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Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.

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Speaker 1: Good Morning. This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.

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Speaker 1: Today's tip is to enjoy your holiday cards more. Don't

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Speaker 1: just let the cards you receive pile up in a stack. Instead,

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Speaker 1: approach them mindfully so you can maximize the sense of

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Speaker 1: connection that is so important this time of year. I

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Speaker 1: think most of us do love getting holiday cards, at

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Speaker 1: least in theory. Unfortunately, amid the business of the season,

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Speaker 1: it can be easy to open a card, take a

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Speaker 1: quick glance, and then toss the card in the stack

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Speaker 1: of mail to be dealt with later. The pile grows

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Speaker 1: bigger until you either recycle it or let it fester

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Speaker 1: there well into the new year. Far better to come

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Speaker 1: up with a better process. One idea separate opening holiday

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Speaker 1: cards from processing the rest of the mail. One option

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Speaker 1: is to put cards by the place where you have

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Speaker 1: your morning coffee so you can open them then, or

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Speaker 1: set them on the kitchen table so the whole family

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Speaker 1: can see them together at dinner time. The idea is

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Speaker 1: to come up with a time when you can actually

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Speaker 1: focus on the cards themselves. Then, when it is that time,

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Speaker 1: really look at the photos, read any handwritten messages, which,

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Speaker 1: by the way, you should always include in any cards

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Speaker 1: you are sending. It really doesn't take much more time.

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Speaker 1: Take a minute to reflect on the people sending the card.

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Speaker 1: If you are opening the card with family members, you

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Speaker 1: can talk about your memories of the people who sent

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Speaker 1: the card and tell stories to younger family members who

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Speaker 1: might not know these people so well. Then figure out

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Speaker 1: a way to display the cards. There are lots of

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Speaker 1: great ideas floating around on the internet for doing this.

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Speaker 1: Some people use clothes pens to clip them to a

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Speaker 1: garland or to a ribbon strung around a door or

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Speaker 1: across the mantle. Some people make a holiday card wall,

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Speaker 1: either on a bulletin board or somewhere else like a

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Speaker 1: closet door where you pass by frequently but don't have

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Speaker 1: some sort of art that is already taking up space.

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Speaker 1: Looking at this wall and the smiling faces of your

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Speaker 1: loved ones can become a favorite part of your day.

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Speaker 1: But even if you're not going to do that, you

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Speaker 1: might create a particular basket or bull for the cards

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Speaker 1: so they don't just wind up wadded in among the

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Speaker 1: bills and catalogs where you have to sort through them

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Speaker 1: again as you deal with those. In any case, it

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Speaker 1: is good to be reminded of all the people in

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Speaker 1: our lives and all the people we care about and

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Speaker 1: who care about us. Over the past two years, we've

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Speaker 1: probably seen a lot less of these people in person.

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Speaker 1: Holiday cards are a way to stay connected to folks

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Speaker 1: that we don't see that often, so they are worth

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Speaker 1: treating with a bit more care and enjoying them a

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Speaker 1: bit more. Then say that. Add for your local pest

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Speaker 1: control place that also came in the mail. In the meantime,

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Speaker 1: this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's to making

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Speaker 1: the most of our time. Hey everybody, I'd love to

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Speaker 1: hear from you. You can send me your tips, your questions,

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Speaker 1: or anything else. Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook

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Speaker 1: and Instagram at Before Breakfast pod that's b the number four,

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Speaker 1: then Breakfast p o D. You can also shoot me

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Speaker 1: an email at Before Breakfast podcast at i heeart media

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Speaker 1: dot com. That Before Breakfast is spelled out with all

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Speaker 1: the letters. Thanks so much, s, I look forward to

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Speaker 1: staying in touch. Before Breakfast is a production of I

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