Well, I have gotten to my tipping point, where “too early to worry about Christmas” turns into “IT’S TOO LATE!! IT’S TOO LATE!!” Such a magical time of year.
I’d thought we would do our annual family photo to put in with the Christmas cards, but that went from “We need to do that pretty soon” to “Welp, too late for that now.” At first I thought I would just skip it: my feeling is that people really like to receive photos in holiday cards, because I really like to receive photos in holiday cards—but I don’t delude myself that OUR PARTICULAR family photo will make or break someone’s holiday-card-receiving experience. “In This of All Years, it is fine to skip,” I told myself. But then I thought, “…or is it In This of All Years that it’s More Important Than Ever?”
There I sat, getting a headache imagining trying to get my two college kids assembled/cooperative during daylight hours, getting the tripod set right so we’re not just a sea of underchin/nostrils, trying to get Henry to (1) look at the camera and (2) stop goofing/talking and (3) no, don’t GLARE at the camera—and I couldn’t face it. So I took a pair of Thanksgiving pictures, one that Paul took from his end of the table and one that I took from my end of the table, and I got them put together on one 4×6, and I ordered them for delivery, and they’ll be here by next Tuesday. Good enough is good enough.
I went grocery shopping in person today, to get the things we haven’t been able to get curbside. My anxiety about grocery-shopping, which had gone wayyyyy down between March and November as I got used to it, has gone back up: not to early-pandemic levels, when we didn’t know if we should be wiping down our groceries or not, but…up, as hospitals report running out of beds and as people post photos of their happy maskless Thanksgiving get-togethers. And it is frustrating to be TRYING to do curbside pick-up instead, but then to pick up the order and find a little paper informing me that they were unable to fulfill my requests for milk, meat, or bread. WHAT IS GOING ON. There are no shortages of those items right now!
Well. I will say that even after only two curbside pick-ups, I have newfound gratitude for being able to go into a store to choose things myself. The anxiety is higher, but so is the happiness. And, since curbside is giving a false feeling of scarcity by somehow not being able to acquire certain basics, finding those basics at my store (WHERE THERE IS NO SCARCITY OF THEM) gives me increased feelings of relief and happiness. My in-person trips now feel like treasure hunts where I always find the treasure.
Today, for example. The curbside grocery store claims not to have cheddar cheese in block form, in any size or brand. I go through a LOT of block cheddar cheese. So buying three nice big blocks of it at my usual grocery store was THRILLING. I came home and lovingly tucked my three bars of gold into the cheese drawer.
Curbside has had no ground beef for two trips in a row. My usual grocery store had ample ground beef in every percentage. I bought three packages and felt like I’d won a prize.
Curbside had NO WHEAT BREAD. I had checked the “any substitution is fine” box, but STILL no bread. I bought three loves (I appear to have had a Three theme going on for some reason) and felt content.
And treats! I feel more reluctant to put treats/non-necessities on the curbside list. I DO put them on there, I DO—but I put fewer than I would if I were shopping myself. It’s partly self-consciousness + unnecessary caring about what other people think, and it’s partly that it feels a little less comfortable to ask someone else to bring out a pack of Little Debbie cakes and a container of ice cream than it feels to ask them to bring out bread and milk. Whether or not it SHOULD feel that way. Anyway! Today I got flavored seltzer! And several kinds of packaged holiday cookies, including one of those “sewing supplies” tins! And a package of Pepperidge Farm Bordeaux, which are my favorites and I could not get them from curbside or from Target and thought maybe they weren’t made anymore! And a couple kinds of candy for stockings! And Christmas-themed Little Debbie cakes! And diet Coke!
Oh and! They had crushed tomatoes!! I haven’t been able to find those for over a month! I bought three cans!
And I nearly wept right there in the store as I put two large packages of frozen broccoli florets in my cart: I don’t know if I just got a bad bag or what, but my first bag from the curbside grocery store was TERRIBLE. So, so mushy and soggy, even when I tried again and microwaved another serving for much less time than usual; and many pieces had gross brown sections. Maybe it was just a bad bag! I will try again! But…in the meantime, I have two large bags of Good Familiar Reliable Broccoli.
They had Kraft macaroni, which curbside was out of and I could have gotten from Target Drive-up but I wasn’t planning a trip there soon, and it’s an Emotional Support Food for two of the kids.
They had the jarred pasta sauce we use, which curbside was out of and I couldn’t get from Target.
