Apologies

Back in October, when I first saw Christmas cards at Target while shopping with my mom, I ranted and raved for a few minutes about how early they were out, how consumerism was taking over Jesus' birthday, and what a shame it was to overshadow Thanksgiving. Then I joined my mom to ooh and aah over all the pretty cards and promptly bought two boxes.

I thought, well, if they're here, I might as well buy them now and get them done early, to alleviate all the stress that I've had in seasons past when it came to Christmas card preparation.

I got it in my head that I was so on top of things that I didn't have anything to worry about. Until I realized that Christmas was one week away, and, umm, still no Christmas cards. I had them, still in the boxes, but no address list, no cute picture of Gabi to cut and paste inside, no clever little message.

I fretted for several days while I tried to get those cards done. I took over 100 pictures of Gabi in her Christmas finery, and came away with over 100 that showcased her new, puff cheeked fake smile. I stopped taking pictures after she laid on the floor and refused to move.

I selected the picture with the least fake-like smile, did some editing, and printed on glossy photo paper. Only, the printer decided to run out of color ink after only a few pages. I took everything in to work with me to print to the color printer there, but the prints showed digital lines that looked like SKU bars.

At that point, I just didn't have time to run out and buy new ink. My dilemma was then, who got cards with pictures of Gabi, and who didn't? Would anyone know that there were two versions? Would this cause everlasting family conflict?

I next copied my address book over to a label document. I made sure that each address was within the lines, and double checked the printing options to make sure it was set for the labels I was using. So, no surprise, the addresses printed half on, half off each label. I spent a good hour trying to figure that one out, only to give up after making it worse.

There was no way I was going to be able to hand write 50 addresses on cards, in addition to a message inside. My carpal tunnel just doesn't allow for that much writing, even with a brace on.

So my decision was made. No Christmas cards from the K family this Holiday Season. And next year I'm outsourcing.

But I would still like to wish everyone a very heartfelt

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!