Eff this noise

So you might remember that I was totally on top of holiday cards this year, right?

Well, that turned out to be a bust.

After the initial photo shoot, we decided to go with this as our Holiday Card 2011:

Awww, he's adorable. I know.

We ordered 125 of these bad boys from winkflash.

A week or so goes by and they arrive in the mail. Yay! So exciting! I'm very pumped with my with-it-ness in the card department.

And, then I opened them. And, they suck. The printing was waaaaay too dark and the colors are off. Sad panda. Thanks to their return policy I decide to just scrap card number one and get a refund (still need to do that btw, my 30 day return window is rapidly coming to an end).

Not to be discouraged, I decide to have a second photo shoot with the little dude and see if we can't get an image that I like better (that is also lighter and {hopefully} won't have the same printing issues).

Round dos of photos goes well. We pick a cute smiley pict of the little bugger and make it into our Holiday Card 2011 version 2.0

Yet again, we order from winkflash.

And wait. It is right around Thanksgiving at this point, so I figure the photos are just slow to arrive because of holiday and what not.

So I wait some more.

Then I finally think to check the order tracking and it says...

Are you ready for this?

THEY HAVE ALREADY BEEN DELIVERED. BEFORE THANKSGIVING.

Lies, I tell you.

I email winkflash and let them know that although the tracking says the cards were delivered I received no such package.

Their response was for me to bring it up with USPS. Oi.

Winkflash isn't going to do jack about it.  Awesome.

I now have to repurchase the photos to get them sent asap so that I can get them out at least a few days before Christmas. And there went my whole being-on-top-of-at-least-one-thing this holiday season.

My guess is that:

A. The package was delivered to the wrong house (I'm seriously shocked how often I get other people's mail, especially for our corresponding address one block down).
-or-
B. Someone stole the package off our porch. Why the hell someone would want a package that was obviously photos is beyond me. Hope you are enjoying your 125 copies of Judah looking festive mystery criminal!

Either way? Lame.

Here's hoping the 3rd times the charm & the photos arrive promptly and look crisp.

Happy Holidays!

Guess what I did today?
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I got out our Christmas decorations! What is that you say? It's not even Thanksgiving? Bah humbug, I say to you.

Okay, I only go them out because, while it might not be the holiday season quite yet, it is time to get a move on with our holiday cards. Last year I didn't get a photo taken in time (what with all the puking) so our cards were pretty lack luster and late getting out. This year that was not going to happen. After all, I'm not puking, so no excuses (suck on that, morning-noon-&night sickness, you can't stop me this year!).

We hauled out our decorations, so we could create festive poses for Judah. And I figure there is now really no point in  putting the tree away again, just to haul it back out in two weeks. So it is up. But, I'm not turning on the lights on it, dagnabbit! That can wait for two weeks.

I was thinking taking the picture would be a walk in the park. After all, I take photos of the kid on a near daily basis. Ahh, but notsomuch. Trying to get the lighting right was tricky and getting him to sit and getting him to maybe look not pissed and getting the dogs out of my face and and and. It was a pain. I think it was mostly because I was putting pressure on myself. Most days I could care less about the photos and they are breeze, but today I wanted them to be perrrrfect, so of course they weren't. Same goes for the other day when we took family photos in the park.

In the end it is all fine and dandy. I get all pissed because there are so many that didn't turn out, but that doesn't really matter since you only really need one, you know? And we have one. We have more than one, but we decided on THE ONE together (Bill and I, that is. Judah got no say in the matter).

Here are some that are not THE ONE:

Funny thing- he totally IS wearing his necklace in this picture, you just can't tell because it is hidden in his neck folds

Now I just need to finalize my edits on THE ONE and figure out how many I need to order...

Thanks be Given

I realize it is now February, therefore, this post is not-so-timely... but, what the hey, I'm going to post it anyway. Side-note: Did you know I'm a poet and I didn't even know it? Okay, enough with the cheese and on with the patronizing.
Everyone should send 'thank you' cards. Everyone. They are nice to get. And, if nothing else they let the person know you received the gift (if it was sent by mail). If you choose not to send an actual card, please, I beg you; DO NOT send an e-card. They are horrible things that are the bane of my inbox. If you insist on going the virtual route a simple email would suffice. Anywho, homemade cards are far and away the best option. Even simple ones are far superior to the store bought variety (and, of course, in a completely different league than the aforementioned dreaded e-cards... Can they even really be considered a card? This blogger says, "No.").
I whipped up my holiday 'thank you' cards in less than 10 minutes. True, I didn't have ton to create, nor are they very thrilling and awe inspiring, but they get the job done. The real key is having the proper supplies: craft paper, a handy-dandy paper cutter, a cute hole-punch, and craft tape. Here is a shoddy picture of the cards. 

I assure you, they were at least slightly better looking in person. And, most importantly, they were used to communicate thanks to those folks who gave me gifts. I have even subjected my students to multiple card making assignments. When I assigned Thank You cards after winter break, one lone student (out of 25) asked, "What if your parents already have you write Thank Yous?" To which I say, "Well done, one set of parents, well done."