Prayer versus Self

I am not very good at saying my prayers.
My intentions are always sincere but I am constantly falling down and having to say sorry to God for forgetting (when I am aware of it), or for getting so caught up in other things that it is only much later that I realise that I hadn't said, for example, my morning prayers, or the Angelus . . .
(I should remember the Angelus as our village church rings the Angelus bell every day but usually I do not hear it thanks to being occupied with other things)
At this rate I shan't be joining the sinful tax collector down at the very back of the Temple asking the Lord to be merciful to me, a poor sinner, instead I shall be out in the street trying to get in through the door like one of those foolish virgins who forgot to trim the lamp!
This may be rather facetious on my part but I am sure you know what I mean.
Anyway I had just finished lunch and was going to go on line to write a post for today when I realised that as per usual I forgot to say grace before and after lunch. It isn't that I am not thankful to God for his bounty and all the wonderful gifts he provided us with; it is just that I forget about Him and yet if the meal was prepared by my mother, a friend or by AGA I would not hesitate to say thank you to them, so why do I forget to say thank you to God?
I think the answer is a lack of awareness of God present in my everyday life. He is not some favourite relative who lives far away and who you remember to send a card to at Christmas and Easter. He is God. Our God. Loving. Omnipresent. Why can I not get that into my head? I guess my sense of God has been dulled by this materialistic, extreme noisy world in which we live and into which I am too quick to submerge myself.
Well I am going to do my best to change all that.
When to the horror of AGA I went through a stage of forgetting to turn the hob on the stove off (thank goodness we lived near the fire station) I made a small card which I placed on the wall nearby so that I would not forget. On it is written "Do NOT forget to turn the stove off!" Now I hardly ever forget.
What can my memory aid be to assist me in this much more important task? Should I be needing a memory aid?
Perhaps I need to concentrate on realising that God really is ever present. Practising God's presence not just in doing his Will towards other but in giving thanks to Him, through prayer during my waking moments. I really do need to go and dwell His courts, not just wander around the gardens every now and then before returning to the World.

Come Holy Spirit,
fill the hearts of Thy faithful and kindle within them the fire of Thy love!