I am a packrat.
I also love to dejunk.
There’s a thrill that comes from rediscovering a small token of a special memory, be it a receipt, a photo, or even a penny that my grandpa kept and taped to the receipt.
But there is also a joy that comes from taking out a bag of trash and coming back inside to an empty corner. (Picture me doing the victory dance here. Any victory dance that comes to your mind is fine. I’m sure I’ve done it at some point in my celebrations.)
Do you feel my struggle? I yearn for a minimalistic home, free of clutter. And yet I can’t part with anything.
So I’m sure it comes as no surprise to you that I have kept some of my favorite calendars through the years.
Initially, I thought that I may cut and use parts making scrapbook pages. My favorite calendars tend to be 12×12, just like most scrapbooks.
Then, I thought those pages would make perfect art to hang in my home (thank you to whomever decided it would be a fantastic idea to make 12×12 sized frames).
However, my OCD made me wait for the just the perfect place to hang it. I mean, I can’t just cut up a perfectly good calendar and leave a gaping hole in there (even though I saved it for recycling purposes).
This year, as I took down my Christmas decorations, I got a wild hair to determine when 2015 would repeat itself. Then, I wouldn’t have to feel guilty for hanging on to yet another calendar by my favorite artist.
It turns out, that every 11 years (or sometimes every 6), the calendar repeats itself. Yay! (Unless it’s leap year. Then it takes 28 years to repeat. Sheesh!)
Now being a packrat has a purpose!
If you’d like to reuse your favorite calendars, here are some years to know:
- 2013=2019 (this is one of those 6 year repeats)
- 2014= 2025
- 2015= 2026 (also, 2009)
- 2016= 2026
- 2017= 2023 (also, 2034)
Being a sentimental packrat, I put post-it notes on the front of each calendar I saved. Then I made two columns. One column has the years in the past that coordinated to that year. So if I’m ever doing a journal or scrapbook project and I want to know what day of the week all of the good stuff happened, I’ll know what year correlates.
The second column has the years ahead when I can reuse the calendar.
At this point, you probably think I’m either a cheap-skate or I’m totally into saving the earth, on top of being an OCD packrat. All of those assumptions would be correct. 🙂
If you’d like to check out other years to see when time repeats itself, just click here.
And if you’d like me to send you a free roll of specially designed washi tape to use on your calendar, complete with tips to help you remember how to feel like yourself again, click here.