February and March are birthday months in our house. Within a period of 5 weeks, I will have baked 3 cakes, purchased 6 dozen cupcakes, 3 ice cream cakes, 6 dozen balloons, and stuffed about a thousand little plasticky non-chokable goodies into bags. Now, I do realize that I am not the only mom that puts forth the valiant effort to ensure that her precious angels pass out from a sugar coma after a full day of celebration, but somehow, I truly believe I deserve some sort of recognition, praise, or a shopping splurge after this annual extravaganza.
So, what IS my reward? I have the PRIVILEGE of writing out 100 thank you cards. Perhaps I'm being ungrateful. I guess I should be feeling warm and fuzzy over the fact that my children are the objects of such affection that we now have zero sight of the hardwood floor that exists under the mountains of toys that litter the ground. But back to the cards...
I love a present as much as the next girl but I would MUCH rather buy it myself than write a thank you card. Oh well, what must be done, must be done. At least it's an excuse to take a trip to my favorite stationer, Mrs. John L. Strong, and peruse the aisles for a new stash of thank you notes. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the brand, feel free to check out their website at http://www.mrsstrong.com/ . They are one of a dying breed of stationers that employ old world techniques, including hand engraving of their dies and plates, hand bordering of each card, hand lining of every envelope and hand finishing of every item they produce.
So, in case your asking yourself exactly how much all this involved "handy" work will set you back... Well, it ain't cheap. Roughly $125 for a set of 20 cards with coordinating envelopes. It must be the masochist in me that jumps at the opportunity to spend hundreds of dollars to complete a chore I put right up there with cleaning out the garage. But, for some strange reason, when I sit down to write out a thank you on a Mrs. Strong card, my pen glides smoother, the words come easier and the time passes quicker.
I think I once heard that surrounding yourself with beautiful things makes all of life's efforts easier. It could very well be that I said that, because I DO believe it to be true.
So, here's to my beautiful children and Mrs. John L. Strong.
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