Time Flies

Wow, time really flies during the holidays. I can't believe I haven't posted in 2 weeks. My apologies, but I do have something great to share with you today. My last post provided a hint as to my favorite organizational tool (another clue, it's an app) and I'll get to that in a moment. First I'd love to hear some of your New Year's Eve traditions. My family, even as a kid, just stays home and watches the ball drop on television. We'll have a light dinner and then munch on hors d'oeuvres like shrimp cocktail the rest of the evening. Closer to midnight I'll have a glass of champagne, Dadda monkey will have a sip of mine (he's not much of a drinker) and then have a glass of Martinelli's sparkling apple cider. That's what I always had as a kid and since I introduced it to Dadda, he can't get enough. If Monkey girl makes it up that late, she can have a small cup as well. Sounds pretty boring and perhaps it is, but every year now when I see the crowd in New York City, I'm grateful that I'm sitting in the comfort of my own home. It's a little strange now that I live in the central time zone. I've always been on the east coast and now we kind of celebrate the New Year at 2 different times.

On to my favorite app...My favorite little tool will allow me to schedule my New Year's festivities and write out my shopping list in the same place. I don't remember how I came across it, but I stumbled upon an app for my iPod Touch called Intuition. This little program is quite a gem. I don't have an iPhone yet (come on, Verizon) so I can't attest to it's full capabilities, but I'd originally been looking for a good app to do my grocery lists. I tried a few, even on Dadda Monkey's Android phone, but none of them were really up to par. Then I found Intuition. The shopping list section is really well done. There's already a large list of items and I just click on them to add them to my list. If something I want isn't on there yet, then it's really easy to add it yourself. Once your list is complete, you save it and pull it up at any time to view or make changes. When you're at the grocery store, the list is organized by section (ie: produce, meat, dairy, etc...) and you can check them off as you put them in your cart.

As if this weren't enough, Intuition also has a calendar and sections to organize errands, calls, family, wishlist, and an 'everything else' tab. I have mundane items on there like when the milkman comes so I remember to leave my cooler and my order form for him. Then I have things that may be on there for quite some time like take a photo of my neighborhood and have it turned into a 4 piece canvas. What can I say, my house is lacking in art work on the walls and I saw this idea somewhere. I thought it was a great idea so much so that I have it indefinitely scheduled to be done. When Monkey girl had her speech therapist appointments, I had that listed under the family section.

When you click on Intuition, you get this little flower and each petal is a different section. I usually just click on categories because that takes me to the menu which shows me how many tasks are pending and there's an exclamation point if something is past due. You can also click on the calendar to see what is scheduled from any section. Apparently you can do things by location too, but my use of this is limited because I don't have an iPhone. However, this app is worth it's weight in gold for just the parts I'm able to use. I've asked them if they're going to get an app for Android and they said Android is high up on their list of next versions to do. What that means, I'm not sure, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed. The app is free, but I would pay money for it. Hint, hint developers, get that Android version out with a fee for it and I'll be your first customer! They have a facebook page as well, if you want to take a peek, make a comment, or pester them for an Android version like me. One of my New Year's resolutions is to make better use of this app so I can be better organized. Perhaps I'll even get that photo done. Happy New Year's Eve!