Shelley's Trip to Edmonton, Day 1
Today, I was out at R-T's place, helping her with her housework as I do every Thursday, when I got a phone call. It was from my husband. “Just wanted you to know that you got a parcel from Sweden. It's waiting for you on your chair.” I said “Thanks”, and then I sat there and thought Sweden? Sweden? And then I remembered – Oddity, and Shelley! I was excited, but I couldn't just rush home. So I finished my work, did a little visiting, and then took the subway home.
When I arrived home, there was a very large, very green envelope sitting on my chair. Yes, I have a chair. It's mine. No one else sits on it. It's the only thing I asked for from my parent's estate. I came home, and the Big Green Envelope was on my chair. I didn't know what to do. At first, I couldn't even make myself open the Big Green Envelope. I just moved it off the chair, and turned on my laptop. The first thing I did was sign into Aeclectic, and find the Shelley threads. I posted in the “Shelley's Progress” thread. And then I posted in the “Shelley Chat and Help” thread. And all the while, the Big Green Envelope was sitting there, staring at me impatiently.
Finally, I couldn't take the silent accusations anymore, so I tore open the envelope. And I really mean that I Tore the envelope. I quickly discovered that padded envelopes in Sweden are not padded with bubblewrap, nooooo. They contain some kind of fluffy grey material that I assume is shredded paper. When I was pulling hard on the glue that sealed the envelope, the paper itself ripped, and said grey fluff flew in all directions. It got on my clothes. It got on my laptop keyboard. I'm pretty sure some of it got up my nose. After that fit of violence, I very carefully took the contents out. A compact bundle wrapped in bubble wrap, protected front and back by cardboard. I opened the bubblewrap carefully. Some of you may know that I have a history with bubblewrap. I am sure that my husband will find my bubblewrap and confiscate it. In the meantime, I have not yet indulged in any popping.
The first thing I saw was the bag itself, which is quite lovely. I am ashamed to say the first thought that popped into my head was “I want it.” But I am not the type of woman to leave a Lady homeless, especially when she has been travelling. I do love the bag though. It is wonderfully eclectic (and I suppose Aeclectic too) as every piece of patchwork should be, but also elegant in its own way. I opened up the pack, and slid out the contents. First thing I saw was the little black feather mentioned by Gregory and Oddity. It does have that “smuggled in” feeling to it. Next I saw the Signature Card, which I was pleased still had room for my name on it. Then I noticed a little tag, and wondered what it might be. A bookmark? I pulled on the tag, and out popped “Igor” -- a smiling little green haired companion, keeping her safe in her travels. Igor's smile is quite infectious.
Finally, I found the time to inspect all the cards. Shelley was all decked out (so to speak, laugh) and happy to be seen. She's so beautiful, so wonderful. I paused briefly in surprise when I found two “Two of Swords” and then I checked somewhat frantically to see if anything was missing. I counted cards more than an MIT student in Vegas. But all was well. Then I went online and learned that the double was on purpose. I think Shelley giggled a bit at that.
I have to admit that I'm a little sad. If she had arrived just a week earlier, I could have shown Shelley all the chaos and craziness that is the International Fringe Theatre Festival. But the Fringe is over, so now I must decide where Shelley and I can go, and what we can do...
