keeper of the calendars

one of my favorite things about a New Year is a NEW CALENDAR! (Not in the figurative sense; nope, as literal as can be.... a new 'planner' or 'diary' would be more appropriate terminology I guess. What do you call it? An engagement calendar?) Anyway, I adore planners. Exhibit A: My Collection of Hello Kitty Planners:
Last year, I bought Andy Riley's hilarious Bunny Suicides planner and was entertained weekly by images of bunny suicides, like so:

I like to keep my planners. I have boxes of old planners in my closet and some on my bookshelves, and I'd be remiss if I didn't tell you how entertaining they are to look back through. Some of them have fun memories like "Party at E's house" or "Wedding Shower for J" or "BUY SHOES!" Some have post-its stuck to certain days/weeks and some have little nonsense doodles around the dates. Some of the older ones, when Karl and I were focused on paying off our debt, are FILLED with numbers re: how much we could pay that month and how much/little we needed to live on. (Glad that's over with!) Some are mostly empty, but I can't bear to throw them away (dramatic much?).

I find my attachment to sit-down-and-write-it-out planners somewhat entertaining since pretty much everything else I do is connected in some way to technology. I blog, I twitter, I blip, I foursquare, I have ALL digital pics, I shop mostly online (after two stores yesterday, I am even considering purchasing laundry detergent online. Where the F is your Tide Free HE, huh, Target? Kroger?).

Karl and I do share a calendar on our iPhones, and I will admit to using it more and more in the last six months. I GUESS it's easier to whip out your Magic Phone to schedule your next dentist appointment or your next book club instead of lugging around an enormo planner and digging for a pen or asking for one. Sigh. It IS easier to put it on the phone. I admit it. And Karl and I being able to share a calendar that easily is pretty invaluable. DAMN YOU technology... you win again.

HOWEVER, my friend Amanda found this gem of a 5 Year Calendar/Diary that I am hopelessly and totally in love with. I ordered it the second I read about it. Honestly, it's more of a DIARY which is what I love the most about my planners - looking back in them. So, now that I have the techno-phone-calendar for keeping day-to-day schedules and appointments, I intend to use this one like DEAR DIARY: TODAY KARL TOLD ME I WAS PRETTY. HIS HAND WAS SWEATY BUT I LET HIM HOLD MINE ANYWAY.

It's teeny tiny. There are about six lines per day. The first page is Jan 1 and it covers Jan 1, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, right? So I have been keeping it beside my bed and jotting (jotting - what a goofy word. so casual.) a few lines every night. The idea that five years down the line a single page could be like

May 12
2010: We had spaghetti for dinner.
2011: Found out we were pregnant.
2012: We had spaghetti for dinner.
2013: Found out we were pregnant.
2014: Got a babysitter and went out for spaghetti.

makes me want to jump up and down in excitement. I know I sound ridiculous getting all jazzed about calendars (and not christmas!), but I think this silly little diary thing just sums up so much of the way I feel about life - some days are boring and full of routine and then some days are EVENTS to be remembered - but it's important to remember a little bit of both, right? And to see how they compare year to year, right? Because I've been keeping this blog for FIVE YEARS (Some things I can commit to.) and, though some of my initial posts are all pink text and Happy Birthdays every other day, I do love every word that I have written, because it totally captures SO MANY changes over this time period - new jobs, a husband, new dogs, more new jobs, new baby, better posting, better pictures, growth, change, sadness, happiness (and so on and so forth).

Do you have your calendar for the year? Whatcha gonna remember from Twenty aught Ten?