Hooray for December!

I‘m always glad when November turns to December. Despite the short days and cold weather, December is a bright month filled with warmth. We got our first dusting of snow yesterday, which helps to add a festive feeling, and there’s plenty of talk of pending holiday lunches and get-togethers.

I even ordered my Christmas cards online last night! For the first time, inspired by your suggestions, I’ve made cards based on one of my photographs, which I just this moment realized that I forgot to upload and therefore cannot show you. (Oops!) Trust me when I tell you that it’s an adorable image. Here’s an out-take from the same photo session that I did not use, but which will give you an idea of the unbearable cuteness of it all:

Aren’t they lovely? I swear, I love them more each time I look at this picture. And this is the out-take!

After much dithering, tinkering, uploading and testing, I was surprised to find myself choosing Costco’s photo lab for the cards. I’d toyed with Shutterfly, TinyPrints and a few others, but the price and functionality of the Costco site got me in the end. And since I do most of my photo developing with them, I know at least the photo quality will be high. I’ve ordered actual folded 5×7 cards instead of just flat photo postcard-style cards, and there are photos both inside and out. For about $1 a card, it was the best price by far, and with in-store pick-up, there is no shipping nor US$-Cnd$ conversion to worry about. The only thing I’m forgot to check is whether envelopes are included. If I remember, I’ll report back on the quality issue when I pick them up next week.

Do you feel the pull of the holidays yet? Are you mostly ready or just getting started? What’s next on your holiday to-do list?

Related posts (automatically generated):

1. Holiday cards – your preferences? Yes, it’s early. I know, not even the second week of November and it’s my second post about Christmas — third if you count the Christmas light in my 365 post! But I’m trying to wrench a little organization into my life and planning ahead is giving me a small sense of control. So! [...]...
2. Highs and lows in customer service I may have mentioned (*grins gleefully*) that I got Beloved a Wii for his birthday this year. I started thinking about looking for one way back in August, and even then was having trouble locating one. When I finally found one online at theSource.ca at the end of September, I jumped on the [...]...
3. Holiday Blog Extravaganza On behalf of the endlessly energetic and creative and thoughtful Andrea, and her lovely assistant Marla, consider yourself officially invited to join the (fanfare) Winter Holiday of Your Choice Blog Bonanza. All the cool bloggers are doing it. Dontcha wanna be cool? There are gifts! There are crafts! There are photos! [...]...
4. Memo to McDonalds: Are you kidding me? So we’re in McDonalds the other day. (Granny came with us to skating lessons and offered to take us all out to lunch at McDonalds as a special treat for the boys.) While there is room in my Plan B diet for a rare treat of hamburgers and fries, I’d rather they be [...]...
5. Getting ready for school – a monologue Where the heck is that piece of paper with the school hours on it. (Rifles through stacks of paperwork on the end table, the kitchen counter and the shelf in the bathroom.) It’s his first day tomorrow, and I can’t remember the official school hours. Do I pick him up tomorrow at 11:15 or [...]...