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2016 is coming

I haven't even got 2015 finished and out of the way before I'm already having to think about 2016. The joys of juggling three different hospitals and multiple consultants and clinics means I already have appointments stacking up for next year. Eleven appointments already to be precise. So I decided that I would have to bite the bullet and buy my 2016 diary. (Talking of bullets, I hear on the grapevine that Santa might be bringing me a Nutribullet and I am a tad excited about it. Sad, I know. But still, excited I am.) Normally a diary is something that Hubby would get me for my birthday and even though it's only next week I don't feel as though I can wait any longer. 

Having appointments and other plans without being able to write them in a dairy is driving me mad for a few reasons.  One: if they don't get written down in the proper place then I am liable to forget about them completely. Two: I need to make sure I'm not double booking myself. Three: I'm an OCD, completely mental human being. 

So whilst out shopping today I spotted this little beauty. 



The picture doesn't show it that well but it's bright orange. There's no way I will lose it or not see it in my handbag being so bright is there?! Maybe the answer to my 'issues' is to get an academic diary so I don't have these kind of problems but then I think that I would only be moving the problem from November/December to July/August. I know there will be people wondering why on earth I don't use the diary app in my phone and the answer is I do. Sort of. I do put some stuff into my phone diary but then I worry that if my whole life is in my phone and it got lost/stolen/fell into the loo then I would literally have no idea what would be going on for anything. You see I can't rely on my memory (as I have the same memory capacity as my 84 year old Grandma. And she has dementia) so if it did vanish into a technological black hole then I wouldn't be able to even remember what I should have remembered. I know there's probably a way of synching the diary with 'the cloud' or the laptop or something but I don't have technical know how to do it and actually don't give enough of a shit to try and work it out. 

I like pen and paper. I remember that when I was doing my GCSEs computers had just begun to be used in lessons other than IT. When my business studies teacher suggested I might like to type my coursework up instead of writing it I was absolutely horrified by the thought. And I told him so in no uncertain terms too. I like being able to write stuff down in my diary in my own language (by that I mean my own shorthand. I don't really have my own language per se although some people that know me think I live in my own little world half the time so having my own language wouldn't be that surprising to them). I also like being able to use different coloured pens for different categories. By pens I mean sharpies (I bloody love sharpie pens- they're the best) and by different categories I mean that in my head different events go into different categories. There's birthdays (that's an obvious one) and wedding anniversaries are allowed to share the same colour as birthdays (orange, incase you're wondering). Then there's hospital appointments and each hospital has it's own colour so I can see at a glance where I have to go. But GP appointments don't go with hospital ones. Then there's school events, kids stuff like parties, clubs, football matches etc and yes, that has to be separate from school stuff. Then there's what Hubby is up to- working late, working away, going out with the boys- the usual boys stuff. Then there's my stuff that's not health related. Then there's reminders and I think that's it. And under no circumstances must a red pen be used. I particularly hate red biro. I'm sure some psychologist would say that if goes back to having my work marked at school in a red pen and that it brings back bad memories but I can't remember if my teachers used red pens or not. I think it's just a very angry colour when one writes in it and the only time I ever use a red biro is to highlight mine or Big Girls allergy to penecillin as it's a proper serious full blown could die from it type of allergy. So when I said earlier I had OCD issues you're really starting to get it aren't you?

I think I must be the only person that could write an entire blog post about having purchased a new diary. But there you go. That's me. I think it must be genetic or something though as my sister loves stationery as does my daughter. So maybe it's not something that's within my control. And before I finish I just have to add this- it always has to be a week to view diary, never a day to view. Even when I was working and had super, super busy days I hated having to use day to view diaries as very often I would turn over the page only to find a nasty suprise like a meeting that I hadn't prepared for. Funnily enough though at work everything went on my computers Outlook calendar (after a horrible day per view suprise like I just mentioned but a million times worse). Plus there was always the security of knowing that if I managed to bugger my PC up then the guys at the IT help desk would always be able to fix it (like when I managed to somehow rotate my entire screen view by 90 degrees. No idea how I did it but after working with my head to the side and trying to send emails like that for a few hours I had to admit defeat and suffer the baffled looks and sniggering when they arrived to fix it). That is a true story. And that is why it's so much better in my world. I can organise things perfectly and write labels and notes and calendars and diary entries to my hearts content. All in an array of sharpie colors. 

NB x

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