Help, coding problem, can't figure out how to say this

Hi Just started coding with inform 7. This should be simple but it’s not.
I’m trying to whenever the player tries to pick something up (aka take) I want the game to say “([noun] not taken) I don’t have time for anything else. I need to leave for work!”
unless they are trying to pick up the note (a simple object in my room),
basically is was set up like this

Instead of taking something: If the note is not handled, say “([noun] not taken) I don’t have time for anything else. I need to leave for work!”;

After taking the note for the first time: say “I think I will take work off today. I want to work on my resolutions. But I should call my boss.”; award 10 points; say “Work avoided.”;

but then I realize the player can’t take the note.
how do i keep the basic statements above but make an exception for taking the note.

R is a room. 

The note is in R. 

Foo is in R. 

Baz is in R. 

Instead of taking something that is not the note when the note has not been handled, say "You don't have time to take [the noun]!".

After taking the note:
	say "I think I'll take work off today.";
	award 10 points;
	say "(work avoided)".

test me with "take foo / take note / take foo".

Adding ‘when the note has not been handled’ seems appropriate here, but isn’t necessary.

That fixed my problem but created a new one.

After taking the slipcover for the first time,
say “You remove the slipcover, revealing the coach. The pattern is not as bad as you had feared. Instead the couch is a medium blue with pale blue spirals. It is beautiful and makes the whole room look much better. You wounder why you had ever covered it up in the first place.”
After taking the slipcover for the first time: say “You remove the slipcover, revealing the coach. The pattern is not as bad as you had feared. Instead the couch is a medium blue with pale blue spirals. It is beautiful and makes the whole room look much better. You wounder why you had ever covered it up in the first place.”;
award 10 points;
say “Living room decorated.”;

but now because the first take is blocked by the previous code (see first post), this never happens.
how do I have it be the first successful take, ex unblocked take,
I want it to happen only once so you can’t just drop it and pick it up again earning points each time.

You have a few choices, you can write two rules (Instead of something that is not the note, Instead of something that is not the slipcover). If you have many objects you would like to take, you can create a property (A thing is OK to take), and use it like so:

A thing can be OK to take. 

the note is in R. The note is OK to take. 

the slipcover is in R. The slipcover is OK to take. 

Foo is in R. 

Baz is in R. 

Instead of taking something that is not OK to take when the note has not been handled, say "You don't have time to take [the noun]!".

You can also write a description of an action, which works sort of the same way:

the note is in R.  

the slipcover is in R.  

Foo is in R. Taking Foo is dawdling. 

Baz is in R. Taking Baz is dawdling. 

Instead of dawdling when the note has not been handled, say "You don't have time to take [the noun]!".

Regarding your other question,

You can describe the object more specifically, like:

After taking the not handled note:
	say "I think I'll take work off today.";
	award 10 points;
	say "(work avoided)".

test me with "take foo / take slipcover / take note / take foo / drop note / take note".