I LOVE Christmas cards!!!
I send out almost over 100 every year just to see who will send one back and hope to find out more about what's going on in everyone's lives from the past year. (No biggee if you get one from me and don't send one back...you're not blacklisted for life=) I spend way too much money on development and postage, and I stress way too much over what pictures will be featured on my card...seriously, I start thinking "Christmas card picture" starting in October! But it doesn't matter because I love getting and sending mail. It's like a remnant of years past when things weren't so electronic or digital and more personal. It just takes a little more time, effort, and care to send a letter. So I treasure every one I recieve, and the piece of art I create with them in my foyer will be the last of Christmas to be removed. (I leave them up until I'm sure there are absolutely no more cards that might be coming in the mail. This includes possible New Years cards from late Christmas card senders, so you're looking at the second week in January before I reluctantly file them all away in my photo albums.)
Here's this year's masterpiece...
And since I'm a sucker for gimmicky things, and especially anything in which you keep score, here's how I netted out on my Christmas Card score. Thanks to my cousin April for getting me going on this=) :
(Points you can earn at end of line in black...points I earned in blue.)
Gain Points by receiving cards from:
dentist, hairdresser, mailman, etc +0.5 each (+2.5) This includes all the random staff from our church that send out the mass churchwide Christmas cards.
your own mother- +0.5
another relative- +1 (+14)
friend via email- +0.5
your boss - +1
friend you see at least once a week- +1 (+6)
above with reference to an inside joke- +3
long distance friend, devoid of any message- +2
above with personal message of at least 3 lines- +5 (+5)
anyone who includes a handwritten personal note of more than 5 sentences- +5 (+15)
long lost friend who hasn't been heard from in 20 years- +10
Lose Points when:
card and envelope are same piece of paper- -1
signature only imprinted- -2 (-44) Let's face it, it's just too time consuming to personally sign ALL the cards...even I cut corners by photocopying our signatures on the letter.
photo is of helpless pet in a holiday costume- -3
your name is misspelled- -4
card plays annoying music- -4
highly religeous card celebrates faith other than your own- -5
same card they sent last year- -6
return address label was provided by charity to which sender may not have contributed- -7 (-14) Confession-I used these on mine this year, but we actually did contribute, so no worries if you got our card=)
family newsletter contains words such as gallblader, spleen, or gout- -8 (-15) Parital thanks to April for mention of "ruptured Achille's tendon."
family newsletter is from ex who is (not so) subtly gloating over his recent wedding or cushy new job- -10
long lost friend who hasn't been heard from in 20 years asks for money or a place to live- -20
Bonus Points:
gilded envelope- +0.5 (+2.5) Thank you Merr!
handwritted return address- +1 (+18) Ok, I admit this is a guesstimate because I only really kept track of the last half I received.
card in which all family members signed their names- +2 (+10)
newsletter or family photo in card- +2 (+52)
card with moving parts- +3 (+3)
extremely clever handmade card- +4 (+4) Mad props to my sis, LA!
oversize card requiring extra postage- +5
card sent from foreign country- +6
newsletter with humor at progeny's expense- +8
card with check, cash, or gift certificate- +20 (+80) And this is what happens when so many family members live out of town=)
Final Score: 139 points! I love you all!
No comments:
Post a Comment