It's here! I went to the Post Office and there, waiting for me was a huge cardboard box. I *had* to open it to make sure that everything was okay, because the Oz Quarantine service had placed a sticker on the box saying that they had inspected it. Lots of purple packages, beautifully wrapped!

I am under STRICT instructions not to open it all until Christmas, so I guess I'll have to wait. The truth is, I was kind of hoping it *would* take 3 weeks to arrive because then I would have a better chance of fighting off temptation.

It has Mary S (Internet etiquette prevents me from writing the surname) written on the label and I thought I would have a great deal of trouble figuring out her Mudcat name, but she posted to the Morticia's got troubles thread, mentioned Portland, and signed herself Mary, so I now know --- ta-da!!! --- that Sinsull is my Secret Santa.

So, miracles do happen. It only took 10 days to get here.

She has obviously taken pity on a poor woman whose attitide to presents is not unlike the "seafood diet", i.e. "see food and eat it".

[When my sister and I were kids she could keep her Easter eggs for a whole week just taking one little nibble once a day until they were all gone. Mine were all gone in about 10 minutes.]

She has included a newspaper and a magazine for me to keep busy with while waiting for Christmas Day to roll around. Slowly. And now I get the references to the Union.

There is a very very interesting twist to this story, which I will reveal later, maybe in a week or so.

Helen