have...many.
Now, with the
New Year just around the...well, just around the clock from now, I have another
little infatuation I may as well admit to.
Calendars.
I have liked
them since I couldn’t yet read but understood that in just three more boxes from the calendar it
would be time to go to town—or do something else exciting. In elementary
school, we were always putting crosses through the boxes on the classroom
bulletin board calendar counting down time till party days or Christmas break or summer
vacation.
When I had
three kids in high school, the calendar was the only way I kept from leaving
them in all the wrong places at the wrong times (which I did occasionally
anyway.) It was where I kept track of my work schedule and of writing submissions
before submitting became electronic.
Several of us
from work bought the 2000 calendar that gave birth to the movie Calendar Girls. It was one of those
life-changing things, when I started to really wonder why all romance heroines
had to be young and beautiful. It changed what I wanted to read and write. I
wasn’t sure there for a while how I felt about the romance genre and its
reluctance to recognize that being of “a certain age” didn’t mean we were in
any way less.
I get calendars
in the mail now, more of them than I can ever use. I choose one, send money to
the charity that generated it, and hang it in the laundry room. As 2015 passes
the calendar will have notes like snow!
and release day! and give blood. I put the other calendars that
come in the mail in a bag and donate to a nursing home along with my
already-read magazines. I hope there are other people there who might like to
look at the pictures and remember where they were on November 22, 1963 or that
their first serious boyfriend’s birthday was October 11—or was it the 21st?
The datebook on
my desk is literally the story of my life. It has birthdays, doctors' appointments,
and guest blog dates noted in all colors of ink. It will tell me when it’s time
to get my roots covered or my nails made pretty again. It will remind me to get
a mammogram or have lunch with Nan on Wednesday. At the end of the year I will
consider tossing it, but I won’t. It will go in the bottom drawer with the one
from the year before.
As
infatuations go, I think mine are pretty innocuous. How about you? What did you
just suddenly realize you like...well, really a lot?
Happy New
Year!
Liz, I don't know if I like calendars, but I have them all over the house and in my purse. My big problem is coordinating all of them. I should do this at the beginning of every month---but do I? No. I also receive so many calendars from charities I support. My sister takes them to her church and the people who don't get one always take one and say they love getting a free calendar. Hey, I used to work with a guy who had grown up in Elkhart, Indiana. Gary Mahn is his name. I'm sure it was too big to know everyone, but it would be cool if you did.
ReplyDeleteHi, Roz. My grandparents lived in Elkhart, and my mom grew up there, but it was just the big city to us. I think it's been swallowed up by South Bend and Mishawaka now!
DeleteI don't coordinate mine all that well, either, which can get me into trouble. :-)
Several years ago, I received my 1st 'Mom' calendar....the one which has slots for nearly every family member, and I LOVE it! It has become my 'MUST GET' gift, the one the kids know is a sure thing. Hubby hates it, b/c the dates run down the left side, and he 'never knows what day it is', since it's not a 'traditional' calendar. So I have the 'master', he has his own in the bedroom, and the one in the kitchen tracks the trash and recycling pick up. I also refer to my daily planner as 'the brain', and the smaller one in my purse as 'the mini-brain', ROFLMAO!!!
ReplyDeleteSadly, while I don't use 'the brain' on a daily basis anymore, I don't throw out the old pages, since critical numbers and other notes are written in some of the slots. That way, if I ever lose my contacts in my phone again, they're written down in a safe place:)
Oh, amen on that last part, Molly. I've lost contact numbers and addresses way too often!
DeleteLiz, great post! Funnily enough, my New Year's resolution is to be more organized with my lists and calendars, and thus to make better use of my time.... It seems like a good plan on paper...LOL! I need more hours in a day--is there a calendar for that?
ReplyDeleteNo, there isn't. Believe me, I've looked! LOL.
DeleteI confess to being a techno-geek calendar person--events, dates, stuff happening, birthdays--they all start on my Outlook calendar and get imported into my Google calendar, which is then available to me on my phone, my kindle, and my laptop. Yeah, I know--no pretty scenes or big squares for different colors of ink, although I can change the font, color, and highlight color for different events, so birthdays are red and doc appts. are green...well, you get the picture. But I do love office supplies and I'm a freak for pretty blank books and journals...so maybe I'm not a completely lost cause? ;-)
ReplyDeleteYes, I love journals, too, and there's nothing in the world so exciting as a blank page!
Delete
ReplyDeleteLiz, if we were neighbors, we'd be best buds. I love calendars. I have one in my purse, which I write on the big calendar in the family room (so my husband knows not only where I am - yes, I'm the social one in the family - but if he's supposed to be somewhere). I make a calendar for every book.
I gry to buy the perfect wall calendar every year and I like one with pockets.
Oh, Pam, I like the pockets, too, though I haven't had one in a while. A calendar with pockets used to be our entire financial filing system. It worked, too!
DeleteI'm the same way. I think I have a wall calendar in just about every room of the house. And, my appointment books are in my bottom drawer as well. If the IRS ever wants me to prove I'm a self-employed author, I can dump those books on their desk. LOL
ReplyDeleteOh, Carol, that dumping business sounds like fun!
DeleteThanks for this post, Liz!
ReplyDeleteI like Christmas cards. The ones you send and receive in the mail, not the electronic versions. Although I have received some very cute electronic Christmas cards--usually featuring dogs--I truly enjoy writing/sending and receiving actual Christmas cards.
I tend to be environmental responsible for the most part and prefer to save trees and do most things electronically (sorry, but this includes calendars), but Christmas cards are an exception for me.
I hope you had a wonderful Christmas, and best wishes for a happy, healthy and prosperous 2015!
I like them, too, Kate, sending and receiving! I try to be green, but I'm of the generation that--even though we USE things electronic--we also want paper backup. :-)
DeleteFunny you should talk about calendars. I had my new one out this morning and was noting bill dates on it. It's a pathetically simple financial planner, but it works for me. Tomorrow I'll do the one that hangs in the kitchen and has birthdates and other important information, and on New Year's Day, I do the one that goes in my purse while Ron's watching the Rose Bowl. But the Oregon Ducks are in it this year, so I might be too distracted. I, too, love calendars, journals, and simple notebooks. I always think if I open it up and stare at it, an idea will form. I think you're still cute!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Muriel! My friend keeps everything in her purse calendar. By the end of the year, it's literally in shreds.
ReplyDeleteI have one calendar and it's a year-at-a-glance and hangs in my office. Behind it are the past 3 years. I put blog dates on it, daily word count, and anything that is important. What I like are clocks. Have at least one in each room of my house. Except my bathrooms. Lol
ReplyDeleteThat's neat! My mother-in-law likes clocks, too. She has them set on time zones where faraway grandchildren live.
DeleteI'm a clock addict, too! Add that to my fondness for lamps. hehehe. This year, I could almost top that collection if I hang all the calendars that arrived throughout the year! I hope your Christmas was delightful and that 2015 will bring only good things!
ReplyDeleteI wish the same for you, Loree. I'm so happy to be a part of this group. Thanks for coming by!
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