baby got box

I finally got my mom’s package of christmas presents. I got the nicest sweater ever, and some preggy pants that actually make my butt look decent. For this reason, I’m wearing them every day, because I know it’ll be just a few weeks before they won’t fit anymore. (remember - she bought them in NOVEMBER!) baby got a bottle & a diaper, and philippe got a really cute illustrated book on becoming a daddy, written in 1962.. so we had fun laughing at its “charm”. My mom is so good with the books. (((By the way, did yall know she has an online bookstore for rare and out-of print books? If you did not, maybe you should know this in case you one day have a desire to find a rare book… she lists on abebooks.com and her store is called “goodbooks”))) that’s a pretty blatant plug, but she’s my mama.. so really who can blame me? She’s good at what she does.

ANY-waaaaay, several folks are just chomping at the bit to find out “what’s the dealy-o with the packages?” so, what did we learn from this exercise? SEVERAL THINGS.. we learned that there was probably just some uneducated fool working temp at the postoffice during the holiday season. .. so first lesson is (1.) the address everybody has is good, and works just fine. Email me if you want it again.

We also learned that (2.) if you declare a huge value, then I have to pay customs duty and taxes on it. ($100 declared value means I have to pay 23 Euros ($29US) to pick it up) .. they seem to not care about getting any customs money from smaller declarations or envelopes,, mom has sent me a ton of envelopes marked a t$10 to $20 value, and it was of no consequence, so maybe a box is different??. Idunno.

3. ) don’t waste your money trying to expedite delivery within a certain amount of days. My dad paid extra to have his most recent package delivered within 6-10 days and it took two weeks.. (and don’t forget my mom originally paid the same additional postage to have her pkg delivered before xmas!)

4. ) regular envelopes and postcards only take about a week and pose no special consideration, other than the fact that you should know that I love unusual and colorful stamps.

5,) Greek postmen deliver the mail on motorcycles, not trucks…, so consider the size & weight accordingly.. if it’s big or heavy, let me know so philippe can come with me to the PO, or I can bring my market buggy with wheels. For reference, 8-10 lbs. for the half-mile walk home from the PO is max carrying capacity for preggyb.

I’m also starting to wonder what the heck am I gonna do about a baby shower, and what-in-the-world am I gonna need? Any ideas on this subject are welcome… especially considering the cost of international postage, and the fact that ALL our friends and family are outside Greece.