9. Send Christmas Cards.

Remember when I bought all my Christmas cards in November, in preparation for this exact task?  I put those cards in a really safe place, and waited until it was almost Christmas to write them out.    Literally, almost Christmas!  If I waited any longer they wouldn't be delivered until after Christmas, which pretty much ruins the whole point.  I finally buckled down one evening after work and wrote nice little festive messages to all my friends and family.  It wasn't until I had them all fanned out on my bed that I realized they looked a touch like Hanukkah cards, if such things exist.  I thought they were really beautiful, non traditional cards, with blues and yellows, complete with snow and little sparkily stars.  I'm a total sucker for sparkily stars so I needed to own them, obviously, religiousness aside.  I re-read the message and determined they were perfectly suitable for Christmas.  Then I noticed a church with a white steeple and stained glass window.  Hello!  Totally Christmas!

I'm really glad I sent out Christmas cards this year, it's a totally sweet gesture that I hope people enjoyed, I mean who doesn't LOVE getting mail?!  I love getting Christmas cards, and now I appreciate all the effort it takes! By the time I was done writing out my notes and address the envelopes, my hand was cramping, bad.  It's been a long time since I've had to actually hand write something, and I'm pretty sure I developed arthritis or carpel tunnel or both - in BOTH hands.  It definitely spread.  I totally understand why people have holiday cards printed, though I think that's reserved for people with kids. I mean, isn't the best part about Christmas cards seeing adorable little kids? Yes, yes it is.  Guess I'll just have to keep handwriting mine!