Incoming for February 5th

Wow, just wow! I stopped at the post office on the way to work yesterday and my box was literally stuffed! As I pulled things out of it, I heard one of the workers in the back say, "Oh good, she's getting her stuff." I have to admit I giggled a little. I pulled out 16 letters and a key to one of the larger boxes which contained 2 parcels. Some of them were from LetterMo folks I'd not heard from before and several were from readers of the blog.

I took all the goodies to work with me and again, since I was there early, I read some of the letters while sitting at a table drinking an iced Americano. Two of my co-workers said something like, "Okay,  I have to get in on this. I want letters, too!" Several others walked by and stopped to oooh and aaah over pretty envelopes, postcards, and stationery. Even a few customers had questions and said they'll check out LetterMo. TMC, I really do feel like the Pied Piper of letter writing! ;)

So here you go, a photo of yesterday's incoming. Today I'm sending out just two letters but there should be many more going out in the next few days since I've taken several days off work and plan to get caught up.

Y'all are just nine kinds of awesome and don't let anyone tell you otherwise! This afternoon I'll post more about what I got yesterday. :-)

Incoming for January 30th

After work today I went to the post office. I thought about asking if they have the new Sealed With Love stamp but the line was very long so I just checked my box. There were seven letters waiting for me, five from LetterMo participants. A woman about my age was checking a box near mine and saw all the letters I pulled out and said, "Wow, I can't tell you the last time I got one letter, much less a box full!" I told her about LetterMo and some of the letter writing blogs I read and finally whipped out a page from my notepad and wrote URLs and my email address on it for her. She was overjoyed at the possibility of writing and receiving letters and I practically skipped out to my vehicle!

I'm not sure if I'll start replies tonight but if not tonight, then tomorrow. Yesterday I mailed five letters but still have a few more to write to folks from whom I've recently received. I haven't forgotten! Some of the outgoing will most likely be sent on the first so I can count them for LetterMo. Yeah, I'm taking advantage of that.

But for now, here's today's incoming along with my cup of Colombian from a pour-over. Now that I've had some coffee I feel refreshed and think I'll do a bit of letter writing.

I hope your mail day was lovely!

Fabulous mail Friday and an advance apology

I just got home from my errands and of course, one of the stops was at the post office. It takes strength to not go there every day but it's a bit out of my way so I aim for two or three times a week and try to go while I'm already out and about. Some weeks I succeed and others I fail. This week I've succeeded. Go me! Anyway, I only had three pieces of outgoing mail and two were to South Korea and Vietnam. I forgot to ask the clerk how long it will take those to arrive but hopefully they won't take too long.

Incoming mail for today is fabulous, y'all! Each piece is so wonderful that I'm going to show them individually. I should probably do that all the time but....

From Alice in Peculiar, MO (what a great town name!) I received a wonderfully informative letter and a big brown envelope with two hand stitched kitchen towels! How cute they are! And the envelopes have some very cool stamps on them, a few of which I'd not seen before.

From Beth in Oregon, I got a very neat looking note card (it just screams "Spring!") with a lovely letter written inside. She did pretty doodles on the envelope and I love it, especially the band on the left side of the envelope and the colors in my name. 

TMC, from Return to Rural, is gearing up for LetterMo and working on garland and such so she sent me a decorated postcard. T, I love this card, especially the color combination with that silver! Oh la la!

Limner, of Oh, Write Me!, sent a blank postcard of a kitteh and she colored said feline's eyes green like Sammy's. Swoon! She also included a very sweet little note. I absolutely love this postcard, in part because of the "Curb Your Dog" sign! And the "db" on the envelope made my heart pound a bit faster. I just love everything about this.

And last but definitely not least, I received a beautiful handmade card from a very dear personal friend of mine. She doesn't have much experience with letter writing but is joining in LetterMo this year. I recently sent her a little card and note and this is what I received in return. Wow, that's pretty wonderful for someone who "doesn't write letters and isn't creative"! Those are her words, not mine. You can't tell by the picture but the word "Love" on the front is cut out. 

Each of you has made today one absolutely marvelous mail day. Thank you so much!

