After three and a half years of waiting at least two weeks for any package to arrive, I can handle a five to seven business day wait for a package with a certain amount of grace and composure. Having to wait for such extended periods of time for even the smallest items has given me a patient perspective on the mail system, and an appreciation for the speed of domestic mail in comparison to international-domestic mail.

Who am I kidding? I’m like a hyperactive kid on Christmas Eve when I know there is a package on the way. It only gets worse when I don’t know the exact day it was mailed, and it hits a fever pitch when I don’t know the tracking number. If I wasn’t just the slightest bit concerned with what my neighbors think, I would be sitting next to the front windows with binoculars and camouflage face paint, patterned after our blinds, stalking the mailman each afternoon. Heeere, mailman, heeeeere mailman!

Now that I’m fully committed to selling hand-dyed yarn, (versus exclusively hand spun and hand dyed) the Mailbox Stalking has taken on a whole new meaning; this is Business! So when I got an account set up with a well known yarn wholesaler (after months of waiting to get started), I was beyond excited. And really nervous! Luckily, this company understands the importance of sending yarn samples. Me being a yarn nut, and they professionals, the same day my account was set up, I had ordered a set of their samples. This was just over a week ago.

I’ve checked the mail every single day for the past week, with no samples. I know mail takes time. I know, I know. But that doesn’t make me any more patient. To top it off, I was waiting for these samples (and accompanying price list!!) before I placed any other business orders. This package was a crucial part of breaking into the hand painted/hand dyed market, in my eyes. So you can just imagine what I’ve been like this week. I swear the mailmen all know exactly which box and house are mine, and could probably identify me 20 yards out.

To make it all worse, yesterday the mailman was putting the mail in the boxes when I showed up. I really believe he wanted me to leave; something about me subtly bouncing up and down while waiting to get into my box. So he asked me if there was something in particular I wanted, and what box I was. Joy of joys, there was a package! My heart soared, and he said he’d drop it off at the house for me. Which was kind of him, because it was raining and I would have continued to stand out there in it, had he not offered. I ran back to the house and waited happily. But when he dropped that package off, after a wave and thank you for his kindness, I noticed the from label on the box. It was from my mother in law. I swear the look on my face would have set a crowd of mailmen running for their lives. Where were my samples??

I’ve really been hoping that the samples get in today or tomorrow, at the latest. I wasn’t not sure my family can take much more of Mom stalking the Mailbox, and I’d love to fondle some fiber and yarn samples. Luckily, even if the fiber samples take another week to get in, I should be ok now. Because, you see, I went ahead and ordered just over 3 pounds of yarn this morning. I’m officially fully committed to this yarn dyeing thing, and it’s, oddly, an enormous relief. I even got free shipping! Unfortunately, the free shipping will take 5-14 days to get here. If the yarn sample package angst is any indication of my behavior when yarn packages are en route… I may end up being committed in more than one way by the time this new package actually gets here!