They had stuffing mix, which curbside said they were out of and I couldn’t get from Target. (It has to be a vegetarian one, which limits options.) Every year we eat the leftover stuffing disappointingly quickly and I wish I’d made two batches. I’ve made a note for next year—and in the meantime, where is the rule saying I can’t make stuffing as a side dish for a normal meal? NOWHERE.
And then there was The Tea Aisle. You all gave so many good tea suggestions, and some of them were not available from the places I normally get things shipped/curbside, so I was VERY EXCITED to check my grocery store to see what they’d have. I will start by saying that, sadly, they did not have any holiday teas—or if they did, I missed them in my flustered anxiety, which is fully possible because I know NORMALLY they have a cardboard display of holiday teas. Maybe I walked right past it. I might have. I really might have. Well, let’s not dwell on it. The point is that I didn’t want to LINGER but I wanted to come home with SEVERAL fun suggested teas if possible, and I DID!
I am drinking a cup of Bengal Spice right now, and I am going to try the Ceylon Orange Pekoe this afternoon when I need a little caffeine!
Triumph!
I find that even though the two stores I go to for curbside groceries have most things, I still get occasional deliveries from Shipt as well. Considering the size of group you’re shopping for, some hybrid of curbside/in-store shopping is probably optimal so you don’t have to manage a long list in-store.
We’ll get through this, one way or another!
Your posts always hit just right. THANK YOU.
I think you did the absolute right thing for your Christmas card photos. Everyone will get to see your faces (which they assuredly miss), and it was the low-stress option for you. Good job.
I love your grocery store reports.
Love the two different angle idea for your photos! We do one every year too and this year I got it done early, however, I wasn’t overly happy with the result. I just went with it though, I figured we might not get another chance to get one and it was decent enough.
The curbside pickup people at my store have those gigantic rolling shelf things with a bunch of tubs on it, so I can only assume that they are shopping for several people at once, which would make it nearly impossible to judge your order specifically. I say that as the person happily picking up cookies and tater tots today!
I’m excited that you got Twinings tea. I drink their Earl Grey with a little sugar and milk almost every morning. It’s good stuff.
My usual grocery store HAD LYSOL SPRAY — this miracle occurred last week but I’m still riding high.
I would be too!!! When I had to go into a Target store to pick up a prescription a few weeks ago, they had CLOROX WIPES. I carried a canister protectively and reverently to the register.
Can we have a post about all the things Target WON’T ship/offer curbside? I mean, isn’t the point of this service to reduce the number of people in store? I’ve been ordering Jif Peanut Butter as part of my Target order since the beginning of April – now all of a sudden it’s not available for shipping?? I don’t understand. Same thing for the wipes–wouldn’t that be something to offer for shipping/curbside during a pandemic? Instead of forcing people INTO the store?
YES. And even filtering for “shipping” nets you many things that are inexplicably unavailable for shipping. Why are pillowcases not available for shipping??
I have been noticing a TON of things I was getting shipped and are suddenly not available for shipping. My HOPEFUL THEORY is that it’s because of Christmas, and that places that ship things know they Cannot Do It All, and so they are prioritizing Gift-Type Items for now, and will return to Groceries later. (But I still don’t get why Clorox wipes, toilet paper, etc., weren’t/aren’t available for pick-up. THOSE ARE THE THINGS MOST WANTED/NEEDED BY PEOPLE WHO MOST DON’T WANT TO GO INSIDE.)
Thanks for mentioning this. I thought it was just my area. Target shipping was my main source of cat food/ litter and I’ve now switched to buying in bulk from the local big box pet store. The Target stores in my area are so busy I don’t even want to do curbside but it’s rarely available for the items I want.
Your Thanksgiving photos combo sounds PERFECT and I am very glad you were able to come up with a swift and excellent solution.
Emotional Support Food — I love that phrase. (And the accompanying image of a teenager clutching a box of Kraft to their chest whilst scrunched into an airplane seat.)
Your curbside was out of milk, meat, and bread??????? That just seems so unlikely! But what is the alternative explanation? Computer glitch? Staff misreading the information? I am boggled. Very glad your in-store trip was so successful.
As one of the endorsers of Bengal Spice I felt like I’d won something when I saw that you had bought it. What do you think of it?
Also, I’m a bit confused because you mention curbside being out of things, but your usual grocery store having these items. Are they not the same store?
