Incoming postcards

     After InCoWriMo, Lettermo and Write_On, I got a little overwhelmed with my mail pile and let it sit for a while. I'm in a frantic race to reply to all mail by Monday, August 26th when I go back to school. 8 letters to go.  I'm going to do it. It is said "
     In order to get good mail, you need to send good mail." The other day, I was straightening up the desk where my computer is and I saw my pile of postcards to put away. I realized that, compared to the average person, I get a massive amount of personal mail. I send a lot too, but this pile made me happy. I thought I'd share with you some of the great postcards that I've received just this month. For anyone considering Postcrossing, this is where most of these Postcards came from. (I apologize if I posted a few of these before, I didn't want to scroll through all the posts to check since I don't have a lot of time tonight.)  It's so great to connect with people across the globe in a positive way.I've written where each card is from above the cards:

Australia:

Belgium

 

Canada

 

 Remember my vacation from last post? This is the famous "Three Churches" I was talking about. I bought myself this postcard as a souvenir.

 China:

 Czech Republic:

 Finland:

France:

Germany:

 

 

Hong Kong:

Japan

 Khazakhstan:

Luxembourg (And I understood most of the German without needing to look it up!):

Malaysia:

 Russia

 Taiwan

US

 (The Portland card is from a #Write_on  pal.)

 

So, ask you can see, I get a great variety of cards.I have lots of other news to share, some good some not so good. Well, nothing bad,  just a little stressful. I am going to let myself get back to school before writing those posts.

Mail 1/8

366 Project:

Sent: 12 
Received: 9 

Incoming...

     Another great mail day. Here's the loot:

     Thank you note from my sister-in-law. You're welcome :)

     A somewhat funny story from the 3 pictures above. As I was walking toward my mailbox today, I got this sweet smell that wafted through the air. When I took my mail, I realized that the smell was my mail. It is a lovely card from my penpal Miera in Malaysia. She also sent some goodies- beauty samples and a ticket. You know me well- the Lancome cream has SPF 50. Unfortunately, it looks as if all of the samples were squished so all of the shampoo and lotion was all over the envelope and the bottom of the card. Thanks for sending them though.

    This card made me laugh today. This is a postcrossing card from Germany. The children talking to Santa Claus are saying "We regret nothing." Ha ha ha!!!

Outgoing...
US-2585313 to Russia

Outoing mystery envelope and food swap and postcards

Incoming...

     It is not often that I open my mailbox and am greeted by a naked woman. I'm glad Timmy didn't get the mail with me! This is a painting that that is in the Hermitage. It is by Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640) It is called The Union of Earth and Water and it was painted around 1618. The people in the bottom of the painting freak me out a bit. 
RU-1434551

Outgoing...

    Have I ever mentioned that I like giving things more than receiving sometimes? Well, I really do like getting mail but I like picking out things that I hope people will like too. Here's my outgoing mail from the past few days:

Mystery Envelope 22-
     I took the postcards, lip gloss and the 5 Spice soup mix. I replaced those with stickers, Oreos (you people are missing out if your country does not sell Oreos... eat with milk.), and Lip Smackers lip balm.

Food Swap Round 5-
     There is a slight chance that this person may check here so I'm not going to say where the swap is going to. I hope the person likes it.

For those of you not from the US- Brach's candy hearts are little, chalky hearts that have words printed on them. They are only sold near Valentine's Day. Teddy Grahams are graham crackers shaped like little teddy bears. My children really like them, though we don't have them often. Graham crackers are kind of like a mix between a cookie and a cracker. Goldfish are small, cheese flavored, salty crackers. Again, my children love them. Spanish Rice mix- flavored with spices that is similar to Cajun cooking.Corn bread mix. I'm not a big fan of cornbread but when I do have it, I like to eat it warm with butter. Hidden Valley Dip can be used for salads, potato chips, vegetable platters, etc. I really like that. Lastly, Oreo cookies, mentioned above. I also threw in some tea and a few pieces of candy including York Peppermint Patty and Reeses's Peanut Butter cups. I can't wait to see where my food is from!

US-2035968

   What do you think the name of this woman should be? Love the skull necklace.  Headed to Russia.
US- 2036926

Headed to Germany. It's a day of odd postcards.

Headed to Monique in The Netherlands. Like my new deco tape?  Cute.

The 366 Project:

Sent: 12
Received:5

     Still on track and looking forward to finishing up with my respond pile :) 

Other...

     We tried the Malaysian 5 spice mix last night. Here's what it looked like:

My plastic, green bowl does not make this look appetizing at all.
Reviews:

Timmy says "It's okay. It's creamy."

David, Mr. "I don't want to eat dinner", said that he really liked it. Then he ate 3 bites and was done..

     I thought it was pretty good. My husband thought that the soup needed more vegetables so he added almost double the vegetables. I thought that made the soup taste too corn-like. I would've preferred to just have it made the way it was supposed to be. He cooked it while I was at a dr's appointment. Matt thought it had some "earthy, Indian tasting spices."  It smelled a little like Ramen noodles.

     Tonight Matt and I are going to a bed and breakfast in New Hampshire and then taking a cooking class tomorrow. Should be fun! I'll update when I'm home.


    

 



 
  

Mystery Envelope 22

Incoming...

     Today I arrived home from work to find a large, stuffed envelope in my mailbox. This is from a round robin I often participate in. One person starts an envelope with 10 items in it and then the envelope passes between 5 other participants before returning home. When you receive the envelope you take out the items that you'd like and replace those items with items of similar value. This envelope started in Japan and has been sent to me by Verlustangst in Malaysia. Here's what was inside:

4 postcards that will be perfect for my A Month of Letters challenge or for Postcrossing.

     A flower handkerchief

 A 5-Spice Mix. I think I'm going to keep this to try it. You cook it with chicken, peas, carrots, mushrooms and baby corn.

 Sorry for the bad picture. This is a bracelet on top of a small patch of bubble wrap.

 These are toothbrush holders. They clip on the top part of the toothbrush and they have a suction cup on the back. Hey Miss Tricia, this could work at the preschool! I love the smiley faces.

 Pencils. I might keep these to give out as student prizes. They'll be excited to know that they're getting something from a different country. (Even though most of the stuff they have is also from different countries)

 Lip gloss. I'm keeping this and I'll probably add in more Lip Smackers from the huge pack I got for the lip balm swap.

 Matryoshka keychain. She was round and wouldn't stay put.

 An expo2012 pin from Korea

 Eyeliner. I couldn't pull off gold eyeliner though I was tempted to see what I would look like

  I will update what I added to the envelope before I send it out. Any suggestions? (It should be pretty light and worth the value of the things I took out.) It will head to The Netherlands, England and Brazil before heading back to Japan. 

Outgoing...

    I have a letter headed out to The Netherlands but I want to wait until I photograph it. I also plan on finishing another letter tonight so I'll take a picture of that too.

The 366 Project 

Sent: 8
Received: 4
    

Other:

     I have decided to join A Month of Letters to help keep me on track in February. It looks fun. If you've ever wanted to start writing, check out the site. If you'd like to send me a letter, or want one from me, message me. (I need to finish catching up with penpals first but I anticipate being caught up before February.)
     Have a great day! Thanks for checking in.