A lot of people think that sending Christmas cards is a PITA. I disagree. I love to send Christmas cards and I love to receive them, too.
I bought a bunch of new-to-me vintage cards this summer -- put them somewhere safe, and now I can't find them. It's not that I want to actually send them out to people because truthfully, not many people seem to like the old-fashioned (or should I say vintage) artwork on my wonderful, beautiful, terrific, cards. : (
The days of me buying expensive cards (or anything else--except books and music) are over, so I usually buy my cards after Christmas during the 50-75% off sales, and if you hit the stores early, you can get some nice ones.
I'm looking forward to pulling my list together and doing my cards. Sometimes I include a Christmas letter to a few old friends, but mostly I just scribble (and if you saw my handwriting, you'd agree) a few lines. I like to hear from my pals, and I must be one of the few people who actually enjoys receiving those holiday letters filled with news.
Last year I participated in a "card exchange" with strangers from one of the cozy mystery lists I read (we compare notes on the mysteries we read). I got a couple of letters from people I didn't know--filled with news about even more people I didn't know. One was written by the family's adorable little dog--and included a picture.
I loved it! (I wear bangs so that people can't see the words
SUCKER that's written on my forehead.)
I keep a lot of the cards I receive, too. One of my favorite cards came from my Grandfather. He died back in the 1980s. Every year I pull out that card and hang it. I look at the words he wrote and lament the fact I barely knew him. But he wrote "love Grandpa" and I have no doubt he did love me. It never fails to move me to tears.
Christmas cards are one of my favorite things about the holiday season. How about you?
