July 20

       Today was sweltering! In general, I don't do well with hot, humid weather- especially if I'm stuck in sunlight. So, what does David want to do on the hottest day of the summer so far?

 

    He literally had 4 customers over the few hours that we were set up. The kid's lemonade stand is fascinating to watch. There were many people who rode by, but I think there were less than 5 who didn't smile or wave. One guy flashed a peace sign. His first customer was a fairly young guy who handed him a $20. David told him that it only cost 50 cents and the guy said, "I know. Keep the change." David told him that he was the first customer. The guys replied, "Hopefully the best customer!" Then he smiled and left. Every person gave him more than his fifty cents. Seriously, watching how these people brightened his day made me want to either ride around with an extra pile of money in my car to randomly give kids at lemonade stands or to set up a table of free treats one day just to be nice to people driving by.

     Other than that, today was pretty low key. I hid in the air conditioning for a while and read.  Emmie napped in a lunch bag.

 

    We also received our Redditgifts Simple Pleasures gift. 

 

     As a family, we love games- especially me and David. Unfortunately we have Beat the Parents already, but it's the thought that counts. Maybe we will re-gift our original Beat the Parents since this one is from Canada and might be slightly different.  It's basically a trivia game that asks questions that the other generation should know. This swap was sent from Canada. Here's what I sent my giftee:

 

     The Pusheen mug is filled with tea. Then there are rabbit stickers (she likes bunnies) and a LUSH shampoo bar because I love them. The mug says "Catpusheeno" We were supposed to send something about appreciating life's simple pleasures. I'm also in an Arbitrary Day swap and a postcard exchange.  

       Last night we had the most incredible sunset. It was so beautiful that I jumped in the car and drove to the cornfields near me so I could see it better. People were stopping along the sides of the road to take pictures as the sunset changed.

      

July 12

Good news, it seems that my writing mojo is back. (This may be bad news if you follow me on Twitter and have gotten my million notifications of sending a Postcrossing card. Sorry). I spent some time yesterday and this morning writing thank you notes and writing some Postcrossing cards. I look forward to tossing them all in the mail today and then attempting to tackle my overwhelming "respond" pile. Thanks to everybody who has been patiently waiting. Postcrossing cards are being sent to: Russia, Germany, Canada, Japan, Finland, USA (California),Portugal, Poland, France, Netherlands, and Romania. 

 

 

  It will be nice to start receiving so many cards back once these ones are registered. I hope to have the maximum amount of cards traveling as I am allowed to. I think I'm up to 19 now. I have a few more to send tomorrow and then I'll be at the maximum.

Lettermo 2017

     Month of Letters Challenge (Lettermo) 2017. Who's in?  The challenge is to:
1) Send at least one thing through postal mail for each day it runs in February.
2) Write back to everybody who writes to you.

      I love doing this every year. I'm a little behind on my penpal responses, so I'm responding to all of those first. However, one of the reason I do this challenge every year is to connect/reconnect with new/old friends.   If you would like a letter, comment here and add your address to my Postable account (only visible to me. I don't share your address with anyone).  If your name here is different than the name you've left on my address book, please let me know who to look for.

 

   I have already challenged a few of my friends (and one of my students too) to participate. If you feel like you've lost touch with friends/family or if you want to devote some time to building relationships with people, consider joining. I've met some amazing people through Lettermo. 

2017 mail and Secret Christmas RR#3

I haven't written much about mail since the new year. I have received some beautiful cards that I wanted to show off:

Secret Christmas RR#3

 From gzechanka in Ukraine

 From Rodzinka in Russia. I loved the stamps on this one too.

 From Liisa in Finland. Thanks for telling me about the traditional decorations with the Finnish flags. I didn't know that.

 From Alevtina in Russia Thanks for the great stamps too. Love the braid on the snowman!

Postcrossing:

This is from Jacque in Az. I love it.  Because she's awesome, she also sent me the next card.

 I love Nouvelle Images!!!

 Keeping with the music theme. She also sent an Elvis stamp and Edith Piaf too. That would be a really interesting duet, eh?

Naoko sent this yummy card from Japan.
    This next one made me giggle a bit. It's from Marilyn in Texas.  I have never been to Tx, but I've heard "everything is bigger in Texas," so I guess this fits. I'm right on the "Damned Yankee" and snafu border.  

Timmy's Christmas gift to me

     Timmy decided to make my Christmas gift this year and I love it. What do you think?

    Can you see the little envelope on the snail shell? He's so cute.
    For all of my friends, I hope that you had a wonderful day and know that you are deeply loved. If any of my friends have not heard the good news of the gospel and would like to hear about Jesus, please feel free to reach out. Merry Christmas!

Guess what?

I DID IT!!!!!! 

     After 3 years, I have completed my goal of sending out at least 1 personal piece of mail for every day of the year (plus 1 since I started the project on a leap year so my goal was 366)!!! I know I'm nerdy to be excited about this. but it was a lot of work and I really tried this year. It was my original goal to send and receive 366 pieces, but the incoming mail is beyond my control. (I'm at about 170- feel free to mail me 190 things in December. I would be ecstatic and shocked to complete my entire goal.)