Your first 3 paragraphs are probably the strongest evidence that we sometimes think alike. I knew the exact feeling of going from too early for Christmas to TOO LATE all of a sudden; I was thinking when I started reading your second paragraph how I thought it was more important to include a photo this year and lo, you arrived at the same conclusion; then at the beginning of your third paragraph I was thinking I wish I could tell you to slap more than one image onto a single print and then WHEW you did it!
Oh by the way, I wanted to send cards out very early this year (and I did, right after Remembrance Day), so there was no snow yet for a Christmassy photo and plus it seemed too early to go for the theme, so I made a point of getting a couple of decent shots of the group of us on one of our fall hikes and just used that this year.
1. I’ve only had one mug of it so far, and Tea Opinions take awhile to form, but so far I think the Bengal Spice is nice and I am not sorry I bought it!
2. SADLY NO. My usual store is 5 minutes away (or there is a larger store from the same chain 20 minutes away), but does not offer curbside. The nearest curbside grocery store is 30 minutes away and is not a chain I usually shop, so there are all these New!!Things!! like different brands, and different offerings, and the store brand looking different, and waaaaaahhhhhh!! So now I do curbside for As Much As I Can, and then at least I get to go to my Familiar Comforting Store for whatever I can’t.
3. My ONLY HESITATION is that maybe I should have done a collage with better pictures of us?? But I didn’t think of it in time, and also I think I would have gotten bogged down in going through many, many photo options, so this is probably For The Best. Plus, it gives a slightly pointed Look We Are AT HOME sort of vibe I feel works.
(this Bengal Spice opinion is reassuring to me, as it went in both the Advent Calendars I shipped off to friends, thank you!)
(which are, incidentally, both priority mail late; I sent things in two sets, because of shipping delays not getting things to me in time to send out just one box for the full calendar, and of the first two boxes, one arrived On Time and the other took one week minus 7 hours to get there (Priority Mail). This time, both priority mail boxes were supposed to get there yesterday and are now “Late, In Transit” with current location totally unspecified. Can we please fire this postmaster and stop the USPS-dismantling efforts? Please? As a Christmas present?)
I heard that if you start an Advent calendar the day AFTER Christmas, you’ll end it on Inauguration Day! I haven’t verified the timing, but I like the idea. It’s like New President Advent. :)
This is strongly appealing for many reasons. Thank you! (as long as Part 2 gets to them tomorrow, it’ll still be in time to follow on from Part 1 as a regular Advent Calendar, but… yeah, we’ll see. Hopes for a new postmaster as well as a new president.)
I love this! I was also one of the endorsers of Bengal Spice and ALSO felt like I’d won something! :)
(And for our Christmas photo this year I used our EASTER picture! Yes, the toddler looks significantly larger than they did 8 months ago! Yes, the gap-toothed 6 year old in the photo now has FULL ADULT TEETH grown in! No, this is not the year to care! :))
Target gave me a free trial of Shipt so I thought I’d use it to get some things. We are in the midst of moving so we don’t need a lot of things, but I wanted some fresh fruits and such. Admittedly, I haven’t been inside my Target in 10 months, but they used to always have plenty of fruit. My Shipt shopper said they had no bananas, no strawberries, no green grapes, no salad mixes, and I forget what else. Seriously?? What is the point then. I got red grapes and a pineapple, which then I had regrets because I had to cut up the pineapple.
But this is obviously no one’s fault and I still tipped the shopper heartily. I can’t wait to finally get moved and figure out the shopping situation. My husband inadvertently unplugged our deep freeze, so I have the task of restocking that entirely. I’m undecided how I feel about this.
You said that so calmly, I almost went right past it. He UNPLUGGED. YOUR DEEP FREEZE. DURING A PANDEMIC. I actually had to do some labor breathing to get through even the THOUGHT of that. So now you know how I’D feel. (On the other hand I can get just a little flicker of interest/satisfaction from the idea of stocking from the beginning, and maybe laying things out better/differently than I did originally, and KNOWING FOR SURE that all the expired stuff is out of there, and….) (BUT STILL)
I know. It was unpleasant to be sure. But I was kind of freaking out about moving it anyway, our move is an hour away, would everything stay frozen, and it would have been heavy etc. Plus as you said, now I get to start over. He had done a lot of our shopping in the spring and bought a lot of stuff I wouldn’t have. I’m trying to cling to this positivity, but as time goes on, it starts to get more stressful!
