I’m done, Part II

Okay, I get it, no one believed me, but I promise you, this year I really am done.

Last November, I complained about how the work involved in putting together our annual family calendar had gotten out of control and mentioned that I was giving up the job. (I’m sure that this is the spot that many of my close friends and blog followers will insert a joke or two that most of my blogs are nothing more than me whining or complaining about one thing or another.)

In last year’s piece, I mentioned that I was finally giving up thanks to the heavy amount of work that goes into the calendar, including collecting the family photos; making sure I have an equal number of each kid; “playing” designer with a graphics program to lay out the calendar; and then completing the hard part, printing and binding them correctly.

I suggested in the piece and continue to suggest to my wife that other cheaper options exist including Shutterfly and Snapfish, but my wife likes to remind me that those choices don’t allow the same amount of personalization of birthdays, key events, and religious quotes, and the seemingly endless array of photos.

Writing from the heart of Brian Archive:

• This year, I’m done

In any event, I thought I was done. I had had it last year when it seemed that for every successful printed page, I seemed to have three that came out smudged or printed incorrectly with a picture facing down when it should have been right side up. At the time, I naively suggested to my wife that going Earth-friendly by putting the calendar online might be a more environmentally friendly option. She gave me a look that told me my fun-loving-wouldn’t-hurt-a-flea wife was seriously considering the ramifications of pushing me out our two-story window. Okay, honey, it’s me Brian, your husband, let’s step away from the window! You love me remember!

Somehow though, as soon as the calendar pages turned to fall this year, I started working on the calendar. I got an early start. I figured if the huge department stores like to start putting up Christmas decorations at Halloween, I should probably take their lead and start putting together the calendar. I did just that. In between the little monsters and goblins and the Iron Men and the Spidermen who knocked on our door Halloween night, I started pulling together photos.

For much of the fall, I couldn’t believe my good fortune. The calendar was coming together very nicely. I couldn’t resist letting a little smile come out of the side of my mouth and joking that the calendar was going to be easy this year.

Of course, God, Karma, fate or whatever you chose to believe in, came back to kick me in the pants. After getting pressed onto other topics and activities, it hit me last week that I hadn’t touched the calendar in a long while and needed to get moving to get it done. Uh-oh.

So over the course of several nights, I crammed to pull it together. I finished up the design portion and started to print and bind the calendars. It certainly went better than previous years, but was still no picnic. Despite all that, the calendar is once again done!

Now I know the world has its share of problems and we all have our differences, but I’ve come to a simple conclusion. If I can pull the calendar together one more year, certainly it’s not too outlandish to think that world peace can happen too.

Whatever happens, however, I can promise you one thing. I’m done with the calendar. Done, with a capital D.

No more calendars, at least until next December.