i love me some note cards.

i never leave home with out them. they are the perfect place to record a genius idea, deposit toddler scribbles, and spit out used gum. i wrote all of my school papers, from tenth grade through graduate school, by putting one fact one each note card, arranging them into themed stacks, putting the stacks in order, and settling down in front of my computer in the midst of a veritable note card village. i even wrote my most recent homily this way.

when i started the re[frame] productivity system for creative people a few months ago, it wasn’t so much because i had friends who had successfully completed the program and were happy with the results. nor was the main draw its enticing low price of $42 for six weeks worth of daily emails explaining a detailed process in simple, attainable steps. it was the note cards, folks. i loved the idea of writing one “to do” on each note card and organizing them in a cute little box under headings for each day of the week. so excited was i about the power of this little box and its contents to transform my chaotic world that i diligently worked the note card system for months.

during this time, i returned emails and phone calls promptly, sent school picture money back on time, made headway on long overdue projects (the sewing room reorganization, for example), and developed a regular schedule for household tasks such as doing laundry and making dinner. i was the very picture of productivity. the problem was that i wasn’t feeling very creative anymore.

there was no time to whip up crazy pants for my boys in my newly organized sewing room. i began having visions of things i wanted to paint or cook, but there wasn’t time to bring them to life. i pictured myself (and still do) dropping by amro music of an afternoon, renting a fiddle, and spending “free time” indulging myself and horrifying others with the excruciating cacophony only a beginning fiddler could produce.

so for the last six weeks or so, i have abandoned my dear note cards. we are living in piles of laundry and dirty dishes but the laundry now contains several pairs of fabulous new crazy pants for the kids, and the dirty dishes are the result of creative cooking experiments. i have devoured a few great books (both the for-fun kind and the brain-stimulating kind) but there are an embarrassing number of unread emails in my inbox.

i generally prefer allowing my intuition to guide me from one task to the next. the only problem is that my intuition is not so good at taking care of business. and after a while, it becomes evident that i need things like friends, and clean underwear, and an unsoiled mug for my coffee. 

so today, i’m getting back on the re[frame] wagon. i’m returning to the world of note cards. however, instead of attacking every piece of unfinished business in my life the way  my dog attacks his breakfast (in an near-violent frenzy), i’m going to take a more measured approach. i have only one goal for the week, and that is cleaning out the bird’s closet. i know there must be clothes to fit this child in there somewhere!

is there any way to be both productive and creative at the same time? or is this particular brand of balance just another part of a mother’s quest for pie-in-the-sky equanimity? i think i’ll just write these questions on note cards and carry them around in my purse.

first name: Tiernan

age: 34

current city: Denver

living situation: I live with my husband, Cody, our three children (ages three, four, and six) and our seven year old Yorkie, Mabry. Mentally, I have one foot in the country and one foot in the city at all times.

occupation: Writer/Small business owner/Mom

how do you structure your time and space? Only my oldest is in school right now (only half day), we don’t have any family in town, and we don’t do daycare. Consequently, I am with my kids ALOT. I love it but it can be exhausting. I am a writer for a number of online magazines, as well as a blogger and a small business owner (with my husband).

I just got a day planner and I don’t know how I lived without it. It was so liberating to transfer all of my commitments from scraps of paper in my purse to the planner. I feel so official and organized now! We are about to move into a new (for us) house that has a huge office, and I found a vintage double-sided post office desk that my husband and I are going to use. I cannot wait!

using the metaphor of seasons to describe the phases of women’s lives, 

-what are the particular challenges and highlights of your current season? I am Colorado autumn right now. One day it’s 80 degrees and sunny, the next day it is 40 degrees (still sunny but cold), the next day it is snowing, and then it’s sunny again. I actually relate to Colorado’s climate quite well because regardless of the current conditions, sun is inevitably right around the corner. With the kids being so young right now, I am in a constant maelstrom of child-related chaos. With one hand, I’m stubbornly holding on to my individual identity, but the other hand is in the grip of thirty sticky fingers (and ten not-so-sticky, but rather large fingers), which are pulling me in the other direction. Sometimes I feel like standing my ground is futile, and I give in to the world of sweatsuits, pony tails, and mini-vans. Not that there’s anything wrong with those things, but if you don’t step back every once in a while and remember who you are and what you love, you will be swallowed up. Mothering presents the constant challenge of finding balance between who I was, who I am, and who I want to be.

-What season(s) preceded this one? Glorious summer! Kids make you realize how easy life was before they entered the picture. Honestly, I look back and realize I was practically on vacation up until 2004 when my first born arrived. All I needed was a mojito and a bathing suit! Don’t get me wrong. Of course, my children are my greatest blessing but life has just transformed. One day, summer will return. But this time, it will be a family beach vacation rather than a girls’ trip to Cabo. I’m good with that. The promise of summer represents the dreams I have for my family.

-What season(s) might your future hold? SUMMER! I’m counting on it (yes, I notice the trend).

Favorite family activity: Hiking, riding bikes/scooters, playing board games, movie nights, picnics

favorite solo activities: My two greatest passions are books and horses. Few things make me happier than riding or curling up with a cup of tea and a book. Horses have been a part of my life since the age of five. I love the smell of wood shaving and manure.

