The Art of a Thank You Note

Questions I have been pondering: Are Thank You Notes outdated? Does an e-mailed thank you replace a hard copy thank you note? Where did Dawn get those darn cute thank you cards? How did Melissa send out personalized (w/ photos no less) thank you cards the day after the event happened?...
I take pride in writing thank you notes, however, I am human. I have been known to forget them all together or have great expectations to send out "super cute" homemade thank you cards and it never happens. I usually enjoy sitting down to write thank you notes. It allows me to reminisce about what I experienced, who did what or who purchased what gifts. This gives me time to sit and enjoy the experience one more time. Life often runs by too quickly and this alone time lets me take it in at my own pace, with my own thoughts. Example: Wow, what a great friend, she totally went above and beyond or I can't believe she totally gets me and not often, but I must admit I have those moments when I think: I am grateful, but what do I write? You shouldn't have, no really I mean it, you shouldn't have. I am being honest and I am sure we have all had those moments. This is why I am a fan of gift registries. I would prefer to buy you something you want than guess. However, if I take the time to check your registry, I will admit I do watch the mail box for the thank you note that follows. Is this wrong, are my expectations too high? How do you feel about thank you notes? I remember my mom forcing me to write thank you notes as a child and I now want to thank her for giving me what I feel is a great skill to have in my tool box.

I wanted to share this information I found online at The Art of Manliness, http://artofmanliness.com/ Re: Thank You Notes and Men
Gratitude is a virtue every man should cultivate. Yet gratitude means nothing if you haven’t mastered the art of expressing it. A man should use every opportunity to express to those around him how much he appreciates their love, support, and generosity. One of the key ways of expressing gratitude is the thank you note. Unfortunately, many men today completely overlook this aspect of etiquette and consequently, break the hearts of sweet little grandmas everywhere. Every gentlemen should be knowledgeable of the when’s and how’s of writing thank you notes. Being a frequent and skillful writer of them will set you apart from your uncouth peers.

When to write a thank you note:
-When you receive a gift (Especially if the gift is from your Italian grandma. If you don’t write a thank you note, she’ll put the moloch on you.)
-When someone performs an act of service for you.
-When someone goes above and beyond what is asked of them, whether at work or in a friendship.
-After a job interview.
-When you stay overnight at someone’s home.
-If someone shows you around their town or city when you’re vacationing there, regardless of whether you stayed at their home or not.
-When someone has you over for dinner.
-When someone throws a party of event for you.
-Anytime someone does something extraordinary that warms your heart. Don’t be stingy with the thank you note. There’s never a wrong time to write one.

Ground Rules
1. Always write the note as soon as possible. Send it within two weeks of attending the event or receiving the gift.
2. Send it through the mail. Email thank you’s are certainly convenient, but except in response to very small things, they are not appropriate. Some may say, “Well, a thank you is a thank you. Why does it matter what form it takes?” Sending a thank you note through the mail shows effort. It shows that you took the time to put pen to paper, addressed an envelope, and bought a stamp. It’s tangible; they can touch it, hold it, and display it on the mantle. It makes your thank you far more sincere.
3. Use real stationary. Having to run to the store to buy a card every time you need to write a thank you note will make you drag your feet about writing them. So invest in some nice looking stationary. It doesn’t have to be fancy; buy something with a neutral, conservative theme so that the cards can be used for a variety of occasions.

If You Need More Help: How to Write a Thank You Card
1. Begin by expressing your gratitude for the gift/service. You’re opener is simple: “Thank you very much for ______________.” If the gift was money, use a euphemism for it. Instead of “thank you for the dough,” say “thank you for your kindness/generosity/gift.”
2. Mention specific details about how you plan to use a gift or what you enjoyed about an experience. If you are thanking someone for holding an event like a party or dinner, be specific about what you enjoyed about it. If you are thanking someone for a gift, tell the note’s recipient how you plan to use it. This is true even for a monetary gift; tell the giver what you plan to spend it on or what you’re saving for.
3. For some recipients, add some news about your life. This isn’t always appropriate; obviously if you’re writing a thank you note for say, a job interview, you don’t want to tell them how you recently caught a two foot bass. But if you receive a gift in the mail from people who see you infrequently and who would like to know more about what’s going on in your life (read: your grandparents), give a brief sketch about what you’ve been up to recently. You know Aunt Myrtle will love it.
4. Close by referencing the past and alluding to the future. If the person gave you the gift at a recent event, write, “It was great to see you at Christmas.” Then say, “I hope we all can get together again next year.” If the person sent the gift in the mail, and you see them infrequently, simply write “I hope to see you soon.”
5. Repeat your thanks. “Thank you again for the gift,” makes the perfect last line.
6. Valediction. Valedictions are the words or phrases that come before your name. The hardest part of a thank you note is often choosing a valediction that appropriately conveys the level of your relationship with the recipient. “Love” can sometimes seem too gushy and “Sincerely” can seem too formal. If your affections fall somewhere between those two expressions, here are some neutral valedictions that can fit a wide variety of situations and relationships:
Yours Truly
Truly Yours
Kindest Regards
Warmest Regards
Best Regards
Respectfully

