New Year's Idea

card station, Dem rally, women's basketball

I wondered if we’d get any holiday cards at all this year. Everyone I know is pretty down after the election, exhausted from fall’s hard work and bracing themselves for what’s next. I got behind and didn’t send cards, which tends to depress the number of cards you get in return.

But we got them, maybe not as many as usual but enough to fill three windowsills, where they cheered us for the season. It occurs to me that it doesn’t need to be a holiday or special event to send a card, so I set up this cute little card station in the kitchen:

All you need is a box or a basket, some pencils/pens/markers, blank cards or folded paper, stamps, and the addresses of family/friends. I let the girls pick out special boxes of “signature” cards—Harriet got pop-up animal high five cards at Glee Kids, and Bea chose a set of ocean scenes from McIntyre’s—and filled in with random blank cards we had around. (We sometimes find cute cards at thrift shops or the freecycle.) We also love blank watercolor postcards.

So this is the idea/resolution/goal: every day after school and work, write a card to someone, or draw them a picture or a comic (the girls don’t get formal school homework, so I think this works as a daily routine). Don’t overthink it! Just address it, stamp it, put it in the mail! And maybe get some back?

Other than that, we’re leaning into the New Year with bigtime female energy.

Bea was just elected fifth grade class president, and Harriet is fearlessly learning to roller blade. We’re hiking a lot, taking trips to the library, and inviting friends for casual, last-minute dinners.

Today we’ll see Anderson Clayton, the youngest Democratic Party Chair in the country, and Allison Riggs, our newly elected Supreme Court Justice, speaking at the Together We Rise Rally in Raleigh. Then we’ll head to Reynolds Coliseum where we’ll watch the Wolfpack women’s basketball team play Boston College with our friend Leah. Then we’re all going out for Hot Pot and shopping at H Mart with our friends Claire and Jillian.

We hope you’re have a wonderful Sunday and start to the New Year, Frog Troublers! Do you set resolutions or goals at the New Year? Are you making any big leaps, or just trying to keep your feet on the ground?

Lots of love from us.