If she had the proper words to say,

posthaste, I found a little something for you today. I'll mail it later next week. :-)

I am so blessed. Can I just tell you how blessed I am?

On the fifth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me... the new LeAnn Rimes CD
On the sixth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me... a stainless steel, 1.5-quart pot with glass lid that strains itself.
On the seventh day of Christmas, my true love gave to me... Titanic on DVD.

I've been looking and looking for another small pot. I wanted one like the smallest one I had, for there are lots of times when I just need something little to heat up a single can of veggies. I've not had luck finding just that size, however; usually the perfect small pot only comes in a set with eleventy billion other pots and sizes. What a surprise for Philip to gift me with such a spiffy small pot today! And he went ahead and gave me tomorrow's gift as well, since he was afraid he might not be able to get out for shopping tomorrow - sweet. We've had Titanic on VHS for years (we bought it the night it came out, in fact!), but the tapes are old and worn (um... I've played them a LOT!). It is so nice to replace them with DVDs. And I *love* LeAnn Rimes and have most of her stuff. I swear, I sing "Nothing Better to Do" all the time lately!

And I forgot to include it before, but he also gifted me with two big, juicy pomegranates on one of the other days. Mmmmm!

While opening the packages of Christmas gifts from his parents to put under the tree, we found an unwrapped pair of snazzy Santa socks. I'm sure they're for me - socks!

And then this morning, a box was delivered while I was making pie. It came directly from PartyLite®, and it contained a selection of yummy candles:

- one dozen tealights in Cinnamon & Bayberry
- one dozen tealights in Holiday Spices
- one box of ScentPlus™ Square votives in French Vanilla
- Aroma Melts™/Tealight sampler, including six different scents (one melt and four tealights each)

We dumped out all the packing peanuts but found no note or slip in the box anywhere. Nothing was on the front tag, either. I've got an idea that happysmiles01 might be my secret Santa in this one... *wink*

We also received four Christmas cards today, including ones from 1grl_revolution, devi_pavarti, and posthaste. Thank you all!

The doorbell rang this afternoon, and I opened the door to find a small brown box on my stoop. I picked it up, inspected it, and thought, "Whaaa???"

(I think in italics to myself, you see...)

I opened the box and was delighted to find all varieties and sorts of warm, cozy and super-soft socks inside! I scoured the box for some message or note and finally figured out my mysterious Mrs. Claus - none other than scarletharlot52! Thank you so much, girlie!

I really just can't believe it. An entire box of perfectly perfect socks. A Box o' Socks. And everyone knows, a good sock warms both the foot and heart. :-)

Thank you!

I've been thinking a lot lately. Probably moreso than is good for my little mind, but it's hard to turn it off sometimes, too.

In unrelated news, I'm now married to "an older man." Philip turned 28 on Tuesday, and for eight blissful weeks, I can taunt him with being so much older than me. He's still just as sexy, though - maybe even more than he was ten years ago. :-)

I worry about my tatted gifts sometimes. I don't mail them in the safest of ways - usually tucking them into an envelope with a small note of some sort. Occasionally I use a padded envelope if the piece is a larger one, but not often. But I really worry about them after I mail them because I'm so afraid that someone will think I've mailed cash or something (the pieces are very light, but they put a certain bit of... I don't know, soft-ish bulk in the shape of the envelope). And so I worry from the moment the piece leaves me until I hear from the recipient that it has arrived intact.

Big worries, small worries - that's me. As JCPenney says, "It's all inside."

I put a lot of mail lovin' in the post today. Keep an eye out, _stacy, lesliepear, and poohbaby. I also mailed a birthday gift to my nephew, but he won't see this anyway. ;-)

And speaking of mail, here's a freebie list for the last few days. ( Click. )

My babysitter backed out this morning for tonight. Tonight was to be my first meeting with the Shuttlebugs. I called for about an hour this afternoon, trying to find a substitute, and then I called for another 45 minutes later. I couldn't find anyone. I called the contact person for the group, but she said, "Absolutely not - no children allowed." She was very nice in saying it, and I understand her reasons, but I was so very disappointed to miss the meeting.

