New what?

Every thirty-first of December, I keep my next year’s calendar close. A long time ago, my mother-in-law told me that you’re not supposed to fill in your new calendar until after midnight on the first, and I have adhered to that every since. My annual ritual is to fill in all the dates that I’m aware of and begin to plan my year, both personally and professionally. I get comfortable on the sofa after all the cheering and kissing have stopped, and test out my best handwriting, and while others in the house are getting ready for bed, I stay until all my known dates are placed in their correct squares in their correct months. Of course, the first is almost always blank, and my daughter’s birthday is just four days later, so she’s usually the first name that gets written with a cute birthday sticker in her square. Then, after her birthday, I go through the whole calendar year and fill in the rest of my kids’ names and my husband along with our anniversary and then go back to find the appointments that I’ve made and listed in the front of the book. I know: very detailed and quite possibly a little silly, but it gives my year a place to start.

To begin.

Again.

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