I am retired ! People used to ask Husband what he was going to do when he retired and Husband's answer was, "What ever I want". No one ever asked me that question because they knew better. It would have sent me into a litany of chores and projects that I had been saving up for years. Unlike Husband I can ALWAYS find something to do. Husband had no buddies that he hung around with and he had no hobbies to keep himself busy. If it wasn't for Fox News that man would have had nothing to do.
I have heard the saying that God doesn't take us up to Heaven until we have accomplished all that we were put on this Earth to do. Apparently I will still be alive in the year 3047 because at this rate that is how long it will take me to get everything done. For every one task I finish there are at least twelve others that pop up. (Probably because I make such a mess of things.) But at least everything is written down on my calendarS. (Capital "S" because I have several. This does not mean I am organized it just means I am anal.)
Who ever came up with the idea of LARGE calendars with LARGE empty boxes for each day was a genius. I remember my mom had a little calendar hanging on the wall in the kitchen when I was a kid and there were tiny little notes of hers written next to each day. (I guess this is where I got my love of calendars) Every year the bank or the insurance man would give out little calendars that were meant to sit on your desk or carry in your purse. My mom would always stick ours on the wall.
It is SO much easier to have a big calendar hanging on my kitchen wall so I can see everything at one glance.
BUT what if I'm in another room ? What if I'm in "Control Central" sitting at my desk top computer and some one calls to schedule an appointment? I would have to get up and walk into the kitchen to check the calendar. SO I have a desk top calendar book that one of the missions sends me every year. Of course there IS a calendar on my computer that links with the calendar on my phone while it is also linking to the calendar on my iPad but I NEED a paper calendar sitting at my fingertips where I can write down dates and times. If I have to leave the phone "page" on my phone or computer to go to the calendar "page" there is a VERY good possibility that I am going to loose whomever I am talking to on the phone. Better to be safe and write it down on the desk top calendar. Then once I am off the phone I can go into the kitchen to copy the new appointment on the wall calendar and then, and ONLY THEN, I can put the date and time into my phone.
What you must understand here is that I have been away for the past five months so ALL my doctor appointments have been put off until my return to Florida. I now have an average of two appointments a week for the next couple of weeks. ALL are health related in some way . . . tests, labs, X-rays and actual visits to doctor offices. (Can you imagine what my schedule would look like if I wasn't healthy?). Add to all that nonsense I DO have a life and DO occasionally visit with friends and family so my calendar gets pretty full. I could possibly keep all my appointments straight but we now have to add in THE MAN and all his doctor appointments. This is where it REALLY gets tricky!
The Man does NOT have a life ! Even when we are in Michigan he does not have a life other than doctor appointments. Any and all visits with his brothers are impromptu with us dropping in at "camp" or them stopping in for a quick hello. There are no nights of playing cards with the boys or any other such activities. (Understandably because of his limited breathing he is pretty much tied to the oxygen. He is super self-conscious about being in public with an oxygen tank or concentrator so he just stays home.) In Florida his entire life revolves around trips to the Veterans Hospital. (Thank goodness it is only a few minutes away and not an hour like in Michigan.) And now with this dumb ass pandemic our visits TO the hospital are really limited so we have numerous VIDEO calls coming into the house.
BIG PROBLEM !
Video calls require a computer or smart phone neither of which The Man owns. Want to guess who DOES own both computer and iPhone ??? (That was a silly question because I know you ALL know exactly who has both.). Now because the video calls must come in on my phone line The Man has given the VA my phone number and in the infinite wisdom of any government run establishment the VA had CHANGED his phone number to mine. This has resulted in me getting ALL of the forty two daily phone calls each and every day reminding The Man of his forty two upcoming appointments. (God forbid they could do this all in ONE call. For what ever reason the VA finds it necessary to make separate calls for every single appointment.)
In order to keep all these appointments straight I have come up with a color coded system of marking our appointments on the calendar with high lighter. Blue high-light is The Man, Pink is for me. Pretty simple right ? But wait . . . . how do we know which appointments we need to physically GO to and what ones are video calls from home ? GREEN CIRCLES around the video call dates because green is the color of grass and we have grass at home. (I really think I have totally lost it ! ). But hold on, we're not done yet, there's more. What about dates that involve both of us ? The cleaning lady for example . . . well, those get high-lighted in YELLOW !!! (Don't even ask why I chose yellow. Just consider that I HATE cleaning bathrooms so that is why we have a cleaning lady. )
My calendar looks like a Christmas tree !!!! There are blue and pink and yellow lines all over it with big green circles scattered over the entire page. It is colorful if nothing else.
Now ask me how many calendars does The Man have . . . If you guessed ZERO you win a new 2021 calendar and a set of multi-colored highlighters because I know you want to start decorating your calendar just like mine.
No comments:
Post a Comment