Rainbow of goodies

In case you were wondering about all my crabbing yesterday, it didn’t last. Evening brought a ray of sunshine. After being here and there most of the day and attending meetings that just about drove me over the deep end, I realized that I had missed mail call.

Coming back to my desk, I found two boxes. One of the other officers had grabbed them for me when the mailroom had been about to close and he noticed them sitting forlornly on the shelf.

Once again – this is not a request for goodies, toys, or gifts. I am simply reporting on something that really cheered me up.

From the UK (and I am still trying to figure out how I got a package with a UK address and US postage)  mailed on the 17th came a package. In that box are a number of smaller packages, each wrapped in pretty gold paper. There are enough of them that I will have one thing to open next week for each night of Hannukah!

Unexpected and an interesting history on how it got to me. The box originated in Guildford, Surrey with my good friend Mary. She was worried about it getting to me so she sent it on a circuitous route: it traveled to the US on the Queen Mary 2 with a friend who then mailed it from New York.   Think about it – that box took longer to cross the Atlantic by ship than it took to travel via post to my unit mail room in the connex on Bagram.

The second box, also mailed on the 17th but from Rockville MD came from my good friend Carmen (she is the one with the fabulous nature pictures on her blog). It contains a rainbow of happiness. The desert, especially high desert is dry. Drinking lots of fluids is a way of life. There is no way I am ever going to make myself drink liters of water every day. Drinking sodas would cost money and beverages with sugar lead to dental visits.

The solution? Packages of drink mix – the kind that can be added to a 16-20 ounce bottle of water. I had no idea there were so many brands of calorie free drink mixes – much less a wide range of flavors.  I now have lemonades in three flavors, a huge variety of ice tea choices and enough pretty colors to wow everyone else in the office. 

I am the proverbial kid in the candy store – reaching into the box for a surprise. Next up?  Cranberry-Pomegranate!

Color me cheerful!