#87 My Card Problem And Holiday Thrift
I’m sorry.
I’m very sorry.
I’m very very very very sorry.
I have this thing.
I don’t know what to call it.
It’s not that I don’t love you.
It’s not that I don’t know, or don’t care, that it’s your birthday.
It’s not that I’m not grateful for that thing you did for me. Or that lovely gift you gave me.
I just have this thing.
Currently, I owe people a variety of cards – “Thank you” notes (for gifts going back since Covid), Holiday cards of all types, and belated birthday cards. (In some cases, I have missed sending you a birthday card for over 20 years. I am stunned you still speak to me. You know who you are.)
You might think the friction point is the buying of the card.
That’s not it.
I have an enormous stash of cards in waiting.
Really nice ones.
They are all organized and everything.
Just sitting there hoping I will pull them out, write something, and pop them in the mail so that they can fulfill their one purpose for existing.
It’s not the snail mail thing. I still pay many of my bills via the old fashioned postal service.
No, it’s deeper.
It’s a paralysis.
I think it’s the “one more thing” on top of all the other things crammed into each and every day.
Because I don’t want to just sign some impersonal card and move on. I want to write something truly personal to you. Something meaningful.
And that seems to be the problem.
I keep thinking I’m going to have a nice day, or even a nice 10 minutes, where I will settle myself at the desk, pull out the cards and the good pen – the one where the ink flows just right and it never runs out or skips or anything – and pour my soul into these little overdue missives.
And it just doesn’t happen.
You must believe me when I say I have these cards on my “to-do” list every day.
And every day they get bumped to tomorrow’s agenda.
The hubby and I still make a concerted effort to send holiday cards.
Sometimes we make it.
Last year we almost made it.
But the December cards turned into “Happy 2024” turned into “Valentine greetings from” turned into “Oh, hell. Maybe next year.”
I’d love to tell you right now that I’m turning over a new leaf.
That, tomorrow I’m going to catch up on all those cards - including this year’s holiday greetings.
But I wouldn’t hold your breath.
I do still love you.
I hope you still love me.
Copyright© 2024 Anne Morse Hambrock All rights reserved.
Holiday Thrifting
First of all, I actually do this.
I have been known to buy all sorts of things from thrift stores, use them a bit, wear them a bit ,and then, while there is still some decent life left in them, donate them back.
I don’t know if it’s recycling or upcycling or sidewayscycling or what.
But I’d like to hope I’m keeping a bunch of stuff out of landfills.
And I’m really big on keeping things out of landfills.
Which is why I do almost all of my shopping for holiday décor or other holiday needs, at my local thrift store.
Our St. Vincent De Paul is a veritable treasure trove of Christmas.
If you need a holiday themed mug they have 300 of them.
Christmas linens, wreaths, garlands, ornaments, bows, wrapping paper, fancy glassware, trays, cookie tins, holiday cookbooks – you name it, they’ve got it.
Acres of it.
And it’s all in pretty good shape.
Sometimes you have to go the extra mile. As I mentioned last week, I once bought a very cheap ($20) fake Christmas tree there but the hitch was that it was a pre-lit tree and the lights no longer worked. I didn’t care. The bones of it were good and I happily cut off all the old lights.
So, if you are still on the hunt for holiday stuff – check out your local thrifting emporium.
Even better, consider donating the gently used items you no longer need.
Because it’s not just about keeping things out of the landfill.
It’s also about giving families with limited means the opportunity to have as beautiful a holiday as you had when you first bought that wreath or tree or whatever you’ve got to donate.
The tip of the iceberg:
Inspiration - Sandra Bell Lundy
I believe in laughing every day.
One way I make sure to fulfill my humor quota is to read comic panels and comic strips and at the top of my daily reads is “Between Friends” by Sandra Bell Lundy.
Sandra has an uncanny knack for getting inside the head of most of us (her strip features mulitple characters with multiple attitudes) and putting down on paper (yes, she still draws on paper) our most hilarious tendancies. And, because she has aged her characters over the years, you can go back through her archives to find the age that best represents you and your friends.
You can read her for free daily over on Comics Kingdom but I strongly suggest you actually pay for a subscription to Comics Kingom. With a full subscription you can get access, not only to lots of other great comics, but to the entire Between Friends archive that starts in 1996.
She also has a substack that is worth checking out.
Here is another of my favorites:
OK - I Forgot To Open The Bag For A While…
Remember those tomatoes I was ripening?
About that…
Winterscape
I love when the clouds look as though I actually live near mountains.
Holiday Gifting!
Shopping season is here!
These books make great holiday gifts!
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Aw, Anne...Thanks for the plug. xo Re. the Christmas cards...I gave up long ago. Besides, there's a mail strike in Canada. That's my 2024 excuse. Merry Christmas!
Oh I am garbage at sending cards. Utter garbage.