"A" is for...

...daily planner!

It doesn't make much sense, does it? I've always called my daily planner (when I had one, that is), my agenda. And, of course, the fact that my name starts with "A" (which is what actually makes sense, isn't it?) also matters. You'll soon see why.

This year I had bought a cheap, boring daily planner. I wasn't using it much, but I found the need to use it grew as the days passed:

 When is Oath's next doctor appointment? I know I called a few days ago to check but now I can't remember...

 Oh, so you told me you wouldn't me coming for dinner today? I must have forgotten...

 If I just had a planner! Wait... I do, don't I?

These (or a variation of them) happened once too much and I decided I needed to start using the cheap, boring, not-so-pretty daily planner. What could I do to make me want to use it more?

Crochet!

Does the "A" make sense now?

I loved this color combination, even though I thought I wouldn't.

Two bookmarks.

Now, the execution isn't perfect, nothing near the perfect idea I had. The rainbow seven-strand braid I wanted to do as a bookmark was too chunky and I had to make two bookmarks, a regular and a four-strand braid... and now I don't know what to use one of them for (woe is me!). I didn't sew it all that well and it does not lay as nicely as it could...

But I love it.

I smile every time I look at it, and it's not only because rainbow-y colors make me happy. It is because for the first time in a (way too) long time, I've done something for me. I have believed that the effort to make me happy (even with something so simple as turning a boring "agenda" into a pretty one) was worth it.

Now if I could only find what to use the second marker for...

Oath's mom