Sunday, January 3, 2010

Do it write.

Today is my last day of Christmas break. I had nothing planned, so it seemed like coffee, laundry and my sofa were going to be on my agenda. Then my brother called to say he was stopping at my parents' house for a few hours. I abandoned my laundry and met him over there for an afternoon of wii with my parents (Mom's new Christmas present from Dad). It was a lot of fun and it got me out of the house for a few hours. Can't beat that. A wii has been on my wish list for a little over a year now, and I think I'm finally going to break down and buy one. It's a hell of a lot better than sitting on the sofa surfing the 'net or watching bad TV ("Full House," I'm looking at you...) and they're a lot cheaper than they used to be.

Anyway, moving on. Today my decluttering project started with me taking down this year's Christmas cards. Some got thrown away, some of the fronts got saved for Christmas crafts for next year (recycling is good!), and others went into an old shoebox in my closet that's filled with greeting cards. While I was there, I decided to declutter the shoebox. I'm a sentimental pack-rat, so it's very hard to get rid of things that have meaning. I managed to weed out some cards that aren't worth holding onto, but I put the rest back into the box. Things I saved include:

~ cards from my grandparents (all 4 have passed away, and it's nice to see their handwritten messages on old birthday cards)
~ a few cards from my godfather (also deceased... when I was little, he used to make the letters in his words look like animals with ears and faces)
~ some cards from my brother (a few hand drawn, most with funny messages)
~ cards and letters from my now 18-year-old godson (especially the older ones when he was just learning to write)
~ any card from a friend or family member that has a personal message written inside
~ wedding announcements, programs, invitations and thank you cards from the weddings I've been in
~ photo cards of the children of my friends

For now those things are all in the shoebox. Maybe someday I'll get them into some sort of scrapbook or memory book, but as long as they have a place and aren't taking up space, I'm okay with keeping them where they are.

I've been searching the web for other blogs and websites that embrace my newfound love of simple living. I'm going to start listing them (and other sites that I like) over in my links section in case anyone is interested in them. Today I found a site called Small Notebook and this post about ditching the label maker in favor of your own handwriting really got me thinking about my resolution to keep in touch with people. When I sorted through my Christmas cards, I was saddened to see how many people didn't bother to send anything this year. It was also interesting to see who wrote a personal message instead of just signing their name. Some people didn't even bother to write MY name on the card, which makes it even more impersonal. I know time is hard to come by for some people, but I managed to handwrite a small message in each of my holiday cards. It's one of those things that has started to go by the wayside, much like letters written in pen on nice stationery. Sure email and texting is fast and easy... but isn't it fun to get actual mail? So I think one of my goals for my "keeping in touch" resolution will be to send a letter or postcard or greeting card with a personal message to each of my friends at least ONCE this year. Whether or not they choose to reciprocate is up to them.

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