Christmas card nightmare

It all started on picture day a couple weeks back when I was frantically running around looking for my son's white shirt that never appeared. So we had to go and buy one on the way to the beach. But let me back up. I was taking the kids to the beach solo because David was helping over at the Sertoma tree stand (I should have known better than to attempt this by myself).

Well when we started out it was overcast and by the time we got on the way it started raining. We waited it out but by that time the sun was going down. Trying to get all three kids to look at the camera and smile (all together) was a lot of fun. After telling Harrison to stop squashing his neck into his shoulders a dozen times, I finally gave up. I still got some good pictures (or so I thought).

When I uploaded them and tried printing them out on my printer they were all fuzzy looking. So I took them to CVS quick print and when they printed out they were better but had a slight purple shadow. So I sent them over to Ritz and they turned out good enough to use. Not the best ever but, oh well.

So then I designed my own Christmas card in Photoshop in a 4 x 8 design because that is what size Ritz prints their Christmas cards. Well come to find out, Ritz only does the standard sizes (4x6, 5x7, etc.). So I had to redo the whole thing in a 5 x 7 format. Now this would not be a big task for someone very proficient in Photoshop. But for me, a beginner at best, it was a bit challenging. But, I did learn quite a bit about the program while doing this card.

So anyhow, I got the card all ready and I sent it over to Ritz to print. When I picked up the card, I decided the picture looked a little dark, so I lightened it up (meaning I had to redo the whole thing) and sent it over to print. This was Monday evening. Keep in mind that Ritz is suppose to be a one hour processing center. Midday Tuesday, I went over to Ritz to pick up my pictures. When I got there, I was told that my pictures were in the que to be printed when the machine broke. They thought it might be ready that afternoon but they would call me. So I went home and didn't hear from them. On Wednesday, I went to the store around noon and found out that my prints still were not done. The photo technician said if I wanted to print them in glossy (rather than matte), she could have them ready in 15 minutes. So rather than have to come back later, I agreed. I returned 45 minutes later to find out that they STILL had not been printed. By this point it was time to pick Harrison up from school so I told them that if I had to come back, I would prefer them to be printed in matte and just to call me when they were done.

Fast forward to Wednesday evening. I call the store and they tell me that my pictures are done. Keep in mind that this is the 4th time in two days that I have been to this store and stood in a very long line. I finally get my pictures and I am sure you have guessed it by now. They were printed wrong. On glossy paper and the prints were not even trimmed.

By this point I was pretty irritated about the whole situation and I guess the manager sensed that my boiling point was near. I wanted to have them reprinted in the matte finish but he said they were so far behind it would be another day and instead he gave me my money back and the prints.

So although the prints are not what I ordered and they doe not look as nice in the glossy finish as the matte finish, they were free. And they are on there way. So that is one less thing to do before Christmas. And that is a good thing.

So here is the infamous Christmas card.