Finally!

Back in the early part of December, Ethan told us that he had sent a Christmas package to us.  He was hoping that it would arrive by Christmas.  Until yesterday, there had been no sign of it, and I assumed one of two things:  either it was stolen by some random Polish mail person, or it was coming by boat and would be here in July.  I can't tell you how thrilled I was to see John walking up the driveway yesterday with it tucked under his arm.  How did I know it was THE package?  Check it out.

The box was a mess.  It had obviously been left out in the rain, or snow at some point and was crumpled up.  The customs slip was completely washed out--no printing on it whatsoever.  It even looked like someone had run over the box at some point, because there are tire tracks across the top of the box.  The best part?  There's a big sticker on the side of the box that says "SIGNATURE CONFIRMATION REQUIRED BY US POSTAL SERVICE".  I'm not exactly sure how our mailbox signed for it, but none of us did.

I wish I could smell, because I'm sure the inside smelled a bit like Poland with new ties, new scarves and wrapped packages.  However, I just had to be excited to see all the brightly colored things that Ethan had sent us which were all put to quick use.

I, personally, got a deck of cards (I collect them from every place I visit) which has pictures of different places in Poland.  Ethan wrote a note telling me to look at the Queens of Clubs and Diamonds because they held photos of places he visited on his first day in Poland.  Since he's not much of a picture taker, I was glad to be transported to somewhere he's been.

Too, he sent the family a hilarious calendar.  Ethan says the character is the equivalent of Garfield in Poland, but honestly, I think Kot Simona is much funnier.  We laughed as we looked through the different months.  One tricky thing is that since I can't read the actual days, and since European calendars start the week off with Monday (and not Sunday), I hope I can remember which day is which day when making notes :-)

I just loved getting stuff from Poland.  It's so European and reminds me of our days there.  Too, I'm so thankful that the package finally made it.  Yay for postal systems around the world!