Packages of good cheer.

I came home to the happy sight of packages surrounding my front door. Christmas shopping from work: how it cheers a day up! There was a mystery package that contained something lovely for someone reading right now; a package from Amazon that had a giant 500-piece Lego Bank Raid set for $10. A Woot package with 3 separate 500-piece rescue worker sets for $17 – total. Another Amazon package with kid-tough Fisher Price binoculars ($5), a ginormous Lego plate ($4), and a jumbo 6-color stamp pad ($6).  A Fisher Price Summer Adventure Dollhouse set ($14), a book for Gracie (Smart Girl’s Guide to Understanding and Expressing Her Feelings – $9, but a bargain at any price), and one non-Christmas gift – a Halloween dvd to enjoy with the girls on Friday night. (The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad, if you’re wondering).  Christmas shopping and packages make me happy!

I got a care package last Friday night, too. One from my sister Kim that she meant to have delivered in time for The Weekend when the Ex got re-married, but through unpreventable circumstances (like finding out where the post office was in her new town) was a little delayed in mailing. Even if I didn’t think fate (ka…and The Turtle)(don’t ask) intervened so I got the package when I really needed it most, I would have certainly forgiven her when I saw the bounty that was inside. It might just be my favorite package of all time, guys.

First, there were books. TO BORROW, Kim is yelling from Connecticut. Don’t worry, Kim – I know. If I don’t return these, I may not ever get any more. And you have lots of good books! So they will be returned. She sent the next two in the Olympians series and Toni Morrison’s Mercy. The last one is so I remember who I am. (Not merciful, a Toni fan. Duh.) Just so I would remember who these books (and more importantly, my books) belong to, she sent me pretty, pretty bookplates to put in the front of my favorite books. (I hope she kept a few to put in Under the Dome, Flying Troutmans, and The Song is You, because those are some of my favorite books.)

She sent some comfort food. There is a giant bag of ginger snaps, the good kind that you can soak in milk for three full Mississippis before you take them out and eat them. I’m glad it’s a big bag because Gracie has been eyeing them. She sent me my first. Godiva bar. ever. I’ve always wanted one, but refused to pay $5 for a small bar of chocolate when that same amount could get me a truckload of Hersheys. (It was delicious. Raspberry-filled. Mmmm….) She sent Halloween Peeps, too!  I am waiting for a moment miserable enough so I don’t feel bad eating them all at once. OOH! WAIT! I remember several of you telling me something about peeps and a microwave right after I finished my last Easter Peep. I’m going archive-diving tonight. Screw misery. Ahem.

There were nifty odds and ends like fall-themed scrapbooks supplies and the coolest. postcard. ever. that I am going to frame and put in my craft room. It’s a vintage b&w photo of a dapper looking gentleman next to an antique car that is plastered with “Just divorced” signs. It’s so Ya-Ya, I loved it!

She sent goodies for the girls, too, of course. A Fancy Nancy puzzle for us all to do. I lurve puzzles as much as Kim loathes them. Guess who used to make her do puzzles with her? >This girl!< So now she is encouraging corrupting the younger crowd. (Silly Kim – how is she going to tell the girls no when they beg her to work on puzzles with them when she visits?) And the girls each got a book. Gracie got a Fancy Nancy easy reader book in which the punchline is that the new boy from Paris is from Paris, Texas, not Paris, France. Very apropos. Bee got a book called Daft Bat, in which all of the animals make fun of the bat for seeing things differently. The illustrations of the elephant, rhino, and giraffe all hanging from the tree at the end were enough to make even me giggle.

But my favorite of all wasn’t the magically dissolving capsules that have kept the girls busy the entire time I’ve (pre)written this post or the very nice and sweet things she wrote in the card that made me cry (yes, it was); it was the wine-lovers note cards. Really, it’s a pad of paper that both makes fun of wine snobs and helps you rate the bottles of wine you try so you know what to buy again and have a good laugh. It’s funny to see what you’ve written when you go back (one bottle dominated, dominated, dominated the red wine selection…two points if you get the reference). Plus – it’s an excuse to buy more wine! That’s just what I did Saturday at Costco and I can’t wait to tell you about my first choice.

Seriously guys (not for fake), if you need to cheer up a friend, I highly recommend sending them a package full of love. It doesn’t have to be full of fancy items. Bake them some cookies and send them along. There are days like last Friday when it will be so much what they needed that they will be reduced to tears. Sisters rock. The end.

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Tags: packages, sisters