Day Thirteen: Did you know that Sydney is sixteen hours ahead of St. Louis? My new calendar told me!
Every year at about this time I start scheduling things for next year.
And because I don't have a 2008 calendar, I've written something like 21 things in the December 31 space for this year.
Just like so many other things in life, I believe that you really need to understand yourself before you purchase a calendar. After all, you're going to partner with it for an entire year!
Do you need blank lines for grocery lists or meal plans?
Do you need a page-a-day version, or does a week per page work for you?
Are you one of those crazy people who can cram everything into a tiny glossy box?!
Two years ago I used an organizer type of family planner system complete with an address book, paper for notes and grocery lists, and stickers that say things like "No School" and "Game" and "Doctor".
It was heavy-duty.
(For my birthday, it made me a pepper loaf sandwich.)
Last year I found that the refill for my system was something like $89.
$89 is way greater than what I wish to pay for a calendar, no matter how many stickers are included.
(I don't know about you, but to me $89 = 4 skeins of sock yarn.)
Anyway, last year I settled on another mom type of planner deal, but the paper was sort of glossy, meaning you had to either scratch your plans in with a skippy ballpoint, go the Sharpie way, or blow and dab anything written with a gel pen. So frustrating.
Today I studied the calendar selection at Borders for nearly twenty minutes.
I paged through the family planners.
I checked the prices on a few mom calendars.
I realized just how tired I am of family planners and mom calendars.
Finally, I settled on this:
It's green, it has a plastic cover, it's organized by week, it features five different languages (Monday = Maandag!), and it contains drawings of bunnies doing themselves in.
Who could ask for anything more?
Submitted by
Rhi
at 11/13/2007 5:03:39 PM- How did I not know you live in St. Louis? I am headed there tomorrow. Please ready the place for me :)
Submitted by
FP
at 11/13/2007 5:10:30 PM- Rhi--Where will you be? Would you like to knit with us on Thursday evening?
Submitted by
Jenny
at 11/13/2007 6:37:51 PM- I agree--a calendar is a highly personal thing and it should meet all of your needs. I made a terrible calendar-buying mistake this year and hope to do better next year!
Submitted by
Rhi
at 11/13/2007 7:00:55 PM- I will at a Destination Marketing Conference (ooh! I know you're jealous!) I'm staying at the Sheraton St. Louis City Center. I would love to knit with you! Where do you knit?
Submitted by
Carroll
at 11/13/2007 10:56:11 PM- Laughing *so* hard at this truly profound essay on the vital importance of selecting exactly the right planner. Truly, it's right up there with the "right" purse, in my life. And a daily dose of dead bunnies? Too perfect!
Submitted by
Anne
at 11/14/2007 6:05:33 AM- Oooh, the bunny suicides, they were published by the sister-in-law's then employer in the UK (I think she may even have been involved in editing, the glamour, the excitement, she said the guy was very nice, she didn't even say he was odd). Anyway she went all over her building to distribute them to friends and colleagues (except on the 13th floor where somebody had just committed suicide - why would I make this up?) and I got two for Christmas (free books, how I loved having a relative who worked in publishing, alas, no longer)which I left in Cork to horrify my poor mother. I just thought you'd like to know.
Submitted by
blackbird
at 11/14/2007 7:01:58 AM- It took me many years to find a calendar that worked for me -
I've had pocket versions and illustrated versions and I've made them myself.
After 30 minutes in the store I chose a book version, week at a glance.
I love filling in the boxes.
Submitted by
HK Muse
at 11/14/2007 7:24:11 AM- I just bought Bunny Suicides Volume I and II. They are hilarious, perfect coffee table read and definitely a perfect planner.
Submitted by
Timothy
at 11/14/2007 9:11:01 AM- huh, I can't find that calendar - all I can find online are the month-a-day ones!
Submitted by
All Adither
at 11/14/2007 9:33:41 AM- The bunnies have a lot more style than my 8 dollar Office Depot thing with a wan natural scene etched across the top.
Submitted by
Alesia
at 11/14/2007 10:48:11 AM- I LOVE this calendar. Sick, but sensible. What a great find. I usually use the free month/page kind that they used to give away free at banks (do banks still give away free things?). But with three kids, it's getting to be a challenge getting everything into that postage stamp-sized square.
Submitted by
Karen
at 11/14/2007 10:49:37 AM- I LOVE the Bunny Suicides. They make me giggle inappropriately. Good choice!
Submitted by
Marcia
at 11/14/2007 11:24:12 AM- I <3 the Bunny Suicides. Seriously.
I tried to really use a planner this year and not just quit halfway through. But it's been in the drawer in my coffee table since we moved. It was pink, and pretty, I loved it. But the last time I wrote it in was mid-June.
Maybe 2008 will be the year I make it more than 6 months being organized. But I doubt it.
Submitted by
flatflo
at 11/15/2007 10:28:20 AM- I must admit that I went to a PDA last year. I would write an important date on the calendar at home and miss it at work. Or I would have something on my work computer calendar and then forget to copy it at home. A pocketbook sized calendar wouldn't cut it, as things change and I only carry a pen, not a pencil.
Now my calendars sync. My little PalmZ chirps and reminds me it is time to mess with my NuvaRing (BC is high priority here, and at only once a month, very easy to forget!) All of my addresses are available. It was less than a hundred bucks, as I did not want one that was a phone and an ipod and email and kitchen sink. If I lost/broke one of those I would freak. Now if i lose it, I get a new one and sync with my computer and everything is back to normal.
Oh yeah, I keep my grocery list there, too. Arrange by aisle, of course!
See also Furnace filter sizes, Books to read, Current medications w/doses. No, not OCD, just (trying) to be organized.
Holy crap. I never use planners, but I'd definitely buy that one just for the entertainment value. Whip that out at your next PTA meeting after the teacher comments on your daughter suddenly acting "...a little more self-destructive and stabby".