We only did a short run, with the storm nipping at our heels and, honestly, I made pretty good time, coming in at 8:59 for one mile (remember that I'm slow, so this is a decent time for me right now). And I didn't really feel like I pushed it or anything (like earlier in the week when I ran an 8:30 mile...and then went on to run a couple more miles, which felt brutal after running my first mile so fast (like a genius)).
*****
This afternoon I chased down the mail truck with a package I needed to return. I heard it driving around the neighbourhood and knew I had a package all ready to go on Andrew's desk, so I grabbed it and ran down the street after the mailman.
"It is your lucky day!" he said when I caught up with him. "I had to stop to take a drink!"
So maybe he let me catch him a little bit. But at least I got the package out of my hands.
*****
I've had some bad luck with mail recently, with packages being delivered to me that I didn't order, but which surely someone did order. One package was something my sister ordered, without realizing that the address had defaulted to mine instead of hers. She immediately cancelled the order but it didn't go through before the item had shipped. So the company asked me to "refuse" the package and...I tried!
I stood in line at the post office and explained that I had received the package that I hadn't ordered and that I would like to refuse delivery.
"Are you saying you're not Nancy?" the post office worker asked, giving me a rather withering look.
"No, I am Nancy," I said (because...I can't lie).
"You look like a Nancy," they replied with a measurable degree of snark.
"O...kay...ummm..." I stammered, because I'm not sure what it means to look like a Nancy. "Well, I didn't order anything from this company and would like to refuse this package, as I said. And I looked it up online and I'm within my rights to refuse mail I don't want, as long as it's unopened. I haven't opened this because, again, I didn't order anything from them, so..."
"So you'd like to return to sender?"
"That will work."
"Fine."
They took the box. They marked it RTS (return to sender) and plopped it in a cart.
I thought I had seen the last of that package. But it turned up on my doorstep a few days later.
Like, hello! I am not the sender!
The company ended up sending me a shipping label so I could return it to them. Such a hassle.
*****
I recently ordered some new garment tops for myself.
Friends, I have been pregnant or nursing for...several years now.
2006: pregnant (Rachel)
2007: pregnant (still Rachel), nursing (Rachel)
2008: nursing
2009: nursing (end Rachel), pregnant (Miriam), nursing (Miriam)
2010: nursing
2011: nursing (end Miriam, pregnant (Benjamin)
2012: nursing (end Miriam), pregnant (still Benjamin), nursing (Benjamin)
2013: nursing (Benjamin)
2014: nursing (end Benjamin), pregnant (Zoë)
2015: pregnant (still Zoë), nursing (Zoë)
2016: nursing
2017: pregnant (Alexander), nursing (end Zoë), nursing (Alexander)
2018: nursing
2019: nursing
2020: nursing (end Alexander)
2021: pregnant (Phoebe), nursing (Phoebe)
2022: nursing
2023: nursing
2024: nursing (end Phoebe)
My body is...tired. And my wardrobe is...also tired.
I've been wearing nursing tops since 2007, though, and so when I realized Phoebe was about at the end of things, I decided to order some new non-nursing tops (which feel "special" somehow, although in reality they're just the "normal" style).
My package from the Distribution Center arrived on Sunday (of all days!) and was waiting for me when we came home from Darla's house. But evidently my order came in two boxes??
I opened the first box and it was everything that I had ordered.
But then here was that second box, with my name on it. I opened it, too. It was also filled with garments, but they were not at all what I had ordered at all (no surprise there because obviously my order was fulfilled in the first box). They weren't the style or material I had chosen, they weren't the right size. And I hadn't ordered them.
They had to go.
But for some reason connecting with the Distribution Center helpline was difficult for me. I kept forgetting until I put the kids to bed...and by then it was too late to call. And when I'd find a quiet moment in the morning...they wouldn't be open yet because we're two hours ahead of them. And the middle of the day just gets too busy!
I made myself call them on Thursday, though. And they were really nice about it.
"I'm just calling about my recent order," I said.
"Was there a problem with your order?" the help desk representative asked.
"Not at all, actually!" I said. "My order was just fine! The problem is that I also received a second surprise order that I didn't make, but which surely someone did. It's addressed to me, but it's all the wrong sizing, and I don't have a record of having ordered it, so I'd like to somehow return this box of things that I did not order."
"Interesting," said the person on the other end. "Well, first of all, I'd like to commend you for your honesty."
Making me blush here.
"Second of all, do you mind if I put you on a brief hold while I figure out what our next steps are?"
They determined that someone must have pushed print twice on my shipping label, so two boxes got sent to me by mistake: one full of things I ordered...and one full of the next order in line. (I wonder what sort of domino effect that had in their shipping warehouse...hopefully someone caught it before it got too out of hand).
So, they just emailed me a shipping label and I got things all ready to send back to them. Andrew was planning on making a run to the post office this afternoon, but I figured that since the mailman was right there I could just...hand the package off to him.
And that's what I did—sprinting out of my house, in flip flops, in the rain, to chase the mailman up the street.
*****
So basically, it was a good running day.
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