Mail Quote of the Week

Old-fashioned letters!  How good they were!
And, oh, how we watched the mails, 
But nobody writes of the quaint delights
Of the sunny days and merry nights
Or tells us the things that we yearn to know --
That art passed out with the long ago, 
And lost are the simple tales, 
Yet we all would be happier, I think, 
If we'd spend more time with our pen and ink.

~ Edgar Albert Guest, Old-Fashioned Letters, last lines.

The Liebster Blog Award

My very first "follower", Penny from Hippo Mail, tagged me with this cute award :-)

The Liebster Blog Award is given to upcoming bloggers who have 200 followers or less.

The word 'Liebster' is German and it means sweetest, kindest, nicest, dearest, beloved, lovely, kind, pleasant, valued, cute, endearing and welcome.

Here are the rules:

1. Each person must post 11 random facts about themselves
2. Answer 11 questions the tagger has given you and give 11 questions for the people you tagged
3. Choose 11 people and link them in your post
4. Tell them you've tagged them. Remember, no tag backs!

11 Facts about Me

1. I have trouble describing the color of my eyes.

2. If I could afford it, one of the luxuries I would treat myself to would be eyelash extensions.

3. I wish I could have been a kid forever.

4. My ears are lopsided, so I had plastic surgery when I was 8 to make it less noticeable.

5. I just got a big-girl bed last year.  For 31 years I slept in a twin sized bed.  I've upgraded to full sized.

6. I took dressage lessons for two years.

7. I still eat snow, and I hope I never stop.

8. My nickname in elementary school was "hippopotamus girl".  I loved the learning, but hated the environment and the viciousness all the way through high school.  I wonder about those people, as they live their lives, if they have any concept of the damage they did to me and countless others.

9. I like to be barefoot. I like aggressive looking hiking boots and sneakers and I adore a sexy stiletto, the higher the better (as long as there is no platform on it).

10. I believe in Astrology, God, and the Science of Evolution and I really don't care what kind of Catholic that makes me.  I find all kinds of spirituality fascinating.

11. Last Thursday someone asked me what my hair color was and I didn't know how to answer the question.  Seriously, I had to think about it.  Which proves, beyond a doubt, that I am a blonde through and through.  Right now my hair is brown.

My answers to Penny's questions:

1. Which was the last good book you've read?
The last book I read that I really enjoyed was Let's Pretend this Never Happened by the one and only Bloggess

2. What's your favorite season?
Winter, all day long.

3. If your house was in fire and you had to leave it, which non-living thing would you try to save?
Oh man, Sophie's Choice there.... my laptop, keepsake box, and the footlocker of family pictures.

4. Do you have any collection?
I collect vintage (and current) weimaraner items. I have a bunch of old magazines to eventually be cut up and framed, print ads from the 50's, postage from other countries, etc, all to eventually go on my "Wall of Weimaraners" mixed in with images of my own dogs.

5. Which is your favorite Pokémon (if you have one)?
Don't have one...

6. What inspires you?
I don't know what inspires me. But what I do know, if I may loosely quote Oprah: I am trying to live to my fullest potential as a human being, seeking out my purpose so I can do what I was put here to do and do it exceptionally well.  This quest inspires me constantly. 

7. What is your favorite dish for breakfast?
Almost anything that involves bacon.

8. Do you have pets? How many and what's their names?
I have two weimaraners named Luna and Chevy.

9. If you could choose any country to live, which one would you choose, and why?
I would choose America, because I love it here and because we have the National Parks. I do believe we live on the most beautiful continent on the planet.

10.What's your ringtone?
Boyfriend's ringtone is Pumped Up Kicks.  Regular ringtone is a song called Invisible.

11. What's your opinion about lizards?
Eh, I respect them, but I don't want to touch one.

Okay, this was harder than it looked!  I am going to tag Tara, because I think her blog is relatively new and she has not been tagged.  Also because she is a pen pal and just sits around all day eating bon-bons with her feet up and has lots of time to do this kind of thing.    By that I mean she also has a new job and is working all the time so I hope she uses this as a mental break.  Hi Tara!!  You can recycle the same questions I answered!

