A Mail Mystery

Early last week we received one of those little slips in our mailbox indicating that we had a package to pickup at our local post office.  Not wanting to cart two kids to the post office during Christmas mailing season, I decided I would wait until Saturday to pick it up.  I hadn't even looked very closely at the slip until Friday night, when I discovered that it was from someone I did not know, who had a very unusual last name.

On Saturday, Jason and I split up so that I could do some kid-free Christmas shopping and errands, including the post office.   Mercifully, the post office was not too busy, and after dropping off a package I handed the postal worker my little slip and waited with anticipation for my package.  I love getting packages, and the fact that it was from someone I didn't recognize added to the excitement.

As the man at the post office was processing the package, I peeked to see where it was from - Lithuania.  Huh.  The postal worker and I had the following conversation:

PW: Know anyone in Lithuania?
Me: No, not at all!  Is that weird that I got a package from a foreign country when I don't know anyone there?
PW: Very!

PW:  Are you sure you didn't order anything?
Me: Not from Lithuania, I think I'd remember!

Me: (with nervous laughter) I mean, this has been tested and everything, right?  I don't need to be worried or anything, do I?
PW: Well, just make sure you open it outside, you know, away from here!  Just in case it explodes!
Me:...Ha...ha... (yikes!)

(Are you even allowed to make bomb jokes at the post office?  I thought that wasn't allowed!)

I left the post office and called my mom, because sometimes she orders weird things for me and doesn't tell me.  But no, she had not ordered anything.

I decided to wait until Jason got home to open it, partly because  I was a little freaked out, and partly because I wanted him to participate in the mystery.  When we opened it, we found these:

Two super cute wooden toys, obviously handmade and hand painted   But the mystery continued.  Who were they from?  What were they for?  Christmas presumably, but there was no note, and they weren't wrapped.

I put technology to good use and sent a quick text out to some family members to see if they could shed any light on this mysterious toy delivery.  After several No's, I finally got a someone confused text from my sister-in-law, indicating that they may be from her.

As it turns out, she had ordered some toys off of Etsy for Hattie's birthday back in October, but had expected them to arrive ages ago, and with a note.  She also had no idea they were from Lithuania.  Mystery Solved! 

To be honest, I was a little bummed that modern technology allowed us to solve this mystery so easily.  On the other hand, it is thanks to modern technology that we even had the mystery to begin with.  I mean, can you imagine ordering some toys from a foreign toy maker 20 or even 10 years ago without knowing they were from that toy maker, or even better, without seeking out that particular toy maker?  I happen to think it is pretty cool that we have such easy access to so many amazing things from all around the world!