Friday, December 07, 2018

The Holiday Card Conundrum



Every year I wonder: Should I do holiday cards? What should they look like? Who should I send them to? How many should I order? Should I write a letter.? This year's answers: 

Yes, do a card. See design above. (That's a screenshot from Snapfish of my order. The Paramount Theater provided the photo. And, yes, they really put our names up there to shoot it. The small text says: "And make your New Year theatrical." The template was a Snapfish one so that was my entire contribution after sticking in the picture.) 

I ordered 140 flat cards with blank envelopes. I have written a template letter and, if I feel writing a letter is appropriate for the family or individual, I modify it to personalize it and print it out. So most cards won't have a letter included.

So far I've distributed 46 of the cards. Some I sent after I got a holiday card from someone. Some I sent because I expect to get a card. Some I sent with gift money enclosed.

I have hand-written both addresses and return address. 

I have a database of people's addresses on Access. It has 714 entries. It has many names where I've lost a proper address. I frequently 'scrub' the deceased and handle the couples who have parted ways. There are people in this database who no longer seem familiar to me. And I know a lot of people who aren't in this database that I interact with regularly or am 'friends' on Facebook with. They just never came into the 'snail mail' space although their emails may be in my contacts.

I have written something with a red pen on the back of the flat cards. 

I'll check the mail today and if I get cards from people who haven't been sent one, then I'll respond. 

I have exhausted this topic for yet another year. It makes me tired. I feel like the introvert I am at a cocktail party full of people I know but I don't know what to say to them.

No comments: