Last year (and the year before) I was so much better about getting Christmas things done long before Christmas. This year, I waited until just about the last minute to begin work on my handmade cards. These days I tend to blame things on the dog (suddenly “The dog ate my homework” has a bit of truth to it), but the reality is that I’ve been somewhat lazy. Last night I finally printed up an edition of 50 holiday cards, which I hope will be enough to cover my and Dan’s enormous families. They were enough to blanket the entire kitchen, which posed a problem when it came time to make dinner.

I am not a believer in God or Jesus or whatever, and I’m still trying to figure out how best to incorporate some of the warmth and joy of Christmas into a secular celebration that I can feel comfortable with. It’s good, though, to have built a tradition (now three years) of printing cards. It’s a start.