My calendar

The pandemic caused my long time hair stylist to rethink her life. She switched careers and moved to a warmer climate. 

I found a new stylist, who I love. The forced change was very good for me. 

New stylist has a very full schedule and that requires advance scheduling. During the first two years, I scheduled two appointments forward/in advance. And we determined 8 weeks is my needed/preferred schedule. 

Every other appointment I get cut and highlights. The in-between-appointments are cut only. 

This third year, we scheduled all of my appointments for 2023 at my last 2022 appointment in December. That felt really fabulous. I love my calendar. 

I do the same thing with my doctor’s appointments. Some appointments are annual, some are every six months. Almost all the offices allow me to schedule a year in advance. I bundle my appointments, 6 mos apart, targeting May/June and December. 

I started this proactive medical calendar in 2019 and as we entered lock down in 2020, I was current on all my appointments, tests and shots (shingles, pneumonia, etc) and very relieved to have been proactive.

My card box

I looked back a couple years and did not see a picture of my card box posted. I can't remember what year I did this, so it might be a repeat.



We keep empty bins in the attic. I am talking about plastic storage bins with lids. Our life with bins changes. Sometimes bins are still good, but are no longer needed or have been replaced. I KEEP those outdated bins, because they almost always come in handy again.



My cards were stored in a bin, in no particular order up until a few years ago. Just piled in a bin. If you needed a card, you had to dig. Envelopes had gotten separated from their matching card. A mess.

One day I decided the "no order" part was really bugging me, probably after I bought a card only to discover later that I had one for the same occasion.



I would not say I use cards a lot. But I do use them on occasion.

I might have bought a storage bin to reorganize the cards, but I think I actually found the perfect one in the attic.

I also already had the hanging file folders.

I remember sitting upstairs, watching TV one night, sorting cards, finding matching envelopes, and making my box.

You can tell we are Catholic from this box. Of the seven sacraments, I have file folders for four.

Seven sacraments: Baptism, Confirmation, Eucharist, Penance, Anointing of the Sick, Matrimony, and Holy Orders.

Interesting fact - Last Rites has been replaced as Anointing of the Sick. I do have sympathy cards, but I didn't count that as part of my four.




Every card in the box is with its matching envelope. The envelope file has extra envelopes.



Everyone in my house now uses this file box. It lives in the cupboards in our computer room. Extremely handy.




If I buy a cards, in advance, for a specific person/event, I use a bulldog clip to attach it to the right page on my big calendar that hangs on the refrigerator. Right now there are two birthday cards there, for upcoming months.




I also bulldog clip tickets to calendar pages. We go to a lot of events. A lot of tickets come through this house. If anyone needs them, that is where they always are.

Last week I discovered I don't have to wait for my new school year calendars

I use a desk blotter size calendar.

It is mounted on the front of my refrigerator.

It is a SCHOOL YEAR (July - Aug), not a traditional Jan - Dec calendar.

Last week I realized I had notes all over the last page of my current calendar, with late summer and fall dates.

I really wanted next year's calendar, but they are not yet available.

While digging through the stacks at Office Depot, I found this one -

It is a generic calendar. No dates written. It works for any month/year combination. It has the huge daily squares I love. It is desk blotter size. 

When I showed it to my husband, he said I would have to be SUPER careful to get the right numbers plugged in on all those months. True. Because of that I am actually writing in pencil.

My calendar does not have a crease on it, like the picture above, that is actually the front page which I dug out of the recycling bin, to take the picture, so you would have all the identifying information.

I don't know if these have always been available, or are new.

I am going back and buying several more, for future years, just in case. 

Because I love the idea of having the next years calendar as early as I wish, every year. And because I have a lot of Office Depot credit from turning in printer cartridges.