I got something in the mail today . . .

Let me begin by telling you that every year, at Christmastime, my mother would send a package of little presents to all seven of her children and their families. Although it was sweet that she did this, her little gifts would, without fail, leave us scratching our heads and wondering what she was thinking. So when the box would arrive, it was anyone's guess as to what the contents would consist of that year. Usually, it was something very odd from the Lillian Vernon catalog. And everything would be wrapped. Very tightly. Even the batteries, if they were needed for a particular present.

When our mother passed away in the summer of 2006, I had no idea how much I would miss her and her precious surprises at Christmastime. And so my wonderful sister Char, along with her family, have taken it upon themselves to continue the tradition by sending something dinstinctive from Lillian Vernon. Last year, it was a ridiculous silver-plated coffee spoon that was so heavy it would fall to the bottom of your coffee container. None of us would ever use this gift. Well, that's not entirely true. My brother Steve tried for awhile, digging to the bottom of his coffee container on a daily basis until I told him it was intended as a joke gift. You see, the gifts have to be things that you'll never use, or it won't be funny. (Actually, thinking of my brother attempting to use that spoon was an added bonus. But I had to tell him.)

This year, my long-anticipated present came just today. Wrapped very tightly, with lots of scotch tape, I finally managed to get to the 'prize'. It turned out to be the tiny little measuring set pictured above. Oh, but they're not in increments that you would already have in your kitchen drawer. These are for a "Smidgen", a "Dash", and a "Pinch". And the note that was attached was very cleverly written. It read, in part:

In Honor of Mom

and to keep Lillian Vernon from going completely bankrupt after two Christmas seasons without Mom as a customer . . . our family is sending you this token gift, which we consider to be a fun but totally unnecessary, useless and ridiculous example of free enterirpse and gift giving. So in keeping with the spirit of finding a package at your door at Christmas, Merry Christmas to you all. And if I ever catch you using this, I may have to hurt you in some creative way.

Thanks, Char and family. Thanks for continuing to make me smile. God love ya!

And mom, if you can hear me . . . I miss you.