Christmas Cards All Year Round

I absolutely hate getting the mail, even though the mailbox is two steps from the front door. Something about bills and junk mail and the inevitable disappointment of not getting anything exciting. When I was single, I always thought to myself while trudging to the mailbox, "If and when I get married, I want my husband to deal with this." 

However, I nearly pounce on Nathan when he comes through the front door during the holiday season with Christmas cards, ripping up the envelopes and cooing at pictures of all the beautiful babies and families we have the privilege of knowing. I've done this for as long as I can remember. As a kid, I loved opening mail for "The Sampley Family." I was petrified of opening other mail addressed to just my mom or dad or both, because I knew it was illegal and I had visions of being hauled off to jail if I sneaked a peek. Side bar: That didn't stop me from practicing the forgery of their signatures whenever I was bored and had scratch paper lying around. Missed connection in my brain, perhaps? End side bar.

My mom would put all the photo cards up on a side cabinet in the kitchen, calling it her "prayer wall" and creating a Christmas photo gallery. My sister and I had a much less sanctified purpose for the prayer wall, namely a contest judging all of the Christmas cards we Sampleys got and picking our favorite. We always chose the one with two very good looking tan and blonde sons about our age, usually pictured on some beach at sunset. I have no idea who they are to this day. I think perhaps they and/or their parents were clients of my dad's.

Anyway, since then I have continued the tradition of posting the photo cards. In Atlanta, they went on the washroom door. This picture was a from a couple of years ago. Last year the sleepover Polaroids moved to the side of the refrigerator to make room for another panel of Christmas cards. When I look at this picture carefully, I notice how much has changed in just the last two years!

 

This year I pondered where I should display our cards. We don't have a mantle or a washroom door. I originally thought I would have a line of twine and some clothespins to hang them with, but we're not allowed to put any holes in the walls. What to do? 

Well, I killed two birds with one stone when I realized that we still hadn't fixed the privacy problems in our barn. All the doors have four big glass panels: the front doors, the kitchen doors, our bedroom door, and yes, the bathroom door. There was a shade on the inside of the bathroom door, but the moisture caused it to curl inwards, making one feel quite self conscious while using the facilities.

So I just put the cards on the outside of the doors, thus removing the temptation to spy on people when the door is closed. You'll notice that most of our American friends sent photo cards, and our English friends sent real open-and-close cards that usually said "Love, the So-and-So Family xx." I'm not sure what it is about the "x", but they almost always put it with their signature. Maybe it's a hug. Like XO means a hug and kiss. I don't know. Anyway, the picture above is of our bedroom door now.

And the bathroom door! Christmas continues to trickle in, as the Royal Mail was crippled by the snow from Thanksgiving to New Years. Just yesterday we received three cards from America. Woohoo! Yay for Christmas cards!


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UPDATE: We got four more cards today! Thanks Nathan D., Justin and Julie L. , Aaron and Becky S., and Carl and Christy D.! I LOVE IT!!!