I can't come up with 11 people, so I am sorry about that.  Most of the blogs I read have LOTS and LOTS of followers or have been tagged already.  If I've missed you, play anyway!

If I'm not familiar with your mail blog yet, let me know!  I love seeing what other people are sending and receiving!

I'll be right back after these messages...

So it's been a while since I posted anything, and it's still going to be a bit longer.  

I'm disappointed because I was really on a roll here.  I have received lots of mail, and I have pictures of everything.  Just the other day I received one of the most beautiful pieces of mail I've ever seen from someone writing to me for the first time and I can't wait to tell you all about it and show it to you.

Here's what happened:  Stuff and things.  I made a wedding cake.  I had three major interviews (all for the same company).  There were lots of doctor appointments and two hospital visits (bringing my grandparents back and forth).

I WAS OFFERED A JOB.

I started back up at my night job.  I went camping at a national park.  I start my new day job on Monday, which means I will be working days and nights and all next week and weekend.

Then I go to Colorado for a week to visit my beloved Auntie Pat, back home on the 9th, when things should even off into a more regular working-life schedule.

So I have been busy, but I have been working on letters throughout.  I have one I just need to get in an envelope already.  I was writing that letter the day I was offered the job, so one of my pen pals will live through that suspense with me.  I have one I need to finish that I have been working on for over a week.  That letter was with me through several doctor visits and a trip to the emergency room.

It will be an adjustment for me in more ways than I can probably imagine (when do working people do laundry??), but I hope my pen pals and my readers will bear with me.  You will all be sharing this new and exciting phase in my life with me by postal service and internet, and I look forward to getting back to our chats.

I leave you with the following, which I have enjoyed for the last two weeks and one more week to go.

Mail Quote of the Week

How frail and ephemeral ... is the material substance of letters, which makes their very survival so hazardous.  Print has a permanence of its own, though it may not be much worth preserving, but a letter!  Conveyed by uncertain transportation, over which the sender has no control; committed to a single individual who may be careless or inappreciative; left to the mercy of future generations, of families maybe anxious to surpress the past, of the accidents of removals and house-cleanings, or of mere ignorance.  How often it has been by the veriest chance that they survived at all. ~ Elizabeth Drew, The Literature of Gossip, 1964

Mail Quote of the Week

I have made this {letter} longer, because I have not had time to make it shorter. ~ Blaise Pascal, 1657

Busy Busy

This week was a slow mail week so I am going to save the few incoming for next week.  Shamefully, I had next to no outgoing with the exception of four Orphaned Postcards that I will also highlight next week.

USPS Drama

Linking today to a great post by Donovan of the Letter Writers Alliance about what is going on with the Postal Service.

What is Happening With the USPS & What it Means for You & Me

Write More Letters!

Military Mailings, Part 2 Updated

The other mail project that kept me busy was my "Mail for _____ Paul" initiative.  My brother, as it happens, is actually a mail carrier.  I decided that I would get famous people to write to him because mail from your sister is lame and probably gets old real quick, because a mailman should get mail, and because I had a lot of time on my hands.  It totally worked.

I essentially had a form letter that I would modify specific to each recipient.  I included my letter and a photo of my brother at his deployment along with his APO address and a stamp so that it wouldn't cost them more than some time.  Each letter was hand written on my special Crane stationery.  I started with local notables.  

I wrote to the mayor of the city he lives in: success.  

I wrote to the mayor of the city I live in and got him to write to my parents.  

I wrote to Buddy Cianci: success.  

I wrote to his childhood hero, Cal Ripken Jr. ... and eventually I called him.  And called.  And while they did not respond until the end of his deployment, and not with something personalized, a lovely, lovely woman did send him a nice keepsake that was signed.  I sent that woman a thank you note.

I was thisclose to getting a letter from Ben Folds of Ben Folds Five.  So close that Ben Folds himself sent me a DM on Twitter.  I had apparently sent the letter to his old management company.  Even though I was able to get a second letter faxed to the right company, Ben never followed through, much to my disappointment.

I wrote to the one and only Seth MacFarlane, RISD graduate and creator of Family Guy, a cartoon based in a fictional RI town.  I state for the record that Seth MacFarlane is the man!  He sent a personalized sketch to my brother in Afghanistan.  My epic success, I felt like a rock star. I was so thrilled I sent Seth a thank you note with pictures of my brother coming home, which I hope he has pinned up somewhere because he's just that nice.

