It's Never Easy

For the past week (well, maybe make that two weeks), I've been busily packing away all my most important possessions into Rubbermaid totes.  Today, I was finally ready to mail them to Gambell.  This is necessary for two reasons:  a) I'd like my stuff to be there when I arrive in AK and 2) the house here in OK looks like a tornado blasted through it.

And so, I drilled the totes with the help of my dad and slipped zip-ties through the holes.  Each tote received 8 zip-ties and I am fairly certain the lids will not fall off en route.  We loaded up the totes, and drove off to the Mustang Post Office.

It was 4:00 so I knew I was cutting it close, but I figured they closed at 5.  Wrong.  They closed at 4:30.  That still gave me more than enough time . . . until the PostLady decided to make my life just that more difficult.  First she said that I absolutely cannot mail a tote with zip-ties on it because it will get stuck in some mysterious machine.  Since I know for a fact that this is ridiculously false, I pushed the issue.  We finally compromised, though it involved me driving back to the house in order to duct tape the zip-ties flat against the tote. I'll post a picture in a few days of the end product.

Once I got back, I had ten minutes to fight the Post Office and write return addresses.  They said that they would mail anything I could get through the doors by 4:30, but they were going to lock it at 4:30 on the dot and I would have to come back tomorrow for the rest.  I couldn't believe it!  So ridiculous, but luckily my dad got all the totes inside before they locked him out.  $269.31 later, and they mailed 9 of my totes (a few were media mail).  I should have a few more to mail in a few days.  Overall, I expected the postage to be more costly so I am satisfied.

During all of this insanity, one of the family dogs was up to no good.  Elsie Mae, our cocker spaniel who is no longer a puppy and therefore cannot use cuteness as an excuse, has developed a recent affinity for the paper products that reside in my room.  All other paper products are safe, but my room is fair game.  Even if the door is completely shut, she will find a way in.  So of course, while I was away, she broke into my room and destroyed the place.  Two hardcover books, one receipt, and TWO CHECKS were the victims today.  Somewhere in her intestinal tract is $50 of graduation money in the form of fragile checking paper.   She got in trouble of course, and so then proceeded to pee on my bed. I'm not sure if it was revenge or remorse, but regardless she's in the dog house.  

(This is innocent Elsie Mae, only hours before her assault on all of my paper possessions.)

That's about all that happened today.  I got my board-approved contract in the mail, and my Alaska Certification packet is going in the mail tomorrow.  Someday, I might get my actual OC degree and Oklahoma Teaching License in the mail.

-Megan