Circle these dates on your 2018 calendar

HOUSTON – A new year has arrived, so let’s not waste any time on that resolution you made about getting your life more organized. 

Here are some important dates you should make sure are noted on that adorable 2018 puppy calendar or the 2018 cat memes weekly planner you bought.

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An asterisk (*) denotes days flags should be flown at half-staff.

Federal holidays

Generally, these are the days when federal government offices will be closed.

Monday, Jan. 1 – New Year’s Day
Monday, Jan. 15 – Martin Luther King Jr. Day
Monday, Feb. 19 – Washington's Birthday
Monday, May 28 – Memorial Day*
Wednesday, July 4 – Independence Day
Monday, Sept. 3 – Labor Day
Monday, Oct. 8 – Columbus Day
Sunday, Nov. 11 – Veterans Day* (observed on Monday, Nov. 12)
Thursday, Nov. 22 – Thanksgiving Day
Tuesday, Dec. 25 – Christmas Day

Texas holidays

You can find out if state offices will be closed on the days listed below at comptroller.texas.gov.

Friday, Jan. 19 – Confederate Heroes’ Day
Friday, March 2 – Texas Independence Day
Saturday, March 31 – Cesar Chavez Day
Saturday, April 21 – San Jacinto Day
Tuesday, June 19 – Juneteenth (Emancipation Day)
Monday, Aug. 27 – LBJ’s Birthday
Monday, Dec. 24 – Christmas Eve
Wednesday, Dec. 26 – Day after Christmas

Other holidays

Generally, state and federal offices do not close for these holidays.

Friday, Feb. 2 – Groundhog Day
Monday, Feb. 12 – Lincoln’s Birthday
Tuesday, Feb. 13 – Mardi Gras
Wednesday, Feb. 14 – Valentine’s Day
Friday, Feb. 16 – Chinese New Year
Monday, Feb. 19 – Presidents Day*
Saturday, March 17 – St. Patrick’s Day
Friday, April 27 – Arbor Day
Saturday, May 5 – Cinco de Mayo
Sunday, May 13 – Mother’s Day
Tuesday, May 15 – Peace Officers Memorial Day*
Saturday, May 19 – Armed Forces Day
Wednesday, June 6 – D-Day
Thursday, June 14 – Flag Day*
Sunday, June 17 – Father’s Day
Friday, July 27 – National Korean War Veterans Armistice Day*
Tuesday, Sept. 11 – Patriot Day*
Wednesday, Oct. 31 – Halloween
Friday, Dec. 7 – Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day*
Monday, Dec. 31 – New Year’s Eve

Big days in sports

While you might feel these should be holidays, your boss probably won’t buy it. Some teams have not released their 2018 schedule yet.

Jan. 8 – College football championship game
Jan. 13 – Astros Fanfest
Feb. 4 – Super Bowl LII
Feb. 9 – Opening ceremony for Winter Olympics
Feb. 23 – Astros first spring training game
Feb. 25 – Closing ceremony for Winter Olympics
April 2 – Astros home opener
April 5 – Masters begins
May 5 – Kentucky Derby
June 14 – FIFA World Cup begins
June – Stanley Cup finals, NBA finals
June 14 – U.S. Open begins (golf)
July 2 – Wimbledon begins
July 7 – Tour de France begins
Aug. 27 – U.S. Open begins (tennis)
October – World Series

Religious observances

These are some of the more widely known religious observances in the U.S.

Saturday, Jan. 6 – Epiphany
Wednesday, Feb. 14 – Ash Wednesday
Thursday, March 1 – Purim
Friday, March 2 – Holi
Sunday, March 25 – Palm Sunday
Friday, March 30 – Good Friday
Saturday, March 31 – Holy Saturday and Passover begins
Sunday, April 1 - Easter
Saturday, April 7 – Passover ends
Thursday, May 3 – National Day of Prayer
Wednesday, May 16 – Ramadan
Friday, June 15 - Eid
Monday, Sept. 10 – Rosh Hashana
Wednesday, Sept. 19 – Yom Kippur
Tuesday, Nov. 6 – Diwali
Monday, Dec. 3 – Hanukkah begins
Monday, Dec. 10 – Hanukkah ends
Monday, Dec. 24 – Christmas Eve
Wednesday, Dec. 26 – Kwanzaa

Other notable days

While you likely won’t get any time off for these days, they’re worth marking down.

Sunday, March 11 – Daylight Saving Time begins
Tuesday, March 20 – Spring begins
Tuesday, April 17 – Tax Day
Thursday, June 21 – Summer begins
Sunday, Sept. 23 – Autumn begins
Sunday, Nov. 4 – Daylight Saving Time ends
Tuesday, Nov. 6 – Election Day
Friday, Nov. 23 – Black Friday
Monday, Nov. 26 – Cyber Monday
Friday, Dec. 21 – Winter begins