Wordless Wednesday: Holidays away from family

I've spent a fair amount of time this week wrapping, finding boxes and packing stuff up so I can ship 'em out tomorrow. This is the case pretty much every year - we don't have any family in the area, so all gifts to family (and some friends, too) get shipped out. This stack is a bit smaller than years past, thanks for the fact that I shipped some gifts directly to the recipients and also because I no longer send baked goods to my former places of employment (journalists love coooookkkkiiiieeessss).

But still. It is substantial enough to remind me that we're 1,000 miles away from everyone.

And if you'll excuse me, now that the boxes are ready to go, I must go address all of my Christmas cards ...