Brought to you by An Post.

The countdown is officially on.

Now that we are well into November, we can finally go full throttle with our Christmas plans and general excitement. It won't be long 'til the decorations are going up and the Christmas cards are coming through the letterbox. There are a few cards every Irish family is guaranteed to receive every year. Some of these might sounds familiar... The passive aggressive older relative A classic. No doubt a great aunt will get in touch over the course of Christmas to let you know she can't believe 2016 is almost over already (while she subtly drops in that she didn't get the chance to see you at all this year). Cue impending guilt. The arts and crafts show off Someone will always go all out and make their Christmas cards from scratch. This person most likely started crafting back in October and has worked their little fingers to the bone coming up with a colour scheme and design for their Christmas card bonanza. Don't worry if you don't spot a homemade card straight away, they're sure to tell you. The life story These people shy away from the usual 'Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year' greeting. That's much too vague. Instead, they will spend a solid 20 minutes detailing every aspect of their year using both sides of the card. Brownie points if they throw in a few pics too, that's a solid effort. The 'picture perfect' family You know the ones. The family that decided to take their card game to another level and create a whole Christmas portrait for the occasion. They're usually the picture perfect family of achievers subtly reminding us all that they are still winning at life. The Granny Grannies love a Christmas card and you can always count on her to send everyone in your family one in the run up to Christmas. She's usually on the ball and always has them sent a few weeks before the big day. There might even be the odd tenner tucked in for good measure. A 'holiday friend' Your parents met them on holidays in 2008 and have been sending them Christmas cards every year since. You don't know much about them except they're from Manchester and like Tenerife as well. Still, there's no way your mum will stop sending them an annual Xmas card before they do. This article is brought to you by An Post. Make sure you post your Christmas cards sent on time this year. You can find out the final days for posting here.