By MARTA GOUGER

mgouger@tnonline.comAs of this writing I have received one Christmas card.And I've mailed out one less than that.As recent as four years ago, I would send 50 cards, with a complete letter of all the happenings in our family.The next year I was kind of busy so we just sent cards without letters.The following year we revived the letter, but emailed it to all our friends and relatives, without a card.Last year I had a lot to say: We bought a house and sold our previous one, I went on a mission trip to Appalachia and I changed jobs.That was the ultimate letter I didn't bother to write.This year I didn't even think about it.Yes, folks, the computer not only changed our lives, but it changed etiquette and I'm afraid it's forever.Hey Emily Post, meet Facebook, where you can "talk" at everyone without talking to anyone.One of my Facebook friends posted this message last night: "To all my families and friends... Sorry to say no Christmas cards this year. The time has gotten away from me and Christmas is closing in fast. So much to do, so little time, but want to take the time from our family to yours to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year."That's it. A couple keyboard motions and you're done. I've done it myself, I must admit.I even posted sympathies to a friend who lost her father. I meant to send a card, but I never got around to it.I "celebrated" my birthday last Saturday. I received two cards in the mail and 56 posts wishing me a great day on Facebook. That included my sons.Not everyone was so impersonal though.My brother, my sister-in-law and a few co-workers texted me. My brother followed up with a phone call.Two of my very best friends took the time to call. One left a message and I haven't made time to call her back.Thank goodness my husband was close by to pull my ears. It's his family tradition to pull the ears of the birthday girl one time for each year, plus one to grow.I survived, but it was weird not having a conversation with anyone.To set the record straight, I am not hung up on my birthday.Frankly, at this age, it would be better if no one remembered.But it made me think about the world today.When we want to talk to someone, we no longer pick up the phone and dial.We reach for our smartphones and send a text or email. Or we open a window on Facebook and chat with someone who is our "friend" but we've never actually met.Instead of getting up to have a conversation with the person across the room, we send an email. Then we surf the Internet for diet tips because we gained weight because we were too lazy to get up.There is a glimmer of hope. When we posted a question on Facebook to ask people if they were sending Christmas cards, we had 19 people responding that they were. Some were sending as many as 200. Many are sending Christmas photos of their pets, which sparks an idea for another column.Well, it's time to wrap this up. I need to sign in to my Facebook account to invite my brothers over for Christmas dinner.