Dear Family & Friends,
What an eventful year we have had here in the Flunderbuck household!
In February, Bob was promoted to a new position in the company, “Assistant to the Assistant General Manager”. We are so proud of him!
Robby is still in scouts and although he had to take some time off due to the burned cricket incident, he is once again back with his pack and tying knots with the best of them.
Suzie is still cheering away. Bob says she’ll be the cutest Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader that ever lived someday. Right now we’re just trying to get her potty-trained, but that’s another story. She’s placed in 3 pageants this year and as soon as she turns 4 she can shoot for the stars at the “Little Miss My Mom Dressed Me Like a 20 year old so she can fill some void in her life Pageant”. We could not be more proud of her!
I am keeping busy with the kids and my knitting. Bob says if I knit him 3 more sweaters, he’ll take me on a cruise! Luau Deck- Here I come!!
Seasons Greetings from our home to yours.
The Flunderbucks ~ 2005
Do you write an annual Christmas letter? Ack. I am debating on writing one for my family and my stomach is swirling just thinking about it. They always seem like brag letters to me, like somehow life has turned into a How Much Cool Shit Can You Do In 1 Year Contest.
“Wanna go skydiving?”
“Hell No”
“You could list it as one of the highlights in this year’s Christmas letter.”
“Oh, what the heck…”
Seriously, tell me you’ve read one of those syrupy-sweet-don’t-you-wanna-be-us letters. If not, I’ll send you a fat stack of them. I’ve actually created a scrapbook from the letters I’ve received over the years. The book is titled “Christmas Past” and I lay it out ever so gently on the good coffee table each & every holiday season for all to see and gag over. My Uncle and his wife continue to hold the title for the most bragging done in one letter. They sent out a hoo-boy-humdinger in 2000 that has yet to be beat but you never know, it could get bumped off this year. It’s doubtful but possible.
I was supposed to write my Christmas Letter today but I wrote this post instead. I’m just not up to it. I feel like I have a lot of cool things to fill my letter with but really- who the hell cares?
What’s your opinion on the whole shebang?
Do you write or loathe Christmas letters… or both?
You have a pc. You have talent. Make it more like a little family newspaper with all the the events as newspaper articles with photos and whatnot. That’s what I am thinking about doing because I don’t really like the family letter thing either but there are so many people in our families we need to share our lives with. Good luck.
Last year I actually contemplated it, until I started writing and no matter how many times I deleted and rewrote it, it still sounded like I was bragging. Not to mention how boring it was. We don’t take trips, but does anyone really care if we did? I had nothing to talk about other than good things that happened - I certainly didn’t want to say, “Well, one more year of living below the poverty level…” LOL
I have only received one family newsletter, and weird…but the parents split up about two months after that Christmas. I do fill in our happenings to my godmother and the great aunts/uncles because they really do want to know….at least that’s what they told me. :wink:
We’ve only gotten one of those and it was from a couple we met on our honeymoon, no kiddo updates, no pictures, just a bunch of ‘look at how much we do’. Which might have been interesting if we really knew them or had heard from them in the previous ten months but, eh.
I love the idea of you doing all kinds of stunts just so you can include them in the newsletter :wink: heh.
If you haven’t read ‘Season’s Greetings to Our Friends and Family!!!’ by David Sedaris, and aren’t easily horrified I totally recommend it. Any newsletter that says things like “Out of nowhere this young woman has entered our lives with the force and mystery of the Swine Flu and there appears to be nothing we can do about it” well, it’s gotta be worth reading.
I never have liked the “Christmas Letter” which is nothing more than a form letter with your name (if you’re really lucky) written at the top. Otherwise to me it’s nothing more than a way to show others how great you think your family is and to hell with everybody else’s. It’s extremely impersonal.
I love getting Christmas cards and I like it when we get the photo cards from family and close friends.
If I was to write a “what we’ve been up to this year,” it would be extremely short because all we’ve been doing is living our lives.
:pleasantry:
I’ve never written a Christmas letter; I barely get cards out the door… The only one our family receives is from a former family member and she continues to send them every year.
Can’t say that I care for those…
I love the new layout! Its so Christmas-y!
Just send everyone the address to your blog…. Then they can see exactly what’s been going on for themselves.
BTW- i love the new design over here….
Both. I like guppyman’s idea. I do my own cards because I do my own photo- and I’m good in the photo department. I usually do a short family update on the inside front. But yeah- maybe I’ll just put my blog address this year. :-) Angie is right, too- only people who can write well should do Christmas letters. Most of them are just yak. Especially when they come year after year from people I can’t even remember anymore.
I could see the point of them before the internet, but now, most people stay in touch on a more consistent basis, and know what each other is up to. Still, although I never really thought of them as brag letters (great point!), I always thought they were impersonal because they usually came from people I didn’t really care that much about.
I’ve only received one in my entire life that I enjoyed, and that was because it was from someone I hadn’t heard from in a long time, but it also made me mad because I thought our friendship deserved more than a stupid Christmas letter.
