The Care Package Project: February

With the success of our our January Care Package Project under our belts (Aunt Jan said, and I quote, "You guys sure know how to put together a package!"), Abby and I were rarin' to go for February.

We decided right after putting together my aunt's package that my grandparents (Grandma turned 90 in December and Grandpa 91 in January) were next on our list. We thought we'd go with a game-theme this time: Yatzee scorecards, a deck of playing cards, maybe some dice, maybe some game-appropriate snacks. All in time for Valentine's Day.

Doesn't that sound fun? We thought so, too. And then this happened:

It wasn't necessarily the snow, but the utter mess it made that was the problem.

The weather threw us a curveball when the first major snowstorm of the season hit the weekend Abby and I had planned to go shopping. Because this is our shared Revolution, I didn't want to buy anything ahead of time, even though I had ample opportunity. Add to that the limited time cushion we gave ourselves--shopping on Saturday, mailed by Tuesday--we didn't have much room to maneuver.

Well, whatever. We picked up a bag of Grandma's favorite chocolates (can someone please explain to me the point of Special Dark?) while braving the elements to stock up on foodstuffs Saturday night after Mass. While my favorite market is perfect for picking up fun organic self-care products, it's not really up on the game preferences of 90-year-olds. Ah, well. At that point we were just grateful to have a Plan B at all.

Figure 1. Hershey's Miniatures... Christmas edition? Beggars can't be choosers.
Also: Lucked out and found a perfectly sized packing box in the recycling closet. Score!

Then, on Sunday, the fam came together to make Valentine cards. I was feeling pretty good about mine until I saw Abby's. Also: I enjoyed the irony of the girls fighting while penning heartfelt notes to my grandparents. You gotta get your entertainment where you can.

Figure 2. Valentines! I guess it's good I didn't get rid of all my scrapbook stuff.

So the moral of this slightly pathetic tale is that things did not go as planned on the Care Package front this time around. Sometimes you just have to accept what you're given and roll with it. Raging against the machine is kind of exhausting and totally boring, that's why.

Happy Valentine's Day, Internet friends!

Figure 3. Putting it all together.

P.S. My public (hi, Mom!) recently staged a Revolution of her own by sending a friend (actually a pen pal she's had since high school) one of her quilted Valentine table mats. This friend just lost her mother very suddenly, and she's sad. Of course.

Mom said her friend not only gushed about the quilt, but took a picture of it and posted it to Facebook. Obviously Mom wasn't in it for the "likes," but I think this is a good example of why care packages are so awesome: There's the unexpected element to it, the actually getting something in the mail; there's the thing itself; and there's the joy of sharing said surprise with others. And while Mom's quilt can't erase the pain her friend is feeling, it did brighten her days a bit.

Anyway, this may or (probably) may not have anything to do with my own Care Package Project, but I loved the story and wanted to share it. :)

People! Revolution!