HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: The fact that I am writing this now is a testament to the reality of what is bound to happen. Or not. I have a selection of holiday cards here, they are really really lovely, and I am so happy with them.
Aren’t they pretty? Here's one (it opens like a 3-part accordion) from the sets I ordered from the Bodleian Library:
And I’m eager to send them out. Someday.
I love getting holiday cards in the mail, the real mail, I mean, not by email, but that is another topic. It is so much fun to open them, and I look at them and save them, and it’s even okay when the glitter falls onto the carpet, never ever to come out.
I can also picture people getting cards from me, and that’s fun, knowing that they know I thought of them, and that I am personally wishing them happy new year and happy everything and I really, truly, mean it. It’s a very sweet thing to send a holiday card – – even the writing of the people’s names and addresses on the envelope makes me picture them and think of them and be grateful to them.
But reds and readers, you are reading this on December 16. And that means I am pushing the deadline.
What I need to do is make an appointment with myself, maybe two hours? And just see how many I can get done. I could do it when watching a Hallmark movie, or something, and I would be so happy to be successful with this. And it is enormous fun to take the finished cards to the post office.
Okay. I’m gonna do it. Probably. Maybe. Soon. How about you, Reds and readers?
JENN McKINLAY: We used to do ridiculous over the top cards for the holidays (the Hooligans spelling out JOY or the four of us as Superheroes) but then the Hooligans moved out and it became impossible to schedule (the idea had to be executed in Nov if we stood a chance of getting it out on time) and I took that as my opportunity to retire from the holiday card conundrum. I had a blast for two decades but I was ready to do other things. No regrets.
LUCY BURDETTE: We love the cards as a way to keep in touch with old friends once a year, so I’m loath to give them up. I have whittled the process down to a photo card with a small amount of text with highlights of the year. (Not the long letters I used to do, and still enjoy reading!) This is my favorite, from the year of the pandemic:
We'd love to show our grandkids,
But the virus kept us tethered.
Instead you've got the two of us,
Slightly worn and weathered.
In 2020 we had no news
Roberta wrote and John enthused.
A little lonely, we formed our pod,
Thus Lottie puppy got the nod.
We miss you all,
we love you dearly.
Pray our doggerel don't come out yearly.
Merry Christmas and thank goodness for 2021!
Love from Roberta, John, T-bone (who is really fine, he simply doesn't like hats), and Lottie
HALLIE EPHRON: Lucy, that is adorable! When it comes to writing Christmas cards, I have (as my mother would have put it) eyes bigger than my stomach. I’d LOVE to write personal notes to catch up with so many people whom I love and have moved away from over the years.
Every year I buy cards and make a list. But my actual output of cards is pathetic. And as Hank points out, it’s getting late. I hand deliver cards to neighbors who, especially this last year or two, have been a life line for me. I’ve been so lucky with who’s moved in next door and across the street.
Jenn, those cards you used to send sound absolutely hilariously wonderful!
JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: Do I have a wonderful collection of cards I purchase every year right after Christmas? I do! Do I have sheets and sheets of Christmas stamps, which I loaded up on back when Forever stamps were 55 cents? I do! Will I have time to write a brief message and send them out to friends and family? God knows! But if I were using a Magic Eight Ball, All Signs Point to No.
DEBORAH CROMBIE: You are asking the person who is still putting up her Christmas decorations, the person who usually ends up wrapping the gifts on Christmas Eve? And, yes, I have quite a few boxes of beautiful, unsent, Christmas cards… I used to do so much better, though. There were the years when I made the cards by hand–including the year when I hand stamped about a hundred gold pears (made the wood block myself, too!) high on painkillers after having major dental work! Then there were the years we sent beautiful photo cards, usually of our dogs or cats or something Christmasy around the house, with detailed notes. Then those became e-cards, and then somehow they never got done. Why did we think we’d have more time when we got older???
The photo is my favorite from one of the photo card years–our cat, Jolly, seen from outside the dining room, with a weird light effect from the point-and-shoot camera. (Remember those?)
HANK: These are all so great..and I always love a shared experience. Or, I guess, a non-experience. How about you, Reddies? Are holiday mailings in the cards for you?
