Seventh Day of Christmas - Christmas Counrt Down


Seventh Day of Christmas - Newsletter Time


Before the advent of the computer and the internet, pen and paper were the only way people separated by distance could communicate with each other. Hand written letters, while time consuming can be a great way to reflect and reconnect with friends and family.  If to write a Christmas Newsletter had been on you 'to do list' or you thought about writing one but never got around to it, then today is the perfect day to start.  It is National Letter Writing Day.




A site I found useful was Chirstmas.lovetoknow.com .  It offered a number of options that will help spark your creativity and make for a fund and interesting read for the recipient.  Some suggestions I liked include:

  • Re-purpose the 12 days of Christmas.
  • Include a traditional family recipe and use the recipe format to write a recipe for a memorable year.
  • Write you letter from the perspective of the family pet
  • Make a quiz asking questions and supplying the answer eg: who go named School Arts Captain for 2017? - Name the person
  • Make it humorous by including jokes or funny incidents that occurred throughout the year.
Remember the Christmas season is about peace, hope and joy so avoid including topics that e controversial such as politics, your finances (problems or windfalls); personal details of grown up children ( they might be embarrassed or want to write their own story) and by giving in-depth details of illnesses.  

Tips for an easy write and read include:

  1. Select a template or paper pack that reflects the theme of your letter
  2. Include some photos of family or special events.
  3. Be brief - keep to one page long
  4. Mail out early so the letter is received for Christmas (perhaps enclosed in a card) 
  5. Ensure you cover the cost of the postage - nothing worse then receiving a letter or gift marked 'postage due".
These are just a few ideas to encourage you to put pen to paper.  I have written a newsletter in the format of the 12 days of Christmas but called it the 12 months of Christmas, documenting the highlights that occurred in our family for the 12 months leading up to Christmas Day.  Do you send out a newsletter and if so do yo have a prescribed format?  Perhaps you think it is all too time consuming and just send an email or Facebook message.  Whatever you do I hope it brings you a sense of satisfaction.

Dairy Dates

Spent the entire day travelling from Bundaberg to Mackay. Stopped in a small provincial city called Rockhampton.  It is home to several statues of various breeds of beef cattle - all of the statues are bulls.  I remember when my brother was attending university in this township he had heard a rumour that one of the challenges for new students was to castrate the concrete bulls and provide evidence of the escapade. Since that time the statues have seen significant reinforcement (steel bars) to their nether regions to help protect from further damage.  Silly University students.  

On the road to Mackay I had the misfortune of having a meeting with the local traffic police.  And no I was not speeding at the time I was pulled over.  My husband had forgotten to re-register the car when we had moved recently.   This was a costly mistake. So, with a 1 day driving permit in my glove box (encase of further encounters with the boys in blue) and $800 less holiday spending money in my pocket I proceeded to Mackay.  A poor mans holiday it will have to be after that hefty fine.

Hope your Seventh day was better thatn mine.  I suppose I should be grateful that we arrived safely, but struggling with that idea right now.
Cheers


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