Good Advice

I am notorious for forgetting things. Twice, in the past two weeks, I have missed appointments at my physician's office for my routine six-month blood draw to check important things like my cholesterol level and whether or not my liver is suffering damage because of the medications that I take. Somewhere, on some scrap of paper, I had recorded the appointment - but then quickly proceeded to misplace the scrap of paper –thus forgetting my appointment altogether.

Also, my schedule has just taken on some new responsibilities as my DH and I are enrolled in training courses in order for us to become foster parents. We have CPR/First Aid classes, Safety Management Training Classes, Information Meetings, etc. We also must get our well water tested and that can only occur on certain days because of when the laboratory is available. And then of course, there's all my church activities - worship practice, LifeGroup, Wednesday night Marriage Encounter, Sunday services...etc. Throw in the appointments to get my hair cut and Olivia's annual physician's visit, dentist and optometry visits and all the things on my husband’s schedule that he expects me to remember and I’m sunk!

Actually, compared to most people, my schedule is not very busy, however, I am finding it more and more difficult to keep track of all these appointments in my head - which is where I usually store my calendar of events. (Hence the missed blood draws!) I have admitted defeat and finally decided that my aging mind is no longer capable of storing all the appointments and things of which I need to be aware on a daily basis.

I remembered that somewhere in my desk I had stashed a lovely engagement calendar - spiral bound with a beautiful impressionistic painting of a vase of flowers -- compliments of The Old Farmer's Almanac. So, I rummaged around my desk until I found it. Ah –awesome! I proceeded to ‘copy’ all my appointments from my brain and all the little scraps of old envelopes and post-its scattered throughout the house upon which I had written down the appointments whenever I had scheduled them.

One of the nice things about this Farmer’s Almanac Engagement Calendar is that it has little facts, famous quotes, household and gardening tips, etc. splashed throughout the pages. Next to the space for today’s entry it reads:

“Never carry an ice cream cone in your back pocket.”
WOW! It’s a good thing that I’ve chosen to use this calendar because now the next time I try to put an ice cream cone in my back pocket I can refer to today’s calendar entry and REMEMBER not to do that!

Whew! What a relief!