calherewecome

Our Christmas letter is just about finished and ready to mail. Every year I have been writing a Christmas letter for all of our friends. I first started in 1997 or 1998 (at least I have issues on my hard drive going back to that date.

I got the idea from Paula’s Mom who did a Christmas letter for all of her friends and family. She wrote it on her IBM Selectric typewriter. Her goal was to reach out to the many folks who worked for the US Park Service (where Harold used to work during the summer). Many of those folks were spread out across the country.

So I send my letter to our readers spread out across the country, mostly in CA and MA but a few in other locales.

My first couple of issues just had clip art and no pictures. Now I add recent pictures of us and our family. I get Christmas-y paper and envelopes from Amazon.

I actually started work on this year’s letter back in October. Final copy is approved by my editor (Paula) and goes to print. I make sure I have bought new ink cartridges for my printer. I always run out of ink during the print run.

I also work on vetting my mailing list. I need to check addresses. Currently, I have about 125 people on my list. Some people get added, some deleted. I try to make sure that I don’t make the faux pas of sending a letter to ‘John and Jane Doe” when one of the pair has died in the past year. And, I try to make sure that I have everyone’s latest address.

I use an app on my iPad called Label Printer to print the address labels. It really does a great job. The actual letter is done using Microsoft Word.

Paula usually writes a personal note on some of the letters. The first batch of letters will be hitting the mail box by tomorrow.

Well it has been a while since I’ve posted on my blog. I think that my last post was in Nov 2020. Time to get back on the horse.

So far, Paula and I have survived the pandemic. Though, not without some trauma. Last February, I fell and hit my head. Took a ride with the EMT’s. I spent about 4 days in the hospital while they did multiple MRI’s, X-rays and scans. Eventually they cut me loose with a few neck braces.

In other news, Paula’s mother passed away in March at the age of 97. We are struggling with dealing with her estate. Eventually we will get it done.

Meanwhile, we have both received two doses of the Pfizer vaccine. Perhaps, a third? We’ll see.

We had to cancel our planned trip to Boston back in 2020. We have not been more than 20 miles from our home since the onset of the pandemic.

We are planning a drive up to the Sacramento area for an OES reception at the end of August. We’re driving. We are not quite ready to get on an airplane just yet.

We had the pleasure (not) of going to LAX a couple of weeks ago to pick up our son and his wife. Traffic on a Sunday night was particularly nasty.

Okay, that’s all for now. Be safe.

Joe

About ten years ago, I was frustrated at the lack of information shared in our Christmas cards. So, I decided to start writing a Christmas letter.

Every year I send out a Christmas letter about 120isth of our friends. At one time, my list numbered upwards of 200 people on my list. So I tried to pare it down to a manageable number, This year, my list is about 120 people. So figuring at 120 addresses, I come up with about $60 in postage.

I try to hand out copies to people that I see during the Christmas season. 20 copies means I save $10.

So, I start working on my letter in October. I absolutely need to keep the letter at two pages printed on both sides. I try to include recent pictures of our family.

One year, I tried sending my letter mostly by email. I was not pleased with the feeling. I felt it was important for our friends to receive a piece of paper in the mail and not another piece of email. There are still a few people that get the email version, but the number is low.

So in October, I print out my first version. Then I pass it by my editor (Paula) for comments. By the time I get to December, I have gone through several editing passes.

In parallel, I start workin on my address list. I use an app on my iPad that generates my address labels. I check for major faux pas like sending to a couple where one of the couple has passed away. I check for correct addresses. Invariably, mail comes back with “addresses not found” on it.

Once the final copy is approved by my editor, I start printing. Invariably, I have to go to Costco to get more ink cartridges. I always seem to run out of ink in December.

So order the paper and envelopes. This year I have Santa and his reindeer. Attach labels then start folding and stuffing envelopes.

This year I have about 20 envelopes for local hand delivery for folks that I see regularly at church and lodge.

There are some envelopes that Paula wants to write a personal note. Go to the post office and buy stamps and they are on their way

Without further ado, here is my 1 Second Every Day video for the month of August.

It starts with a picture of Paula’s Dad on what would have been his 100th birthday.

Enjoy,

Joe