Thursday, January 3, 2008

My Monthly Planners

















Our electrical problems were quickly and easily fixed, so I'm back sooner than I expected.

Wondering what to write about, I read Wanda's post about her planners and that made me think of mine. We have a family one for appointments which we keep on the kitchen counter. We have to do this because with only one car, we don't want to clash over appointments. I used to keep diaries when I was in my teens, but I recently shredded them!! Don't want them to fall into the wrong hands!! Nothing serious, but all silly teenage stuff.

The photo above is of my monthly planners since 1986, one per year. The year is stamped on the front, in 'gold'. The open one at the bottom of the page is this month's. It has one dr.'s appointment so far, but
I have other dates to transfer yet. The one that is open with all the writing is last year's and it is open at the back cover. That's because in recent years I have started listing 'major' events that happen during the year on the back cover. I'm always asking things like "How long ago is it since we had the carpets cleaned?".... "When did we last visit Jean in Palm Springs?"..."When did we buy that reading lamp?" etc. etc. So instead of having to go through every month of every year, I just have to flip to the back cover of each year and scan down the page. Very nifty I thought. Since it is always in my purse, (nice and slim and light weight), I make the back page notations when I am waiting at the doctor's office or some such thing and that way it doesn't become a chore. I transfer all the other information such as phone numbers and addresses etc. on New Year's Eve, because we old fogey's never go out partying!

Inside the front cover, I keep a list of my medications, their exact amount and frequency, also my doctors (three of them), and their phone numbers. Once, when I was in Hawaii, I had an allergic reaction to nuts, and found it difficult to talk or think. All I had to do was take my planner to the emergency room with me and all the necessary information was there.

BUT I never put my social security number or driver's license number in my planner. I try to memorize them because I lose things too easily.

Incidentally, these planners are made by Day-Timer, but this isn't supposed to be a commercial for them.

Looking at the two pages of small writing on last year's back pages, 2007 was a notable year! And look who's waiting patiently for his dinner... lower right hand corner.









2 comments:

Wanda said...

Oh Chris, we've known for a long time now how much we do have in common!!! I am such an "Organnizer". I love my Day Planners, my calendar on the Frig,
and I love your idea of putting important things on the back page.
Smart!!!
Oh I was a Diary Keeping as a teenage too. And burned them when I met my husband to be...Not because what was in them was bad, just didn't want it falling into the wrong hand...Sometimes I sorry I did..but for the most part they were my another part of my life left behind.

My husband is just as bad...we go out for coffee and check out each others schedules!! How romantic!!

kaybee said...

I don't go ANYWHERE without my Daytimer! I, too, make lists in the back -- what to pack, if I'm going somewhere overnight; what to take to a meeting; shopping lists, questions to ask the doctor, etc. And at the end of each year I transfer over birthday and anniversary dates of family and closest friends. I write their names in the appropriate dates and highlight them in yellow -- and I STILL forget many of them!!

And we, too, have a 'family' calendar in the kitchen with notations of doctor's appointments, who's going where, and when, etc - so that mother and daughter can keep track of each other!