Rebecca A. Foster

I've been Amazon shopping for my 2009 weekly planning calendar, a very important decision . I get the same one every year, but I am a calendar dork at heart and like perusing all of my options. Also, there are some really weird calendars out there and I like making fun of them.  I found a wonderful weekly calendar put out by the Boston Museum of Fine Arts illustrated with artwork of women reading. I collect artwork depicting women reading, but unfortunately this version is hard cover and I need something soft cover I can throw easily in my bag to and from school. So I won't be buying it, I'll stick to my soft cover  National Gallery of Art version , but if you like artwork depicting women reading, it's worth checking out.   The Reading Women, Amazon.com, $10.99

I don't wear a watch. I just figure out in my head what time it is. I can even take a nap and tell myself to wake up at a certain time, and I do. But knowing what day I'm on? Sometimes takes a few tries. Days seem to sneak up on me and then fly right by. So an easily accessible calendar, especially at work, is a must-have*. As always, I had several options for the new year: Girls In Bikinis Should I get a calendar that forces me to stare at well-lit, well-toned and well-enhanced women all year as a way to motivate myself to eat fewer nachos and make my work-outs at the gym last just a bit longer? Maybe it could work. But really, using a bikini calendar as a realistic indicator of progress only works if I also have an air-brushing and lighting guy following me around all day. So, maybe not. (Side note: you know how in movies when the hero is about to seduce the heroine, the lighting turns all soft and flattering? Yeah, that should happen in real life too.) Kitten s an d Puppies ...