Many of you know that I was born and raised in Chicago, IL. Not suburban Chicago. CHICAGO city. Other than spending 4 years in the corn fields of Upland, Indiana at Taylor University I lived there all my life. That is, until I got married.
When I moved to Knoxville I experienced major shock: Getting married, culture, lifestyle, etc. Matt and I were blessed to be able to rent a house right away. So I moved in and started to learn about this new place.
A day that will go down in history was the day that I opened the front door, turned to look at the house and asked Matt, "Where's our mailbox?" He kindly pointed out that the mailbox was several feet in front of my house near the road. "You have to walk out to the road to get your mail." Ohhh...OK.
You see, where I come from, mailboxes are attached to your house. The mailman walks down the street with a wheeled bag and walks up your stairs and puts the mail in a box that is attached to your home. These are the little things about Knoxville that I was trying to figure out.
So yesterday was a busy day for me, but I was so excited for the mail to come and because I was expecting some items I purchased online and I wanted my Netflix to go out. While Sam and I were hosting a Valentine's lunch and I saw the mail truck go through the neighborhood, but didn't get the mail right away because people were over (running out to the mailbox while people are over might seem rude...).
After everyone was gone I went out to the mailbox. But wait. They didn't pick up my Netflix, nor did they drop off my mail. What the heck?! I saw the mail truck!
OK, so maybe somewhere in the USPS policies and procedures manual it reads that if someone is parked or blocking your mailbox the postman does not have to deliver. But really. Are you serious? No mail? So frustrating. You can only imagine (or already know) what the mailmen in Chicago endure every day. They walk down the street in heat! Snow! Rain! No truck cover!!!
I digress...
Fine.
So later on in the day I check my voice mail messages. My buddy Jen calls and leave me an excited message: "Ariana, I just got my mail and got the most exciting surprise in the mail! Check your mail and call me!"
Are you serious? The ONE DAY that my mail doesn't get delivered? Whatever. I will call Jen to find out what it is...I don't want to wait until tomorrow.
Guess what?!?! I GOT PUBLISHED! I am SOOO excited. I can't even tell you how happy that makes me feel! This was a goal from last year! Someone who doesn't have to appreciates my creativity!
TWO cards were published - a maternity thank you and Sam's birth announcement. This just is affirmation that Samuel is a blessing all around. :)
So I finally got my mail today and I can't tell you how excited I am to share this with the blog world! Thank you so much for reading this long post and sharing the moment with me.
Now I definitely need to stamp this weekend...
6 comments:
Wow! How incredible!!! You do make creative cards! I am SO excited for you! Congrats!!!
Oh my goodness! I am SO happy for you! I didn't check blogs until just now. What a wonderful blessing for you, Arian.
You are a WONDERFUL card maker!
I'm smiling from ear to ear!
Cheryl
I am happy for you! That is really great!
Oh...yeah...the mailman thing. I should have told you about that too. We have that happen a lot and it is a little frustrating. In fact, it just happened Friday when Bobby's mowing trailer was in front of our house. We were expecting it, though.
Congrats on your Half-marathon. I am sure there will be a post soon!
What a wonderful thing, congratulations! And I really like them both, beautifully done :-)
Well done!
Who knew the USPS had a creed/motto?
Either way, congrats!! It must be a great feeling to be able to cross off one more item from your list of goals.
Those are such great cards, it is not a wonder they choose them to be published.
Hey Ariana,
Congrats on your publication. Your cards are beautiful. I just happened to link to your blog from Joy's today and got a laugh out of your wonderful description of the quality mail service in Ktown!
I did not realize how lacking we were in Ktown until I moved to the Nashville area. The first day we moved in, we got a knock at the door, and there was a man standing there who introduced himself as our mailman. He said he just wanted to introduce himself so we would know who was delivering our mail and ask if he could do anything to help us in the transition of our mail and let us know the previous owners received a lot of catalogs which we would now get. He also said he liked to put a face with a name on the envelopes. When he left, I was a little confused and dismayed that the mailman actually GOT OUT OF HIS MAIL TRUCK and spent time getting to know us a little. You see, I have never once met the mail person that delivered our mail in Ktown at any of the houses I lived in and I lived in Ktown for 29 years! Kevin and I were both astounded that a mailman would be that friendly and GO OUT OF HIS WAY!
After that we have realized how wonderful his service is. All of our packages arrive at our front door (not thrown in the driveway) securely wrapped in plastic to prevent them from getting wet even when it is not raining. When raining, our mail is put in our mail box in plastic to prevent it from getting wet! Two weeks after his first visit, he came back to our front door to make sure we were settling in and to make sure we weren't having any problems with our mail delivery.
We have been so amazed at the difference in service between two cities 2.5 hours apart! I even asked another former Knoxvillian if they knew their mailman in Nashville. She said, oh yes, there is a huge difference in mail service between Nashville and Knoxville!
I am 99% sure if there was a car in front of our mail box we would still get our mail!
Anyway, I just had to comment on your post since I have been so amazed at the difference in mail service! It is not just Chicago.
Take care, you have a great blog and an adorable son!
Christy (Joy's friend)
Post a Comment