"I want a red Power Ranger!"

Update 12/11: I haven't made out my Christmas cards yet, but will soon. I'd like to cut my list by more than half -- down from over 30 to a dozen or so-- although I've said this before and have failed. I usually find that after a couple of hours into doing my cards, I tend to get whipped up into a sentimental state and want to write to everybody I even halfway like, whether I've heard from them in recent years or not. And how do I track that? By an elaborate system you would not believe... I also track which card design I send to each person each year, who wrote to whom first each year, whether or not a letter or photos were included, etc. I also track where I sent them from.... In 1992, they were all mailed from London, and in 1993 they were all mailed from Hawaii.

By the way, my college friend Colleen Hammel's card is always the first one I receive, during the first week of December. She and Randy are the only college friends who still write once a year. I didn't make as many friends in college as I did in high school, which produced about a dozen regulars who have written off and on over the past couple of decades.

Some friends now send Christmas e-mails now rather than physical cards, which is fine but not for me. I've nothing against the Internet, obviously, but there's something appealing about keeping up an annual tradition that has been going on for a couple of centuries. I also enjoy receiving and reading those family form letters, although I don't like writing them. My previous attempts always ended up raving about trips I've enjoyed, but I don't think anybody is actually interested in reading about that. I only write about them on my website so I can remember them myself.

Click to see a fun Christmas greeting from Kim Smith, a friend from my hometown area who lived in London for several years but now lives in Wales