I wrote to the Farrelly Brothers, legendary RI movie makers, who eventually sent my brother each of their movies on DVD.  That box made it to Afghanistan after my brother got home, but they still responded.  That reminds me I need to ask him if he had them sent back here.

I wrote to Mike Rowe of Dirty Jobs: No response.  Bummer.  I am a huge fan of his.

This has been on my mind in recent days because a different unit from my brothers base has been sent off this week for a 10 month deployment.  I miss sending those packages of food and I wonder if any of those 150 men and women will need mail.  Not everyone has a sister, or a family, or a special someone who will make sure to send a little bit of home as often as they can.  Some members of our military receive nothing the entire time they are deployed and I really can't think of anything more sad than that.

I am going to email my old contact at the base and ask if anyone who just left, who may be lacking in family or friend support, is in need of some mail.  It's a very small way to try to pay back a very big thing.


USPS FAQ on Military Mail

Guidelines and Restrictions

Military Mailings, Part 1

I'll preface this post by stating for the record that I am not an expert on sending mail to our Armed Services.

I am a sister.  This post is about my personal adventures in sending mail to Afghanistan.  Unfortunately, I did not take any photos, but I did send quite a bit of mail.

My brother was deployed from March to October of 2011.  I started with sending cards.  Just like with my Auntie Pat, I prepped a stack to mail in advance, the goal being one card a week.  I will state publicly and for the the record that the selection of Cards for Troops at Hallmark sucks out loud if you're not the girlfriend of a soldier.

The first box I mailed was an Easter box filled with grass and some of those molded paper eggs from Michael's that I had Hailey, Preston and Emily decorate with markers.  Lesson one in mailing boxes overseas: you need to complete a customs form.

At some point my brother specifically requested 60 stainless Dunkin Donuts mugs, which I promptly shipped out.

About halfway through his deployment I figured out that he would get a box in about a week.  Envelopes would take longer, but a box would get there in 5 or 6 days.

Thus began my adventures in mailing food to Afghanistan.  I think the first thing I did was send cupcakes with frosting.  I went to my local post office and asked for a poster tube.  I wrapped each cupcake individually in plastic wrap, padded the bottom of the tube, and literally loaded the cupcakes into the tube like ammo.  Then I topped it off with more packing peanuts and a container of my non-dairy buttercream.

Apparently it was a huge hit.  From then on, I mailed food once a week.  I would bake and mail the same day, waiting just until it was cool enough to handle and I was confident the heat wouldn't melt my packing materials.  I mailed quick breads, cupcakes, brownies, more cupcakes, more frosting, break and bake cookies... I essentially went down the baking aisle and the refrigerated dough section and picked anything that looked good.  I mailed six bottles of Del's Lemonade and only had one break.

My mail clerk, Tom, became a good friend.  He loved hearing about what I was mailing to my brother and supplied me with priority mail tubes because they were free.  Every Saturday I would pay Tom a visit.  I was really just helping get myself through the deployment as best I could, trying to feel a little less powerless in the situation.  I like to think that I helped my brother become the most popular guy on base :-)

The last thing I sent to him was a piñata and some wiffle bats.  Officially the largest thing I have ever mailed.  I walked by a display at WalMart and I thought "I could totally mail one of those."  So I stuffed that thing with as much candy as it would hold.  It weighed a ton.  And off it went and it got there just before he left.

To be continued...

USPS FAQ on Military Mail

Guidelines and Restrictions

Box of Joy

So I have this friend Sara Renee and we've never met and I know almost nothing about her.  I don't know how I found her on the internet, but I am sure it has something to do with Weimaraners.  I've been following her blog for some time, then I was following her on Facebook and then we were officially "friends" thanks to her request. 