I had to get off the phone suddenly with her because my doorbell rang, and it's just as well - I had started to tear up, and I really didn't want my voice to betray me. It's so silly, really, but I don't guess I had realized how much I'd been looking forward to meeting this group for the past few weeks until I was faced with knowing I couldn't make the meeting. I'm happy with what I've made so far - I really am - but by the same token, I also feel very stifled, and I so anxiously want to learn more. This group only meets once a month, and the next meeting is the night before school starts up again, and I'm already afraid I won't be able to make it to that one, either. So in not making tonight's meeting, I really feel as if I'm putting a halt on progress for at least another two months. :-( And so I sniffled a little bit for a minute or two, wiped my eyes, and picked up the phone to call Heather.

And she was just the ticket. We talked for almost two hours, and by the time I got off the phone, I felt much better about everything in general.

I walked out to the mailbox and received a much-needed pick-me-up there, too. After a slow weekend, I had a box chock full of goodies:

- sample of Monistat® Chafing gel
- Eat Better™ ring
- sample of Goody's® Cool Orange™ headache powder
- Whiskas® Purrfectly Fish + bonus cat treats
- my Slytherin earrings (which arrived in a cute, gold drawstring bag)

But the very best thing was a bright yellow envelope addressed to me from Brian. He drew a little cartoon across the front of the envelope, and I giggled when I saw that he wrote 'Sealed with Awesomeness!' across the lick-and-seal in the back. Inside was a very cute Hallmark card (he cares enough to send the very best) of a turtle and a snail, and it was a "Hope you're back on your feet again soon" kind of card. He wrote a funny, sweet message inside as well, and he continued with more cartoons on the outside of the card, as well as adding "speaking bubbles" to each character. It made me laugh, smile and then smile more - the special smile of knowing that someone cared enough to go to such trouble.

And it arrived at the perfect time. As I've said before, I love the Bri. :-)

(Speaking of which, do you remember when that pic was taken, Brian? I have it in 'random' in my images, and not sorted by date as per the usual. And I can't find where I posted it in your journal, either...)

There has been and will be lots of mail this week. Since I have a love affair with my mailbox, this is an especially good thing!

What has already come:

- a shiny mixed CD of cool songs from mostcurious
- a box containing 11 miniature Coca~Cola cars and trucks from mix3d3m0ti0n5
- a long and lovely penpal card from kpnut
- a bix box of goodies from my mom

What is still coming:

- a box of Hugs from amenquohi (thanks for the tip, sdaisyk!)
- a bookmark from dstroy
- an order from BookPlanet Book Club
- an order from Children's Book-of-the-Month Club

And because mail is reciprocal, I need to mail out the following tomorrow:

- a box to my mom
- a package to gardenmama
- pictures to Philip's mom

Serious biz, I think my right hand is going to fall off. I've been sitting here for about two hours, labeling the backs of the pictures we picked up earlier today. I'm done now, but holy cow - owwie.

I've also kept the computer quite busy while I was working. hypnotiq and mionemione - be on the lookout for packages in the very near future! :-)

I received a surprise package in the mail from my friend cleddy today! She mailed me a package in December, while we were on vacation, but by the time we received it, the contents had been ripped open and were missing. I was so surprised to receive a second package today, along with a note: "I hope this makes it to you safely this time!"

She'd written on the other package that she'd seen this keychain, and it had immediately made her think of me. I couldn't figure out what it could be, but as soon as I opened today's package, I knew what she meant. I was grinning from ear-to-ear for the next ten minutes, I'm sure.

Thank you so much, sweetie! I love them both!

( And a picture for the curious... )

The best part about getting surprises in the mail, whether it's a package, card, letter - anything, really - is that it means you are not alone. Someone was thinking of you at a special point in time, and that just makes the world feel a little bit cozier. :-)

*squeee*

A package is on the way to me from the UK! The lovely yorkybar has bought and mailed to me Movies in Fifteen Minutes, by Cleolinda Jones - literary comedienne of LJ, due to her fame from m15m. I am so excited! The book is not yet available in the US, but she helped a gal out and picked one up for me.

I can't wait!