Tuesday, December 07, 2004
Christmas Cards
We just received our first Christmas card in the mail today. We were so busy with our day off that it almost went all day before being noticed.
First the busyness was a good one. My wife and spent all day together shopping for gifts for people that we put on our list. Discussing and picking out the perfect gift for that person (if you are on the list and received a gift, know that it is the perfect gift for you no matter what you might think, my wife and I know). We walked and shpped and talked. Nothing big was decided, no surprises, just and enjoyable time dealing with ideas and thoughts that have only to do with the here and now. It was a nice way to spend the day, although both of us were tired afterward.
Second the Christmas card. This couple has been faithfully sending us a card ever since we moved away to this distant land (it used to be hand delivered in Regina, now it is done by mail to our home). Last year the card included a plea for our annual Christmas letter. Every year my wife and I sit down and compose our Christmas letter (Coffee with Baileys - funny huh?). Then we prepare Christmas cards to go. We address them and stack them, stuff them. Unfortunately the past two years did not go out. I am not sure about the year before that either. So we made a special effort to have one ready for this couple, but somehow (like all the others) their card did not go. Here we are with all the pleasure of having gone out of our way to return the favor of the family news and updates, without them having had the joy of receiving it or even knowing that we made one for them. Good intentions only go so far, at some point you actually have to do the real thing if you want it to really matter.
Guess it is just about time to write another Christmas letter, I hope that this one gets out.
First the busyness was a good one. My wife and spent all day together shopping for gifts for people that we put on our list. Discussing and picking out the perfect gift for that person (if you are on the list and received a gift, know that it is the perfect gift for you no matter what you might think, my wife and I know). We walked and shpped and talked. Nothing big was decided, no surprises, just and enjoyable time dealing with ideas and thoughts that have only to do with the here and now. It was a nice way to spend the day, although both of us were tired afterward.
Second the Christmas card. This couple has been faithfully sending us a card ever since we moved away to this distant land (it used to be hand delivered in Regina, now it is done by mail to our home). Last year the card included a plea for our annual Christmas letter. Every year my wife and I sit down and compose our Christmas letter (Coffee with Baileys - funny huh?). Then we prepare Christmas cards to go. We address them and stack them, stuff them. Unfortunately the past two years did not go out. I am not sure about the year before that either. So we made a special effort to have one ready for this couple, but somehow (like all the others) their card did not go. Here we are with all the pleasure of having gone out of our way to return the favor of the family news and updates, without them having had the joy of receiving it or even knowing that we made one for them. Good intentions only go so far, at some point you actually have to do the real thing if you want it to really matter.
Guess it is just about time to write another Christmas letter, I hope that this one gets out.
// posted by Eric @ 12:19 AM 
