My calendar will be a mess

This Friday is Christmas, and despite my best efforts to keep my dates and times straight, the long holiday weekend is going to make my calendar a confusing mess!

If you are like me, your life is built around somewhat of a schedule. We organize our days, weeks, and months, into orderly segments. My calendar settles into a comfortable and repetitive routine. If and when it changes, due to the upheavals such as what the upcoming holidays present, I begin to loose perspective.

My sense of time works best when it follows regular set patterns. For me, Monday is the day that I consider the beginning of each week. As a rule, Monday's present some unique issues. My personal clock and calendar are often affected by the previous weekend's events. Monday becomes my reset button day.

Weekday nights, I go to bed earlier. As a rule, I tend to be more involved with out of the home activities on weekends, so I retire and rise much later. That always seems to make my return to a regular schedule on Monday morning, a bit of a challenge.

Both my body and my mind exhibit feelings such as weariness and stiffness. I begin each Monday with a trip to the Nevada Regional Medical Center, where I complete a workout at the cardio rehab unit. I hate exercise, and I especially dislike it early on Monday!

Mondays and Tuesdays tend to guide me back into a rhythm. One task that I begin during this time period, involves this very column. I generally write my first draft rather quickly, each Monday morning, following that painful rehab stint. Normally, I leave that first draft untouched, until the following day. It's difficult to explain my writing process. Sometimes I am amazed at the poor quality of the previous days script, and wonder who the idiot was who composed such drivel. I find it both puzzling and interesting that the second day editing procedure, takes me about three times as long, as it took for my first draft.

Wednesday's are golf days. When the weather permits, I play in a regular seniors group. We can't hit golf balls anywhere near the distance we once enjoyed, but the competitive spirit is still there.

My Thursdays are generally set aside for the weekly to-do list items. This almost always includes completion of tasks such as grocery shopping, banking, and vehicle maintenance. I am a bit concerned as to what our weekly grocery shopping will entail Thursday. That is Christmas Eve, and the stores will be crowded. Our normal weekly shopping on Thursday is rarely a busy day at local retailers.

Friday is the day that I set aside for occurrences like doctors visits, haircuts, and other appointments that require scheduling. It is also the TGIF day of the week. When I was younger TGIF following the work-week, was a regular and anticipated event. These days, my TGIF partying time has dramatically declined, in direct proportion to my aging!

As the weekend approaches, there always seems to be a host of different activities available. Rarely do I miss attending something like a sporting event, a movie, or a visit to some special venue, such as a new restaurant. It is important to note, that my weekend is relegated to a time limit that begins on Friday evening, and ends when I resume that drudgery rehab on Monday morning.

When extra time is added, as it will be when Christmas falls this Friday, my internal calendar and clock are thrown into total disarray. The uncertainty of timing for me will begin early on the holiday weekend. Since Thursday is Christmas Eve, it will totally change the normal pace, for which I have become accustomed. Instead sensing it to be a normal Thursday, it will probably feel more like a Friday.

I will become even more out of touch with dates and times on Christmas Friday. All the businesses are closed for the holiday. My regular TGIF will be moved to another day, perhaps Saturday. You get the idea my days and times have become blurred and dazed. Several times during the upcoming holiday weekend, I will have to stop and remind myself, exactly what day it is.

The following week will not give me any return to normalcy. I really dread that Monday rehab, after the four day holiday weekend. The rest of the week will offer me no relief, as New Years Eve and New Years Day, will start a new four-day holiday weekend on Thursday.

December has other timing issues besides the holidays. I have a list to complete each year during this time. There is of course my Christmas list. Luckily, I am able to do a lot of that online now, so I don't have to brave trips to shopping centers. December also is the time to pay our property taxes. That is never a pleasant event.

All of this activity and confusion for my calendar will come to an end early in the New Year. I should welcome a return to a familiar pace for my life, but the winter bleakness that January brings, is not a welcome thought.

The coldest month of the year makes a person not want to get out much. I am lucky that my calendar keeps that from happening. Local basketball games and hopefully my Kansas City Chief's playoff schedule, will keep me active.

This article should go to press the day before Christmas. On Monday the 21st, at 10:48 p.m. local time, the winter solstice marks the first day of winter. That means that the days will begin to grow longer, and bring me that much closer to spring.

Thinking about time and my calendar is stressful. You know what makes it even worse? At my age, the above list comes way to soon each year. I wouldn't mind a messy calendar, if it would just slow down!