I Won the Lottery!

No, not the Mega Millions...or the State one, not even a scratch one!

The "Lottery" I won far exceeds those meaningless types~ by a long shot!!

My "Lottery" winnings will be a memory I will cherish for eternity!

* * *

But...Before I tell you about my "lottery winnings",

Today's post was going to be about us leaving yesterday,

before dark-thirty a.m and returning after dark-thirty p.m.…

missing, by a ‘hair’,

being sucked into a mudslide as we made the long trek to the 'big city', Spokane!

And about their 6 ½ feet of snow in 3 weeks!

And about this winter of white, wet, wild, weather Washington’s been having…

And then~I was going to "brag" about me running barefoot through the green grasses,

sipping lemonade, eating fresh picked strawberries from the garden

...and enjoying a relaxing swim in our newly 'acquired' lake!

* * *

Well, blah, blah, blah…NONE of that holds a candle to today!

* * *
Last night, we stopped and picked our mail up before heading in our driveway.

It was dark; I shoved the mail in my purse and proceeded through the rest of the evening.

This morning, I got the mail from my purse.

In it was a notice of a parcel, insured no less, which had been attempted to be delivered. Hmmm..what could it be? Did one of the kids walk off with something that

wasn’t theirs after Christmas and were sending it back?

INSURED though? We have nothing of value.

*

OK…Cowboy said he’d stop at the PO on his way out to give a riding lesson,

since he had to go that way. I told him before he signed for it,

make sure it’s not some gimmick thing or something we

did not need to be a part of….if so? refuse it.

*
He was not familiar with the return address on this parcel,

but it didn’t look like a gimmick thing or junk. It had a personal return address.

He signed for it and set the box in the cab of his pickup, proceededing with his agenda.
After the lesson and some time BS’ing, which he is very good at,

he headed back towards town. He decided to stop at our little

shrinking general store, hoping they might have some milk.
2 quarts was all they had, but it was better than none.

Of course, he had to buy a pack of candy- Skittles!

As he sat outside opening those sweets, he glanced at this box that was a mystery to him.

Yes, it had MY name on it…but this is a community property state

…and a marriage of “what’s mine is yours and what’s yours is mine”…

Curiosity got the best of him.

He dug deep into his hip pocket pulling out his pocket knife

…..and slid it through the tape.

Upon lifting one flap…there was a card laying on top...
He immediately knew…..

.

.
This box and it’s contents would be something special to me!

He closed it up and hurried the rest of his 10 mile journey home.
As he entered I heard “Honey…..I’m home!”

Carefully…he set the box on the counter with the sweetest smile and said,

“I think you’d better come see this box I brought home!

I do believe it’s from a dear friend of yours!”

Yes Siree Sir! He was right!

The Return Address was that of Train Wreck!

What on earth could she be sending me?? I wondered.

I opened the flaps (Cowboy had taken the need for a knife away from me...

yea, that's a good thing since my handling of knives gets me in trouble...)

and what did I see?

A bright red envelope saying "Open me first".

It was a Christmas/Valentine card!

You see TW is a procrastinator too! She said so!

Since she didn't send in time for Christmas,

she decided it could be for Valentines!

She writes...."which is fitting, considering this package is filled with LOVE for you

my dear friend, from Many friends who love you!"

After reading the wonderful card, I'm already dripping with tears,
nestled in colored tissue paper and bubble wrap,
there were little treasures to be discovered!
Yes, that bright and sunny yellow box screamed "Open Me!"
...but TW wrote on it "Open me Last"...so obliged!

There, laying carefully on some bubble wrap, was two matted pictures from
"Gillespie Galleries"! I am truly honored to have her work in my home!
I'm estatic that she'd share them with me!! ~sobbing, sniff, sniff..
(Please forgive my pictures, they are taken from the lost & found camera from the haystack
...sandwiched between fallen layers for 2 weeks in the freezing/snow!
Yea, I know, that is not the real reason for lousy pictures...
it is the person behind the lens, but humor me, Ok?!)



Besides these beautiful
art pieces,
was a mug with
Kim's artwork!
She knows I LOVE
my coffee,
so now each morning,
we can enjoy a
cup "together"!
Cheers TW!!




