Last year's holiday cards

I was rifling through some old cards and came across ours from last year, when August was just 8 months old. I didn't even get out cards before January! But sometimes I think a new year should be celebrated just as much as the gift-giving time.

And it's funny—once you have kids, you really do want to stick a photo of them on each card. You want all those far-flung family members to know what they look like right then, right at that holiday time.

I remember being dressed in whatever red and green clothing my brother and I had, and posing for holiday cards in a variety of ways. I remember holding up Christmas stockings, trying to wrangle a feisty cat (that was a seriously funny card, our cat Shadow wriggling out of my arms, me cracking up through a faceful of pissed-off fur), forcing a smile on a glum tween day. I remember it being boring, I remember it being funny.

I have copies of most of them (there were always dozens of leftovers), and though I cringe at some of them (so many years of tween to teen awkward looks and baby fat!) I am happy to own all of them.

However, I know my brother does not feel the same way
;)
I don't usually employ emoticons, but that simply required it.