Yay! Another AZ crafter! I thought it was just @lindyv321 , @steiconi , my DIL @mckenziehirsche96 and me!
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As did I! Thanks, Pam!
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Aw, I got kitty tea too. Perfect day for it as I’m recovering from a small procedure & can use the comfort. Thank you 
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I know we don’t have to acknowledge when we receive but I have to say it’s a little unsettling when I sent 16 cards and/or postcards the last two months and only know of 6 being received. I wonder if the other 10 ever arrived or did they get lost.
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I get that feeling a lot too.
I’m sure the post is more reliable than that.
It makes me wonder how hard it is, in these times with unlimited access to all kinds of communication devices, to find time to type two words (thank you).
I really do put a lot of personal attention, love and effort into what I send out.
No, it’s not an obligation, of course it isn’t. But come one.
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Especially international mail can still be unreliable. I’ve received letters from the US in less than a week but some have taken more than a month. So I would not exclude the possibility that some have not arrived yet.
Personally I prefer to reply with a card or letter (and share an overview post here every now and then with a picture of all I’ve received) but at some point I became overwhelmed with all the mail I needed to reply to. I’m almost caught up now, and I get less mail now so hopefully I won’t fall behind again.
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I’ve been having a similar feeling about a batch I sent internationally in July. I’m not sure if things have just been super slow or they got lost. I try to post about all happy mail I receive but I’m sure I’ve probably missed one or two along the way when I’ve gotten busy with life. I’m trying to not let it affect my desire to send happy mail but it does take a bit of the excitement out of it not knowing if what you sent ever arrived. But I definitely don’t want to make anyone feel like they have to acknowledge though since the only requirement for happy mail, in my book, is to smile when you open it 
I just made a small batch of happy mail for the first time since July and am planning to make a few more before sending them all out.
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I try to let people know when I receive, too, as soon as I can. Sometimes I am busy, and I just let myself post a thank you and not a picture, but they are all treasured!
I, also, haven’t sent happy mail in a long minute, but hope to send at least a few this month.
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I am terrrrrribly behind on sending happy mail and I know I’m behind in acknowledging some. This past week I had just about zero free time and am catching up on my self care and my other to-do items… 
I have everything newly received set aside so I won’t forget. I think there is something from @Cindy and @Amfkinney. I’ll try to properly thank everyone after I check the mailbox for all the mail that’s (probably) piled up this week 
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Okay… I’m going to get on a little soapbox for a moment.
While I completely understand wanting to know our mail has been received I want to remind everyone that Happy Mail shouldn’t feel like an obligation, for either senders and receivers. This is not a swap and shouldn’t feel like one! There are a lot of people that signed up for the craftalong since we started in February and some people have dropped off for a variety of reasons. Some we know about, but some we don’t. Life happens.
If anyone is concerned about Happy Mail being received I’d suggest sending the recipient a message to check in, but if you don’t hear back try to forgive and forget. If it’s important to know something was received then you can privately keep track of who’s active in the thread, who posts thank yous, pictures, etc, and choose to only send to those people.
I’m not going to ask everyone to check-in after signing up but if someone asks in the thread or through messaging I will cross them off the list in the first post. Otherwise they stay up.
I like knowing my mail has been sent to someone that will be happy to receive it. If they thank me, great! If not then that’s ok too. Because I believe it brightened their day. I, personally, have stopped keeping track of who’s acknowledged receiving because I’m much happier sending and letting it go.
Going forward for next year I’m open to ideas & suggestions for running this differently (I already have a few ideas…). Maybe everyone can “sign up” once every three months or so and I’ll update the participants list more often? I’d be open to doing it every few months, but not more often than that (unless someone else wants to take over!). We could also have monthly check-ins to see who’s still active and everyone can decide from there who they want to send to? (I’d be happy to start check-ins this month if wanted) Let me know your ideas! I truly want Happy Mail to be Happy for everyone 
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I would appreciate a new sign up every month or so if that worked? I love the mail, I do, it’s awesome & such a boost to get happy news and cards. It’s a fun exchange when I’ve got time to devote to it but I can’t keep the pace up non-stop.