It is no secret that I love Candles...Ya all know that...but my goodness! Would you look at these? One candle came in a twisted barbed wire holder...how fitting is that? I absolutely love it!
...tear dropped...
The others, you can't tell probably, but they are little apple candles! The wick is the stem! And since I live in the apple capital of the world state...what else should I have in my home but Apple Candles!! The are the sweetest little candles!! Just for me!!

~~sniffle-sniff...




Wrapped carefully in colored tissue is the coolest Paperweight!
I don't know if someone makes them????
Duh...some one does make them, but I'm not sure if I know that person! Anyhow, it is a 'wordle' with the words:
ME/1)to hold dear 2) to treasure, adore, value, love
3)to keep deeply in my mind
Always/Cherish.
We do have a lot of wind here do you think this is to hold me down?
Or maybe it's to keep me "grounded"...Yea, I think so.


...wiping tear, runny nose...
more tissue please...
Then as I unwrapped deeper, lo and behold is the neatest thing!
Inside the Mason jar, is a package of lentils and peas for making soup.
Tied to the bale in a tiny bag is a stone~heart shaped!
A large heavy soup ladel and a tied scroll telling the story of
Stone Soup! I absolutely love this!! It is sooo ME!

Read about: The Story of Stone Soup

The moral to this story alone, made me cry!
**sobbing....

Now, if you remember the second picture, the Yellow Box!

It said to OPEN LAST!

Ok....I honored that instruction.

Uh-Oh!

First thing I saw was this little package of tissue!

All so pretty and dainty with flowers!

"This is not a good sign of what I'm about to read!" I thought...

I'd already soaked my sleeve with tears! Slobbered on every kitchen towel...

Under the tissue is a letter written,

Which I MUST share!

"Barb.....some private words from Kim....If there was a way I could have hand delivered this package you can believe I would have. (I even looked into it!)

Yep, I would have (gulp) flown!

You are a remarkable woman & I look forward to "meeting" you someday!

Ok, with all that being said, I guess there are a "few" others that Love you a lot too,

because I received & was designated to be the one who sent you all of our "Love".

No one wanted to be named, so don't even ask!!

They all wanted to make sure you knew you mean a lot to them,

and wanted you to have a better New Year!

We Love you and hope this small gift from all of us helps start your New Year off with a bang! Now you will understand the tissue!

No words-We Love You Barb Plain & Simple!"

**sniffling...sniff, sniff...

more tissue please....

Inside the pretty Yellow Sunny box...was NOT the size 8 1/2 shoes it said on the side...
that would have been much too large for me, so that was a good thing.
But....it ended up being "too large" anyhow...for my heart!
The tissues got used, Cowboy grabbed another bucket and more towels...
for the rivers flowing down my cheeks were not stoppable by dams...

There was a gift Card, and this beautiful sugar container!

Inside, as I opened it, this note popped up that says:

"Because a Spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down..."

From your "Blog" Family *heart*

...it was filled with... "Sugar"...!!!!

* * *

Cowboy had to catch me now...my knees went weak

(forget that "tough Ol' Bird" name I have..it failed me today!)

All evening....as I paced, as I touched, as I felt dizzy...

overpowered with emotion!

Cowboy kept giving me that sweet smile...and a wink.
He kept telling me that you all love me~
even though I'm someone you all have never met!

*
And he keept smiling...so sweetly...patting my hand...
Telling me it's because he is so happy for me!

Happy that I have such an awesome 'family' in this blog world!
Happy because through this 'family' I have found here...

...he's watched me transform into a different person ~All because of you!
He says he notices me not spending as much time worrying,

but instead, smiling all of the time because I have all of you!

* * *

I'm really struggling here now, "Family"!
How can I ever thank you?????

I have never felt this emotional before!

I am so overwhelmed with joy, with wonderment,

with love for so many people who have touched my life in so many ways

....and I've never met any of you!

I am sooooo truly blessed!

*
There are not enough words.........
........there is not enough time!

*

I have the warmest, the largest, the most loving "Family" and

I will forever hold each and everyone of you deep within my heart!

I love you all and thank you for making my life so complete!!