I have been having a really crummy couple of days. Yesterday, I had planned to get a lot of stuff done in preparation for my upcoming trip. On Saturday, Carter (my three year old) and I are heading out to Pontiac, Michigan, where he will be doing a two-week stint at the EuroPeds clinic. I could go into a whole long spiel here about the EuroPeds philosophy, why we're going there, what we hope to gain, etc., but I'm going to save that. Actually, I'll start another blog page documenting our whole EuroPeds experience once we get there for anyone who's interested in reading about it. But for now, all you need to really know is that we're going on a pretty long trip and I'm a terrible procrastinator. I've left getting a lot of necessary things -- x-rays, doctors' scripts, etc. -- together until the last minute, let alone start packing. So yesterday was going to be my day to get lots of stuff done.
Well, super-duper long story short, I ended up having to take my mother to the emergency room because she threw up and passed out at a local cafe. Was she there to eat? No, she was cutting vegetables in the kitchen. Does she work there? No. She just likes to go there and hang out. I don't get it either, but I'm glad the lady who owns and operates the cafe humors her. My mom is 72, lives within a mile of me, and drives me CRAZY. That sounds awful, I know, but it's true. And if she were your mom, she would drive you crazy, too. Take my word for it. So, after much wrangling, I get my mom to agree to let me take her to the emergency room, and we were there all day, until at about 6 p.m. we finally found out that she has a urinary tract infection. Pick up some meds at the pharmacy, deliver her home, and come home to a husband who has had to practice law and give a talk to a local group while simultaneously watching a toddler. It was a long day for everybody, to say the least.
Today, I have to cram two days worth of stuff that should have really been done over the course of four days, had I not been procrastinating in the first place. And I'm doing all of this with a toddler in tow, between two therapy appointments. As I'm driving home, I call to check on my mom, who didn't go to the doctor like she was supposed to. I call the doctor's office to get her an appointment, and I explain that I want the appointment today, because when Mom's doctor talked to the ER doc, she said my Mom needed to come in today. Plus, I tell her, I'm leaving town and for an extended period of time and I would really like to make sure she's okay before I leave. The nurse won't give me any information because of HIPA, though she says she will call my mom and make the appointment with her. Okay. I wait a few minutes and call my mom back to find out what the nurse said. When is the appointment? Not until Monday. Grrrr... And my sister (who is 10 years older than me but takes zero responsibility for Mom) has invited Mom to her house for the weekend, but Mom doesn't want to go. Oh, I ask, was *sister* going to come down and get you? (She lives about 4 hours away.) No, she wanted my mom to drive herself up... Grrrr...
I'm approaching my house and nearly hyperventilating with frustration. I stop at the mailbox, where I find amidst the catalogs and bills two Priority mail boxes and a puffy envelope that bears my own handwriting. In the first box -- from one Leona Carver of Burton, Ohio -- I find the goodies pictured above. I don't know Leona, but apparently, she has ELFed me with a 1/2 lb. Hershey bar, two adorable stamps, some bright ribbon (how does she know I tend towards bright colors?!), and a darling card with Baby Jesus in a manger. Funny, the return address says Leona lives in Ohio, but the postage meter stamp reads "Cibolo, Texas." I wonder if Leona was visiting relatives? And I wonder if she knows my sweet friend, Carolyn, who just happens to live in Cibolo? Her handwriting is uncannily like Carolyn's, and I think she may have even CASEd that precious card... Well, I know better than to look a gift horse in the mouth, so THANKS, LEONA!!! In the moments it took for me to open your box, my day went from
to 

And in the other box? Just twelve *FREE* stamps from a company who asked me to make some samples for them! (I'm going to pull a JanTink here and not reveal the source until I can show my results. You'll just have to wait and see! Jan is a terrible influence on impressionable minds like mine.) And in the SASE? Why, a bunch of adorable Elzybell ATCs (plus a penguin by Taylor)!!!
Wouldn't a mail day like that cheer you up on even the rottenest of days?! It did me such good, and I'm so grateful to have my stamping and my stamping friends. So grateful, in fact, that I'm going to be giving away that blog candy tonight at 9 p.m. CST! So, if you haven't signed up yet, you still have a few hours...