A Moment of 'Christmas' - A second wind of Birthday

When I got home today, I found a package by my door. My excitement grew. I love packages. :) Well, as long as they are good packages - not some bomb or something. Not that I've experienced that and not that I plan to. But packages in the mail are always fun. But, after a brief moment, I double checked to make sure it was mine because my old roommate still gets stuff here. Sure enough it was mine.

No pictures today, folks (but apparently, I'm a "picture crazy" "ant" ;) Thanks B! LOL). I thought, after the fact, this story would have made a good picture . This time, you get to picture this on your own.

So here goes ... picture this...

I walk to my room to open the package. To sit and enjoy the experience. The bed is made. There are a few clothes lying on the bed. Ok, more than just a few, but not a big pile. I'm sitting on the bed, with a reddish - maroonish coloured long sleeve t-shirt on and a pair of jeans. My socks are brown with an orange flower on them. I'm sitting cross-legged. My hair has a couple clips in it, holding my hair back, almost in a half pony tail. Silvery clips with sequins. It is dreary-looking outside - it seems to be snowing. (Oops, I said the 's' word). Because it's darker outside, my bedroom light is on.

I am a little eager in opening the package. Afterall, by then I had read who it was from and knew it was a present for me. :D I remember a text message from my niece a few days ago asking me what my favourite colour was so I wondered what thing might be orange. :D Thanks K. :D At first I start with care. I snip a corner with a small scissor with orange handles (do you get a theme?), making sure not to cut any contents. Then, I stick my finger in the hole and rip. It is easy at first. Then there is some resistance, so I rip ... hard! In an eager fashion. And there is dust everywhere! It looks like a mouse nest. Seriously! Shredded recycled paper bits. And every time I reach into the package to take out another item, I get more dust all over me and the bed. As I pull out each item, I also am brought back to when I lived in Australia. Christmas in Australia.

When I was in Australia, my family and my small group sent me my birthday presents by mail in boxes (one from each). I had fun pulling out each item, reading the notes and enjoying a laugh by remembering special times. Or smiling at memories or the thoughts that went into the notes and the presents. It was exciting. It was fun. And I also was alone. Not in a bad way. But I lived far away from family. So, there was a bit of nostalgia. A sense of missing my loved ones. And a sense of being loved, knowing they took the time to put something together to send to me. Back then, I was experiencing Christmas in summer time. No snow to be seen. Beautiful green trees like today. Maybe on a day similar to today - well, maybe not - a little hotter perhaps. :D Particularly becaue today, we have sleet, or dare I say the 's' word???

Back to today. The bearers of gifts know me well. They know I like chocolate. Dark chocolate in fact. I find 4 different kind of dark chocolate bars. One I am especially eager to taste - Cherry-Chilli-Chocolate. I am curious. I also find Clod Hoppers, Lindt chocolate, and fizzy Mini-Eggs - these should be interesting too. The orange thing is a bright orange stress ball with a happy face on it. :D There is also a book by a well-known inspirational speaker and a set of encouragement cards. And each of my nieces sent me a picture they drew together with a page of rainbow stickers. Their characters are so evident in the pictures, and I smile, remembering the good times with them. The card has one of my favourite verses, Phil. 1:3 - "I thank my God every time I remember you". It's a good verse when loved ones are far away. And it brings me back to the time I received a note from a friend with this verse inside. The good old days. The front of the card has a little chiding in it - "Youth is the gift of nature, but age is a work of art" - chiding in that I'm aging but also beautiful, in that that aging is a beautiful thing - a work in progress, a wonderful piece of art. The card shows love, both in the card chosen and in the note inside. Thanks C for your thoughtfulness! Thank you all for everything!

With the final reach into the bag to make sure I got everything, I accidentally rip it further - I never knew a mail envelope could look so much like a mouse nest. Or the remains of one. I sit there laughing. My shoulders shaking. My laugh - according to my mom - like a tire rolling down the hill. The mouse nest is everywhere! I will need a vaccuum cleaner to clean up the mess. Then, I pick it up to close it, and accidentally puff more. How is this possible??? There are apparently 2 layers of mouse nest! So, now, it is sitting next to my garbage can. I plan to show the bag to my cousin when she arrives in a couple minutes. We seem to find similar things funny and she is not feeling very well - maybe a good laugh will do her some good. And, maybe we'll share a little chocolate while we watch a movie. In the mean time, I should find some supper. So I don't just eat chocolate for supper.