Big Belated Thank You

I got an unexpected package in the mail the other day. I typically don't get a lot of interest in the mail. Mostly junk mail advertising flyers and bills. And because I pay all of my bills online, I almost never bother opening those. As a result, I don't always parse my mail every day; I just pile it someplace to go through later. But when there's something bulkier than a bill, I do take notice. Large padded envelopes almost always get my attention, and that's what appeared without warning in my mailbox. I get them from time to time from eBay purchases, of course, but I wasn't expecting anything that week. Turns out it was a present from my friend, Alice. She'd found on eBay one of the very few Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds albums I don't already have, and had it shipped to me. I've absolutely no idea how she knew what to send me for my birthday. 'Tis true, I love Nick Cave, but I absolutely do not remember every telling anyone that I was missing Nocturama from my collection. Either she listens to me even more carefully than I listen to myself, or she's flat psychic. I don't know which is more terrifying ... er, I mean which is cooler :) At any rate, I wanted to throw out a big public thank you for the CD. I haven't had a chance to get it ripped into my iPod yet, but I'm planning to do that this weekend. Sorry it took me so long to say thanks and let you know it had arrived; I think there's something genetic in my family that causes us to be slow with things like this. Happy birthday surprises like this I love.