I love Christmas cards, but I never get my act together to get them out early [but I don't despair over it because I figure I really have until Three Kings Day before the Christmas season is actually over] . . .
ReplyDeleteWhen the children were small, we sent picture cards . . . then lovely, glittery holiday cards . . . then cards from just the two of us . . . cards are stacked up by the door, ready to mail in the morning.
Oh, absolutely! I agree, we have until January 6, absolutely!
DeleteI also think we should be moving some of the feed the hungry christmas dinners to mid January. People like the turkey must be stuffed right now with so many dinners, and come mid-January, with little money, all will be hungry.
DeleteThat is a really really good idea!
DeleteNope, no Christmas cards from me; it's just gotten too flipping expensive to mail them.. I miss them, though, both sending and receiving. My mother used to send out, and receive, hundreds of them each year; she would spend weeks going through her mailing list. Mt brother used to hand-design and print his own Christmas cards, and I once had an artist friend who would hand paint her Christmas cards individually. Me? I'm just a curmudgeon and a Scrooge, but on the inside I am still wishing everyone a very merry holiday season.
ReplyDeleteAwwwww those are such a sweet memories! And we love you too ..
DeleteYou Reds are on a roll, there! I love those cards from years past, Jenn and Lucy and Debs.
ReplyDeleteI love getting holiday cards, and was planning to write a few this week. I have a couple of boxes of fun cat-themed cards. Then I remembered I have to make Ida Rose's Christmas stocking. And get those ideas for the next three books to my agent. And finish the cookie baking. And hit the grocery store because our regular shopper (Hugh) still isn't driving after his hip replacement. And...
Ecards are a problem. If I get your chatty family news in the US mail, I will read it. The ecard (letter) came from a good friend in Colorado last week and I still haven't opened it.
Edith, with postage and printed card costs as high as they are, it's no wonder so many have switched to ecards. Greeting cards have just about priced themselves out of the market.
DeleteI will just say you buried the lede there… Ideas for three more books? You are incredible. !
DeleteHaha, Hank. That's just one thing on the list!
DeleteWhich makes it all the more amazing!
DeleteMailing cards exists only in my mind. I love the idea, but tend to give only to local friends. Plus, Canada has had a postal strike for the past month, so it's not possible to mail anything these days...
ReplyDeleteThe postal strike must be incredibly frustrating, but it is certainly a good excuse :-)
DeleteWhile my mother used to send out what seemed like a small forest's worth of cards every year, the advent of social media means I (whether I want to or not) can pretty much keep on the news of everyone's day/week/month/year on an up to the second nature.
ReplyDeleteSo I'll stick to putting up a photo of the Iron Maiden mascot Eddie wearing a Santa hat on Christmas Day and call it a day as far as holiday greetings.
That’s very true! It used to be we would hear from people only during the holidays, but now it’s like… Every day :-)
DeleteOoh, Hank, that Bodleian Library one is fabulous! Jenn, your family was a riot.
ReplyDeleteWe still have a drawer full of Christmas cards, and Christmas stationery, which I probably ought to get rid of. I used to send out more than 100 cards, with hand written personal messages in each. Until I realized Steve was sending out his annual bird calendars to almost all the same people. The postage is a lot more, though. (The large-size envelope is one problem, but the bigger issue is the wire coil, which means they can't machine process them.) So we consolidated our lists, and every year we try to update about 300 addresses. By the way, if you are on our list, he has sold photos to the calendar company at least through 2028. I just edited the descriptions that go under each photo.
I really appreciate cards, especially with a personal message, and love reading Christmas letters.
Well, what a fabulous production! You two are a perfect team…
DeleteSuch a relief to learn that all you smart, accomplished woman struggle with Cards Not Sent Syndrome, too! Maybe we need to start a self-help group: “Hi, I’m Katie and I’m staring at all the boxes of beautiful. Christmas cards I meant to send this year—and didn’t…”
ReplyDeleteBut seriously, here’s a thought: why don’t we liberate ourselves from the tyranny of expecting to write cards in the impossibly short period between Thanksgiving and Christmas? A time when we are doing (and meaning to do) a million holiday things—buy and decorate the tree, locate, buy and wrap the perfect presents, find the recipes for and bake hundreds of Christmas cookies (well,, OK, maybe not that), So, writing cards becomes yet another item on an imposing to-do list. What if, instead, we started a tradition of writing and sending cards in January? After all the holiday festivities have ended and we are feeling kind of deflated and blah? We’d have the time. And maybe the need to connect with friends in a more thoughtful way.
