So it’s that time of year again when all my lovely friends and relations kindly send me cards celebrating this festive time of year, and also that time when I buy cards to send to them and agonize over what to write in them.
The envelopes are addressed, postal codes looked up, stamps purchased, pen is at the ready, and once again I’ll be damned if I can think of anything to say.
The cards I get sound so nice ! And the ones I write sound so idiotic! Anything beyond “Dear Gramps … hope your holidays are great … love from the cowgirl family” and I get a serious case of writer’s block. (Thank-you notes are also brutal.)
How do you think of things to say that won’t have your friends/relations shaking their heads thinking “What fools these cowgirl people are !!”
Or, can you reassure me that no matter how stupid I think I sound, people who read them will not think me an idiot and will just get the warm fuzzies I intend?
Honestly, no matter what you write in your cards, I’d imagine that people are thrilled to hear from you and to know that they’re remembered. The very fact that you’re willing to take the time to do all that you do to keep in touch says very nice things about you indeed.
For myself, I stick with a brief, hand-written note on the inside of the card, updating my recipients (about 40 in all) on what I’ve been up to the past year. It’s a good excerise for me as this is usually the only time that any of the folks recieving cards generally hear from me. Every once in awhile it does lead to us getting together later on in the new year, which is a cool bonus.
You are a close friend indeed if you get more than a handwritten “Merry Christmas” (with obligatory hand signed names of everyone in our family) from us. I guess the cards are a small part of the season for the Jammer family.
For example, like dan, I’m sending some cards out to message board folks. In those, I tried to pick a few words about them specifically, so that it wouldn’t just be a generic merry christmas from some random person in the ether.
But considering I generally can’t be bothered with holiday cards, I’d probably be prone to just signing my name and putting no message on occasion.
I write an Xmas brag letter for the very reason that 99% of the Xmas cards we get are just an assembly line of " Love, Don and Char" and nothing else.
It’s fine for people we see regularly, but the ones that have moved away, I’d like updates on their lives.
So, I do an anti-brag letter. I poke fun at our lives about just how *fabulous *we are and how we’ve reached our MFD
( Maximum Fat Density) and name drop in the yearly missive. (Which is blatant ass kissing.)
This year will be the fourth year and apparently, it is wildly popular. Everyone tells my mom, husband and inlaws how much they laugh over it. Yet, all I ever hear is crickets.
So, if I get motivated, I will be taking a picture with the kids and dog holding signs that say:
[bold]Happy Holidays 2003 [/bold]
You never write. You never call. What are we, chopped liver?"
Even Mr. Ujest thinks its funny, which, really, if you think about all the 19 bajillion things he’s tried to veto, is just amazing.
(Because I have Christian friends, Pagan friends, Jewish friends, Athiest friends (who still like cookies and cards), etc. I myself am a heathen. Seems to work. No complaints yet. The hard part is finding non-religious images and messages in Ohio.)
I usually just dash off a quick “Happy Holidays” and sign our names. This year, I’ll put in a short computerated note with a photo my mom took of the 3 of us - for the benefit of those who haven’t seen us in eons.
