I dislike the first of the year when I have to update all my calendars and close out the previous year. I looked at six stores this year before I found the monthly calendar for my purse. I know most folks put all the info on their phones but I still like that paper calendar.
So the first week of January I sat down and transferred what I thought were all the pertinent dates from last year to my new calendar. Birthdays, appointments, vacations and things to do were all moved. I usually miss someone’s anniversary or birthday so I checked it to be sure I had not done that again this year. I went through the pages of 2017 one more time for a quick sweep. Yup, I have all the family and the ages correct.
Next, I went through and put all the standard meeting dates and filled them in. Then I put the dates for major bills to be paid and to remind myself about health updates and car oil changes, etc. It took me a good hour to get all this done.
Then I decided to clean out the dreaded file cabinet and put all the important stuff away for taxes. Ugh. Is it any wonder folks don’t like January? I filed everything away until I have to start getting it ready for the tax man. Then I thought, well, I might as well go through the 2016 stack and start shredding the items I know I won’t need. Who needs utility bills, charge card receipts and insurance payments after a year has gone by?
So why not clean the oven and get that over with while I am cleaning out everything else? That took another hour of my time, but it sure looks great now.
This is the good thing about a really cold January day. We couldn’t walk outside and the Y was closed so I had to focus on just getting things done that needed to get done to start off the new year.
I washed up all my holiday tops and put the glitzy ones away for another year. On and on I went from one task to another. By the end of the day I was glad I had accomplished all I had, but was not happy that I didn’t take any time for myself. But I sure got a lot of tasks done.
On a side note — I have had all kinds of folks ask me questions about an article I wrote on Alexa, my new personal assistant from Amazon. There are three questions I have been asked numerous times. Was she expensive? No. She can be purchased for $79-$149? Is she easy to hook up? Yes, but you do need Wi-Fi. What about the Echo Dot? I bought our daughter one for Christmas and she loves it. The Dot is sometimes on sale for $29 but usually costs about $49 and doesn’t have the same quality of sound for music as the larger Echo. I hope this helps.
Ann Young says it is a good thing that New Year’s Day only comes once a year. Reach her at Sayoung1947@gmail.com.