day 196: I've got mail

And some serious mail, to be exact.

You know it's of that type when it's not waiting for you behind the hinged black door of the mailbox, and, instead, it's sitting in the way of your front door on your front porch, just waiting for you to arrive home and see it....and be excited.

And boy, if I could've leaped from my driver's seat and clicked my heels in the air, I would've. Yet the lives of my children, and the future of my garage, were at stake. Nevertheless, I subdued that desire.

And the instant I saw the padlock, I know I frowned. I mean, that's a good idea and all, but I wanted to get in that thing. I wanted to rummage, explore, and sift through papers that he had last touched. But then....there was no key hole, but numbers for a "secret code" the girls were afraid that I wouldn't know. But, their momma is just that smart, because she guessed that secret code on the first try. Padlock success.

You ever wonder what it takes to ship such a cumbersome box from one point on the globe to a metropolitan spot a few 7000 miles away? Check out that postage rate, folks.

Can you see the excitement on those faces?

It was the feeling of Christmas morning, to be exact.

Because they, too, instantly knew what this foot locker meant, sitting on the front porch.

We are so very close...