My good friend Jen turned 40 a couple of months ago. I wanted to give her something special, but what? Jen knits and crochets beautiful things for money and for fun, so I didn’t feel the need to crochet her something. She and her husband already own several dottery mugs and things I’ve painted for them over the years. They live across the country from me, and they’re moving next summer so Jen has been in the process of paring down her family’s belongings for a while. I wanted to send something that she would really enjoy, something that wouldn’t be just one more thing she’d be annoyed to pack next summer.

I was pondering my options when I remembered the photo messages I used to send to far-away friends when I was a kid. My mom would take photos of me holding up a series of signs, each sign with a word or phrase on it. Put together, all the photos would make a complete message. I used to really have fun with it, dressing in different crazy outfits and posing in silly places. I’d send the photos one at a time over the course of a couple of weeks.

And then I had my brilliant idea. I would send Jen 40 pieces of mail for her birthday! Who doesn’t love getting mail? Who doesn’t feel that little thrill when they see an envelope in the mailbox that’s not a bill or a mailer advertising the new carpet-cleaning company? I could send postcards, letters, even the occasional small care package. It wouldn’t break the bank since stamps are relatively cheap, and I already own tons of rarely-used stationery. I would be extending the birthday joy for more than a month—almost two months, as it turned out. And Jen wouldn’t have a fragile or unwieldy new thing to pack (or to feel guilty about getting rid of). Win-win-win!

I didn’t tell Jen what I was doing. I just started sending her numbered mail. It only took her about three days to figure it out. She sent me an email (subject: “Stinker!”) that read:

You’ve been up to something, haven’t you?…It all started to make sense today as my mail started piling up. It was like the ending of an M. Night Shyamalan movie.

I think she meant one of the good M. Night Shyamalan movies. At least, I hope she did.

I sent homemade cookies.

Annalie helped out with a couple of drawings and a bookmark.

I sent a few postcards.

Well, lots of postcards, actually.

Lots and lots of postcards.

I helped Jen face her fear of glitter, because I’m a good friend like that.

I sent her a copy of the soundtrack to Scrubs: My Musical, so that the next time she’s stuck in traffic on the 805 with me and Sonja for four hours and we insist on singing “Everything Comes Down to Poo,” she’ll be able to sing along.

A dime bag of Canadian Smarties. (Inside joke. I told Jen I would send her a box of the Smarties that Jen Wilson had sent me, and Jen said she didn’t need a whole box, that I should just send her a little bag. I said I’d send her a dime bag. It…isn’t really that funny, I guess. But it was hilarious to us.)

A Nebraska care package, when I was visiting Omaha.

A little bag of jelly beans. This is one of those 13-ounces-or-less things, where I just stuck an address label and postage right on the package and dropped it in the mail.

We mailed a little bit of autumn.

I slowed down a lot towards the end. Several days went by between each of the last three or four pieces of mail I sent. I was a little sad it was coming to an end. I had a lot of fun with this project, even more fun than I expected. I think I’ll have to do something like this again sometime.

Finally, six weeks after Jen’s actual birthday, I was sending #40. And what else could possibly be good enough for the final piece of birthday mail except some really, really ridiculously good apricot cookies?

Happy birthday, Jen!

All the mail I sent is in the Flickr photoset 40 pieces of mail.

Okay, that’s a stretch. I’m basically ignoring the chocolate theme today, but this seemed more important. My favorite local pottery-painting studio, the one where I first painted six years ago, the one where dottery was born with this plate, is closing.

The owner doesn’t really want to close, but for various reasons (including her two young kids and the depressed economy) it’s the best thing for her to do right now. She’s still hoping that someone might buy the studio from her and re-open it, particularly because it’s the only pottery-painting studio in the area.

Today was the last day to paint. So we went and painted one last time. *sniff*

I thought it would be cool to have Elliora paint an ornament. I let her pick the paint colors and choose which ornament. Following her big sister’s example, she already has very definite, clear opinions about what she wants. (I don’t have a picture of E painting because I was too busy making sure she didn’t grab the ornament or palette and throw them onto the floor while simultaneously preventing her from smearing her painty hands all over her clothes, the table, the high chair…)

We sure will miss this place. I hope someone buys it soon and re-opens it.

For her photo today, Annalie posed in front of our Christmas tree with a chocolate-filled Advent calendar:

My mom let me eat the rest of the chocolate from Elliora’s Advent calendar to take my self-portrait. She doesn’t really eat the chocolate, anyway. She just gets a tiny bite and my mom and I eat the rest.

You know that life overload I wrote about a few days ago? All of those things are still true, but I’m feeling better about it all. I don’t know why, exactly. Maybe partly because Elliora likes to accessorize, which is adorable:

Elliora loves headbands for some reason. She’s forever picking up ones that Annalie has discarded around the house and attempting to put them on, usually just setting them on top of her head tiara-style. Today Annalie and I were both in the kitchen when Elliora came crawling in from the living room with this headband in place on her head. I asked Annalie if she’d helped her put it on, and Annalie said, “No, I was in here with you!” I guess that means Elliora managed to get it on all by herself. Not bad for a 1-year-old.

Also, I had a headache for three days on and off thanks to storms that were near us. Yesterday it finally rained here, and with the rain came relief from the headaches. And pretty Christmas-light reflections.

I was talking to Troy last night about how life just feels so…relentless lately. Of course having a toddler in the house, even one who (touchwoodfingerscrossedtwirlaroundthreetimesandclucklikeachicken) is mostly sleeping through the night, is a lot of work. Troy is still working long hours. I’m still homeschooling Annalie. And it’s the holidays, which means extra items on everyone’s to-do list. Especially with the days getting dark so early, it seems like I am constantly running behind, that I never reach the end of my list.

Troy suggested that maybe right now, just for a little while, I need to cut back on one or two things. I agreed that sounded good in theory. Then I realized: I’m two weeks behind on Flickring photos (which I do mainly for the grandparents, so I’m feeling bad about that). I hadn’t blogged in eight days. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d worked on any of the three big crocheting projects in progress. Aside from some Christmas treats, I’ve barely even cooked dinner in weeks.

Yes, I wrote backwards on my hand just to remind you. You’re welcome.

Now I’m thinking that part of my problem is that I have not been doing much of anything creative lately. Luckily, it’s almost time for 7 Days again. (Note that it starts in the middle of the week this time, this coming Wednesday, the 21st.) That always provides a much-needed jolt of creative energy, not to mention it’s like a quarterly reunion of old friends at this point.

Whatever. It’s life, sometimes it’s crazy, sometimes it’s CRAZY, and usually it’s fun. Christmas is only a week away, and (throwsaltovermyshoulderwishonastarwearsomegarlic) we’re all healthy. We’re not traveling this year so we’re avoiding that stress. Things will get better and I’ll crochet and blog and cook more again someday. This is only a season.

And hey, it’s a season with lots of pretty lights to enjoy.