Speaking of grocery shopping… we are doing full-on isolation for the 2 weeks leading up to Christmas, so I’ve got 4 days to figure out and procure everything we’ll need for all 4 of us to be home all the time with no chance to go to a store and restock everything until after the 25th. I’m getting Very Nervous I’ll forget something that is important, but I’ve already got all the gifts I think I’ll need for people, and made lists of dishes that I plan to make and what their ingredients are for shopping to stock up on essential and fun holiday foods which I’ll have to go buy this week…
But still, kinda nervous about the whole thing. What if I need something and don’t have it? Or worse, what if some sort of emergency comes up that requires contact with the outside world? Like what if my husband MUST go to work for an emergency, or the dog gets sick, or, or, or…
I just want so badly for this to work out. My husband’s dad was diagnosed with inoperable metastases of his intestinal cancer last week so it just seems so important to be able to see him this Christmas.
I would be in a FULL-FLEDGED FRET about this. Do you have friends in the area who would be willing to drop off a few things outside your door if it turns out you forgot anything important? That’s the sort of thing my own temperament would LOVE LOVE LOVE to be asked to do. (I can’t explain why. But just imagining a friend saying “I hate to ask you but is there any chance you could drop off a gallon of milk, a box of pasta, and a bag of apples??” made me feel a rush of joy.)
Oh I am fretting indeed. I’ve been compiling lists for weeks now and I know they still won’t stop me from running out of fresh fruit partway through.
Part of the problem with the idea of getting people to drop stuff off is that I don’t have any good friends who live in my suburb who can do it – either they live elsewhere in the city and are a 20 minute drive away at least, or my one friend who lives close is immunocompromised so I couldn’t possibly ask her to expose herself to risk at the store for me. I have neighbours with whom I’m friendly enough that I’ve offered to drop stuff off for them when they’ve been in similar situations (back from travel, quarantining due to potential exposure, etc.), but not one of them have ever taken me up on it so it’s hard to ask them. What if they didn’t take me up on it because they don’t consider us close enough to ask? How can I ask them if that’s the case?
I think the only solution is tough it out unless we find ourselves desperate for something, at which point I can try to get something delivered maybe? Or cave and ask a neighbour? Apples keep well, so we may end up eating a lot of them by week two…
OMG, if you live within 20 miles of Boston, I’ll do it. You can get my email from Swistle if this applies to you. I’m serious.
Also, anyone else in a situation like this within 20 miles of Boston – I’ll do it!!! I struggle with ways to help out. Like, right now our little town grocery is closed for COVID and I realize it’s hard for people and I would love to volunteer to pick up groceries for those affected from the stores that require a car but cannot for the life of me figure out a really good way to accomplish that. I’m totally afraid I would only get the obnoxious lazy people who can’t be bothered and those for whom it would be a blessing feel bad asking.
So. I volunteer as tribute. It might take 48 hours to accomplish the thing, but, I will do it.
Oh bless you for offering, and if I lived there I’d take you up on it, but I live in Ottawa, Canada.
I don’t know, but there *might* be a pre-existing network in your area that you could tap into to send out an offer, either through your local library (some offer delivery for those who are housebound or, in small areas, simply know who needs help – I mean, at the very least, some of their normal volunteers would likely be in high-risk groups due to age) or through your local medical center (those who need home health care are more likely to also need grocery delivery), or through a community center which has some senior-focused classes.
I love that you want to do this. :-)
Apples and citrus fruits are indeed the Fruit Answer; sometimes melons behave themselves as well, but you can’t count on them to the degree you can count on apples and citrus. We used to do a once-per-month grocery run, and vegetable-wise you go through the veggies-you-bought-on-clearance first, then the non-durable leafy greens, then the middling stuff, then you finish up with root vegetables and cabbage and onions (and supplement with canned and frozen).
If you can get frozen fruit (mango and raspberries survive particularly well) you can even have fruit salad between canned (pineapple), frozen, and fresh apples/citrus.
But also: can you get grocery delivery?
(the other thing is that we have asked for help is by saying “we’re emailing a bunch of you so no one feels pressured, this is what we’re looking for?” and that has worked really well, but you also have to be okay with implicit Rejection as some people either just don’t reply to emails or are not available at this time and they just… don’t reply, etc., so it’s fully possible to get no replies. But more often, things are fully covered. And since no one can see what other people reply, unless they hit reply-all, no one knows that you are still hanging out without any dishsoap or whatever, so no one feels extra pressure to reply. But I do really think that if you explain your situation and how you *desperately* want to see this family member but also it is *direly* necessary that he not get COVID, then there will likely be a response because we love to do this sort of thing if we can; although yes, it is possible that people simply can’t.)(also neighbors; do you know neighbors?)(or delivery services?)