I’ve sent a couple out, I confess, but not anymore. Everyone I know reads my blog, so what’s the point? Before I blogged, I’d make a Christmas web page.
Love the new design.
I can’t do christmas cards or photos, nevermind the 1001 things we did this year, that you don’t care about letter.
Some of my cousins do that, barf!
My one cousin did a cute one though, they only have one adopted child they are crazy about. They did a picture book of his year, using all four sides of a greeting card, and put a few lines of poetry on each page. Now that was cute.
People are lucky if they get a card from me. I take the time to hand sign “love, annie”. I’m thinking of getting a signature stamp, though.
I used to write letters, but now I just send photos.
:duh:
Just had to try out another one these little fellows.
I have never, ever sent a Christmas letter. To be honest, it’s something that never even occurs to me until I get one. (Luckily, I don’t get that many).
Usually I send a Christmas card with a personal little note, and/or make a phone call.
I have never done one. For the last two years, I have thought of doing a little family newspaper type deal kind of a sense of humor with headlines and pics and stuff. That kind of thing is more me than just a regular bragging type letter. I have good intentions but this year, I just moved and I have no ink for the printer so it ain’t happening this year. Maybe for the new year?
I have never gotten a letter like that. I do get holiday photo cards though. Those can be pretty cute. I’m sure I’ll make photo cards when I have kids.
We got some great ones when I was growing up… there was one family in particular — my sisters & I would fight over who got to open it & read it aloud! My sister did a mock brag letter, just for our immediate family one year. It was hysterical.
Last year I wrote a letter “from my son,” who was 9 months old at the time. I just wrote about what he was up to, from his perspective. People loved that thing. Some are expecting an encore this year. We’ll see. It was fun & easy for me to do, and I sent it with a picture.
They can be well done & fun… but so many people go over the top.
I’ve never written one…probably never will. I just plaster pictures of my kids all over the cards and send money :slaphappy:
The first year I wrote a Christmas letter I reported I had been promoted to “Assistant to the Manger.” I was in charge of spreading new straw over the donkey doo-doo. Nobody congratulated me, so I didn’t write any more
Xmas letters.
No Christmas letters. Maybe I’ll do a Christmas letter blog post this year for those that won’t get physical cards. he he he
I never get a letter that says our daughter Kim has been smoking meth and My husband just got out of AA cuz he lost his job and I have been sleeping with my teenage sons best friend….ect. Now these are the kind of x-mas letters I want to read!
Nope, don’t do the newsletter. We just send a card with a photo.
I’ve seen some cuter ones that are like a newspaper page with different columns for each child and they write their own text. At least those don’t seem so braggy.
PS- LOL, is that fictional family the Smiths or The Flunderbucks?! They seem to change their minds there at the end!
I loathe them with the innermost part of my being. I’ve actually been successful (overall) these last several years but there’ve been some years where I’d sound like Tiny Tim. So I’m glad I’ve never done an annual letter so that people can’t compare them. It would show more ups and downs than the stock market!
Generally, these are big Brag Fests. I know some families that actually think we care enough to get caught up over the entire year, but HEY! If we cared that much, we would’ve been in touch more. You know?
Mary, I ♥ U. Will you be my editor?? That’s what I get for writing a post while I was only half awake. :duh:
The Flunderbucks are all fixed- thanks to you!
Guppyman & Vicki- There are some people I could direct to my blog but others (like the aforementioned Uncle & wife) may be a bit offended.
:eek:
Damn girl..I’m gone for a week and the whole thing goes upside down! Love it
I don’t do letters and barely do cards. I figure if somebody’s not reading my blog or calling me, they’re s**t out of luck on Poopie news. :yahoo:
*note to self: get smilies *
As much I dread writing the holiday letter every year, I can’t seem to tear myself away from the tradition. For 15 years I have done ‘em so far and actually have a copy of every year saved so I can look back and remember what happened that year.
What I find amazing in my review is how my writing has changed. Just like a ten year high school reunion, the letters produced in my late twenties were a total brag. After having kids and suffering a few bumps, my more recent additions to the collection are more humbling.
So, will I write again this year - yeah, why bunk the tradition now…
I have never written a Chritmas letter. I send fewer and fewer cards each year. I actually got my first Christmas card in the mail today. Every year there is one couple that sends a letter so that it assives a day or 2 after Christmas. They always claim it is because they are so busy with loftier than thou pursuits. I think its so no one can top their letter.
i don’t write them and i don’t recall ever receiving one either. i do get some comments in the cards but usually a reference that applies to each of our families, nothing generalized.
Flunderbuck?
What a silly name!
I think holiday letters are the funniest thing ever, and I just wish I got more of them. The braggier they are, the funnier they are. Josh and I wrote one last year, which I immodestly think was pretty dang amusing.
I have a family website if people want to know what is up. Otherwise, I just don’t worry about it.