Now for the apology. I've said before I'm not artistic and not creative and I mean that. I've spent hours looking at your blogs and photos and those of so many people who seem to have talent for this stuff. Some of what I see out there just makes me weak in the knees, it's so creative or beautiful or eye catching. I'm getting ideas here and there and have been practicing on plain paper. Today I graduated to real envelopes and postcard sized pieces of paper and some of you will soon be my guinea pigs. So, I apologize in advance for ugly envies and cards, paint that runs, edges that may be torn, and glitter that doesn't survive USPS. Please know my heart is in the right place. :)

Now I'm off to find ways to display some of these marvelous creations I've received!

Incoming and outgoing for January 22

Not a great picture since it was taken with my phone but here's my incoming and stamps for today. Oh, and my work apron. ;-)

On the way to work I went by the post office to check my box. Yeehaw, three letters greeted me!

I was so excited to see a sassy looking envelope from Jan over at Of Bibles, books and letters, one of those way cool (what can I say, I'm easily impressed) transparent envelopes from Limner of Oh, Write Me!, and a letter from a new to me writer, Amber. Amber didn't say how she found me so I'm not sure if it was via this blog, the LetterMo site, or some other place. Regardless, I'm thrilled she contacted me.

I forgot (again!) to get pictures of today's outgoing but that pretty blue envelope with the smash tape went out today, along with the postcards I adopted from PostMuse. Those were the postcards I found buried on the table last night!

While I was at the post office I decided to see what stamps they had. I ended up with two sheets of the new .33 apple stamps (I'm the eternal optimist), a sheet of Emancipation Proclamation, another sheet of Earthscapes (I <3 those so hard), a sheet of Year of the Snake, and another sheet of Lady Bird Johnson. I'm good to go for LetterMo and then some. They didn't have the others I wanted so I'll either wait until they do or order them online.

Since I got to work almost an hour early (don't hate, I have a serious issue with being late and I like to get a drink, relax, and see how things are before I start my shift) I read the letters right there at a table. One of my young co-workers was very interested, particularly in Limner's neat little bundle. She ooohd and aaahd over the letters and finally, hands on hips, said "Where do you find these people?" so I told her. She looked quite surprised. I guess she's easily impressed, too. ;)

And a bit of good news! This afternoon one of my customers told me a place where she thinks I can get postcards. She isn't sure about the variety but said they had a decent stock of them a few days ago. I know where I'm going Friday morning!

I work a short shift tomorrow and am then off for two days so I plan to spend tomorrow afternoon composing replies to today's incoming and a couple of others that need my attention. With all that time off I should have plenty of time to play with card stock, smash tape, and markers.

I hope your Wednesday is lovely and full of mail happiness!

Incoming for January 18th - letters, cookies, and Moleskines!

I received some very good mail today. At my post office box I had waiting for me a letter from LR, a letter from a young woman in Korea (wow, it's been a long time since I received from someone in Korea!), and two new Moleskines from a woman to whom I sent a new Financial Peace University envelope system. As a Moleskine fan, I figure getting two in an informal "stuff" swap is a great deal! I can't wait to break them in.

At my home mail, I had a good sized box of delicious no bake cookies from a cookie swap I joined awhile back. I still haven't sent my cookies but will get that tended to very soon. I confess to eating a couple of those cookies. They were so very good but a lot of them will go to work with me tomorrow because although I want to eat them all, I don't need eat them all!

My shift for tomorrow has been cut three hours so I'll have the entire afternoon and evening to write replies to the letters I've received the last couple of days. I'll also have the afternoon to work on scanning more things from the tin box. Squeee!

Have a lovely evening!

Incoming for January 16th

Today has been a wonderful mail day. On the way home from work, I stopped to check on a friend who recently had surgery. She asked me to get her mail and while doing so I left a little envelope of love. It's for no one in particular, just whoever happens to find it and is brave enough to open it.

I hope the card and my words make the finder's day a little better. Leaving them certainly made mine better. I really enjoy being involved with More Love Letters. If you haven't read about MLL, you really should. It's a very kind and loving endeavor and Hannah, the originator, is correct when she says the world needs more love letters. 

My home mailbox was empty but my post office box contained several letters, an envelope of postcards from PostMuse of Orphaned Postcard Project and a pretty little piece of art from a Google+ friend in Canada. She was de-cluttering and offered up a few pieces to others. The picture and the card are going on my crazy wall.