I always admired one cousin who sent out holiday cards on Valentine’s Day. Why not split the difference and make gloomy January the time to slow down and cheer ourselves by thinking about faraway friends
Brilliant! In fact, one year, I was so late, I designed a new kind of card and sent it randomly, just a sort of celebrate today kind of card. They were really fun to send, definitely less stress and pressure. Plus, they did not arrive in the deluge of others, so I think people noticed them. It’s all about celebrating and thinking of each other, right?
DeleteWe finally received the proofs of family photos taken on the beach over Thanksgiving. My wonderful, talented daughter assembled my card with 48 hour turnaround. I'll send them out after the kids leave after Christmas. Our headline news? A new grandson!
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on that new grandson, Margaret!
DeleteHooray! Congratulations!
DeleteDebs, that question - why did we think we'd have more time when we got older? - requires some serious scientific study! What I have learned is that being retired, or even just older, is itself a fulltime job! Sadly, Christmas cards have not been able to fit in the schedule for the past several years. This year is the worst because - yikes - it's next week! Now how did that happen?
ReplyDeleteExactly! And that’s the other thing. We had a week less in which not to do the things that we are not going to do! :-)
DeleteNo Christmas cards sent from me for quite a few years now--but, yes, I enjoy receiving them! Look forward to opening each one, hang them where everyone who comes can also enjoy them--grandnephew especially enjoys this little Christmas tradition!
ReplyDeleteYes, so agree! I absolutely adore every card I get, so individually, and specifically. Which really is giving me an incentive to send mine…
DeleteDon't forget! There are 12 days of Christmas beginning on the 25th of December!! You have time!
ReplyDeleteTrue, true true!
DeleteTime does seem to squeeze as we age! I plan to take my cards to the post office before 8 am today (the lobby opens at 6, the PO itself at 8:30). I have over 70 cards ready to go, including some Hanukkah cards for Jewish friends; each with a short and not newsy handwritten greeting. However, please don't think I'm on top of things. I have been using my Advent wreath out for 2+ weeks now, and mom and dad's Nativity is set up (sans baby, I hope I remember where I put it), but no tree as of yet, and some of the tree lots have already closed down (what's with that?!). I'm hoping to get a tree and more holiday shopping done with week.
ReplyDeleteYou are so incredibly organized! Very very impressive. And… You will find the baby :-) !
DeleteAs Amanda mentioned, Canada's postal service has been on strike since November 15. They just got ordered back to work tomorrow but there is no way for them to clear the existing mail backlog in time to sent new items for Christmas. In any case, I get fewer Christmas cards each year. But 2024 will be zero cards for the first time. Bah humbug.
ReplyDeleteAwwwww we are humbugging with you!
DeleteWriters, I love your cards!
ReplyDeleteI used to send out at least 100 cards a year to friends, family and to my real estate clients. When I retired from real estate in 2011, I still sent out cards to some former clients, but the list has dwindled. Now, I send them to a select few, mostly longtime friends.
The cards I send are a spectacular assortment with foil-lined envelopes and nature inspired themes that I buy from National Wildlife Federation. (I can remember when their cards were about $6.50 a box. Now they are over $20.) They are really gorgeous. I try to get ones that actually say Merry Christmas although I do lean towards the ones with Santa surrounded by wildlife with a tree, and sometimes they do just wish Happy Holidays. Occasionally, NWF has Hanukah cards for sale and I try to buy a box of them, but we have few people left to send them to. I haven't needed to buy cards for a couple of years but will probably buy a box next year.
I do love cards, but somehow, I don't set aside time to fuss with them like I used to do.
Hmmmm. I’m thinking I may try to do maybe three or four at a time, instead of trying to do them all. Whatever I get accomplished is a good thing.
