Brain Block

Some people are very good at remembering dates. Some of them even manage to plan ahead and send a card for 'on-time' arrival for birthdays and anniversaries. For instance, Ann and Marilyn are particularly good at mailing cards so that they arrive exactly on the date, or maybe on the day before. Chris is very good at dates and generally will buzz off a brief email, to the point -- Happy Birthday! I appreciate those.

In these days of instant communication, there is practically no excuse to miss wishing someone well on an important date if that is something that you like to do (some people just don't concern themselves with the dates of others which is fine too). It only takes a minute or three to do what Chris does in his emails, and it is just as effective (to me anyway) in recognizing the day. Which is why I am so annoyed with myself this week. It was a busy week -- I was in Kirkland helping Danelle help Dayna and Shane with Thea Monday-Thursday. We went to the park one afternoon, to the hospital to catch the end of the parent/baby class one day, and read books, did puzzles and watched The Sound of Music (the good parts at least). And I like to send out a brief greeting for birthdays and anniversaries and other 'big days.' But even as I remembered July 8 as the day Rachel and Jason were leaving for Hawaii and July 10 as Jason's birthday, I completely missed the day in the middle. I did remember it on the drive over to Kirkland, and then I finally remembered it again yesterday ...

I used to remember all the dates when I was a child; perhaps that was because there were only 6 to remember -- all of our birthdays and mom and dad's anniversary. Then I got married, and my sisters got married, and there are neices and nephews and cousins and grandchildren. I usually REMEMBER the day but just neglect to send a card or email to let anyone know I remembered and say HI. This time I forgot it all. And I can't even blame it on my calendars -- the dates are all on at least three of my calendars; I just didn't look at them. Although I did include it on the church announcements email. How embarrassing.

And so I will say it here --
I hope you had a Happy Anniversary (July 9th), Ben and Kelli.
I will try to be more timely next year... we'll see if I can do that which I want to do or if I'm stuck being who I am. :o)