It's that time of year again...

When I start to receive texts and Facebook direct messages asking me for my address; from people that I have faithfully been exchanging Christmas cards for the past fifteen to twenty years.

Every year this astounds me to no end.  Why?

Because I keep an address book.  And?  Because I'm crazy, I also have a dedicated Christmas Card List, where I immediately cross out old addresses and add new ones as they are brought to my attention.

So according to my very, scientific (by that I mean my very unscientific) research, I have concluded that I must be one of the select few in this world that actually keeps an address book.  Surely, that can't be so...can it?

If nothing else, at least I'm organized in that area.

But this is also the time of year when I begin to ruminate on the other areas of my life...you know...the areas where I've not been so organized.

Which was brought to my attention in a glaring way over the Thanksgiving holiday.  I wrote out three different lists on three different occasions of all the things I needed/wanted to get done...and I immediately lost all three lists.

All the apps?  I've tried them.  The calendar on my phone?  Yup, tried it.  And then I remembered way back in the day when I was a little more uptight and a lot more organized.

Because I'm a list maker, lists usually work for me.  But it can't be a list on a scrap piece of paper or on a post it note, because those disappear right before your eyes.  It needs to be contained.  So I went out and bought a planner.  Which wasn't as easy as it sounds...do you know how many options are out there?!

In my experience, the simpler the better.  My requirements were fairly simple, I thought...I wanted a section that showed the whole month (to show me what was coming up), followed by weekly segments (to tell me what I need to tackle for the coming week), a space to add tasks and a completely separate area for notes (this is to remind me of what I need to do - pick up dry cleaning and to record my 2015 Christmas gifts; so I don't replicate them next year).  And it had to be small...but not TOO small.  I finally found exactly what I was looking for at Barnes and Noble and it is perfect.

I have already added in ideas for Mother's Day gifts, which I recorded in April...so I am reminded to find the gift, wrap it, and get it mailed in plenty of time, because this is where I have been failing...the pre-planning.

So here's hoping that 2016 will bring a more organized me (fingers crossed)...albeit a me that isn't as uptight as the old me.