Last night I had some ladies over for an evening of Christmas card writing. The idea: to bring a stack of your Christmas cards, and address book, and swap supplies� pens, stickers, stamps for embellishing envelopes. Whatever!
My intentions were honourable. I was intent on giving a few of my friends (and myself) some motivation to get them done early. I supplied the wine. Some snacks. And helped Mark put the leaf in our dining room table to give us room to write.
We started out well. I wrote three cards, had three glasses of wine, and after certain chatty individuals arrived I distractedly managed to crank out a fourth. Lord knows what I wrote in that one, I will pass along my apologies to Mark’s uncle and aunt-in-law.
The evening was a lot of fun, but didn�t actually get much accomplished. I�m continuing today, which is ok, because I didn�t have postage stamps and photos yesterday anyway.
Do you write a Christmas letter? Add photos of your kids?
We don�t do the letter (perhaps I should just print the blogs URL on a block of labels and just stick one in each card?) and it�s something I have mixed feelings about.
Pro: it�s a way to keep in touch with second-string relatives and friends whom you don�t communicate with during the year.
Pro: it�s a way to beef up your life in case your recipient is an ex-boyfriend or in a position to offer you a job. Hey yeah! A mini-resum�!
Con: it will sound contrived if not written just so.
And it�s the last part that annoys me when I receive these letters. As someone suggested last night, why not have a letter that describes the good AND the bad? And not try to put a spin on the latter?
i.e. I had to give my cat an enema that exploded all over the living room, but I am grateful for the experience. Not only did I grow as a person, it gave me time to reflect on my life and where it�s going. As an added bonus I ended up painting my living room walls and getting a new carpet installed!
We don�t do annual Christmas letters, but we do have a photo taken of Emma and Sarah every year. We get it done on the cheap, at Loblaws. I have mixed feelings about this too. Melissa, if you�re reading this you surely remember our experience at Sears. Frankly, I�m surprised you went on to have children after that.
The photo is supposed to be ready this afternoon, after which point I hope to tuck one into most of our Christmas cards.
Now that (1) the portrait is done and (2) the Christmas cards are on their way� Christmas can officially begin. Now I just need to concentrate on the shopping. This time I�m not bringing wine and snacks.