     So, what's next year's goal? Penpals, you're going to love this. I would like to respond to every letter that I get in the same month I receive it. No more waiting for letters. I appreciate all of you who have stuck with me when I've been busy, crazy or buried in school work. This is my goal for next year. 

    I participated in a Christmas card round robin. I will post all of my cool international cards when they come in. 

Quick mail catchup

   The mailbox has been quite dismal lately. I have gotten a few good things but the package from Finland got lost and I'm still waiting for other things. I have also been a bit behind on my writing. I'm hoping that this post will be a kick in the pants for me.
     These 2 were outgoing cards. 1 was for a woman in Germany and the 2nd was to a student of mine who just participated in a fencing competition. I also sent a letter out to both Chemobuddies.

    I have had a few interesting pieces of incoming mail. I won another cool book from Goodreads. This one is called "The Mystery Writers of America Cookbook" edited by Kate White. In addition to having some yummy recipes (I tried Louise Penny's Madame Benoit's Tourtiere tonight.), it has some beautiful pictures and the book is textured in a cool way.

    Another great letter and stationary from Neil in the UK!

 A letter from Tseganesh, my sponsor child in Ethiopia. I also tried to get a nice picture of a letter from Angie but I couldn't seem to get a picture that didn't show at least part of our addresses.

      I was doing pretty well with my mail log but I have fallen a bit behind. I will try to catch up tonight.
      Have you been getting anything good in the mail lately?

End of the year mail haul

   Two days ago, I told you I would write and update you on my postcards. I thought about showing all of my mail but I got a ton of Christmas cards with pictures and I didn't know if my friends/family would mind me posting them. (They all are beautiful!)  I also got a great package from my friend Jenny in Germany that included a card a magnetic notepad and some DELICIOUS Advent chocolates (which I may or may not be devouring at an unhealthy rate...).
     Here are all of my cards over the past month or so. Being a musician in December has greatly interfered with me just sitting around and having time to blog.
   From Poland:  

 From the US- Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado... beautiful

 From Russia. Check out the sticker that was stuck on it. When the Postcrosser sent it to me, the sticker was not there. Anyone every see this sticker before? There's a close up under the postcard. What does it mean?

 From Germany:

China: A postcard of a stamp from 1997.

 From Germany- David took this out of my mailbox and was startled. I love it. I've developed a liking for owls.

 Taiwan:

 More owls from Plymouth, MA- less than 2 hours from me. I'd love to meet more local Postcrossers.

 Czech Republic:

 Russia: (art card. Isn't it pretty?)

 Belarus: More owls! Can you tell I updated my Postcrossing preferences?

 China- Confucius Temple.

 Finland- Moomin!!!! I also love that the proceeds from buying the card will help to build a children's hospital in Helsinki.

 Russia: This card confused me a little. I thought Konigsberg was in Germany. Apparently, after 1945 it is called Kaliningrad. It was the easternmost city in Germany until it was captured after WWII. (According to Wikipedia..lol)

 From Taiwan:

 China:

 From the US- Minnesota. I was telling the Postcrosser that I know the man who is currently renting Einstein's viola from a museum. I have heard it played. It's beautiful.

 These cards are from a Christmas card RR I did through Postcrossing. The first is from Ireland and the next 2 are from Germany, and the last is from the Netherlands.

Oh, I should also show you a gift from my Reddit Secret Santa. I sent a pashmina scarf to a Redditor in CA. I received this gift from a Reddit user in Oregon who didn't tell me their name. Thanks if you are reading this!

    

It is a kitten calendar, which David claimed, cookies and an art kit. I was especially excited about the art kit because I've wanted to try pastels but haven't wanted to pay for them in case I stink at it! lol

DPP/6-8, 2 postcrossing cards, currently reading...

My Daily Paper Prompt cards have been fun but I had to rush 2 of them this week. Prompt 6- Certification. I feel this is appropriate. (I got the image from this page. )

DPP7- Leftovers. I made this from a bunch of mop up paper and other various scraps around the kitchen table. 

DPP8- Faded. I read about a technique to paint something and then immediately spray it with water to let the paint fade and drip. I really like how this one came out and I will definitely experiment more with this technique.

   The mailbox has been pretty slow on personal mail this week but I did get some nice cards. (I hear Monday is going to be a good mail day ;) )  This card is from Sanne in Holland.

I received this card from Ines today. She is from Berlin.  I would love if my yard was this cute.

     As for reading, I just finished reading through the book of Hebrews in the Bible and I'm going to spend some time in Psalms for my devotional time. I'm also reading a book called "An Incomplete Education" (check out my Goodreads page if you want info). For school this summer, the staff and students are reading Wonder by R.J. Palacio. I just started but I think it will be a quick read. I ended up buying the hard cover in case Timmy would like to read it after (if it's appropriate.)   I have heard great things about this book. If you have read it, what did you think?