I freely admit it. I have a somewhat warped sense of humor. I just can’t help myself - I’d not only label myself as cynical, but I typically take enjoyment in finding things funny that other people generally wouldn’t. If something is a clear violation of being politically correct you could pretty count on me laughing over it. It’s just part of my personality and it’s something that I can’t avoid - I find humor in most situations (it keeps me young and healthy).

This, of course, usually has the unfortunate side effect of landing me in some hot water with the family when it comes to proper etiquette. Such was the case with this year’s holiday card.

Here’s the scoop: This year (ok, the last 2 years), Liz and I opted to take the easy way out and just do one of those ‘digital picture cards‘ from Costco for the 50 or so holiday cards we were sending out. Since everyone always sends some serious card (how boring) I thought it would show more holiday spirit to send a picture that I deemed as ‘fun’. I chose what I thought was a funny picture - nothing to crazy, just a self portrait of Liz, Tyler and I that I took while holding the camera about an arms length away. Of course, this always yields a somewhat weird angle (and I made a strange face), but the picture was generally "fun".

Being quite pleased with the results, I took a digital copy over to Costco, had the cards make up and gleefully sent them out (yes, I even printed labels so I didn’t have to write anything). Well, let me just say that the family didn’t quite understand or appreciate my good sense of humor. My parents (as were other relative’s apparently) weren’t as pleased with it as I was.

Come on! It wasn’t like I took a picture of my rear end with the words "Happy Holidays" written on each cheek, yet, somehow I seemed to offend them.

While my first reaction was to completely ban all holiday cards next year, now for some strange reason, I feel compelled to make next years card even more "special". I can’t wait to see what I brew up.