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Back in the days when I was ultra thrifty and took advantage of after Christmas sales to buy way more Christmas cards than I needed, I didn’t have kids and didn’t realize how big picture greeting cards would become.  With most of my friends having families of their own, a majority of the cards we receive are picture cards.  A few years ago, after being scolded by a friend for not including the kids’ pictures in a card, I decided these were the way to go.  So I’ve been biding my time, waiting for that Christmas card supply to dwindle down while I laborously printed out pictures, cut them and inserted them into the cards I had to write out by hand in the meantime.  Little by little, box by box, the supply was shrinking.  Of course, it would have been gone a year or 2 ago if Del hadn’t decided to pick up that big box at Costco — ughhh –  the intentions were there, but for someone who would never send out a Christmas card on his own, I was a little disappointed that I’d have to wait a little longer (ok, who are we kidding here, have you seen the size of things at Costco??!  It was going to be a lot longer.)  But not wanting to waste money, I’ve been trudging along, getting closer to that point where I could finally join the ranks of the Christmas photo cards elite.  This was to be my last year.  I asked Del to get the cards out so I could send them and be rid of them forever!!!!! 

Well, it took a week of nagging for him to even attempt looking.  You know where this is going, right?  He couldn’t find them.  He was convinced we had finished them because he didn’t see them anywhere.  Oh, yeah?  Listen, mister, I would have remembered that!  I would have remembered having the freedom to simply order my pictures and stuff an envelope.  Besides, he’s never sent a Christmas card in his life so how would he know whether or not they were finished?  Trust me, I knew.  The problem now was, by the time he looked for the cards and declared them vanished, there was no time to order any picture ones.  And I sure as heck wasn’t buying anymore!  So I decided to make my own.  I opened up PowerPoint (good thing I took the training classes at work) and got creative.  Not too bad, huh?  My mom thought I’d ordered them, which made me feel good.  (Yes, I am one of those people who needs positive reinforcement.  Yaaayyy me — I did a good job!!)

Of course, after I’d spent a day and a half putting it together, guess what Del found?  I took those suckers and put them in a place where we’d be sure to find them next time.  So now next Christmas, I will be rid of them for good.  Although, if you’re one of those people who think the end of the Mayan calendar means the end of the world, then I won’t be sending out any more Christmas cards after this Christmas, anyway.