The Great Holiday Card Mess of 2014: It's the Thought that Counts

I've always taken great joy in writing out holiday cards to, like, everyone I know. I make a list, I check it twice, I divide it up by who celebrates which holiday, & then I select pretty, denominationally appropriate boxes of cards, usually from Target. I commit two or three days to banging out the project, writing, sealing, & stamping for hours until all my cards are neatly stacked in piles next to me, ready to be sent to their respective recipients.

This year, though, I dropped the ball. I had good intentions, & I started out started strong, organizing my address book using Postable. I chose three kinds of cards - a Christmas card, a generic holiday card, a Hanukkah card - & I made separate lists of who should receive each of them.

But I didn't dedicate any block of time to getting the cards finished. I wrote a few in early December, sending about a third of them out with plenty of time to spare. And then, on December 22nd, right down to the wire, I finished another third. In some of my messages, I admitted that I knew the cards wouldn't arrive until after the holidays. Haha, oops, silly me! I got them out late, but I still got most of them out. Not all of them, but a lot of them. (My apologies to the 20 or so people who I just didn't get to. It wasn't personal or alphabetical; I just didn't make it through the list.)

I thought I'd done an OK job, but then a few things happened:

• I realized that I'd addressed my friend Akirah's card to her & her husband with her maiden name, which she no longer uses. I sent her an embarrassed & apologetic Facebook message, to which she kindly responded, "It's the thought that counts!"

• On Friday, I got a text from my friend Sammi that just said "So..." with a photo of the Christmas card I'd sent to her & her boyfriend. Though the envelope was addressed to them, the card inside was written out to... Akirah & her husband. Apparently, when I'd re-addressed Akirah's envelope using her married name (which I don't remember doing), I mixed up the two cards, putting them in the wrong envelopes & sending my friends mail meant for one another. Each friend was kind enough to photograph the sentiments I'd scrawled inside the cards they'd received so I could text them to their intended recipients. It's the thought that counts?

• I figured that was the end of my card mix-ups, but today I got a text from my friend Rence: "I've never been so lucky to receive two Christmas cards from someone!" Indeed, I had sent him two separate but nearly identical cards - one in the first round & one in the second, apparently. He then added, "You were consistent in your thoughts," sending a photo of the cards' insides, where I'd written nearly the exact same messages. It's the thought that counts.

So I guess I, uh, didn't do quite as good a job at my holidays cards as I thought I did. This year's debacle is in keeping with how I've been feeling lately: like a mess. It's been a long December, y'all...