Pro tip: I learned at the beginning of the pandemic that apples and oranges last for up to a month if you store them in the fridge in separate drawers. This is critical info for not running out of fruit between now and Christmas.
I try to shop for 6 people only every two weeks and this is key
We regularly only shop every two weeks and it seems to be fine. Grapes, melons, citrus, apples all last well into the second week. Bananas, berries, and delicate greens are the only things I really have to plan to use first.
Thank you all for the offers and advice. There are definitely tips here I hadn’t thought of and will put into practice for sure. I’ve added some tinned and frozen fruit to the list! Now to find more room in the freezer!
My biggest fret is, believe it or not, my dog. She’s been off her feed for a few days now, and at one point acted really strangely – it seemed exactly like she was dizzy with her head and body turning to the side as she tried to walk a straight line. Within a couple of minutes it got to the point where even standing her head would move sideways until she was a circle (like the shape she’d be if she was chasing her tail, but stationary, or curled up to sleep, but standing) and then her outside legs would slip out from under her. We noticed that she hadn’t had her breakfast and this was probably after a couple of days of eating light and it was mid-afternoon, so we gave her some shredded chicken and she perked up. But she’s still not eating well at all and snubbing what are normally treats. And if she has another bout of… whatever that was, we’ll have to take her to the vet hospital and not only will that break our quarantine but I absolutely adore this dog and I’m a bit terrified of yet more bad news. Of course we called our vet as soon as things went sideways, but by the time I reached a live person she (our dog) was getting over it already. The vet said if the food helped than to make sure she kept eating at least a bit regularly, and to keep a close eye on her and bring her in if it happened again, but if it was neurological they wouldn’t have the equipment required to do much and it would mean a lengthy wait for a vet neurologist referral.
Anyone reading this who’s a vet? Or seen a dog with something similar going on? The Hive Mind here is often so helpful!
She’s a 12 pound, 7.5 year old Morkie. Her pupils were equal and reactive during her “attack”. Our best guess right now is hypoglycemia for that incident, but that wouldn’t explain the lack of eating much over the last week. She’s still begging for food at the table, but often sniffing our offerings and backing off instead of eating them. Our plan right now is chicken, rice, and canned pumpkin for a couple of days, plus calling the vet about being seen before Friday…
My little 4lb chihuahua had a seizure randomly a few weeks ago. We honestly thought she had suddenly gone blind (which is a thing that can happen). We took her to an eye specialist (who just happened to have a cancellation, no regular vets could get us in) and he said she had had a seizure. She had been at my sister’s house the day before, and eaten some food she doesn’t normally and gone on a long walk, so either of those things could have caused it. However, she was not particularly affected afterward as you are mentioning. I think the chicken/rice/pumpkin diet sounds like a good plan in case her tummy is off for some reason. Best of luck to you – at my vet they are doing “curbside” so at least maybe you would have minimal contact if you have to take her in.
We’ve been doing curbside grocery pick-up for about two months now. Our experience has been that the shoppers (bless them! we’re so grateful for them!) just miss things and say they are out of stock. We know this because when we don’t get crucial items (bread or milk, for example), my husband will go into the store to get them, and they are on the shelves, which is confusing. We’ve also noticed that if we choose something that is organic and they are out of it, they will not substitute a nonorganic item even if we ask them to in the comments. We don’t grumble because we are so grateful for the service, but we don’t entirely understand what is going on. This is all to say that if your store claims they are out of things, you might just run inside very quickly to check for yourself. It still saves time and limits exposure to do this alongside the curbside pick-up.
i love these posts. I love that you could get a bunch of things AND it felt like winning the lottery instead of a ho-hum chores. It’s amazing how you can appreciate the little things right now, no?
I just bought the Dark Chocolate Covered Peppermint JO JOs from Trader Joes and I feel way more like “I”m a great person! Bringing home treats!” doing so than I ever have in the past. And each child has eaten one and been so excited.