I did have a bit of a tricky time going on pause for the summer, I’m not sure anybody is reviewing the intro posts anymore, lol. The deliveries got lighter but never stopped completely. Thankfully our mail box didn’t get stuffed when we were out of town, whew! And I loved every card that did come in, thank you all
It would be good being able to officially sign in & out going forward. You’re awesome for thinking this through so carefully @Reinikka
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Personally I like the current format and wouldn’t change anything else I think it might start to feel more like a swap.
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I also kind of like that it’s not like a swap, that there are no expectations. I have a pretty bad memory so I don’t even completely remember who I sent mail to, so that helps 
Whenever someone posts a picture it’s a little reminder “oh, I remember I made that card, so that’s who I sent it to!” . I keep track of enough things in my professional life, I lack the energy to track this as well.
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I think the current format is fine.
And when I send out Happy Mail, I don’t expect anything in return, other then some small kind of acknowledgement (which, if you’re short on time could read just the two words ‘thank you’).
When I receive Happy Mail, the first thing I do is open it and lay it next to my computer. As soon as I have a few minutes, I send the sender(s) a personal message, thanking them.
Now, I’ve got more time than others, so I go into details, thanking for every single item I got and then I post in this thread too, but I totally understand other members not finding time for that. I don’t even post pictures of what I got, since that would take too much time, even for me.
But just sitting down for a minute, or a few minutes, in case you got more than one piece of mail, sending a simple ‘I got your Happy Mail. Thank you!’ seems like a basic to me.
If you cannot find time for that, how on earth can you find time to send Happy Mail?
No, it’s not a swap. But we (senders) all put in love, time and effort, and we (receivers) are all kind and thankful people, right?
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I really appreciate what you wrote here. There is so much going on in my life that it kills me that I don’t even have time to post photos of what I receive , let alone a thank you. But I do try my best. I can understand wanting to know if the mail you sent was received but it is heartening to know that it’s not a requirement for the happy mail.
I did receive a beautiful letter from kittykill last week. Thank you.
Just an update on life here: How school is going to work for my 17 and 19 yo is still up in the air. My brother came to visit again last week and just left on Sunday. DH’s chemo/radiation is over (Thank you, G-d!), and he’s now receiving amino / immunio therapy every week. Unfortunately , we just found out that his bearded dragon has the same cancer DH did or leukemia. We meet with the exotic vet dr on Friday.
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Okay, I confess I’m one of the persons who hasn’t posted in here for a while and hasn’t thanked you all properly for the happy mail that I have received lately. And I feel really bad about that. I apologize to you, @madebyBeaG and @Cindy for not having said thank you adequately in a timely manner 
I received from @kittykill, @Amfkinney, @GeekyBookworm and @LadybugsAndBees a couple of days ago - thank you so much! And thank you, @Magpie for the beet root card - l love it.
Now I don’t want to go into detail and explain why I haven’t posted regularly for a while. It makes me sad that I haven’t managed to make any July or August cards to send to you because I so want to. I’m waiting for the day when I can sit down and send out happy mail to you all again but atm I’m unable to (for several reasons). I have always loved this craftalong ever since I signed up for this in February (or March).
I’m sure I’ll be back in the game some day soon and send out happy mail again.
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If people are going to be offended that I can’t thank them individually for receiving mail, then please take me off the list. I do not presently have the bandwidth to deal with this like a swap, and that it’s not regulated or presented like one is the only reason I signed up in the first place. While I will occasionally have time & mental capacity to mail out random things, it is not consistent, mainly due to factors outside of my control, and having to keep track of a stack of mail until I have the time and brainspace to make a list of who has sent to me is one more stressor in an already unnecessarily stressful time.
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