Surprise Package

Today we received a surprise package.

The phone rang. I answered it and said in my best Thai: "Halloooooo . . . "

The woman from the office downstairs rattled off some conversation in Thai (for some reason, perhaps because I can say "Halloooo . . . " she thinks I can understand Thai).

Then I yelled, "Poo!" and Poo came running. I passed the phone to her. She spoke with the woman from the office downstairs, and then hung up.

I asked Poo, "what is it? are the downstairs neighbors complaining again?"

"No," Poo informed me, "we have a package that is too big for the mailbox. Will you go to collect it, please?"

I went to the woman in the office. Again, she spoke to me rapidly in Thai, assuming I could understand. I understood one thing: the package was from my mother--I could recognize her handwriting.

I brought the package upstairs. Undoubtedly, it is a small collection of toys that will make Jason happy on his birthday. But his birthday is more than a week away. So, I hid the package.

The boys found it anyway, and now they want to open it, throbbing with anticipation.

Sorry, boys, you must wait for Jason's birthday, on Feb 18th.