My uncle does a family newsletter in a different way–it is a long tale of woe. I don’t think that is much better, though
I’ve gotten quite a few, and my Mom has gotten way more than a few. And you’re totally right about them being brag letters. I’ve only seen one that wasn’t a brag. In fact, it was the exact opposite. Rather than talk about all the exagerated greatness in their lives, they wrote about the crap that happend - our hot water heated busted and ruined the carpet, Jr. was suspended from school when he was caught in a stall getting a blow job, the husband got fired for making sexual advances toward a co-worker.
The only things those bragging letters are good for are to share with your friends and have a good laugh.
Every now and then you get a decent update, but most of the time I just want to vomit when I read them. If you have to brag that much, then it’s just a bunch of bullshit. People that don’t brag usually have the most accomplishments in their lives.
I don’t ever send one, but to some people I will put short notes in their Christmas cards, if something big has happened, like someone died…or almost died, or you got divorced and married again, or was in an accident and laid up for months…you know things like that!
As for getting them, some are okay, but I only get about 2. One I like to read, the other is boring! Never had any big braggging ones!
I have always been a Christmas Card nut. Perhaps because my own mother has never sent a card in her life! I have sent letters in the past. I love writing and sending them and also love getting them. But, I can also see in a way how they seem like bragging. If I can get my act together this year, I’d really like to hand write notes in my cards, or at least in some of them. I miss the personalization that used to be in cards.
Love your new layout! I do write a letter each year, but it is strictly about my children. Since I have triplets it is so hard to keep everyone updated on them. So the letter is my way. It is mostly filled with pictures though from throughout the year!
:lovestruck:I want a pretty avatar!!
I love your new design! She did a fantabulous job on it, very creative!
So, how’s about an avatar? Huh huh? (oh look there is a little check box down there.. yippee!)
Missed Ya!
-H :wave:
No Christmas letters here. Maybe I forgot to leave them a forwarding address…
I started a Family news letter for the first time this year…but ummm It is starting to turn into a Novel, so I am not so sure it is a good idea. :winking:
Take care, and GREAT NEW DESIGN!
I have to admit it, hate to admit it, but I used to write a holiday letter. It would have little pictures blended into it. It was pretty sickening, when I think about it.
I just send out a holiday picture card- Seeing how everyone’s grown is enough for most people. Although I’ve always thought it would be fun to write a holiday letter, provided it’s funny. It would have to be entertaining to read and not too braggy. And that’s tough…
I feel the same way about Christmas letters and am having the same debate about whether or not to write one this year. I try to make the main objective a way to catch family and friends up on what’s happening in our lives rather than to brag. It’s a tough call.
I love writing our annual christmas letter - it’s a challenge for it NOT to be a big brag letter. This year we had so much loss and I was short of words so I did a 4 page pictorial and on the last page included memorial photos and a poem for those that we lost this year. A dear friend who is a christmas letter critic enjoys mine so I think I’m doing something right…
Jeesh. :eek: Can I have some of your guests? Huh? Nice Design + Nice Host = Lotsadangcomments.
Me, I don’t do the letter. I have a hard enough time getting the hubby to the portrait studio! You wanna know what we’ve been up to? Read my blog. :razz:
We do receive 2 letters a year though, one of them hoity-toitie, one of them “woe is us, but God is Good”. I think that one is our annual “Lesson Learned by Faith Letter”. Everyone needs one of those, I think!
I’m not big on the “update letters”. I’ve never written one but I’ve received a few of them from one of my sisters, and they always sound so sappy and.. yes… like bragging. If someone it is sent to has had a particularly bad year… it’s just not a good thing. I love getting the family picture christmas cards though.
I used to write one, but I got sick of feeling like I should embellish to make it sound like we had more fun that we did! Now I just create a photo spread on a sheet and have it printed up at Kinko’s and insert it into the card.
Hubby and I pick on the letters we get, too, and have fun with them. (So don’t send us one! You could be the butt of one of our private jokes! This does NOT apply to family members, though, unless it’s some distant,crazy cousin or something.)
Last year we got one that was so bad. No really. We showed it to everyone that came by the house. “We did this…our kids did that…we went here…”
Unfreakingbelievable. This is what I thought it was worth. 
minus one of them. I have never seen such a pretentious letter in all my life. I will scan and send to you. Seriously, you will pee yourself. :duh: 
Those brag letters suck! I don’t like them, but I guess they are a way for family members to brag - I mean communicate with each other across the miles.
I didn’t know I was actually supposed to read those letters. I usually look for a check and throw the rest in the trash.
However, I’m planning to post my own letter later this week or next. It ought to be a hoot. (Whatever the hell that means)
Just because. Fifty. Sheesh.
I don’t write one, everyone reads my blog…what else is left to write?
I hate ‘em, I’ve written ‘em, and this year I’ve set my mind to NOT write one. Although, in my defense, I don’t THINK I brag in mine… but one never knows. Nope, this year, people are getting cards and that’s it.
I have toyed with writing one but every year I chicken out. And I never could quite put my finger on why I didn’t follow through until now.
Thank you for defining it for me.
[...] were talking about our family, as usual, when the subject of my not-so-favorite uncle came up. He and his lovely wife (no, I am not willing to claim her as kin) run a tax accounting [...]