But I'll get to that.

While special dates can be challenging for some (many?), there are thoes occasional dates you don't forget, and it's often for reasons that are completely unrelated to the event you're trying to remember.

Case in point. Until 1999, I had hard time remembering my college roommate's birthday -- July 17 -- on my own. I knew it was sometime in July, but that was about as far as I could remember without consulting a calendar covered with colorful sticky-note reminders or putting a call to other friends.

In 1999, I had known Amy for eight years. I was still producing the weekend editions of "Good Morning! Arizona" then. (I wouldn't leap the digital divide for another year.)

On July 16, 1999, John F. Kennedy Jr. disappeared in a Piper Saratgoa II HP as he was flying with his wife and sister-in-law from West Caldwell, N.J., to Martha's Vineyard. It was all over the news, including "Good Morning! Arizona." The search for the downed plane continued the next day during my show. A friend called me to remind me it was Amy's birthday. I called her from the control room to wish her happy birthday while we were in CNN coverage. I haven't forgotten her birthday since.

Allison is another story. I've always mixed up her birthday. Sure I've written it down. I've just written it down wrong -- and right. Dec. 23 and Dec. 28. I think it's the three and the eight that throw me. And yes, I've had it on my calendar wrong and right in the same year. Sad, I know.

That's one reason that last year I resolved to once and for all put important dates in a central place where I would not have to copy them from this year's calendar to next year's calendar. I think hat's how Allison ended up with multiple birthdays five days apart.

Deciding I needed somebody to manage my calendar, I hired myself an assistant -- a virtual assistant. (I didn't go the route of hiring an actual person who lives in another country -- India -- although there are people who do that.) I registered with a Web site called BigDates.com -- tagline, "Thoughtfulness made easy."

I entered everybody's birthdays and anniversaries and any other important dates I could think of. Now I get handy e-mail reminder (You can do text messages, too) a month out, a week out, three days out and the day of. It's a handy system and worth the $6 a year. Provided, of course, you enter your big dates correctly.

A month before Allison's birthday, I got an e-mail, with follow-ups sent the week before and three days before, reminding me that her big day was coming up on Dec. 23.

I was so proud of myself this year, calling Allison on her birthday with no prompting from anybody but Dottie, my BigDates.com assistant. Thanks to that one-week-to-go reminder, I had already sent a card timed to arrive on the big day, which is no small feat during the holidays. Anyway, I got Al's voicemail so I sang "Happy Birthday" and told her I'd try her later. I called the next day and wished her a happy-day-after her birthday.

A couple of days later I got a voicemail from Allison and she was clearly trying not to laugh. Actually, I don't think she was really trying all that hard. She loved the card and thanked me for the voicemails. But there was one small thing, she said. Her birthday wasn't for another couple of days.

How embarrassing is that!? And here I'd been congratulating myself on getting it right. I left her a return voicemail acknowledging my suckiness, apologized and told her I'd call her Thursday. I then called her -- on the 28th -- and wished her happy birthday "for reals."

No, I didn't blame my assistant for the mix-up. Allison knows me way too well for that. She was very understanding, and actually thought it was pretty funny. I guess if you're going to be wrong on a birthday, it's better to be early than late.

And no, I'm not firing my assistant. It's not Dottie's fault I'm a dope and entered the date wrong. The mistake has been corrected and next year, Dottie will remind me to call Allison on her real birthday, not the one I've decreed for her.

Of course, with the embarrassment of my faux pas this year, maybe I won't need Dottie to remind about Allison's birthday next year. Dottie can concentrate on the birthdays of my other friends, especially since those were entered correctly.

Want to hire Dottie yourself?

BigDates.com offers a free three-month trial, no credit card required. After the trial membership, the service is $5.95 per year. In addition to birthdays, anniversaries and other recurring occasions, you can also use BigDates.com for custom events and appointments. There's not a time function, just a date, so you'll need to make sure you put the time in your event description.

In addition to the e-mail and text reminders, you can download custom calendar wallpaper (free) or order a pocket card with your dates ($1.50 shipping for first card, $2 for additional cards).

Dottie's not a mind reader, so to avoid my mistake of entering a wrong date, use her handy Birthday Requester.