SOL9...Surprise!

Surprise Gifts

      As I walked in the door, trying to juggle my work bags, lunchbox, water bottle, while simultaniously trying to find the right key to open my apartment, I noticed boxes sitting on the floor in front of my door. There were two boxes, one quite large, the other small, both from Amazon. I paused and thought back over the past few weeks...I hadn't ordered anything recently, I was sure of it. I sidestepped the boxes to open my door and drop off all of my bags, then went back to inspect them. Sure enough both of them had my name on it. I leaned over and picked both of them up, they were light. David tends to online shop a lot and doesn't always tell me when he's having stuff delivered, so I can only assume they're from him. I carried them back inside, wondering what might be in them. He was always checking my Wish List, so sometimes I'd randomly get things from there, but I hadn't added anything to my list in a while.

     Still confused, but getting excited to find out what was sent, I quickly set the boxes down on the table and went to get a pair of scissors. As I was looking through drawers for the scissors I reviewed some of our conversations these past few days...had I mentioned needing anything? Had he mentioned buying anything? I couldn't think of anything, and it made me all the more curious. After the third drawer of finding no scissors, I was getting frustrated. Why are they never where I leave them?!? Finally, the last drawer I checked, full of dish rags and pot holders, there sat the scissors, partially covered by a rag. Ah yes, last night I used them to cut off a tag on one of the pot holders. So there were exactly where I left them. My bad.

     I made my way back to the table to open the first box. I temporarily contemplated which box to open first, big or small? I was curious what was in both, so just grabbed the box on top, the small box.  I dug the scissors into the tape and slowly worked my way around the box, cutting each piece of tape as I came across it. I pried open the box, moving aside all the packing material. There were three small packets of something. Frowning, confused, I pulled them out. I smiled when I read the label. They were Eucalyptus bath salts I'd used at a spa in Winnipeg over winter break. I'd mentioned them several times and how amazing they were.
    Excitedly, I moved on to the second box. This one was larger, but still just as light. I used the scissors to again cut through the tape, pulling at the tops of the box to open it as I went. After pulling out all the packing material, I found two separate objects on each side of the box: one a long cylindrical share, another a square box. I opened the box first. I laughed out loud when I saw the mug. It was a white elephant shaped mug with a spot on its trunk for teabags. I had shown David the mug the week earlier in the week.
     Lastly, I moved onto unwrapping the cylinder shaped object. It looked like it might be a water bottle, but I just got one for Christmas, so it couldn't be that. However, as I unwrapped it more I realized it was in fact a water bottle. It was beautiful. It was a deep ocean blue with a colorful elephant covering one side. It was larger than my other water bottle, and heavier, but I couldn't get over how beautiful the elephant looked. Already I was imagining it being used and where I could use it.
     I smiled as Charlie came over, smelling the new belongings. This was a good surprise to come home to and already I felt happier and calmer. This was going to be a good night, I could feel it.