DeleteI love the wordy email cards/letters! They keep us in contact with others, and for a moment let us think of them. The email letters always come with pictures, which you could never put in a mailed card – just too heavy and too expensive. What I have no use for is the electronic cards – click here, get ads forever. Now I just send an email back, and say thank you, and do not open it. I know I may never see that great Esmerelda has died, but I hate the ads.
ReplyDeleteWhen the kids were little, we always took a picture in the fall and included that with whatever was sent. Pictures were typical of our family and always included lots of animals (often a raccoon – live), and ‘our clothes’ – usually old and quite possibly ripped – not a fashion statement unless you are into farm clothes, and possibly a Santa hat or two. The letter was usually a double-sided onion-skin (remember that) epistle of our shenanigans of that year – often unbelievable as our life usually was.
It still goes on today even with no kids in the house. Each gets a nag or six to write their blabber, and so the letter is now 5 pages written by each of us with pictures. I understand that it is a lot of waffle, but those of the older generation appreciate the ‘news’. None of our kids send these letters or even a card to their friends/acquaintances – actually I doubt that they keep up with previous contacts – another topic.
The news of the morning is that Canada Post will be going back to work tomorrow after a strike of 4 weeks. That means that our mailed cards (10) can go out after I print out the letters. It also means that cards may come in – will people still write them after this no mail service drought? I will once again look forward to the once weekly trip to the mailbox to see if there is a card from Lorna, who must be 90 now, and is the most anticipated news of the year.
Wow, those letters sound amazing! And I am sure they are treasured. Xx
DeleteThis year is the first year in over fifty years I have not written and sent Christmas cards to friends and family near and far.( Here in Canada we have had a national postal workers strike for the last four weeks) Sadly, as we age the list grows shorter. I add a personal note to my cards and love to read the notes I receive from friends telling me their news of the past year.
ReplyDeleteDianne Mahoney
Yes, I love getting the news, too!
DeleteGoing to the dentist! More to come… and eager to read every single one of these!
ReplyDeleteI used to TRY to send cards but gave up. Mom's cards always had the Wise Men on them because it's Christmas until January 6.
ReplyDeleteTotally!
DeleteI love getting cards, but I gave up years ago. My list dwindled due to family deaths, people moved and didn't send new addresses, and on and on and on. I have a few people I need to send to, but the long newsy updates? A thing of the past. Good while I did them, but nothing lasts forever.
ReplyDeleteTrue...I do love the news updates, though. Reading them, not writing them.
DeleteLucy, I hadn't seen your card picture when we were sharing our stories, and I laughed at loud at the expression on T-Bone's face. He looks like a hostage in a proof of life video!
ReplyDeleteI love getting those photo collage cards from friends and relations, but sometimes I wish they were the silly, awkward photos, instead of the best-of. My sister had a great one that was inadvertently funny, like yours: she and her husband and their boys were all good looking and smiling, and their three dogs, all in costume, looked SO ASHAMED to be appearing as elves, santas, etc.
SO agree, T-Bone is too perfect.
DeleteI send out cards and a letter, and I always address them by hand and write something inside the card or on the letter. This is to prove it has been touched by a human hand. I love seeing folks' picture cards, but it's disappointing to get no word of what's actually been going on in their lives. I try to share the ups and downs of the year without being obnoxious. Sometimes it's the joys of travel, sometimes it more along the lines of "aside from that, Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?" This year it's "I've moved to a retirement community, and here's the new contact info."
ReplyDeleteYou are so perfect!
DeleteOh dear. Looks like it may Not be in the Cards this year. I have been beleaguered by colds and I do not want to risk sending Christmas cards in the mail and giving my cold to other people. If I ever recover from my contagious cold within a week, then Maybe I will be able to send Christmas cards. They will be late this year.
ReplyDeleteLove all of the gorgeous cards in the blog this morning! I am unusual because I love getting Christmas newsletters from family and friends - they always have interesting things to write about. Never received a "boring" Christmas newsletter in my life.
In the past, I always sent Christmas cards. I have a big collection of gorgeous Christmas cards, which I saved during the year for the opportunity to send cards during the holiday season.
