DIY means I did the writing myself, right?

82. Do craft/DIY holiday cards in 2009 and 2010.

Sigh.

When I wrote my 101 in 1001 list, I hadn't yet been accepted to Columbia and was also figuring that even if I was accepted, I wouldn't go.  My M.A. program was rough, mentally, and I didn't want to inflict that upon the hubby.  We broke up half a dozen times while I was in grad school because I was so overwhelmed with work and just couldn't think straight, couldn't see the forest for the trees.

When I wrote the 101 list, I also wasn't pregnant and didn't think I would be pregnant in the next two years; so I listed a bunch of things that now appear to be a bit more difficult to accomplish than they would have been if I had, oh, only been working two jobs, as was the plan, instead of two jobs plus grad school plus planning for/having a baby.

Like my DIY holiday cards.  I loooove writing out my holiday cards.  Every year I cherish getting all my card supplies together (cards, pen, stamps, etc) and sitting and writing each card out.  Back when my card list was considerably shorter and consisted mainly of good friends and treasured relatives, I even wrote a different personal message inside every card.

This year?  Not so much.  I have two final projects due Monday, neither of which are finished, and a research paper due the following Monday that I haven't even started yet.  Plus, I have a number of friends who celebrate Hanukkah, which means sending those cards out earlier this year since Hanukkah has already started.

So yesterday I went to several craft stores, hoping to find a DIY holiday card kit - you know, cards, stickers, stamps, ribbons, etc - all boxed up and ready to go.  No such luck.  I would have had to buy the card stock, choose the stamp, choose the ink, choose the ribbon, choose the supplemental patterned paper, and so on.  Frankly, I just don't have it in me to do it.  I was ready to assemble something that came with directions, but I was not ready to assemble something of my own creation.

So I walked around a whole bunch of stores stressing out, trying to enjoy the holiday decorations but was pretty much on the verge of tears the entire afternoon because there were so many decorations I wanted but 1 - I can't afford them and 2 - our apartment is too small for anything other than what we already have.  I probably looked like some sad sack walking around Target, let me tell you.

So I decided that I shouldn't let failing at something on my 101 list bum me out so significantly.  It's just an arbitrary list that I supposedly created for fun . . . but I get competitive, even with just myself sometimes (okay, a lot of times).  I don't like failing.  Wait, no - I DON'T fail.  I just don't.  It's not something I do.

But this year, I had to throw in the towel and buy boxed cards . . . and I didn't even have the mental energy to write a sweet/funny/quirky/whatever message in each one.  Merry Christmas or Happy Hanukkah it is.

But I assembled the list of who gets cards by myself and wrote them out by myself and bought the stamps by myself and I'm going to mail them by myself.  That stuff is all DIY, right? (Come on, play along.)

Next year I know we'll have photo cards with The Force, so that's a different kind of DIY, and still not what I had in mind when I wrote my 101 in 1001 list, but still great.  Possibly greater, in a different kind of way.

Comments

[Lori @ I Can Grow People]

Crafting your own cards is hard--pregnant or not. I used to make my own holiday cards, but it just got way too time consuming.