Stuffing is awesome. You can make it any time. We actually made too much (that’s me, I made too much, I cook for 12 despite only 4 living here and at least one of those is convinced at least one thing is POISON at any time, so really I have three). Anyway, extra stuffing. Served it the Sunday after turkey, along with leftover brussels sprouts and mashed cauliflower, with salmon and it was YUMMY.
Rooibos tea. Love. I don’t drink it as much anymore, because it’s not caffeinated and supposed to be relaxing (during the day I don’t need relaxing, or maybe I do but I don’t think I do and then at night I can’t be bothered to make tea) but a friend’s in-laws are South African and she recommended it many moons ago. And then I bought a box for my mother – that exact kind, the Twinings – once and she loved it but claimed to be unable to find it anywhere, ever, so now I buy a box every Christmas. It’s currently sitting in an empty box in the basement waiting for me to get it together and add the “Four Seasons Total Landscaping” shirt I bought for my dad and MAIL THE THING ALREADY. But I have not. We will see when I get around to it. I have vague notions of maybe getting some of the presents wrapped tonight and under the tree, so that may motivate me.
I let our leftover stuffing go moldy in the fridge and I was sad I didn’t think to freeze it.
I love receiving photos and letters, so I think that sounds lovely. Also, amen on the shopping. It’s so satisfying to just pick out what you want and not have to suffer agonies over shortages, when there isn’t one. The joy from that, to me, far outweighs the potential risk (groceries seem pretty safe, masks are mandatory and 99% of patrons are actually wearing them correctly, and people give lots of room, it seems to me, anyway.)
As I was reading your section on pictures, I was reminded of a Tiktok’er who sets up her phone on VIDEO then has her family sit in front of it and smile/say cheese and hold for a count of 5. Then she goes through the video and grabs still shots when everyone is smiling and all eyes are open. I thought this was brilliant because I think all phones can do this pretty easily. Then you have the added bonus of a hilarious set up video to go along with the final product.
I think you are going to like the rooibos! It’s my favorite herbal tea- it actually tastes like something!
Hubby and I had a little chat about whether I should start doing grocery pickup. I said I felt like I should (my eternal dilemma in all situations), but that I knew we wouldn’t get everything we ordered and I would have to go into the store anyway. He very reasonably pointed out that if pickup is not keeping me out of the store there is no point. If it meant going into the store once a week instead of twice, I would do it, but I’ve been doing once a week for months now (which I never thought would work) and it’s ok (I go on Fridays. We are out of bananas now).
Also thank you, Swistle, for talking about making notes on the holidays for the next year. Somehow this never would have occurred to me even though I makes lists for every other thing. I have lists for Thanksgiving and Christmas with what to buy, when, and notes on quantities, filed with the holiday recipes in my recipe notebook. Genius!
It can keep you out of the store as OFTEN, though, and when you DO have to go in, it’s MUCH SHORTER. Since the virus seems to spread in extended shared-air, my hope is that going in for 15 minutes is much better than going in for 75.
I have a Thanksgiving folder, and I put in all my notes—even a quick jotted “DOUBLE THE STUFFING” on a piece of scrap paper is the only way I can keep track of my brain!
I just want to say I have been reading your blog for over 10 years. I still look forward to your posts and I always find them soothing. Thank you.
<3
This year I am using an app that turns photos into a postcard and then mails them for me. Usually I send handwritten cards, no photo. But we are moving this weekend and I Cannot. Also, this is cheaper.
I’ve been doing postcards (with photo) for years. Cheaper postage, less waste. Most photocards are glorified postcards anyway, just the wrong size, plus an envelope that gets tossed immediately. As far as I have found, Zazzle is the only place that does them (or one of very few, shutterfly, snapfish, mpix do not)
You can pre print a message, handwrite, or both.
“Where is the rule saying I can’t make stuffing as a side dish for a normal meal? NOWHERE.”
If I learn one (positive) lesson in 2020, I hope this is it. There is NO RULE about only getting to have stuffing once a year. None. Why is this so hard for me to absorb?
This year I couldn’t bear the thought of dressing up for a family picture, so instead I made bitmoji’s of each of us and did a very quick job of editing them together into a Christmassy scene and printed a bunch of them on vistaprint. Still a “family photo” but…… not.
It actually felt a little more realistic this year to have our virtual stand ins on the card.
I will have to go back and see how that rates on your Christmas card scoring scale.
P.S. I do not have photoshop. I used a couple of free websites and managed to cobble together something pretty cool I thought!