As the holidays are approaching, I am finding it a little more difficult to stay on task with this challenge. So many things are pulling me off in other directions. I have been able to keep the kids engaged but DH has fallen off these past two weeks and I missed week 7.
Week 7
Buddy wrote to Josh – the friend of mine who mailed us postcards from the United Arab Emirates and previously Curacao. Sweetie wrote a followup letter to her new pen pal in Canada. I failed to mail a letter myself this week – but to my credit, I have been burning our annual family DVD that I enclose with our Christmas cards that I will mail out next week.
Week 8
Buddy wrote to Papa Jens and Sweetie wrote to a friend back home in Bend. I mailed approximately one-third of our Christmas cards and will need to mail out another one-third next week. I actually ran out of DVDs and cards both so I will spend the weekend burning more.
 |
| 1/3 of the cards I have mailed – each requiring 65 cents postage due to the DVD |
On a very happy note, we received letters from Arvid & Marit in Norway. It is so exciting to see real, physical mail. The postage stamp, the cancellation mark, and especially the handwriting! I love this challenge! To Buddy, he wrote, “First, so funny that you sent me a letter in handwriting. Thank you, and you get me to do the same!” To me (and the family) he wrote, “Thank you so much for the lovely letter! And now I’m sitting with my pen and doing a handwritten letter myself, the first one for years (I guess you can observe how unusual it is!!”)
I absolutely love this! Earlier this week I was also talking with another parent at swim team and coincidentally discovered that one of his closest friends happened to work with DH some years ago at Bay Area. He stated, “Wow! I can’t believe it. I haven’t actually talked with him in some time. It has been too long.” I suggested he sit down that night and write a letter to his friend – describing in some detail the 52 Weeks of Mail challenge we are doing as a family. He seemed intrigued and perplexed at the same time, “A handwritten letter?!” I’ll have to check in with him when I see him again to see if he followed through.
