Ah, the cards.

Good intentions...well, you know the rest. I intended to have the Christmas cards done and mailed earlier this week. I know they won't reach their recipients by Tuesday, but I do plan to get them written and mailed today.
Husband and I have never gone for the family picture style card. I enjoy seeing those, but we've just never taken the time to get them made. Our kids are old enough now that their growth and change isn't dramatic from year to year, so it's not as exciting to send a picture as it is when, say, kids are babies and preschoolers. We're also frugal -- okay, cheap -- when it comes to items like Christmas cards. I like to buy them the day after Christmas when they're marked down, store them in the attic, and then send them out a year later, secure in the knowledge that I've saved our family budget a few cents. Picture cards are no longer expensive, but the time investment is still significant.
If we spot a cute/humorous/just right card, we'll send it. One year I sent out cards with Santa Claus scoring a touchdown. He wasn't dressed in green and gold, but it worked for us. Family lore includes the time my mother found a card that made us all laugh. It had a lovely picture, musical instruments of some sort, with sheet music as background. The card proclaimed "Silent Night" in lovely script letters. A great card for a musician family, right?
Wrong. The sheet music wasn't Silent Night; it was the Star Spangled Banner.
The end result: my mom bought a box of cards, and we sent them to people who would know the difference and enjoy it while also understand that we knew exactly what we were sending.
So family and friends, you'll get my cards late (again) this year. But at least you can enjoy the stories.

Update: I ran out of cards after letter O in my address book. I went out to fill my minivan with gas pre-storm and decided to try the neighborhood Family Dollar stores. Success! I'll get these sent out tonight.

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