I love the OIB and how handy it is when I have to take care of an appointment where I suspect I may have to wait a bit before my turn (doctor, dentist, etc.)  At those times, l can catch up on my correspondence, especially when I want to remember someone’s special occasion such as a birthday or anniversary.  I realize I may be a bit “quirky” to actually want to be using “snail-mail”, but it gives me a good feeling when someone thanks me for taking the time to remember them with more than an electronic poke.

To make it easier to get the “just right” card (no, I don’t think of that as a *p*word, but rather caring enough to make it personal), I do my card shopping once a month.  I have 3-inch “post-it” notes with the name of that special person, and the date of his/her special occasion written on it  (Be sure to add the “year” to the date–comes in handy when you want to recognize one of those memorable years).  To then make my task even easier, I have also written the mailing address on the post-it.  As I peruse the card racks, I place the post-it on the front of the chosen card.  And because the clerk at the cash register is only interested in the bar-code on the back of the card, I don’t have to worry about keeping them in sequence.

I can address all of my cards for the month while waiting on that appointment, or when I sit down to do that “paperwork” thing we all need to do.    I put the date the card is needed for up in the corner where the stamp will be affixed, and I am ready to go.  Put the cards in chronological order, check the date of the next to go out, calculate the delivery time and mail accordingly.  I put the post-its for that month on a sheet of paper, insert it into a vinyl sleeve, and file behind the monthly tabs in my journal.

Because the FlyLady system has helped to remove the CHAOS from my life, I find I sometimes get a little carried away with “clever” ideas.  My latest one concerning these post-its (which do lose their gumminess, over time) was to begin transferring the information to colored 3-inch post-its.  I used blue for boys/men, pink for girls/women, green for anniversaries, and yellow for special occasions such as holidays.  When I am in a section of the cards, I can actually do all my looking/choosing for one group, then move on to the next.  I found it to be a great time-saver.

Thanks, again, for all you do,
Rovin’ in a motorhomel