why I suck

[the_siobhan]

I finally sent my sister a happy birthday message. By email to her work. Because I meant to call her all last week and I forgot every single day.

Only I didn't forget. I remembered like a week beforehand. And every day I would think, "Gotta call F..." Only I would remember on the bus or on the phones at work or on the can, and then by the time I was home or on break or upstairs it would have left my brain completely.

So finally I get around to it. Exactly one week late.

My daughter's birthday is in about three weeks. I'll do the exact same thing to her. I do it to everybody. Every Single Year.

And it's not just birthdays. Every year my mother asks me whether I'm doing anything for Thanksgiving and Easter and I have to ask her when they are. Last year I forgot when Christmas is. Who the fuck manages to forget what day Christmas falls on? Seriously.

I swear to Gods, it's like I have a big hole in my head where dates should live.

Comments

[50-ft-queenie.livejournal.com]

Who the fuck manages to forget what day Christmas falls on? Seriously.

M did that once.

Scheduling our social life has gotten a lot easier ever since we started using Google Calendar - you can program it to send you reminders.

[zero-gravity.livejournal.com]

I started to use Google Calendars. Finally. I forget my mom's birthday every year, as well as every one else. I set it up, whenever I remember it, or as soon as I've forgotten them, and then have it send me an email reminder 2 days before. You can set it to repeat for eternity. :D so even when i'm dead and crumbled, there will still be mail. Provided the zombies don't kill everyone first.

[panic-girl.livejournal.com]

Be safe!!

[panic-girl.livejournal.com]

Um, this was more about "HAITI TOMORROW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" than the actual content of the post.
In case you thought I was making a weird non-sequitur there.

[the-siobhan.livejournal.com]

Thanks. :-)

[bcholmes.livejournal.com]

What could possibly go wrong in Haiti?

[eciklb.livejournal.com]

I've been known to forget my sister's birthday. This would be a lot less embarassing if we didn't have the same birthday.

(And yes, that means I do forget my own birthday periodically. In my defense, it falls just at the end of finals anytime I'm on a semester academic calendar, and the world goes to hell during finals for faculty as well as for students).

[the-siobhan.livejournal.com]

I do that every year.

I'm always started when I get the first birthday wishes of the day. "It's not... Oh. Wait."

[dethinwntr.livejournal.com]

Ok, I was with ya right up until Christmas. That's impressive!

[dark-phoenix54.livejournal.com]

Why not call them ahead of the day? You won't be late that way, and will have the added bonus of making them think they missed their own birthday! ;-)

[the-siobhan.livejournal.com]

All the same reasons I don't call them the day of or for weeks after. :-p

If I could remember at a time when I could actually make the call, as opposed to say, 3AM I wouldn't have a problem.

[eveofdstruction.livejournal.com]

I bet late birthday wishes are totally made up for by cool presents from Haiti. Have fun! Be safe! I would be cross if you failed in either of those regards. *hug*

[inulro.livejournal.com]

That's exactly how I am about remembering to get in touch with people - only think about it when I'm in no position to do it.

I don't forget which day Christmas is, but I have an awful time working out when it (or any other day for that matter) is in relation to today. Occasions fall into two categories: "some vague time in the future) and "holy crap I forgot!"

[lilactime.livejournal.com]

Make a calendar with all the important dates marked. Do a screen capture and save each month as an image file. Make the image your wallpaper, so you have a calendar in plain view when you're online.

[melete.livejournal.com]

Hee! I did the exact same thing to my brother this year.

I'm absolutely horrible with dates, be they birthdays, anniversaries, holidays or what-have-you. This is including my own. It has been known to drive exes slightly batty.

Enjoy Haiti! Looking forward to stories.

[(Anonymous)]

No worries. I've been so busy with school projects that I wouldn't be suprised if I forget my own birthday this year. Probably a good thing. I can see a few of my college buddies punching me in the arm if they knew.
Jenn*

[ravensee.livejournal.com]

HAPPY HAITI!!!

[okoshun.livejournal.com]

Google calendar is my saviour. Really.

[sharkskitten.livejournal.com]

Yup. i completely understand understand. i always remember birthdays...the day after. My sister got me one of those birthday calenders for my office and it didn't help.

[the-siobhan.livejournal.com]

paper calenders, electronic calenders, email reminders, none of it works.

I find the suggestions very sweet, but they are based on the assumption I haven't tried all this stuff before.

[sharkskitten.livejournal.com]

Exactly!

not remembering dates

[pir-anha.livejournal.com]

oh yeah. i am JUST like that. and no, it's not personal, though some people take it that way. i forget my own birthday as a matter of course. i forget all statutory holidays, and only remember those with fireworks when the fireworks are going off all around me. i forget dates on which bills are due with distressing regularity. and the only reason why i don't usually forget christmas is because everybody else around me makes it such a big deal. though if i manage to hermit through the immediate days before it, i can miss it as well.

dates are black holes mainly because i have no sense of time, really. i lose days in the week too, and i never know when the weekend is, not if left to my own internal devices.

google calendar saves my butt on a regular basis now.

[baratron.livejournal.com]

My mobile phone has a planner on it that I can set to pop up someone's phone number at the time I'm supposed to be ringing them :) I can even get it to select whether I will be Calling or SMSing. And the phone only places the call once I tell it OK.

Good, eh? Perhaps more useful than planners on a computer or piece of paper?