Christmas cards

I recall my dear mother sitting at the dining room table late at night addressing Christmas cards. She had all her addresses in one book, and in that book were pieces of paper, or rather pieces of envelopes, that had more addresses that she hadn't written down in her address book. She never seemed to lose any of those pieces of paper.

I recall that she mumbled and grumbled about the chore every year, and finished it up a couple of days before Christmas Eve, just in time so the USPS would deliver the cards by Christmas.

I remember loving to help her with this chore by licking the envelopes -- the glue tasted good. And sticking the stamps on the envelopes -- the glue on the stamps also tasted good.

I mention this because I am sitting at my computer and there are "monsters in the closet." Those monsters are unwritten, non-addressed Christmas cards.

I never sent out Christmas cards until Alan decided to run for our community board of directors and then he asked me to send a Christmas card to each household in the community (that would be 166 cards). I (at that time) knew most of the folks who lived in our neighborhood. That has changed somewhat in the past 10 years. People have passed on, and others have moved on. But, there are still a good number of residents who have been here for the 10 years we've been here (Is it 10 years already?) and so I decided since Alan is once again running for the Board I should send out Christmas cards to at least the people we both know.

So this pile of boxes of Christmas cards stares me in the face every time I enter my office and I feel guilty because I haven't written up the cards yet.

I have a friend who, of course, has written all her cards up already. In fact, she had them finished way before Thanksgiving. There's always a friend like that, isn't there? I probably have a niece or nephew's wife (the women address the cards, not the men) who also is so organized that they have written out their cards for this year already.

So, if you get a card from me, count yourself privileged. If you don't get a card, don't think I wasn't thinking of you, because I was. You know who you are -- those I'm thinking of. Maybe when it gets closer to Christmas I'll just write a list of all those I'm thinking of and let it go at that. In the meantime...

Does it count that I bought the stamps?

ttfn