Did you know it is 41 days until Christmas? That’s less than six weeks! Squee!
I am feeling extraordinarily festive today. We put up the exterior decorations – and by “we” I mean “my husband” – and I have been bustling around figuring out how many family pictures to print for the Christmas cards and what pictures to put in the calendars we send the grandparents, and when to start baking things. The latter feels a bit strange, since we still have overflowing bags of Halloween candy, but whatever. Things are festive around here.
As an aside, I know there is a practice of parents purchasing Halloween candy from their children, presumably to keep them from eating sugary treats. What then happens to the Halloween candy? Do the parents consume it themselves? Does it get donated somewhere? Or thrown out? And if it gets thrown out, why go Trick or Treating anyway?
Does anyone still send out holiday cards? I love addressing cards and adding pictures and a holiday newsletter; it is never a chore to me. However, I was looking at last year’s holiday newsletter, and I realized that, other than the kids’ ages and grades, there is nothing new to put in this year’s letter. Would it be funny to send out the exact same letter with the pertinent information crossed out and rewritten? Probably not.
Part of the reason I feel so festive is that, other than three small items which I can pick up this week, I have completed my Christmas shopping. This is a huge deal to me. I always try to finish by mid-November because the mere thought of going to the mall and being faced with people who are ready to THROW DOWN over a parking space and who may just kill someone over the last Zhu Zhu Pet and the mile-long of lineup of sobbing, hysterical children dressed to the nines just to sit on the creepy mall Santa’s lap gives me heart palpitations. Nicole’s number one holiday hint: to keep the Christmas spirit, avoid the mall at all costs.
And remember: there is room for everyone on the Nice List!
I LOVE doing holiday cards. And I think a crossed-out/updated newsletter would be HILAR. (ious.)
We’re doing a newsletter this year, but in the form of a trivia quiz about our adventures and mishaps. Here’s a question for you: what do you do with the family photos other people send you? Do you keep them in an album? Scan the photo & chuck the original? Put them on your fridge? I never know what to do!
No Christmas cards for us this year because we decided to move December 15th! I like a challenge :0)
I love your holiday cheer. Some people are so grumpy about Christmas festivities.
Love holiday cards! Mine are pre-printed photo cards (already have ’em!), but I always write a short note in each one.
Love getting holiday cards, too. It’s so nice to see what everyone has been up to, even if it’s nothing spectacular or new.
I thought I was the only one who still sent holiday cards! I notice every year that we receive less and less. Maybe people are just trying to discourage us from sending them photos of our children. Little do they know that NOTHING CAN STOP THAT.
I also am a huge fan of avoiding the mall in December. This morning I did my Toys R Us run and even at 9am on a Monday, that place was jumping with parents with carts full of swag. I’m almost finished and then hopefully the cheer will have a chance to catch up with me…right now I feel kind of miserly.
I’ve never been into cards although I do send them to a few people.
I WAS feeling festive and then our water pipe burst and now I’m feeling rather broke and irritated. But that’s just today. Maybe I’ll feel festive again tomorrow.
I love sending and receiving Christmas cards. It’s a tradition I don’t think I’d be happy overlooking. And it’s really the start of the Christmas season for me.
But my pet peeve is receiving a card with nothing but a signature on the bottom. If you can’t compose a letter, or even a sentence or two that feels personal, don’t send the card!
That said, I’m just beginning to think of what we will say in our own letter this year. Not coming up with much that is news. Must try to think of something witty. Oh dear…
I do Christmas cards, and I write slightly different stuff in each one, which takes a long time but is satisfying. I love stamping and addressing too — especially since I LOVE our kitchen table this year. I think the crossed-out updated letter would be hilarious too – but come on! Mine your blog for new stuff — renovations, vacations… I love the trivia quiz letter idea too.
Oh I totally still send out cards! We usually take a really zany picture of my son. The first year he was born we put him in a wrapped box and had my dog sit next to it with a sign that said “Return to Santa. Love Champ” It was such a big hit that we had to keep up with it!PS. If you go to Shutterfly, they are giving bloggers 50 free cards if you blog about it!
Nan, I usually display the pictures with cards until the season is over, then I put them in a giant cardboard box where I keep all my cards and am destined to for the rest of my life, like a little old lady.
Kimberly – that is hilarious! Great idea for a picture!
K, that is crazy about the parents buying Halloween candy. I have never heard of this. And you’re right, why bother going trick-or-treating in the first place if you’re just going to trash it.
What an awful lesson!
And…I can’t believe you’re already done your Christmas shopping. I have purchased only 2 items so far. I don’t know what I’m waitinf for.
Oh, so organized! I’m not, but I do have my Christmas shopping done as well 😉
Love receiving handwritten cards! To few of them nowadays.
If you have to do shopping in December, web stores are a great option …