Jackpot!

First of all, thanks for all of your comments and well-wishes after my 250th post, I really appreciated hearing from those who wrote. Must be how Sally Field felt when she won the Oscar ...

Now, on to something really important: I received this package in the mail the other day:

What, you may well ask, was the occasion? Well, I was involved in the Favorite Color Swap 3, and this was my box o' goodies! I had received some fun comments from "The Knitting Fanatic," and I couldn't wait to see who would be sending the package. When I opened the box, I couldn't believe that she had even wrapped everything in my three favorite colors - green, blue, and purple - talk about paying attention!

Turns out, my swap partner was Allegra, who lives in Colorado. She obviously took great pains to spoil me, as this was what the packages contained once they were unwrapped:

OK, not the best picture, but she sent me The Story of Chicago May, by Nuala O'Faolain, which I have wanted to read since it came out; note cards; Lantern Moon Sox Stix (I'm too cheap to even think of buying these for myself, though I visit them often at Rosie's); a large tin of African Autumn tea (which she said is particularly good iced); a small tin of Winter White Earl Grey tea; felted ball stitch markers; a tape measure with a lizard* on it, and the part you pull out to measure is his tongue; a stitch keeper, which I never saw before, but it is like a combination of a Chibi needle and a teeny crochet hook, on a ring similar to a keychain ring; and, the yarn - oh the yarn!! Two skeins of Noro Daria (a cotton/rayon blend), in greens, blues, and purples. It is so pretty, and when I saw it, I immediately thought it would make a good bag of some kind, so I'm going to poke around to see what patterns are out there. I had the best time opening all of these packages, and then going through and seeing them again.

Oh ... there were also green, blue, and purple M&Ms ... um, they're gone ...

Thanks so much, Allegra! I am so happy with my package, and am touched by your efforts to choose things that I think are just perfect. It was a wonderful way to head into the weekend.

(OK, this is something that has been driving me crazy. I remember as a child, reading a poem (or maybe it was a story) about three children coming to stay at a house, and their names were _____, Alexis (maybe?), and Allegra. I was completely fascinated by the name Allegra, since I had never met anyone with that name. So once I opened my package, I was once again trying to remember that poem or story. Does it ring a bell with any of you? 'Cause I have spent way too much time trying to track it down ...)

*I am fascinated by small lizards, and love to see them (from afar), see pictures, jewelry, stuffed animals, etc., so even though I didn't mention this to Allegra, she inadvertently got it right! Having said that, as much as I love small lizards, if one ever fell on me, I would need to be hospitalized, as I'm sure I would have a heart attack ...