Not more than a week after we officially became "friends" she and her weimaraner Sylvie had a very bad day.  On July 5th this popped up in my news feed:  

Sylvie survived a 15 foot fall on our hike today. She was screaming and couldn't stand when I got to her. I knew immediately that her front leg/foot or something was broken, and I thought her back or pelvis was too. Carried her to the car and drove to the office. Xrays showed that she has an "avulsion fracture of her proximal 5th metacarpal bone" and per surgeon, she can pry get away with a cast. She was given a steroid injection for swelling and can now stand on her own and move her back legs in a decent manner. She just urinated fine (which is a good thing!), and while she needed help standing, she did well considering. I'm pretty sure she's more than used up her 9 lives at this point. Please keep her in your thoughts.

Is this not one of the most pitiful things you've seen?

And I thought to myself "I MUST DO SOMETHING! I will mail her a care package!"  

Thus began my evening of creepy internet stalking.  I could have emailed any one of the many caring friends who were commenting on that post, but I thought that would come off too creepy (even for me). "Hi, you don't know me and I don't actually know Sara but could you tell me her home address so I could mail her a box of dog stuff?"

Fortunately for me, she had tagged her Vet further on in the post so I decided to send it to Sylvie's attention at the Vet Clinic.  I figured she'd be spending lots of time there and they would get it to her.  I asked a few people if that was creepy and I got mixed feedback, but I kept on with my plan.

On the 6th of July this was my only mission.  I am, after all, unemployed and a good procrastinator of all things home-related, so this was a great diversion.

I didn't have any boxes left, so I bit the bullet and got one of the flat rate boxes from the post office.  Then I went to my photo place to pick up a few photos of my dogs to send (all in an effort to appear less like a stalker).  Then I went to Job Lot for dog toys because although I have dozens of toys that my dogs never play with, I was concerned that any or all of her dogs would have a sensitivity to our regular laundry detergent.  So no sending used toys, didn't want to make anyone sick or sneezy.  I picked up three different honking birds, because that's what a gun dog should play with :-) {For my non-dog people, dog toys should be washed in the same free & clear stuff you would use for an infant, just to be safe, when you give them to dogs you don't know or to a shelter.}

Then I went to my nearest dog bakery and picked out some home made dog biscuits, a pack of squirrel cookies, bone cookies and three "woofie pies".

Because I have no problem spending money or feeling guilty, I made sure I got enough for my two as well.  So I split the two bags of cookies in half, making sure to leave Sara Renee the labels in case there were any allergy issues in her home, and I packed up the "woofie pie" as best I could with the toys and a get well card.  Then I wrote all over the box, thanking the staff at the clinic for making sure it got into the right hands and off to the post office for mailing.  They said it should arrive on Monday.

Outgoing!

The mail clerk was right, it did arrive on Monday.  And as my luck would have it, Sara Renee actually works at the clinic that Sylvie was treated at, which I did not know.  All day Monday I was excited, hoping that Sara and Sylvie would get the surprise on delivery day.

Then, Monday night I see this pop up in my news feed with a photo!:

Thank you, Stephanie for making Sylvie and my day so very special. Imagine my surprise when Sylvie got a box full of toys, squirrel cookies, photos, and a get well card delivered at work! As soon as I opened the box, she started ripping out the toys and honking and squeaking to her hearts content :) Thank you again and again- it means a lot!   

Sylvie and her goodies.  Sara Renee can be found here and here

And just like that, my week was made!  Seeing that photo is the nicest thank you I've ever gotten :-)

Mailing Plates

Miss Hailey and her Pink Plate

A few weeks ago I stumbled across yet another very cool mail blog:  Epistles - Minor and Major by M. Howard.  One of the very first posts I read was this one, where Ms. Howard mailed a neon green plate, as is.


"Epic!" I thought. "I am totally doing that!"  So I made my very first visit to Dollar Tree, where I discovered that the plates come in both green and pink.  They each come in a four-pack, so $.25 per plate and $1.95 to mail in the US.  It was the first time I had ever mailed anything not in a box or envelope.  The mail clerk at my local post office was shocked when I handed him the plate, but he took it anyway.


I sent a pink one to Miss Hailey and a green one to Mr. Preston, each asking them all kinds of questions about their favorite summer foods.  