I say: there's no such thing as late! If you send them, whenever, people will love them!
DeleteThis year, well, it really is too late - but you've inspired me for next year! Gonna look for those cards right after Christmas. It's never too early to begin the annual procrastination! Merry Christmas Reds and Readers!
ReplyDeletePerfect! Next year we will PLAN! You and me, sister!
DeleteI love Christmas Cards. I love all your stories of them. I aspire to do a card with photos and some text. Maybe next year, our first fully retired year. This year I have already mailed out more cards than I have I. The last 3, which tells you something. Way back when I had the day after Thanksgiving off, and my husband didn’t (he worked in retail) I would do all my cars that Friday and mail them Saturday. Then he got the day after Thanksgiving off and there went my card schedule. I actually have more on the dining room table now to do some catch up. A very merry Christmas to all of you, and May all your writing dreams come true.
ReplyDeleteAw, thank you, darling Suzette! And to you, too!
DeleteWell, like so many here I too love receiving Christmas cards, especially the ones with newsy letters in them. I have not sent more than a handful a year for over 20 years. There just never seems to be enough time. I did send them in January one year when I was laid up with a horrible cold. I have become one of those annoying ecard people and I send them for all occasions and sometimes just because someone came to mind. And yes, I too have a couple of boxes of beautiful Christmas cards stashed away! I did not work in Hallmark stores for a few years for nothing! LOL!! I say, enjoy the season whatever that looks like for you.
ReplyDeleteWorked in a Hallmark store! WOw--we want to hear all about it! xx
DeleteSigh. As mentioned above, Postal workers are on strike in Canada, though they've been ordered back to work starting tomorrow :^((
ReplyDeleteBut I do still send cards each year (except this one) and still love to get them to put on my mantle. This year, I've taken a nice shot of my Christmas tree, so I'll be emailing that to my friends and family on the list.
I bought a nice box of assorted cards for half price the other day, so I'm all set for next year. I hope.
LOVE those sales! xx
DeleteUp until last year I was very good about sending out photo cards. Especially when we lived in Europe and had amazing travels. Last year our first grandchild was born in the 6th and then we were away from home and all bets were off. I’m still working on a card for this year - my intention is to send them when we get back home as New Years greetings. We’ll see if it happens….
ReplyDeleteKeep us posted! xxx
DeleteI sent out my cards because I'm in transition. A new address as of January 1 and living at my sister's house for now. I sent out 40 cards!
ReplyDeleteYou set the bar high! But such a good idea since your friends who want to "card" you back will now know where to send it.
DeleteWOW! ANd yes, the perfect "address change" announcement!
DeleteThe cards are lovely. I don't send them any longer, but I still receive a few, and I happily display them on a wreath made for it, and I don't throw them away. I've learned that the toddlers love looking at them, so I leave some down at toddler level for them to "discover," because it's more fun that way. <3 -- Storyteller Mary
ReplyDeleteAh, Mary, line of an old Christmas poem drifts back: “Christmas wasn’t made for squirrels or rabbits, or birds. Christmas was made for children.” As remembered from the circa 1947 Big Golden Book of Christmas. Elisabeth
DeleteYes, they can be so pretty, and even more so all together!
DeleteFor me, raised in the Episcopalian tradition…NO (although this was often fudged a bit) decorations but surely NO tree before Christmas Eve, those Christmas trees up the day after Thanksgiving (or you’re running late with decorating) still shock. Time and moves and the fading away of family and friends and of the ability to maneuver pen and paper easily have led to no new boxed Christmas card purchases and only the random and special individual cards…with emails, texts, and ecards filling in. Happy Christmas and all those other Special Days that drive away the Winter Dark. Elisabeth
ReplyDeleteYEs, Elisabeth, here's to special days!
DeleteI used to write a newsletter to go inside the card. As this was 30+ years ago, I didn’t know how to put pictures “in” the letter so we’d include an actual snapshot of the two of us and our cat (who never looked happy, but didn’t actually frown like Lucy’s T-Bone). We used the photo to tell our far flung friends and relatives we were pregnant by including a picture taken at our Lamaze class of the two of us standing back-to-back, my husband wearing the “empathy belly” which was bigger than my seven -months along real belly! Then the letters started telling the extended family news of parents’ deaths, etc. I haven’t sent a letter in many years. I’m seriously considering getting my act together and sending one in January (by Easter, at least) because there’s “news” to report: our son got married! Okay, it was 18 months ago…… — Pat S
ReplyDeleteYAY! Happy wedding! ANd who cares how long ago--good news is good news!
