Confession time Okay, confession time: I have not sent out Christmas cards in more than 7 years! I think -- could be longer. I know -- what!??!! I'm sure there are people in our life who think we ghosted them long before we even knew that's something we could do to friends. Sorry if you are one of those who thought we would do that to you. I'm not sure we are that intentional.... While there are many reasons -- and a few excuses -- why we have been remiss in sharing our holiday joy with friends and family, the decision to get back into the habit this year has been filled with laughs and joy! No excuse for not making the effort The impetus to send out cards this year grew out of a mad effort to clean my home office in early November. We thrived with few possessions for three months in the little house in Hawaii and experienced culture shock returning to our own over-stuffed home -- we have so much accumulated bits and pieces here! It's actually quite a burden. Anyway, I thought the first step would be to clear out the extras in my office including boxes and boxes of unused holiday cards -- I always intended to send out cards each year, but.... So, I gathered up the cards and other paper crafty things for a visit with my daughter to see what she might like to use. My goal was to give her whatever she wanted and to drop the rest off at a thrift shop on my way back home. We had a few good giggles about what I've collected and she has excellent boundaries in refusing what she knows she won't use immediately -- I have know idea where she learned those skills! There were a couple of boxes of cards and some craft items she kept, but in the process my daughter asked why I wasn't going to use some of the cards for this Christmas. And I couldn't think of any excuse for not making the effort. While a huge box of items was left at the local thrift store two little boxes of cards came home -- we would send out cards! Seven years is a long time Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! You should be laughing about now, because there was an obvious problem with my plan which I did not consider when making the decision. Did you notice I said we hadn't mailed cards in 7 years or more? Which also means we had not kept our address book -- print or digital -- up-to-date for that long. People move. New friends and family are added to your life. Some dear people die. Seven years is a long time. So much joy to my face! But, for all it's flaws, Facebook has been quite a useful tool in tracking down people who have moved as well as adding new friends to our address book. And this is what has been so rewarding: people want to receive a Christmas card from us! The responses to my messages asking for your addresses have been so sweet and often filled with joy and excitement -- I smile every time I open my FB Messenger. Who would have thought cleaning out my office and returning to a long-neglected holiday tradition of mailing Christmas cards would bring so much joy to my face! Hopefully, you have experienced lots of joy-to-your-face this holiday season! And if you do not received a card from us it's only because we ran out of time -- message or email and I would love to send you a Valentine! Merry Christmas,
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Nonna's Thoughts are for busy parents who are looking for practical knowledge, and a bit of laughter, in growing strong, joyful families.
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