Planning Ahead

presents-4It’s way too early to be thinking of Christmas, you say? Actually this is the time of year I usually buy and wrap the fantasy/science fiction I give Andy for Christmas and his birthday. (We use Christmas wrapping paper for both.) The unusual thing is these presents are not for just this year, they’re also for 2015 and 2016.

Andy has been laughing, saying I’m an optimist to think he’ll be around that long. But it was the pessimist in me that prompted me to act now. Andy likes series, and he likes the whole series all at once. And when I was looking for suitable candidates I noticed that several authors had print versions of the first couple of books of the series, but the final book was only available on Kindle. I decided if things were changing that drastically I would buy enough for the next couple of years and be done with it.

I always put them in a special spot in the apartment, so I don’t think I’ll forget where they are. 🙂

What about you? Do you like to plan ahead too?


 

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15 Responses to Planning Ahead

  1. Rummuser says:

    Not any more. I am now living one day at a time. And that is taxing enough!

    • Jean says:

      I figure if Andy and I are both alive and functioning in 2017, I will pass the job of buying science fiction/fantasy to Kaitlin. The purpose of this exercise was to streamline my life even more.

  2. bikehikebabe says:

    For starters, Andy will be around much longer than those 2 years.

    I’m with Rummuser (Ramana). I’m afraid the future won’t be what I plan, so I’m doing one day at a time—living in the moment .

    • Jean says:

      Andy and I do a bit of planning ahead so we can focus our energy on the present. Nothing hanging over our heads.

  3. nick says:

    I’m not very good at planning ahead. For most of my life I’ve just drifted from one thing to another. I suppose I regard planning ahead as a bit over-methodical. And I agree with bikehikebabe that planning for the future is tricky as the future is bound to be different from whatever I anticipate.

    • Jean says:

      Sure, we can never predict, but I like making contingency plans. If things change, the plan doesn’t work, etc., I just make another plan. No big deal.

  4. Audra E says:

    Please, what are the series? I could use some good lighthearted undemanding fiction; can’t tell you how worn out I am from all the books telling me how bad things are all over the globe. Some of them are very interestingly written, celebrating the human spirit, etc, like House of Stone (Lebanon) or Constellation of Vital Phenomena (Chechnya), but ohohoh.
    Hm, planning ahead. Two-three years of presents, wow! On the other hand, a lot of people I know who claim “not to plan ahead” are dependent on the skills and alertness of their support staffs (whether paid or unpaid, official or quietly behind the scenes, the people I’m labeling as support staff are making sure things get done, including by and for the person who “doesn’t plan ahead”). I agree that life is more relaxed and fun when someone else is making sure things happen for me, taking care of details and calendars, etc. Makes it much easier to focus on the present moment, a spiritual practice I too engage in—when I’ve planned ahead on how to get it into the schedule. 🙂

    • Jean says:

      I’ve pretty well streamlined my life. Getting these presents done is just one more way of doing it. As usual, I can’t read much at a time because of my eyes, but I am watching Numb3rs on Netflix right now. I like long series so I can get to know the characters. And it’s neat that science nerds are some of the main characters. 🙂

    • Jean says:

      That should be science and math nerds, since the emphasis is on the math.

      About people who don’t like to plan ahead but let their support system take care of it — do we know anyone like that? 😉

  5. tammyj says:

    WOW!
    i’m impressed!
    luckily we don’t give gifts. except to the little boys. and i give them money.
    they know their auntie tam doesn’t shop! LOLOL. i have them trained.
    i do wrap the cash in unusual ways though. that way i keep my little dab of artistic happiness satisfied. last year i used the plastic lidded containers that my continental coffee comes in. made a nice little present. i give the bigger kids… mike and reve’ money too. i figure after all the hullabaloo they can go have a nice dinner… or get something they really want. or even pay some of the christmas bills! whatever.
    i worked with a lady like you though. she always had it all done MONTHS before!
    i FINALLY have everyone in my life convinced not to buy me anything. so nice! 😀

  6. Evan says:

    I tend to work from a future goal backwards.

    But I also find it easy to just make a different decision.

    So a bit mixed I think.

    • Jean says:

      I wouldn’t say I have future goals, although we could probably say Andy does with some of his projects. I’m more of an explorer/experimenter. Not working towards a goal, but enjoying the experience.

    • Jean says:

      And learning new things, occasionally solving new problems.

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