To: Kitty Ann

Today I am shipping a big box to my Mom. In fact, the box is entirely too big since I overestimated my need for space and stubbornly refused to buy a smaller box. To make up for the vacuum of air I stuffed red, blue, and polka-dot tissue paper and a bag of giftwrap bows inside; I'm lacking Styrofoam peanuts. In the box are several books my Mom requested while I still worked for Half Price Books where I received an unbelievable discount. I love the gamut of genres:

1. The Truest Pleasure by Robert Morgan
2. Kristin Lavransdatter 3: The Cross by Sigrid Undset
3. Slander by Ann Coulter
4. The Cost of Discipleship by Dietrich Bonhoeffer
5. The Social Contract by Jean-Jacques Rousseau
6. Here I Stand by Roland H. Bainton
7. Great Dialogues of Plato
8. He is There and He is Not Silent by Francis Schaeffer
9. The Confessions of St. Augustine, a contemporary translation by Rex Warner

A few of these books are ones I've always intended to read and others are duplicates from the Simmons' library. I'm shipping The Cross because when I last visited my parents, my Mom and I took advantage of my then store discount at the massive Half Price Books off the NW Hwy. in Dallas, TX. We ordered coffee from a grumpy dude-barista and spent 2-3 hours shopping. The store is so big that at one point my Mom called me on our cell phones to find out which section I was browsing. I talked her into purchasing The Mistress of Husaby, the second part of Undset's trilogy, but I would not allow her to buy the third book, The Cross, since I owned it and because Uncle Bobby kindly gave me the hardback trilogy all in one book! Also, in between my reading the first book and purchasing the third book, I checked out the second book from the library in a time of financial need. However, in urging my Mom to buy book #2 I forgot I gave book #1 to Aunt Denise. The wonderful hardships of familial reading! My solution was to order book #1, The Bridal Wreath, from Eighth Day Books and send it to Mama.

Between the boxed books are nestled a few CDs. One is Livin', Lovin', Losin' ~ Songs of the Louvin Brothers which I'm finally returning! The others are by Johnny's friend Ross King; we have a few duplicates and I think my parents will enjoy the tunes. There is also one surprise item for Kitty Ann which I cannot reveal or it would ruin her glee.

The sucky thing about this fun package is after I taped up the box beautifully I saw my Mom's cute card sitting on our coffee table, handwritten message and all. I thought of a few curse words and Johnny tried not to laugh. It is a lovely card from a box set: a vintage Chicoree-Williot print with a blue coffeepot and red package of biscotti on a blue and white-checkered tablecloth. You will see, Mom - I taped the picture half of the card on your box. This mention of chicory triggered a craving for French Market coffee with chicory. I will enjoy a cup then head to the post office.