I sent a green one to Auntie Pat telling her about my favorite memories of her food and how I strive to be as good in the kitchen as she is.  It was more a green plate food love letter :-)


A pink one went to Alison and to her I wrote my very favorite summer recipe.  Her mailman won't deliver anything that won't fit in her mailbox so she had to make a trip to the post office to pick it up.  I knew that when I wrote it so I apologized on the plate to her for having to make the trip.  Apparently as her kids were bringing it to the car Alison thought it was a frisbee :-)  


Another pink one went to Christine, who I met at a job interview.  I told her about the plate I sent to Alison and she wanted one.  Since we both laughed until we cried during my job interview, she sent me her home address so I could stalk her by mail.  


One green one ended up at the fire station near my house as part of a bribe (long story).


So I have one pink plate and one green plate left just waiting for owners!


I had so much fun doing it that I sent Ms. Howard a thank you post card for the inspiration and the fun.


So now I am dying to get my hands on one of these pigeons so I can have some more unusual mail fun!  I think one of them wants to make a trip to Hawaii.

Mail Quote of the Week

This is not a letter but my arms around you for a brief moment. ~ Katherine Mansfield

Incoming & Outgoing Last Week

Incoming from Sam, my cousin!

Sam is clever :-p and not originally from Hawaii.

Incoming from Ms. LR McArthur.  I love her handwriting.  This was a fold-and-mail.

On it's way to Anna.  My first time using the Target "washi" tape and I love it!  Also having fun using paint samples as address labels.

I picked up the entire series of these stamps on ebay several weeks ago.  Mostly I put them on postcards to the kids but I love them!

Outgoing to PostMuse, Auntie Pat and a postcard for Sara Renee

Olive & Lucas

For Caddi, Erin, Stephanie and a postcard for Preston

So with that completes my little mission to write to everyone whose blog I follow.  I hope I get some new pen friends out of this last batch!

Mail by Instagram

These are some photos of mail I took before I started this blogging adventure:

May 2, 2012, part of the stack I sent to Auntie Pat

June 4, 2012 ~ Incoming Postage

June 16, 2012 ~ A stunning letterpress note from Missive Maven

June 18, 2012 ~ All Outgoing

June 19, 2012 ~ Postage from eBay and Missive Maven on Etsy

July 1, 2012 ~ All Outgoing

My Favorite Pen Pal

Auntie Pat is my favorite pen pal.  Yesterday I shared some intimate details about my relationship with her, but they are a small fraction of why she is and will always be my favorite pen pal.


For as far back as I can remember, Auntie Pat has been my most favorite person.  She is my Godmother, my friend, my confidant, my security blanket, my role model. To say I simply love her would be a gross understatement of the depth and breadth of my feelings.  I don't have enough words to tell you all about it. And she's my Aunt by marriage, not by blood.


For a majority of my youth she lived in Europe, stationed in England and Germany.  I've been told that when I was an infant she lived in New Hampshire, but I only remember her living far, far away.  Europe, Mississippi, Nebraska, New Mexico and now Colorado.


I don't know why I bonded to her the way that I did even though for many years she was more an idea in my mind than an actual person.  I simply wanted to be her.  Cook like her, hug like her, talk like her and listen like her. She was more than human, she was an untouchable saint.


Yesterday I said that my letters to her got me through some of the worst times of my life.  I know that and I try to repay that with mail in return.  These last few years she's been going through some crappy, crappy things and I have mailed and mailed and mailed.  And she has loved it. I've been known to send her $30 worth of 4x6 pictures (that's a lot of pictures).  It's how I keep her informed on all the things I've been doing, the goings on in the family here, my travels and my day to day mundane.  And much to my surprise I got a letter back telling me she hung a bunch of them up in her house!


A few months ago she had major surgery.  I could have sent a $50 flower arrangement and she would have loved it.  Instead, like any mail fan, I spent more than $50 on get well cards and encouragement cards from Hallmark and I mailed her a card every other day for weeks.  I even sent one of those awesome "Big Time Greetings". Twice.  Early last week I got a nice, long letter from her telling me that she had done something special with all of those cards, but she didn't say what.  I am hoping to finally get out to visit her and see what she's talking about because that same letter included a long awaited invitation for company.


I've saved every postcard, note, letter and birthday card she has ever sent me.  I treasure them and I honor the tangible legacy of our relationship and bond that they are.  I love that I have them to look back on and look forward to for decades to come.