This evening, after my dinner and a hot bath, I'll sit on the couch and carefully read each letter I received. 

Thank you to all of you who sent me letters. You've made my day so much better!

Tuesday postal miscellaneous

When I got off work today, the roads were a bit too slick for the trip to the post office so I just came home. In my home box, there was one piece of mail; junk from an insurance company. I opened it to see if any of it was useful to me and added the enclosed return envelope to my growing stash of pattern envelopes.

Other than that, it's been a very slow day so I've perused the web looking for stories and pictures of vintage mail what have you. I found this very short blurb and photo from a 1935 newspaper.

I think that's one of the most creative uses I've heard of for a toy train!

The January letter requests for More Love Letters have been posted. They need to be postmarked by January 25th so I need to get started on those. 

And check out this letter a blogger got from Will Smith... five years after the blogger wrote Will asking for an autograph! Better late than never. ;)

LetterMo starts in 16 days and I'm ready! Are you?

Incoming for January 12th - a day of firsts

My post office box had just two items in it today and both gave me smiles and giggles.

I received a letter from my social network hating, phone call eschewing nephew in Dallas and a New Year's Bunny from TMC at Return to Rural!

I noticed that my nephew put the stamp on the opposite side of the envelope than most folks. I don't recall ever getting mail with that sort of stamp placement so that's a first for me. I'll sit down this evening and write a nice reply to him and might even attempt a somewhat creative envelope for the letter.

I also don't recall ever getting a bunny mailed to me. No envelope, just the bunny addressed to me with a note attached to it. How cute and another first! Hmm, I didn't even know one could send a bunny via USPS. ;-) The best part of the bunny is that Mr. Zip is on the postage label! I've had a thing for Mr. Zip, also called Zippy, since I was a kid. He's pretty darned awesome.

I need to think of something creative to send TMC in appreciation for the adorable bunny.

Yep, today is a good mail day!

Incoming for January 9th

I haven't checked my PO box since Saturday and am glad I went by after work, even though I was exhausted from getting little sleep last night and a long work shift today and just wanted to come home, put on my PJs, and collapse on the couch.

I received a postcard from one of the mail artists I hear from occasionally, a letter from Jan over at Of Bibles, books, and letters..., a postcard from Joe Geronimo, who is participating in LetterMo, a postcard from Pamela, a member of a letter writing Yahoo group I'm in, and a letter from LR McArthur. LR found my address on a reply to a post at Make Every Day a Good Mail Day and in her words, "felt inspired to write". The letter she sent me is great and I'm looking forward to writing my reply.

I also got a letter from someone in New York and am not sure where she got my address but the envelope is adorable. I love the shades of blue and the taxis!

Thanks for the incoming love, y'all. You've made today a great mail day, indeed. 

A pretty good mail day Friday

After work yesterday I went to the post office to drop off a nice stack of letters. I forgot to take a picture of the outgoing but have more to write and send today so I'll snap a picture of those. I had three things waiting in my postal box and not one was a bill. Yaaay for no bill days, right?

The top envelope contained a slightly late Secret Santa gift from someone presumably on Google+ but that's just a guess. It's a hot pink keyboard skin for my laptop. One of my nieces got me one early last year and I wore the thing out so it's great to get another. The other two envelopes are from letter writing bloggers kind enough to send to me and one contained two sheets of pretty stickers. Thank you for the letters and stickers - they'll definitely be used and enjoyed!

I'm off work today and have a lot to do. Enjoy your weekend and I hope you have good incoming and outgoing times!

Snow! And today's mail

We had snow yesterday! It does happen now and then in this part of Texas but it's been a few years. I stayed home and watched "It's a Wonderful Life" in the afternoon and ate stir fried chicken and vegetables. Later I made oatmeal cookies and Sammy the cat and I snuggled on the couch and fell asleep listening to some lovely music. Several times during the night the power went off but it came back on quickly. Many in our area weren't so fortunate but I think most of the power has been restored by now.

I was concerned about driving to work this morning so I left earlier than usual but the roads were only wet. I had a long shift but checked my PO box after work and found a letter from Jan at Of Bibles, books and letters....