Thank you to everyone who takes the time to write out thank you cards and send them via the US postal system. I for one appreciate them and hope to see the trend of parents forcing their children to write thank you notes continue, in the long run it is a useful skill set to have on-hand. I currently have 2 thank you notes sitting on my desk, because I enjoy seeing them. "Natasha yours is one of them, I love the glitter cards and to think you had a liver transplant and still found the time to send out a thank you card!" I hope this post gave you something to think about, taught you something new or encouraged you to appreciate thank you notes.

Cheers,
Crystal

What Dogs Eat

Since we lost George our home has not been the same. However, Indigo felt the quiet and sadness was too much to endure so she went and made herself sick. I have not been motivated to write lately and I am overwhelmed with vet bills. Indigo has just made it back to normal after many days of multiple medicines, trips to doggy daycare and wearing clothes to keep her away from her incision site.


Timeline:


Tuesday, April 26 George goes into the hospital


Thursday, April 28 George comes home


Friday, April 29 George goes back at 9:20pm to be put to sleep


SADNESS BEGINS, Diesel Ann goes into mourning.. House isn't the same without George to greet you and make you smile.


Sunday, May 15 - Something isn't right, Indigo is trying to vomit and keeps coughing.. acting strangely but wants to eat. I consider bloat, but this is different. She is licking the carpet, trying to eat fabric softener sheets and just being weird. We take her in for an 8pm vet appt.


x-rays show staples in her belly, but she can pass those on her own. Leave her overnight for the vet to run a scope down her throat to check it out.


Vet calls at 3:30 AM to tell us there was lots of grass and plant like material down her throat and she was able to pull it all out. Indigo can go home in the morning.


Monday, May 16 Follow-up xray shows staples still in the belly and things have not moved AT ALL. Concerned they want to keep her until 1pm and do another x-ray.


Vet calls in the afternoon and advises nothing has moved, she would like to do exploratory surgery ($$$) that evening. OF COURSE, do what you need to.


9:3pm call comes that she was able to remove a large amount of grass/hair from her stomach. The wad was so large she had to cut a silver dollar size hole in her stomach to pull it out in one batch. They saved it for us in a Ziploc since it was so large and they passed it around the office.






Indigo now begins to recover, she gets antsy and does not want to be in a cage (she has cage aggression), they ask us to take her home early with very close care at home.



Tuesday, May 17 Indigo comes home with MANY meds. Some every 4 hours and others every 2 hours or twice per day. One has to be 30 minutes before the other and one has to be smashed up and another has to be swallowed whole.. I was stressed about what to give when and she could not be left alone. I slept on the couch with Indigo on the floor, so I could hear her move and she could easily make it outside to potty.


Wednesday, May 18 My Dad stays at my house with Indigo (must give meds with all the crazy instructions, i left post it notes everywhere)


Thursday, May 19 My Mom stays at my house with Indigo


Friday, May 20 I stayed home with Indigo


Saturday, May 21-Sunday, May22 Cancel all weekend plans to care for Indigo and keep her quiet at home


Monday, May 23 - Friday, May 27 Drive her to Elk Grove every morning for doggy daycare and make it downtown for work by 7:30am



Friday, May 27 - A good friend comes over and doggy sits so C.J. and I can go out for date night


Saturday, May 28 - Staples are removed and the incision site is a little yucky since some of the skin had grown over her staples. A warm compress must be applied a few times a day to clean it and draw out all the "yuckies" as I call it. Technical term is pus.


Who knew taking care of a dog after surgery would be so intensive. The following week I pieced together dog care for large chunks of time and began to leave Indigo for 1 hour, 2 hour and then 4 hour periods on her own with her thunder vest on to keep the incision site clean and not chewed on.


She is now more or less back to herself, except she has one UGLY scar on her belly and her humans have one NICE vet bill. Also the plant she ate was removed from our backyard!!


Her next big challenge is King's Kastle with Colleen beginning June 30. I call it doggy boot camp and hopefully it will help her gain confidence and learn to play better with other dogs.


As they say, if it isn't one thing it is another. Overall, we are all happy Indigo was able to recover and the house is still in mourning for George.