When Did You Start Writing Letters?

I started writing letters in the fall of 2005.  I had always enjoyed mailing things but it didn't happen very often.  I don't ever recall having a pen pal.  


One of the earliest pieces of mail I remember specifically was a letter from my Uncle Keith. I don't remember writing to him, but I remember it having something to do with an elementary school project.  Uncle Keith was actively serving in Desert Storm and we were writing to the military.  I can see his return letter in my mind and I distinctly remember how terrible the spelling was even at age 11.  My Mom explained to me that Uncle Keith was good at a lot of things but handwriting and spelling were not on that list.  Building a military base for our soldiers in a foreign country using equipment 5 year old boys dream of is on that list.  Unfortunately, I have no idea where that letter is now.  But I remember what it looked like and I remember what a big deal it was.


Cut to 2005... I was unexpectedly single, in college, lonely and in a very bad place.  I had a lot of stuff to get out and no place to put it.  So I wrote.  And wrote and wrote and wrote to my beloved Auntie Pat.  I poured my heart and soul out to her.  She wrote back some times.  Most times she couldn't keep up.  She's busy and I write long letters.  But every time I put my pen to paper I knew she was listening to me.  I new she would open my tear-stained letter and she would read and empathize and hug me across the miles.  She read every word I wrote and wether she replied or not I knew I was really being heard.  


It made all the difference.


I would often write to her in class while ignoring a lecture or waiting for a professor.  Before long, my classmates wanted to know what I was doing.  They were all 5+ years younger than I was and fascinated by the concept of "snail mail".  Eventually I was writing to a rotation of family members and friends on notecards and I could knock out 3 or more before class even started.  Those being surface letters and a paragraph or two long.  I wrote to my grandmothers, my out-of-state cousins, and my classmates.


It was fun, but it was the letters to my Auntie Pat that got me through.  I write letters for a lot of reasons.  Mail is fun to send, fun to get, casual or intimate, happy or sad.


But I look back on those days and those letters to her and I think some days those letters saved my life.

Good Mail Day and Good Mail Loot!

Today I received three items from Catie S!  A beautiful postcard from Boston, a letter and my correspondant card.

I wish you could see how beautiful this postcard is!  I love that it's mail-themed and it has a beautiful linen texture.

I went to TJ Maxx this afternoon with my friend Marisa and I scored these awesome mail themed things.  The clipboard is also magnetic, not that it will end up on my fridge.

The booklet contains seven postal themed post-it notes that are destined to be address labels and decorations for my new pen friends.

*drumroll please* I finally scored the "washi" tape at my local Target!  I have been checking for weeks at the two stores nearest me with absolutely no success.  I asked employees, I showed photos, I got nothing.  But today, here it is and I am putting it on mail tonight!

Box of Sunshine

Back in March of this year, March 12th specifically, I started what I had expected to be the first of a few hundred weeks at a new job.  Not a job in my field, per se, but a job in my industry.  A job I felt good about, working for and with women I thought would be excellent mentors for me, guiding my growth as a woman personally and professionally.  A job that was a long time coming.  I had a nice commute, my own office, a new wardrobe and fantasies of being able to lunch with the one and only Missive Maven.  It was a big deal.

Exactly 30 days later, on April 13th, I was let go from that position because the company had lost their biggest client and could no longer support an additional employee.  Last in, first out.  That's LIFO for my F&B Management buddies.

Exactly 6 days after that, on April 19th, I received the box below, poorly photographed with the FX Camera App on my cell phone.  I came home from some random errand, reeling from the loss, to discover a box on the stairs for me.  Until recently, I very rarely received mail, never mind a package.

The return name was "someone who thinks you're great".  It was labeled a "box of sunshine" and filled with yellow and love.  And it totally made my day.

There was a yellow Whitman's sampler, faux daffodils, Keebler cheesecake cookies in a yellow package, a yellow and white bath poof, a pin hand made by boyfriend's sister in law, a bag of Starburst jellybeans...

An awesome yellow and orange insulated travel / water cup (which I use all the time), and a singing Justin Beiber card.

It made a very bad week a little better, and it was a very good mail day.