Christmas Cards and Holiday Resolutions

Last night, my husband and I finally got through the Christmas cards. It amused me because he decided we’d do it together at the kitchen table while sipping hot cocoa. “You write it, and I’ll tell you what to say,” he suggested.

Uh, no. “How about you write out the cards for your side and I’ll write out the cards for my side,” I countered.

He protested, at which point I gave him the hairy eyeball. He contemplated what to say on the first card while I started in on my stack. After it took him 3-4 minutes to decide what to say on card #1, rephrasing and adjusting, I pointed to the stack. “Honey, we have 54 cards to do. If you spend that long, we’ll be here all night.” Finally, we got into a rhythm, and he DID do his stack which helped tremendously. It amused me because by the end, he was writing, “Happy Holidays” and “Best wishes in 2006.” We stuffed them with our annual Christmas letter and I’m sure our postal lady will just love us when she sees our mailbox today.
I must remember to get her something. You just have to buy a gift for a woman named Reesey Cup.

Anyway, I’ve learned a bit about myself this week. One, if you’re working full time, you cannot also be Suzy Homemaker, baking cookies, cleaning the house, and wrapping gifts, without having a nervous breakdown and becoming a grinch among your family. Next year, I either take a day off from working to do the holiday stuff or I cut WAY back on what I do. I think the day off sounds like a good plan.

I do think it’s next to impossible to write during the holidays, though, when you only have an hour and a half at night. My time is just sucked up into a vacuum. I’m resolving to either take a week or two off from writing during the Christmas season, or somehow find ways to write during the day time. Nights just aren’t happening.

So what holiday stresses do you put yourself through?:drunk: