#1,250 You’ve Got Mail.

Is there anything more delicious than finding REAL mail in your mailbox in the morning? One of the greatest pleasures in life is seeing your name written by hand in ink on an envelope and knowing there will be some personal message inside. I was having a sort of rotten day when Ben and I met for lunch, and then he handed me not one, but 2 pieces of real mail, just for me.

I immediately felt the sunshine upon realizing that 2 people in this great big world had thought enough of me to write and mail a letter to me. The first was a card from our sweet neighbors, the McLeods. A few days ago, since they don’t have facebook, I walked over to make sure they knew about the boil water notice that was blowing up my newsfeed a few minutes after reading it. I couldn’t imagine being in their shoes, drinking a big glass of bad water then finding out that night on the news. She just wanted to say “thank you.” Well, you are most welcome Mrs. McLeod.

And then the second letter was so so very special. A blog reader named Jennifer wrote to tell me she enjoys reading this boring mess I write every night. Jennifer is a nurse and she reads it over breakfast before facing the day. If you’re reading this morning, I want you to know what a blessing you were to me today. I got back my test results from my attack a couple weeks ago and they still don’t know what’s wrong with me. They’re crossing the possibility of the blood disorder off the list, which is wonderful, I guess… But I want so badly to know what’s wrong and I was feeling down in the dumps until I got your sweet letter. I will soon be sending you some snail mail that I hope can maybe be a happy surprise for you, too.

And I don’t know if y’all use instagram, but I do. I’m in love with instagram. I post way too many pictures of Ben and the pups, our old cars and house. I sometimes do this stupid thing—I do these great pyrenees photo contests that are on there. If I take a good picture of Fat Baker or Little Chevy doing something especially adorable, I hash tag it #greatpyreneesoftheday. I’m so lame. One of those people! But hey, Baker won today. He might be obese, but he’s a winner dangit.

On our morning walks he likes to jump in the fountain beside the theatre, across from City Hall. Our dogs are sort of the downtown mascots in the mornings. They consistently frighten the man who tends the sidewalks and lawn at the Presbyterian church each morning at 9 am, they beg people for food as we pass Lee’s Coffee and Tea, chase the cats that live in the alley beside the accounting firm, get Milk Bones through the drawer from Mrs. Becky (our bank teller), then they wallow in the ivy at the art museum entrance. That’s their most favorite.

I cooked today. Please congratulate me. This is a great achievement with the hours we’ve been keeping lately.