SEIZED!!!!!

It sounds like such a bad word! Seized! It makes me feel like I did something wrong! Seized! I don't like it. OK, really I just don't like what happened. Yesterday I received an email from Kevin, a forward from correspondence he was having with someone "in the know". Apparently, the Brasilian customs seized one of our packages!! We don't know why, but we have a few guesses. My sister Lori sent us a care package through John Deere mail, which is our Moline address. Normally, a package sent to that address is put into a "pouch" with other company mail and it's sent to the John Deere factories in Brasil. The great thing about this is that the sender only has to pay postage to Moline, not to a foreign country. It's safe, quick and cheap(er). Unfortunately, we can only receive packages that are envelopes, not boxes. We're not sure if the package was seized because it was a box or because of what was in the box. . . probably both. I guess for future packages, don't send boxes, even small ones. However, we have found that chocolate, magazines, pound cake mix (taken out of the box), shoes (for Emma) and chocolate placed in padded envelopes will make it here. Oh, did I mention that chocolate will make it here? Just in case I forgot to mention it, dark chocolate will also make it here. However, Almond M&Ms, when placed in a small box with rolled dates, vitamins and a dress for Emma, will not make it through customs:) I'm not sure if they'd make it if sent in a padded envelope, but I bet it's worth a try! Just kidding, it's very possible to buy chocolate here. . . it just tastes a little different:) Once we get into our home, we'll have an address that we can use for boxes, although, we're still not sure if that's even safe. Anyway, I felt like a 3-year old, whining about our package. . . "But it's miiiiinnnnnne!!!! I want it! I want my M&Ms and my rolled dates and Emma's pretty little dress and my vitamins!!!!!!!!" OK, I'm done whining. Actually, although it was really frustrating, I had to laugh a little (after much whining yesterday and this morning). It's just one more thing that's really out of my control. What can I do? Whine? What good will that do? I guess I just laugh a little and say, "Oh well." In the scheme of things, it's really not that huge. There's a life lesson in there for me. . . a very personal one and I guess in an odd way, I'm thankful to be learning life lessons. It's good for me. Tchau.