Hooray for Organization!

Each year during the last week of December I prep my new planner for the next year.  I like to look back on the events I attended, the appointments I made, and the copious amounts of notes I took on various subjects that warranted a place in my book.  I also go month to month and transfer over everyone’s birthdays and mark holidays.

It’s usually at this time I realize that I have to get birthday cards out for those last end-of-the-year birthdays and I sigh a disappointed sigh when it becomes clear that I didn’t send out nearly as many cards and thoughtful notes as I intended it.  It’s at this point that I also prep all of my January birthday cards for mailing in an effort to get a jump-start.  Sadly, I think that only the late December, January, and possibly February birthdays get cards from me.  That is unless I attend a birthday party to which I always bring a card.

I decided this year would be different.  I was determined to find a way to organize myself to ensure that everyone that I care about at least gets a warm birthday wish in 2010.  So, I started looking up greeting card organizers and all I could find were cheesy, grandma-inspired boxes to store a year’s worth of cards in.  I couldn’t be the only youthful person with a need to organize birthday cards, could?  Well, now that I think of it… maybe I am.

Well, based on the amount of money I was willing to spend on this little passion project and my hard and fast rule on not buying anything I would be ashamed to walk around carrying, I decided on a simple, fuchsia accordion file.  It is divided into twelve sections with tabs signifying each month of the year.  I got home early on NYE and decided to spend a couple hours filling the file with cards.  I made address labels in sequential order of birthdays, affixed them to an envelope, and placed a card ready to be filled out inside, then popped them into the month it will need to be mailed in order to reach the birthday-reveler in time.  Forty-five cards later I now feel confident that everyone will have a little something in the mail for them come their annual day of aging.  =)

Those few hours spent getting together my super-happy-fun card organizer works twofold for me.  Two of my resolutions are keeping myself better organized (yes, I do believe it’s possible!) and to be more thoughtful in the new year.

What is your favorite way to let people know you are thinking of them?

Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

Well, it’s no surprise that with the new year comes the desire to change.  I’ve made several resolutions this year some of which I will reveal through this blog and My Mount Everest throughout the month.  Last year was spent doing a precarious balancing act just to keep our heads above water.  Ramses’s layoff at the end of 2008 set on us the very stressful journey of searching for a way to pay our bills and him looking for a new career path.  Rejection and closed doors were a huge part of 2009 for us.  We enter 2010, not exactly where we hoped to but we’re are both optimistic that this year will begin an upswing for us.  We made it through one of the roughest years we have ever faced together stronger, wiser, and far from broken.   So take that, 2009!  You didn’t take us with you *raspberry*!

My first resolution for 2010 is to write everyday.  Whether in my blogs or working on the manuscript for my Shadow Ridge novel, I will write.  I found an article on Zen Habits about forming 6 Habits for the New Year and I was tremendously inspired.  You choose six new habits and devote two months each to making them part of your routine then committing to them as publicly as possible.  The idea is simple and attainable.  The first habit I plan on taking on is writing everyday.  I figure since it’s my passion that it should be the easiest to stick to and since public commitment is part of the plan my blogs are a perfect place to start.

There are also a few changes to the site.  I updated some of the tabs at the top of the page.  Feel free to take a click and look around.  It’s still a work in progress but aren’t we all?

So, what are your New Year’s Resolutions?