I love getting mail this time of year. Glossy catalogs, sale circulars and best of
all, holiday cards. Love, love, love to
get holiday cards! I love the pictures
of your family and the handwriting that reminds me of notes passed back in 5th
grade. I enjoy the snapshot family
pictures as well as the pictures where the family is so beautiful you cannot
look at it too long for fear of being blinded.
(Smith family this means you) I
love the way they look lined up on my counter and explaining who people are
when the kids ask. I am hit or miss when
it comes to sending my own cards, so I truly appreciate the people who haven’t
crossed me off of their list. But I have
to ask, as I have received nary a one, where has the Christmas newsletter
gone? Do we no longer summarize our year
on special holiday paper?
If video killed the radio star then I think that perhaps
Facebook may have killed the holiday newsletter. Little Johnny got all A’s? Post!
Hilarious things that came out of his mouth today? Post!
Great picture? Silly picture? No
picture, just rant? Post, post, post! Who wants to wait to the end of the year to
brag or opine or whine? Do it now, do it
electronically and let the world see! I
love a Facebook post as much as the next person, but it does make me sad that
we are so instantly updated that the need for Christmas newsletters seems to
have gone the way of the CD player.
I can’t remember if I have ever sent a newsletter
myself. I know that I sent a Christmas
poem one year after SG was born and I was full of post-partum hormones. We refer to that Christmas as the Christmas
that never happened. You have a baby 14
days before Christmas and tell me how festive you feel. Ho Ho Ho?
No way. More like weep and wail
and leak and cry. Good times. Anyhow, in the spirit of trying to revive
Christmas newsletters, I have decided to blog ours. (This also covers me for not sending cards
this year)
Dear Family and Friends,
We hope that this letter finds you in good spirits and great
health. We have had a busy year at the
McMahon household and hope you will forgive Rebecca’s incredibly cheesy way of
forwarding our sincere Christmas wishes to you and yours.
2013 brought a lot of change and among the biggest, Bill is
now a vegan. (Militant). Who would have guessed this? The man that once consumed a KFC Double Down
sandwich despite chest pains and immediate swelling is now champion of the
farmyard animals. His veganism has been
the source of much mockery and meat pictures posted to him, yet he remains
strong. Go Bill! The man drives 100 miles each way to work and
as such has become a Prius driver.(Militant).
We think he has logged more miles this year than a cross-country trucker
and he has the NPR knowledge to prove it.
M turned 16 this year and has a social calendar that rivals
only the Queen of England’s. That girl
is never home. She is taking terrible
classes like Chemistry, Algebra 2 and Pre AP World History and finds she
actually has to read and do homework to get good grades. She is learning to drive and has Bill to
thank for her encouraging her on that.
Rebecca is sticking her head in the sand and pretending this isn’t
happening. M has great taste in music
and has increased our knowledge of what is cool. Thanks M!
SG started middle school this year and it was a rough six
weeks compounded with stomach flus and she had a hard start to it. She has a great group of friends and has
recently gotten her legs under her and it is nice to see her smile again. She has become an expert at giving dead eyes
and conveying how much she despises us without saying a word. She is active in Drama Club and hopes to be involved
in cross country (what?!?!?) and basketball next year.
Ahh, the boy. W loves
his after school care so much he is mad no matter what time we get there to pick
him up. He does karate (almost a yellow
belt!), gymnastics and piano and tolerates school. He chose this year to start testing out
lying. It did not go well for him and he
spent six weeks with no electronics.
Somehow we all made it through that and he is now happily ensconced in
his world of video games.
Rebecca borders on obnoxious with how happy she is with her
new job. She is a Library Assistant at a
high school and may have found her calling.
(Note: she changed her actual job title as she finds the real one makes
her sad about her life choices) She is challenged,
she is busy and she works with fantastic people all day long. She has kids who thank her for her sarcasm
and snark and feels as though she has truly touched lives. She is learning to engage in confrontation and
finding that she might actually like it.
A lot.
Yes, 2013 will go down as a good one in McMahon family
history. We hope that your year has been
as good and if it hasn’t, well we are definitely the ones to tell you to hang in
there, it will get better. Hopefully you
are thankful for what you have, even if it isn’t exactly what you want. We hope that you have a restful, peaceful
holiday season and are surrounded by people you love and love you. We wish you one good belly laugh each day and
a New Year’s filled with good intentions, but not resolutions.
Merry Christmas! Happy
New Year! And much, much love
The McMahons
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