My Winter Doldrums Package Went on a Bender

So The Winter Doldrums Dishcloth Swap was my first exchange. It was very fun to get to know Cetta and put together a package for her and to have a Secret Partner who mailed such nice notes to me and made my weeks in the swap very enjoyable. Then she sent me an email letting me know the package was on its way, along with the tracking number so I could watch it traverse the country.

Little did we know, the package had a mind of its own. Innocently enough, it left Carrboro, NC and eventually landed in Las Vegas. As you can see that is were the trouble began.

March 05, 2008, 3:19 pm, CARRBORO, NC
March 05, 2008, 7:30 pm, RALEIGH, NC
March 07, 2008, 11:07 pm, LAS VEGAS, NV
March 08, 2008, 1:28 am, LAS VEGAS, NV

And thus began nearly a one week bender in Vegas. Now I know what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas, but how could I not spend most of the week envisioning my package having a really good run on a craps table and sucking down free drinks. And obviously I wasn't too far off the mark, because this is where the pieces get a little fuzzy. After a week in Vegas, suddenly my package ends up:

March 14, 2008, 9:33 pm, EL PASO, TX

El Paso, Freakin' Texas? Okay, I can imagine that after a week of drinking and gambling in Vegas, taking in the comped room and a few shows, one might be a little off the mark, but El Paso? Now I've driven from Vegas to Seattle, and quite frankly, Texas wasn't anywhere on the itinerary. Someone really needs to suggest to the Post Office that perhaps a more direct route might be through Reno. Or Sacramento. But El Paso? Gads. And have you looked at these pictures. The poor package looks like it got mugged. Twice. That or the Post Office took the "Flate Rate" definition a little too literally and tried to flatten it.

But there is a happy ending to all this. After shaking off the hangover, my package finally saw the other side of the continent.


March 15, 2008, 11:55 pm, FEDERAL WAY, WA
March 17, 2008, 7:12 am, SEATTLE, WA


Hurrah! I could hardly contain myself and keep from opening it up right there in the Post Office. Then again, it appears that the PO somewhere (Vegas? El Paso? Come on, 'fess up) had already opened it. Probably smelled the chocolate . . .

But they didn't get their hands on the really good stuff:

See all the pretty little packages! I was so excited, and the insides were well worth the wait,

All things I love. Notepads, which I always need. Pencils, which as a writer who edits and does a lot of hand writing and notes in pencil, those are always fun and I just hate writing with plain yellow pencils. And the llama! How darned cute is that little guy.

And stitchmarkers. The kind that just make me smile. I always need stitch markers and have envied people with their pretty ones for ages. So now, I'm in the fancy stitch marker club.


Best of all is the Eco yarn which I can't wait to try out, given my current tenuous relationship with wool. And of course, the dishcloth and cool little scrubby, which were placed right to work. Thank you, Cathy, so much!