YOU BETTA WERK!

I have been so busy lately that I can hardly keep my head on straight. Thankfully, I have a huge support in a group of planner sisters that I joined. A planner group with no drama is rare as shit, but I think that it has a lot to do with the fact that we are all Black Women, determined to see each other succeed. It's a crazy unique group. We help each other procure the planner items we desperately want, but don't need. We are enablers, and we are accountability partners.

I had a planner sister send me THIRTEEN planner covers that she grabbed for me at the MAMBI warehouse sale in California and they came last week. Two of them were meant to be for other people, but now I get to keep them. THRILLED, doesn't even cover it. No pun intended! Planning is my "happy place!" Being a planner babe has really helped me make sense of all of the hats that I wear. Sometimes, I want to remove a hat and get some rest or just pay someone to come walk the dogs once a day. Between teaching, crafting, my internship, and trying to have a social life, it gets C R A Z Y! I keep trying to carve out time to plan a few weeks in advance and get some pretty layouts going, but I keep falling asleep or getting distracted. Distraction being the most likely occurrence.

I have been working ever since the school year started, which is surprising because you wouldn't guess that there would be such a need, but there has been, and I have a great relationship with everyone. I literally wake up glad to go to work every day. I have bills y'all, real ass bills, and I'll just be damned if I drown now—so I get up, and get to work. There are days I want to stay home and there are some days I want to just check out...but that's not what adults do; adults have to show up. How else can I afford all of the shit that I want (and I want a lot of things) without working for it? There are no hours to spare for bullshit and distractions. All of my friends are really encouraging and they're all saying, "take care of yourself, don't get overwhelmed," but all I can hear in my ear is Rupaul saying:

Next week is another full one with M-F work, a conference call on Monday when I get in from work, a meeting Tuesday so it doesn't even make sense to come home from work, and a half day of work on Monday...which I won't fill for anything in this world. I just can't do it—WON'T do it either. My ability to cope depends on my ability to rest easy and rest well. I can't be running around here ready to bite the heads off of bats, but I MIGHT kick someone if I don't get some meaningful rest and respite soon. I'll feel better when that bills are paid, I do stress to my students that very shitty aspect of adulthood. Meanwhile, I'm wishing 2019 would come to a close SOON because I have a new Happy Planner for 2020 and I can't wait to use it! It's a Happy Planner x Teresa Collins collaboration and I love it because it's black, white, and pink! I even went so far as to buy the Be Happy box from MAMBI to give me ample stickers to go into it. I went on a huge spree with clearance HP stuff after Back to School season passed by. It was amazing. I got so many awesome things and a whole collection of rose gold pens, staplers, scissors, and a desk set courtesy my AKA Ivy Box from Ivy Storehouse. Let's talk about all of these pictures.

The first seven pictures are of the Happy Planner and Teresa Collins planner and Be Happy Box collaboration. I am so happy about these that I have the elusive PLANNER PEACE that everyone talks about. The next two pictures are of my rose gold back to school clearance finds at Walgreens. I also scored a backpack, lunchbox, two journals, a ruler, pens, and bunch of correction tape. I immediately used my silhouette to personalize them. I basically had a field day and I have no really idea how much money I spent. I just know that a great deal things were dirt cheap! The rose gold pens were like $1 each and I got 12. The backpack was $3, the lunchbox $2, et cetera. So yeah, I have gathered a lot of things, and I should be good to go for the next year of awesomeness to come. My eyes are fixed firmly on graduation in May. My internship is going so well and I LOVE getting to be who I'm supposed to be. The last few pictures are some other great finds. I scored two baby books from Happy Planner as well in preparation for a family, the girl and the boy versions. Though I don't know when that will be, I didn't want the albums to be discontinued by the time I needed them. They aren't pregnancy trackers, they are meant to chronicle the first 12 months and they're so freaking sweet. I couldn't leave them in the store and I have had my eye on them for months. I also grabbed an undated kit for almost nothing on clearance and one of my planner sisters got my a Michael's $4 grab bag that had two teacher and one student planners, but I gifted them to two coworkers and one client. So, I think I broke even. I scored and I gave away!