It’s almost Christmas, Have you mailed your cards yet?

Answer: not me. i usually mail them about the 20th of December. Even when I don’t make my own, I don’t mail them until the last minute because… Because Christmas is about procrastination.

OK, it isn’t about that, but mail cards early? Or even On Time?

I was still deciding what to do about Christmas cards when my brother emailed his to me. This is remarkable because when it comes to sending out Christmas cards for my brother, he doesn’t. He doesn’t write, either. And birthday cards sit behind his visor for a year or so until someone else finds them and says, “Was this for your sister?” Then he mails it. Maybe. Anyway, I got this email from him titled simply, “My Christmas Card.” So I emailed him back and said I hadn’t even started.

And he replied, “Are you going to make them? I miss getting your hand made cards.”

I’d been toying with the idea, but now I had to. HAD TO. You can’t disappoint your older brother with the sad hazel eyes. He’s the only bro I have.

I went shopping on Saturday hoping to get an inspiration from the hundreds of cards on display in the stores or some street side scene or… something. I didn’t see a single picture I liked, but I sure did see a lot of really cute little kids with their parents and that set off Empty Nest Syndrome and longing for when my kids were little and driving me nuts. No inspiration for a Christmas card, tho.

Finally, I confessed to my husband what I was thinking and he saw it: a pen and ink of Murphy with a Santa hat. Murphy, the dog I have a love/hate relationship with. The dog who slobbers on my sofa and eats anything we set down and who is single-pawedly responsible for the fact that I can’t get out the bulk of my Christmas decorations because he’ll eat it or break it or… But I capitulated and sketched out a little design.

But at the same time, I checked out a book from the library and it was one of those can’t-put-it-down thrillers by Stephen Hunter. I had to finish the book before I could concentrate on cards.

I finally finished the book, I have ink in the printer, I have card stock and I have addresses and envelopes. I have no excuse. I can afford stamps. I should have them mailed by the 20th.

By the way, it isn’t the same if you email a card. I have to send a real snail mail Christmas card. I’ll accept email cards (I have no choice with my brother), but I want to send a physical card to my friends and family. I don’t know why. It’s madness, really. My list grows every year. I try not to send them locally, but now that I live in a city, sometimes I don’t see people I love very often. So I mail out a few locally and a lot to folks I’ve known throughout my life and travels. And a lot to my family: all my cousins, my aunts, my great-aunt (singular), and a few to Don’s immediate family.

Don’t tell my husband, the philatelist, that I am thankful I don’t have to lick the stamps any more.