As far as books are concerned, I admire the dedication and creativity involved in writing fiction. Even if a book isn’t stellar, I respect the fact that the author’s emotional sweat is poured out on the pages. I also practice yoga three to four times a week and love to run and cook. 

sources of inspiration: Women who are willing to mentor other women. Sometimes all you need to reach a new level of success is a little guidance and someone to believe in you. Too often, we are too busy to reach out and give of our time, but some women will go above and beyond to help another recognize a dream. Also, I admire anyone who trail-blazes in any forum. If you do something unexpected or against the grain and just keep moving forward in the face of adversity, I am inspired by you.

best MakeShift moment: My son had been begging me for months to use a box of paints that his nanna gave him. I kept putting if off because, well, paints makes a huge mess and I didn’t want to deal with it. This week, I finally gave in. I put a craft mat on the front yard, pulled out the dreaded paints and went to grab some paper. Small problem: no paper. Three eager faces stared back at me, so I went to my husband’s dresser, grabbed three white t-shirts and told them to get to work. They painted each other, and then they painted some moving boxes. They had so much fun doing it! 

check out tiernan’s blog at www.tiernanmckay.blogspot.com.

name: Martha Young

age: 66

current city: Memphis

living situation: My dog, Sawyer, my cat, Kitty, and I are the current occupants of our home. Emily, my soon-to-be twenty-year-old daughter will be in and out for the summer. She is a junior at Mississippi State in Starkville. I have a total of three children. Emily’s brothers are Chris (42), who lives in Manhattan Beach, CA, and Roger (40), who resides in St. Petersburg, FL. I am thrilled to have six grandchildren, ranging from ages eight to eleven months. I am a  single mom and grandmother. When my boys were little, the dad was in the house. He was not a “hands on dad.”

occupation: I am a first grade teacher. I love first graders. When they start losing their teeth, they are just about at the best age there is. The  toothless smile of a first grader is a thing of beauty. They love their moms, dads, teachers, and pets. They are potty trained and will not have to be taught to drive for years. You generally know where they are at all times, which is a good thing. They still love to hear a good story, and can usually tell one. They are so ready to learn and share. When they grow up and leave home, it’s not the teenager you miss, it’s the first grader.   

how do you structure your time and space? To say that I structure my time might be a stretch. If you have read about Jill (my daughter-in-law), a previously featured “mother of invention,” you read about structure. That is called the gene pool trying to correct itself. The main structure in my life is comes from my job, teaching first grade. You might say that I am structured on a first grade level. We have a schedule to follow in school, and I try to stick to it. We work in the mornings in a structured format, and do our less structured activities in the afternoon. It’s like eating your vegetables before dessert. On weekends I tend to work the same way. I go running early, do my chores, and do the really fun stuff in the afternoon.

My schedule has definitely changed since my children were launched. I used to wonder how moms with three children took all their children where they needed to go. Two, even back then, was difficult. That’s why God, in his infinite wisdom, gave me three children, but not all in the house at the same time. The older two were in, and just out of college when Emily was born. As a matter of fact, I missed Chris’s college graduation because Emily was due that day.

Since I no longer have to drive someone to a sports event in the afternoons or prepare a meal, I am able to jog in the afternoons after school, if time permits. While children were at home, I ran early before school, many days. I found that if I didn’t run early, something would come up to prevent it from happening. Now I run after school and do very little in the way of homemaking in the evening. I save all the chores for Saturday. That is a euphemism for not doing anything at night. After teaching and running, I am ready to do nothing but read, relax, and watch TV. And, especially after the time changes in the spring, I have found that if I don’t go to bed right after dark, I am behind schedule for the next day and tired. (I have to get my jabs in against daylight savings time.) 

My grandchildren all live elsewhere, so I am always on vacation when I am with them. That makes holidays really special.

martha with daughter, emily, and twin granddaughters

using the metaphor of seasons to describe the phases of women’s lives, what are the particular challenges and highlights of your current season? What season(s) preceded this one? What season(s) might your future hold? Well, I guess I am in fall. I think I had an extra long summer, having the twenty year gap between children. I would like for fall to last forever and not ever go into winter. That is my plan. The challenges of being in fall are that I like summer activities best. I love being on this earth and don’t ever want to leave it. I like being outside and being physically active.

Favorite family activity/activities: My favorite large-group family activity is being with them at the beach. Our week in Destin, FL is my favorite of the entire year.

When Emily and I were the immediate family occupying the home, we painted everything we touched. I don’t think that there is a square inch of this house that has not been painted. We even painted a mural in our garage. On December 21, or the winter solstice, the sun hits the big red sun on the east wall and lights up the garage with an aura of red. We call it the “miracle in the garage”.

favorite solo activities: I love to run. I imagine stories while I run, such as spending lottery money. I especially like long distances. I also continue to paint. On our recent snow days, I painted three pieces of furniture white. The ceilings have never been done but that will be so boring.

sources of inspiration: the Sunday services at Idlewild Presbyterian Church;  being outside in the late afternoon; watching the street lights turn on in the early evening

best MakeShift moment: My MakeShift moment would have to be an incident involving a jogging stroller and a garage sale when Emily and I were living  in Miami. When Emily was a baby, I had no one to watch her when I ran. I was ecstatic when she was old enough to ride in the running stroller, which was my prized possession. I got the stroller out during our garage sale so that Emily would have a place to sit, but much to my dismay, a neighbor sat in it and rendered it unrideable. I went into a panic, shut down the sale at 9:30 a.m.,  and told people it was over. (This was not a popular thing to do since I was selling many of  my ex-husband’s things at a very good price!) I packed Emily in the car and drove straight to the local running store. Mastercard enabled me to purchase the $300.00 model already assembled.

Jogging with Emily in the stroller was always its own MakeShift moment. To keep her happily engaged, I let her spread containers of baby powder through the streets of  Miami on more than one jog.

 [if you know someone who would make a good “mothers of invention” feature, check out the nomination process details on the sidebar to your right.]