All About Giftie | Giftie Etcetera: All About Giftie

Sunday, January 26, 2014

All About Giftie

I love peeking into people's planners. It's like eavesdropping on their lives. (I can also spend hours at a coffee shop, listening in on conversations around me. It's completely ethical! What? They are talking in public. It's fair game. {innocent look})

Most days, I give you a peek into my life. You see my most personal possession - my planner. (If you had inappropriate thoughts about what my most personal possession might be, 1) shame on you :)- and 2) really, do you know me at all?!?) 

What would you guess about me from peeking at my planner? There have been clues about me. Some of the clues are admittedly deceptive, but I promise that the deception is not intentional.

About Giftie: She values the practical over the pretty, but indulges in the pretty whenever possible.

The cover itself gives you some clues about me. It's blue, a fairly neutral, business appropriate color, but more exciting than brown or black. I removed my buckle from my Boston binder, even though I liked the look of it, because the buckle got caught in my purse all the time. 



About Giftie: She is mostly unemployed, but really busy.

Yes, my calendar gives clues, like the way I handle carpool most mornings or substitute teach.



I also do some other things for cash, including careful budgeting, couponing, and freezing cooking to save money, my blog to earn a bit of pocket change, and some legal stuff. (I have a Master's degree in education and am an attorney.) 

I am considering some other part-time stuff, including some legal work or serving as a consultant for businesses and individuals, helping them streamline processes to be more efficient. 

(Don't you want to hire me as your business's efficiency expert?)

About Giftie: She loves to write.

If you read my blog, you probably already know that. 


What you might not realize is that I've served as an expert editor for the American Bar Association for an on-line paper (about collateral consequences in juvenile delinquency in Louisiana - exciting, yes?) and have written oodles of lawyer training materials, have successfully completed Nanowrimo (an unpublished romance), and am seriously working on a second novel (more than halfway done at over 50,000 words). I am also considering a third novel (aimed at young adults this time). 

Perhaps I'll write a nonfiction e-book about planners, too. I have an outline, but am too busy with the current novel. (This pic is fuzzy on purpose. Think of it as a teaser.)


About Giftie: She takes baths or showers, every single day.

Of course I take a shower regularly. Why wouldn't I?

Still, I feel the need to dispel any myth that Giftie is stinky. :) Such a rumor might have been started because every second or third day, my planner says "Bath." 
For the record, my kid is a skin condition and gets baths on only certain nights. Since the routine varies, it goes on my planner. 

TIP: For entries that involve kids, use a K for kids in front of the entry.



About Giftie: She is allergic to most pets and pests.

Translation: All hail Death to Mouse! Also, it means I really do have to keep up with household chores.



About Giftie: She skipped fifth grade (in the 1980s) and made a perfect score in reading on the ACT (back in 1991).


My school didn't have enough fifth graders for a whole class, so I was put in a split 5th/6th grade class. Since I was getting the 6th grade work done easily, they placed me in the 6th grade instead of 5th.

I contend that anyone can make a perfect score in reading on standardized tests, short of a debilitating learning disability, if they read fast. And I read really fast. It's my superpower.

About Giftie: Despite her gift with words, she gets lost at least once a week and is constantly embarrassed by her inability to help her kids with math homework. She is also a horrible typist.

It's like math and spatial relations left my brain when I graduated high school. My budget calculations in my planner? Done with a calculator. :(



About Giftie: She named her kid Loki on purpose.

Despite popular opinion, I do NOT deserve a naughty kid because he is named Loki. 


Here's my best argument (and as a trained trial attorney, a good argument, I hope): he earned the name! You see, my pregnancy with my first born was hard (hospitalized for morning sickness, surgery during the pregnancy, gestational diabetes, infections, heart issues, and a premature birth). So imagine how UNFAIR it was that my second child tried to come early from week thirty onward! Unfair, I tell you. He was being very naughty, so we nicknamed him "Loki" after the Norse god of mischief. It stuck. You see? Not my fault.

About Giftie: She says "not my fault" a lot.

I even own that Sheldon Cooper shirt that says, "don't you think if I were wrong, I'd know it."

About Giftie: She loves her Loyal Readers.

Seriously. I really do.

Etcetera.

15 comments:

Giftie Etcetera said...

Correction: My son HAS a skin condition. But my friend Sarah says I can't actually correct the typo because it's too funny. Lol. See, I told you I'm a horrible typist!

yezenia said...

Lol! I really thought Loki was just a nickname!
I wonder what my planner says about me? : /

yezenia said...

Also, my sister used to love listening in on other people's conversations. Everything she heard something scandalous or incredibly dumb it only further fueled her compulsion to eavesdrop.

yezenia said...

That would be Every time not everything.

Anonymous said...

The child's name is not Loki on his birth certificate. But everyone (including his school's teachers and administrators) call him by his nickname. - Odin

Giftie Etcetera said...

I suspect the anonymous Odin is my husband. ;)

Judy said...

I also love looking at others planners - like watching House Hunters to see others houses. I do enjoy your blog.

Anonymous said...

My planner says I don't like to do certain chores. I have them listed day after day with a little number next to it telling me how many times I have transferred it. 5 is my rule but.......

maccie2 said...

I really loved this post. You are a delightful and very talented person.

pattygardner.com said...

Thanks for sharing. I love looking at other people's planners, too. When I'm out and see someone with a planner, it's all I can do not to go up to them and ask what they use.

pattygardner.com said...

I saw that you removed the buckle from your Boston. I have a Veronica (not currently using it - actually never have) and have toyed with the idea of removing the buckle from it. I HATE buckles on the front of my planners. I wish I could use a Filofax binder (Malden) with FC inserts. I love the Filofax binders but the FC inserts. I would try but I can't handle the overhang.

Val said...

I just love this so much! I feel like you should have your own sitcom or something. {{{hugs}}}

Bree said...

I love your superpower. :) i have it too, plus I talk super fast, but most people think that's crazy, not super.

My kiddo also has skin issues and takes limited baths - do you schedule them out, or,do you mark when they last took one? Since DH and I switch on and off for baths, we've struggled with keeping this straight. And both kids use a little parental manipulation to get their way (long bath or no bath, depending on day/whim//something else they want to do).

Giftie Etcetera said...

We still struggle with the bath thing. We switch off sometimes, too, and it gets confusing. I don't really have a solution.

Elizabeth said...

To provide a relaxing time, you have to give a high-quality product for the bath. There are also many accessories which can be used to get a comfortable time. You can choose a bath seat, chair, bath board, mats, and many other accessories.