already.

We round out the week with National Joygerm Day and Show and Tell Day at Work, which both land on Jan. 8. Might I begin by saying I have no clue as to what a joygerm is – and frankly, I’m not sure I want to know…  And if I were you, and you happen to have joygerms, I wouldn’t show and tell that information at the office.

That’s it for this week, so until next week, get your party on!

*Leave a comment on this, or any, post and be automatically entered in this week’s giveaway.

Here’s a look at some of the funniest moments from Coffee Break with Liz and Kate 2009. And if these are any indication of what’s to come, Coffee Break will be the place to be in 2010!

We present:

The funniest moments of Liz and Kate 2009

(Random quotes taken completely out of context, ’cause that’s how we roll here at Liz and Kate…heehee!)

“A bunch of dogs going and running and sleeping and playing, some are up, some are down, and no one likes the girl’s hat – until the very end, when they all drive to the tree and have a big party.”  (Liz’s Rants: I Hate Homework)

“Be careful what you prank about because you never know when it’s going to come back and bite you in the butt.” (Kate’s Escapades – Another ridiculous story…)

“I was going to be mowing said yard with a giant pair of scissors on wheels.It was my worst lawnmare come true.” (Liz’s Rants – Green, green grass of home…)

“They didn’t exactly eat the whole couch, but they might as well have.”  (Kate’s Escapades – The Dogs Ate My Couch!)

“I can’t even go to the restroom in peace.” (Liz’s Rants – Gotta go?)

“This may necessitate some zig zaging through the aisles because you can’t just cross off an item willy-nilly from the  end of the list.” (Kate’s Escapades – The List)

“And if you’re thinking you’ll take revenge because your cousin or brother or uncle or aunt is slithering in my trashcan as we speak, my neighbor put your scaly little friend there, not me.” (Liz’s Rants – Not in my trash can)

“This is an emergency…I’m growing a mullet.” (Kate’s Escapades – On the news a family dies…)

“I’m clueless as to how one would enter the cupcake. Maybe the icing lifts up.” (Liz’s rants – Get in your cupcake and drive)

“Oh myee heck, we wuz at the star with Cheltsie the uther day hwhen we found a ril gud sel on these gargeus mou-un peechurs.” (Kate’s Escapades – Cowboy Wannabe)

“The stare-down would have been laughable had his beady little eyes not been so… beady.” (Liz’s rants – No cat…and the mice are playing)

“I’ve secretly wanted one for years, but never had the guts to buy one for fear of being ridiculed by my fellow man.” (Kate’s Escapades – my secret yearning to Snuggie it up)

“Hold on to your toaster, folks – there’s a new national emergency.” (Liz’s rants – Leggo my Eggo)

“My mailman hates me.” (Kate’s Escapades – My Mailman Hates Me)

Hope you enjoyed our recap of some of the funniest moments on Coffee Break with Liz and Kate. Until next week, we wish you health, happiness and prosperity in the new year!

-Liz and Kate

“Auld Lang Syne” is sung at the stroke of midnight in almost every English-speaking country in the world to bring in the new year. At least partially written by Robert Burns in the 1700′s, it was first published in 1796 after Burns’ death. Early variations of the song were sung prior to 1700 and inspired Burns to produce the modern rendition. An old Scotch tune, “Auld Lang Syne” literally means “old long ago,” or simply, “the good old days.” Here are the lyrics:

Auld Lang Syne
Should auld acquaintance be forgot and never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot and days of auld lang syne?
For auld Lang syne, my dear, for auld Lang syne,
We’ll take a cup of kindness yet, for auld Lang syne.
Should auld acquaintance be forgot and never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot and days of auld Lang syne?
And here’s a hand, my trusty friend and gie’s a hand o’ thine
We’ll tak’ a cup o’ kindness yet for auld Lang syne