Imagine my surprise when I came home from work on Friday, and there, sitting on the porch in living, glorious color, was a CARE package from Natalie and Andy. Foodstuffs from Minnesota, or, as I thought of it, manna from the Motherland.
- Cookies (sugar and peanut butter) and fudge (chocolate and peanut butter)- both of which the local teenagers made short work of. Music may sooth the wild beast(s), but sugar keeps them rolling.
- Old Dutch Dill Pickle Potato Chips. Now, those of you not fortunate enough to have grown up in the Great White North have probably never experienced such sheer exquisite potatoey bliss. I pity you poor, depraved multitudes. These are the creme de la creme of the potato chip world. Eating Old Dutch Dill Pickle Potato Chips can best be described as quasi- orgasmic. They are best enjoyed among close friends, who will understand as you lose yourself in the rapture of the salty, dill pickle goodness.
- Two Garrison Keillor books. I once figured out that Lake Wobegon was about 60 miles from where I went to high school. Yep, these are my people.
- A lifetime supply of lefsa. OK, maybe not a lifetime supply, but I've got enough Norwegian tortillas to last me a good long while. Mmmm, mmm, good....
There were a few other things in the box, and it was clear that Natalie and Andy had put a good deal of thought into the CARE package. All I can say is THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!! You've made an expatriate Minnesota boy very, very happy....
(Wow...a CARE package from the Motherland AND the Vikings are undefeated? Can it get any better?? Well, actually, yes it can. Four years ago today I met Susan, and life hasn't been the same since. I know that I haven't always distinguished myself as a candidate for Husband of the Year, but I do love that woman. Thanks for four years that I wouldn't have traded for anything, Sweetheart. We do have a pretty good life, don't we??)