I've been working on other things today and though yesterday was a calm after the storm with sunshine (albeit cold temps) today we are back to light snow fall and grey skies. At almost the end of November Christmas is baring down on me with a vengeance and so I have work to do. November means the publishing date for the PCSW newsletter is near (and I am not putting the link here at this time since I am not quite ready to publish the new newsletter, so it is a page that is unfinished and you wouldn't get to read much anyway). Still, I have been working on it for most of this grey and cold day. In addition to the newsletter a friend came by with her resume and was wondering if I would be able to help her with clearing it up and also helping her write a cover letter. She has been out of the work force for a few years and I was happy to help her though I do have to say that I am not fresh as a Daisy in that area either. But we worked through it and hopefully she will get the interview... the rest is up to her. Between writing cover letters, and articles for the newsletter, and keeping up my own blog it seems that communication is a large part of life these days and has gotten me to thinking about other forms of communication.
With Christmas hard upon my heels, I am beginning to think about Christmas cards and letters. I have always been a faithful card and letter writer but I find it aggravating at best to spend hours of my time on cards and letters for people and then when I get cards in return, more often than not, they come with a signature that lets me know they are still alive but nothing else. Even worse are the cards that come three days after Christmas that lets me know that they hadn't intended on sending a card at all but felt compelled once they received mine. There seems every year to be more and more of them. Last year I got quite disgusted with the whole Christmas card scene and on principle only sent out five to those who I knew would respond .... and then they didn't. So this year I am turning over a new leaf and not writing cards at all. I will send a quick email to those on my email list and the rest can "suck it..." (very Christmassy attitude isn't it...)!
My friend in FSJ says that this attitude stems from a growly older bitchy thing that happens to those of us that value time and effort and (maybe more importantly) are nearing or have passed the 50th birthday.... I'm 45.... so maybe she's on to something. I think that as we get older we pick the family and friends with whom to continue a relationship based on who show signs that they give a damn about you because they are interested in you as a person and not because of familial bonds or a strange sense of loyalty and that it is reciprocal. (My father calls this the bridge burner syndrome.... because once you lose touch with a person it's usually because there never was a real sense of friendship and then you burn your bridges with them in the end.) Neither Teapot nor I are really all that clued into family... and I'm not really sure why that is.... I know that I'm walking on thin ice here as some family members follow this blog but its not to say that I am impartial to them but that if there is not a reciprocal relationship then it isn't much worth persuing... I am thankful for those of my family and friends that have stayed in touch with me... it means a lot.... even a short email occasionally is a wonderful way of knowing that they are alive and well and still care about you and vice versa... (and it doesn't count if it is a forwarded email of some joke or cartoon).
Each year I write a long poem about my family (husband and daughters and dogs cats and parents) and how we have been doing over the last year and it has always been fun. You can see an example here.... I didn't do it last year and that was because there was so much pressure put on us for Christmas, that I just couldn't think of anything to say.... but this year I'm feeling a little more "in the mood" and I think it is because I have shed so many of my hats (as lay reader for the church, school planning council member, secretary for the NPSW, actually I've been sheding lots of councils and groups) that my brain doesn't feel.... how did I put it last year.... oh yeah, like "I've had a bowel movement on my own head and then sat there wondering how that happened". At the end of writing the poem I contact all family members and send out the poem to them or at least give them the blog address so that they can come in here and have a look... some read it but a lot just dump the email because they don't have time to read it or whatever.... they're the ones I just can't be bothered with anymore. (I just read everything I've written here and it makes me sound terrible I know! Oh well, just think of me as the family fire breathing dragon....)!
In the end, what I'm trying to say is that a little communication goes a long way.... leave a comment... email from time to time, drop us (Teapot and I) a card with a short note on the fly leaf... it is all good... and you know what?.... that's the best Christmas gift anyone could give me.... I don't need gifts, because a kind word works wonders.... mostly because in this day and age of fast paced lives... a kind word is a gift!
And if you do?... I promise it will be reciprocated...
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