She wrote a very nice dispatch and even sealed the envelope with wax. I'm so excited to hear from someone other than family. I love the letters from my aunt but to get one from Jan just made my day.

Thank you, Jan, and keep an eye open for a reply.

I'm off tomorrow and will make another run to the post office to drop off some letters. I also need to replenish my supply of wax. Finding it locally has proven to be impossible but I hear there's a new store that carries it so I'll most likely check there to see if the rumor is true. ;-)

May your Thursday be full of wonder and your mailbox full of marvels! 

No mail today but yesterday....

there were two more Google+ Secret Santa gifts in my postal box. I thought of opening them but instead took them to my mother's house and put them under her tree. Seeing more prettily wrapped packages cheered her substantially. I'm not a lover of Christmas. It isn't so much the holiday that I dislike but the commercialized, idealized consumeristic garbage that surrounds it. Yeah, I know I sound like the Grinch. I'm really not like that for the most part, but years of working retail and studying the roots of holy days and holidays have changed my perspective. I'm all for spending time with family and friends, though, and making others smile any time of the year!

I have a long work shift tomorrow and won't get to see my family for more than a couple of hours at our get together. I'm sad about that but these things happen so I'll deal with it.

I still haven't figured out how to display the mail art I have sitting on my table. I think I'll talk to some of the creative family members I hope to see tomorrow. Maybe one of them will have a brilliant idea.

Have a lovely weekend and a great mail day!

Another nice mail day!

I had a long shift at work and didn't get out of there until close to 11 PM but wanted to check my post office box. I'm glad I did because in it were two little Amazon gifts sent by a Google+ friend of mine. I think I know what the packages contain but I'll take them with me to Mom's house Thursday, put them under her tree, and open them on the 25th. Because of my work schedule on the 22nd, I won't be able to attend the family get together that day but will spend the 25th with my mother and stepfather. Opening these two little sweet gifts will make the day more special and fun.

I hope you get wonders in your mail tomorrow!

It's been a lovely mail day!

I finally got my vehicle and keys back this afternoon and the first thing I did was make a run to the post office. I dropped off some outgoing letters and was thrilled to find in my box a Secret Santa gift of the "Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving"! This book is as much for my mother as it is for me and receiving it made my day! Mom and I will have a great time going through it and will use what we learn to help us make good use of the pressure canner I recently bought her.

I beat feet back home and eagerly checked my box where I found a card and stickers from a friend in Australia. She sends the cutest little things and I love to put one of her stickers on letters and envelopes I send to others. The image on the front of the card is a photograph taken by the very talented Australian, Trevor Farrell.

I sent her a card and note a few days ago. With Christmas around the corner, I'm not sure how fast or slow the mail to that part of the world is but trust she'll get it soon.

I hope your mail box was full of goodness today!

More recent mail art and this week's to do list update

One of the mail artists I hear from on a regular basis sent me three post card sized pieces recently. I really love the glossiness and colors of these and am considering how best to show them off.

I have some of his other work, along with a few pieces from Wenchkin, set in a tiled mirror frame. I like the arrangement but there's not room in that frame for more so what to do with these three lovelies has been in the forefront of my mind for a few days. I'm sure I'll come up with something.

I posted a few days ago about my "to do" list for this week. It had four items on it. They were: write Mom a letter and tell her all the things she did right, acknowledge a service worker, be the first to say "thank you" and mean it, and write a letter. I'm happy to write that I accomplished those four things and tomorrow will post my list for the coming week. 

Recent mail art

Now and then I get some very interesting mail art. With rare exception, I appreciate each piece regardless of the content or theme. Of all the mail artists who've graced my mailbox, Wenchkin is my favorite. Perusing her ArtFire store is a lot of fun, especially if you like work inspired by the Day of the Dead. I knew little of this holiday until I saw some of Wenchkin's work on Google+ and have since been a fan, if not of the holiday then at least of this woman's creativity.

Very recently she posted a photo of a note card she'd created. I admired it and asked her if I could purchase it but she sent it to me free of charge. Given my love of cooking and baking, it's not surprising this little card is now displayed on my "crazy wall" with other items that make me smile.