DeleteYou read my mind with this post. I love getting them and am so happy after I send them… but, so far, I have cards and a list. Zero pen to paper. If anything, they will trickle in after the New Year as a reminder the fun isn’t over just yet.
ReplyDeleteYes, the season will continue! xx
DeleteI too love cards. I belong to a card exchange through a group of GISH friends. They extend to countries all over the world so the cards are delightful. We all try to add something fun like stickers or bookmarks. Of course, I still send to family and friends. For me, cards are still fun. I would actually rather send cards than bake cookies😹
ReplyDeleteOh, there's a great question for another blog--I would DEF choose cards! Maybe. Hmm. Lemme think. I bet everyone will have their own instant answer to that!
DeleteI love to get cards via the US Mail. I do send them every year. That is my goal tonight - sit down right after work and get the cards done! Grab a glass of wine and throw on some holiday music. The time will fly by!
ReplyDeleteGood for you! Make it into an event.
DeleteYes, brilliant!
DeleteWhen I moved a couple of years ago, the stockpile of unsent Christmas cards was left behind. My card list is so little now that I'd been writing on note cards. I just made a couple of amusing Christmas cards to send to long time friends in Ohio. I used to send out quite a number to friends and family, but moves and death have been at work. Kind of depressing. I don't have a send to list; I have a sent to list. I tend to mail a card or two at a time; usually when I've heard from someone.
ReplyDeleteThat's a good way to handle it, too!
DeleteI love creating picture cards with our fall family photos. We even have Shutterfly mail them for us so I am not the bottleneck in the process. Well, not only did I not get any made this year, I completely missed getting family photos done this fall before we took our daughter to college! It's not looking good for cards this year... ☹️
ReplyDeleteYes, we are all in this together!
DeleteMarcia Scott
ReplyDeleteI love Christmas cards, sending them and receiving them! I have handmade my cards for several years and really enjoy it. This year my cards were made during hurricane Helene. It served to take my mind off the wind (partially). I used a kit from Anna Griffin. They are very fancy and layered, really just required placing and gluing. Quite different from my usual style but I love them. It’s so good to know you all send cards! We are kindred spirits. 🎄
Oh I wish I did, truly I do.
DeleteOh ,that is SO lovely! You are so talented!
DeleteFor the past couple years I have been sending photo cards with old snapshots, and this has proved quite popular with the people I love. Last year it was a shot of my Mom and my Uncle under their Christmas tree from 1930. I love to get cards, and always include a short handwritten note and only send to the people I don't see regularly. Got a late start on sending this year's cards because I had trouble with the card company's software and had to involve my son in finalizing my order. So far I have sent about 3/4s of the cards. Hope I have enough energy to finish before Christmas! One hint if you want to adopt my approach: since you are doing photo cards of OLD photos, you can take advantage of the photo card company's discount between Christmas and New Year's and order NEXT year's cards. That way, you can start addressing them over the long Thanksgiving Day holiday next year!
ReplyDeleteThat added word or two makes such a difference. It's like a little reach-out-hug. And old photos: Brilliant.
DeleteGenius. Totally.
DeleteWe have sent some out. Sending out a couple more today. I enjoy getting them! But it seems like we are getting fewer every year.
ReplyDeleteOOOH!! I got one! Thank you so much darling friend! xxx
DeleteWould LOVE an Xmas card :)
ReplyDeleteWell, email me your address! And IF I send any cards at all...happy to send! xxx
DeleteI send very few cards and really must get to it soon
ReplyDeleteToday I got one from a dear friend who just completed a cross country drive, as in yesterday. So I looked at the post mark. It was Wichita, KS! I can’t imagine writing cards in the car. What dedication!
I used to send a card to each of my children and grandchildren with a nice check inside. Always the right color and fit!
