Tuesday, January 4, 2011

A New Year Means A New Calendar

Customized Calendar I Got From Work For Christmas
I am a big fan of calendars and like how they keep me organized. I like calendars about as much as my dad liked thermometers and flashlights which he had in just about every room. I use calendars throughout the house and have two at my desk at work.  It used to bug me when I visited my dad in his later years and his calendar would be on the wrong month.

What To Put On A Calendar

My dad only had one, but he used it for everything. If he got a new roof on the house, he marked it on the calendar along with the year. If he had a Dr. appointment, he marked that on the calendar. If he bought a new furnace, that would go on the calendar along with the year. For birthdays, he would also include how old the person was, not just put their name on that day. (I liked that idea and started doing that on my calendars too.)  The problem with this though was that it would take him forever to change to a new one because there was so much information to transfer over that he kept putting it off.  It must have taken him all day to get his information transferred to a new calendar but when it came time to sell his house after he died, it made it easy for me to find out how old the roof and furnace were when the realtor asked.  

When To Flip A Calendar

Sweet Thing, my favorite of Dad's cats
Most people flip the calendar page at the end of the month, but not Harry. One year I made him a customized calendar with his cats and he didn't realize they were his cats on it until I pointed it out to him. His eyesight wasn't so good. He was very surprised and quite impressed with it! Throughout the year though, when the months ended, his calendar would still not be changed. I thought he just forgot so reminded him and he just nodded and said he knew. He always had business cards and stuff hanging from it so he had to transfer it all to the next page and just put it off.

What good is a calendar if it's on the wrong month? And the year I got that customized one with his cats, I really wanted him to flip it to the next page because that was Sweet Thing, my favorite one! I remember being very aggravated about that. I am very good at flipping the months on time on all my calendars so just had a hard time understanding why he didn't.

What do you mark on your calendars? Do you change yours on time?


To find out more about my book and why I wrote it, read the Foreword here. Tweet This
Tweet Me from My Funny Dad, Harry

5 comments:

Karen said...

We use a calendar to keep track of our carpet store's installations. I don't like to put personal stuff on that calendar so I have another calendar for doctor and hair appointments, etc. I love to look back at old calendars. I have a terrible memory so it is good to have a record of things. I love the picture of your name written in the snow. Awesome. Karen

Doreen McGettigan said...

Old calendars are the best! I even like and actually use mine because I have such trouble remembering...
I think I am following you everywhere now!

LongRoadAhead said...

I have several calendars. On my phone, another in my purse, and 2 around the house. All have doctors appointments, kids' activities, school activities, and birthdays. Its sad to say, but I'd be completely lost without my calendar.

I try to flip them right away, but sometimes they end up waiting until the weekend.

Lin said...

I have 3 calendars, Karen. One for me and general family stuff and another for Em and her school/dance/band schedule. The last is the "bible"--it's the one with both of those wall calendars combined that goes in my purse. If I lose that, I'm screwed, big time!

Annie (Lady M) x said...

I am doing this ‘Boost my blog Friday′ that I saw over at Java's blog and I am now following you! This is such a cool idea isn’t it?! Love your blog by the way - although I have to confess that I can't cope with Calendars that you have write on. I always use the calendar that comes with Microsoft Outlook and I sync it with my iPhone, so that I can view it whenver. Eeek, am I anal?!

"My Funny Dad, Harry" Book Giveaway

Congratulations to all the winners of the giveaway for "My Funny Dad, Harry" at Red Pine Mountain. I am so happy that four of my regular commenters won! Read what Tim thought of it at Everyday Living.