The Halloween stuff is in the stores...time to buy Thanksgiving holiday cards!

I always know when it's time to pick out our company Thanksgiving cards.

The day I see the Halloween stuff on the shelves at my local Target (pronounced Tar je', of course!) is the day I need to get my act together and pick out some Thanksgiving cards to send to clients, customers, vendors and employees.

Why do I start so soon? After all, Thanksgiving is still a couple of months away. I start now, because between now and early November when I mail the cards out, I have to:

• Pick out a card
  
• Double check our address lists
  
• Come up with a total for the number of cards to order (and the extras to order for all those last minute changes and additions to the list!)
  
• Deal with employee schedule changes because of kids going back to school
  
• Decide on the signature for the cards
  
• Decide on the changed signature for the cards (no, these things never get done in one step...you know it's true!)
  
• Continue to do my regular job here at work
  
• Order the cards
  
• Pick out Halloween costumes for the kids (work/life balance, remember?)
  
• Address all the cards
  
• Make sure everyone's annual performance evaluations are on schedule (life at work goes on!)
  
• Add personal signatures to most of the cards (remember, signing by hand makes a big difference, especially to customers!)
  
• Mail the cards
  
• Deal with any card returns, including looking up new addresses and send out a fresh card (no re-sends, people!)
  
• Plan a Thanksgiving feast for 20 picky relatives (back to that work/life balance issue -- one brain, lots of tasks!)
  
• Send out the three or four dozen last minute Thanksgiving cards managers, salespeople and others forgot to request.

And all of this has to be done by a week before Thanksgiving AT THE LATEST!! Doesn't seem too early to start now, does it?

Gobble, gobble! Off to get started!