But now I send a green transfusion through Zelle with a Merry Christmas Mom/Grandmommie note. Those days of buying sweaters that don’t fit are long behind me
Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah to all the Jungle Red Family. 😘
Happy everything to you, too! xoxo Interesting, too, how we of a certain age and upbringing flinch at giving money..and yet, it is SO appreciated!
DeleteI went through a period in my college years when I made my own cards, using skills I learned in my Art Methods class. I even made most of my own gifts that year. Things have gone downhill since then. Some years I sent cards. Some years I didn’t. Some years I wrote long, individual notes to people. Some years I didn’t. Some years I sent the cards out in a timely manner. Some years I didn’t. Several years ago I realized that sending cards was stressing me out. It was also causing major pain in my hand, arm, and shoulder. Sending cards isn’t supposed to make people miserable. I finally realized several years ago that sending cards just isn’t my “thing”. I try to concentrate on the things that I can do, and on the spiritual aspects of the season.
ReplyDeleteDebRo
P.S. Don’t ask me if I’ve finished shopping, or when I’m going to decorate for Christmas.
PERFECT QUOTE OF THE DAY: "Sending cards isn’t supposed to make people miserable." SO very true! x
DeleteI also print cards so am stockpiling for next year now. I think I must send over 100, but most of the church ones go into their cubby holes and a few can be hand delivered. If I am in contact with people, they just get a signed card, but others get a note inside.
ReplyDeleteI love newsletters and never understood the negative comments. Unless they're lying, don't you want to hear good things from friends and family? Too bad as we are getting older, good news is not as common. Hoping to get lots of cards and notes this year.
Yes yes so agree--they are either adorable or hilarious, and either way is fine. xxx
DeleteI enjoy receiving newsletters. I wish I had the organizing skills to make it happen.
DeleteDebRo
We have friends that one year (years ago) totally made up outrageous stuff in their letter just to get a response from people. I don’t remember much of it now other than they said they had had triplets
DeleteI love getting cards from authors so much! I used to send cards when my children were young with their pictures but stopped when they got older. I am very bad at sending out holiday cards although I always have good intentions. Wishing everyone happy holidays!!
ReplyDeleteAnd to you, too, dear MIndy!
DeleteTAKE HEART! We are at present in the season of Advent.
ReplyDeleteChristmas begins December 25th and goes for 12 days from there.
So, you still have plenty of time to be accurately timely with your cards.
Hooray! This is fabulous… Love, love love you.
DeleteI mailed my cards out the day after Thanksgiving this year because we have a new address .i am delighted that we have been receiving some!
ReplyDeleteWe were renting until our home was complete and we closed on December 4th. I knew I would not have time to do them after the closing; so even though our printer was in storage I forged ahead addressing them all (69) and writing a brief note in each all by hand. I have not done that for a number of years!
Yes, such a brilliant idea! (and thank you!) x
DeleteThis topic is hilarious to me, as just before I read it, my husband sat down in the living room with me and said we need to talk about sending out Christmas cards. I was stunned, good people, stunned. First, I hadn't planned on sending any. Understandably, we didn't send any out last year, and I am not looking forward to the holly jolly of Christmas this year either. I'm not being a curmudgeon about it, just silently still grieving the absence of our son at this holiday and not feeling festive. Now, for many years any Christmas cards that ever got sent were by my hand, but in the last few years husband turned into someone who feels the need to send them. I apologize to those who send me such wonderful cards, as I really don't know when I'll feel up to sending them again.
ReplyDeleteI came back to this tonight and realized I hadn't posted it.
Aww...it is such a journey, dearest friend. We love you so much. xxx
DeleteI might in the minority here in that I love sending holiday cards. I love choosing or creating them myself. I don’t do the long letters though-just a cute card. I only receive a small few nowadays-sadly. I don’t use/have social media so card sending is still my preferred way of letting my friends know I am thinking of them when they’re going through rough times or celebrating something. Funny enough, when I told them that I’d be going off social media (back in *2016*) and only using email and texting, they were all totally fine with it. As it turns out, one really CAN survive in this world without social media! And I absolutely have tons more time for my hobbies now…
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