Incoming 1/6

Incoming Mail:  

     I got 2 nice postcards today. The first one is from Russia.It is a picture of The Main Shaman of Oikhon (Baikal, Siberia). He is dressed in traditional clothing and has a "national shok musical instrument."(It also has a really cool Olympics stamp.) I looked up the shok and found 1 reference that said it was a type of whistle. I thought it was the drum. Not sure. Any readers from Russia want to help me out?

     The 2nd card is from a US-US postcard tag. (A tag is when you sign up to send a card to someone and then someone chooses to send a card to you.)  This card is from Postcrosser, hootnoodle.  It is Ruby Beach on the Washington Coast. It is in Olympic National Park, which is a UNESCO world heritage card. I collect UNESCO cards so I was really excited to get this. Thanks, hootnoodle! I had also never seen these stamps.

 

366 Project:

Sent: 7

Received: 2 (Annagoman, hootnoodle)

Rejuvenate

     The day I've returned to work after a few weeks vacation (extended because of the snowstorm) doesn't seem like a day that should feel rejuvenating but:

      1) I started my new Chorale today. This is my auditioned after school chorus.  It's a young group   and the ability level is more varied than some other years, but it went really well. I look forward getting to work with this group and hope that the rest of the rehearsals are as good as today's way.  

     2) I started a 5 day Bible study on Colossians through Hello Mornings  Again, renewal of my spiritual life and study of the Word will be something that will rejuvenate me more than every other option out there.

     3) Matt has the night off and we're just going to have a sweet, stay-at-home and do nothing night with the boys. I have really enjoyed our family time lately. (Maybe this rejuvenate so you're not an absolute stress case has something to it!) Oh, and Matt is cooking my favorite dinner while I blog here. Super cool!

     I hope you are all having a blessed day and that 2014 is still going well for you and your family. 

Ending the week...

Ending the week...

Incoming

   I got a few goodies in the past couple of days. The first was a package from a Postcrossing tag. This came from Austria:

(I have to get more creative in covering all the addresses..lol. Now you know why I'm not an visual arts teacher!)  What's in it, you ask?

CANDY! The tic tacs are a "melon mix."  They taste good, pretty similar to tic tacs we have here. I think I have had a similar tasting flavor here. The Fizzers are very similar to Smarties here, just a little more tart. (They didn't taste fizzy though)  The MAOAM was kind of like Starbursts. The white ones with the blue stripes were a type of chewy caramel- yummy. My favorites were the red striped ones. They were a white, hard candy with chocolate in the middle. The ones with the fruit on them were hard candies that were fruit flavored. I haven't eaten any of the Tutti Frutti ones yet. The boys liked all of them. (Thanks for not sending anything Timmy was allergic to!)

     Then I got some letters:

     The one on the right is a thank you note from a woman from church. (Totally unnecessary!) The one on the left was a welcome to the Letter Writers Alliance. Here's what was inside:

My membership card, a pin and a welcome letter. The Letter Writers Alliance is a a group dedicated to preserving the art of letter writing. You can't seriously be surprised that I would want to be a part of this group. :)  Wait until I start sending mail out on official LWA stationary. If anyone reading this is a LWA member, leave a comment and introduce yourself.
     I also got a letter from Claudine in France.  She also sent me some Ritter Sport chocolate with some berry "yoghurt" filling. Delicious!!!

Outgoing:

    I have quite a few letters that went out, as well as a Postcrossing tag. I have been exploring all kinds of interesting blogs, including people who make some really pretty mail art. Mama Rae's Adventurous Days is one of those blogs. I looked at her mail and thought "What a difference that cute envelope makes!" So, I was inspired to make a few envelopes of my own.  I made these 4 out of a map, 2 tourist brochures and a new Super Mario Brothers advertisement.  Tonight I made some from a calendar of New England. (I apologize if you get one of these. They are very pretty but somewhat lopsided too!)  

      
The 366 Project:
Received: 22
Sent: 53
    I feel really good about being able to sit and write some nice quality letters and not feel totally rushed. I'm hoping I'll get to 15% (of the whole project) received by the end of the month. Come on people- send those letters! I'm hoping I will get 20%-25% of the sent letters done by the end of August. It's a big goal! I still have a TON to go.

Have a nice weekend everyone! Thanks for reading!