Special Delivery!

I'm not someone who could ever be accused of having OCD.  Dirt doesn't bother me in the least, dust collects on my furniture for weeks before I finally break down, pull out the Pledge, and get to work.

I must confess, though, that there is one area in which I can become tremendously obsessed:    Christmas cards!

Each year, I take excruciating care choosing the perfect cards, stationery on which we'll print our yearly letter (yeah, I'm one of THOSE people who writes an "update" letter!), and return address labels.  I even make sure the stamps are festive!  Most years, I've even subjected poor Alan and Trixie to donning our Christmas finery, setting the timer on our camera, and  taking a photo, which I also include in the envelope!

After I've acquired all the supplies, I hit "shuffle" on the Ipod Christmas playlist, then sit down to write a personal note in each card.  It's usually just a few lines, telling my friends and family how much I miss them, and wishing them a happy holiday season.  It takes a while, I have a long list of names.  But I honestly enjoy it, because it makes me think of each one of my cherished loved ones as I hand write their names and the names of their children on the inside of each one.

Here's where the OCD comes in:  I make sure I have ALL of this done and in the mail the Tuesday before Thanksgiving. Why?  Because that means my Christmas card will arrive in the mailboxes of my friends and family on the day after Thanksgiving, the FIRST official day of the Christmas season! Seriously, I NEVER miss!  And my loved ones know it, too!  One year, we decided to save money and skip the card sending.  Just about EVERY card I received that season said something like,  "We didn't get your card the day after Thanksgiving!  Are you guys OK?" Like I said, it's a sickness!

I guess I put so much effort into my cards each year because I enjoy RECEIVING them so much.  I LOVE the beautiful wintery scenes on the front, and the enclosed pictures of growing children in pretty velvet dresses and small bow ties!  I LOVE the enclosed letters, telling me what everyone's accomplished over the year, and the plans for the year ahead.

Which leads me to a small pet peeve I've had for a while.  Would you mind if I rant for a moment?  Have you ever gotten that card in the mail that has the family's names already printed on them?  They look beautiful, no doubt. But I've received so many that have no handwriting in them at all, not even our names listed at the top.  This means the card went directly from the box to the envelope.  The envelope, by the way, has a computer printed stick-on label with my address on the front.  This means the sender of this card thought of me for exactly two seconds, when they peeled the label off the sheet and placed it on the envelope.

I know most people are MUCH busier than me during the Christmas season.  I don't have children's school holiday programs to attend, or dozens of family members coming to my home for Christmas dinner.  I really do understand that sometimes, pre-printed cards and peel-and-stick labels are all some can manage.  But I genuinely believe that it's a waste of a stamp.

Christmas cards, in my opinion, are supposed to say, "Hey!  I was thinking of you!  Maybe I don't get to communicate with you all year, but I wanted you to know that I love you, I cherish your friendship, and I want you and your family to have a merry, merry Christmas!"  When you stick an address label on an envelope and enclose an impersonal, pre-printed card, you're saying, "Hey, at least I put forth an effort."

What do YOU think?  Am I being ridiculously old fashioned?  Do YOU still send holiday cards each year? How do YOU do it?  I'd love to hear your opinion!  Well, I've got to run.  Those envelopes don't address themselves, you know...

Thanks for Reading!!