Christmas Package

Today we received our "Christmas" package from my mom. I put Christmas in quotes because it was really just a bunch of stuff we asked her to send, but since it's almost Christmas, it came with a few goodies. Here's a partial list of the contents:

• SOS pads. I didn't know these came in flavors! The lavender scent is kind of weird, but my glass casserole dish has never looked better. 
• New shoes for me--size 12 Clark's. The looks of incredulity I got every time I asked for women's size 43 (European equivalent of US 12) were getting old. I bought these off of eBay a few weeks ago--nice red leather, perfect for fall/winter. Until now, all I had were sandals, a thin pair of tennis shoes, and some too-nice black leather heels. 
• A monster bottle of fish oil. Vitamins, supplements, and OTC medication is really expensive here. For example, a little box of 10 Advil is about $4.00. Generic brands are not priced much better.
• A bottle of chewable vitamin C, 500 mg per tablet. When I had a bad cold last month, I sent Alex to the pharmacy to get me some 500 mg vitamin C, since most vitamin C I've seen here is about 40 mg per pill. She came back with a small box of 500 mg capsules, but reported that the pharmacist had made her swear to not give me more than one a day. Apparently European vitamin C must be dangerous?
• Vitamin D, 5000 IU per capsule. I wonder what the local pharmacist would say about these?
• A new set of scriptures! This was a very nice surprise. A few months ago I was traveling by train, and left my scriptures on board. We went back several times to see if the cleaning lady had found them, with no luck. My theory is that the cleaning lady runs a profitable little side business selling lost and found items; she was a little too vehement about shooing us out of her "territory." Maybe someone will read them and end up being converted to the Church--it would make up for the disappointment of losing the set I've been reading and making notes in for the last eight years. In the meantime, my new set is so nice and shiny and pretty I'm having a hard time deciding what to read next. I recently finished the NT and the Book of Mormon. Maybe I'll just start back in Genesis this time and read all the way through, to break in the new set. It's the only way you can ever be certain you have separated ALL the pages.
• Mapeleine. You can get real Canadian grade A maple syrup here, but it costs about $8/100 mL, and the bottle always runs out far too quickly. Mapeleine is a great compromise. I think I will have to make pancakes tonight!
• Adhesive picture hangers. The walls of our apartment all appear to be made of concrete. We have not yet found a way to put a nail or screw in the wall. It's a good thing Mom sent us something that we can use to put pictures up, because we now have a few holes to cover. Alex and I put her mother's childhood portrait back into its original frame and put it on the wall tonight. The picture and frame weighs 1.3 kg--the hangers we used should bear up to 2.6 kg. Now we just wait and see if it sticks all through the night.
• Twisty tabs! This might be my favorite thing in the box. I've already used three! I think Mom sent me a year's supply.
• A nice big Ziploc bag. These come in very handy, and they are durable enough that you can reuse them many times if you wash and dry them thoroughly.
• A nice surprise--Mom used a bottle of Hidden Valley Ranch dressing to fill up some of the empty space in the Ziploc bag. This is Alex's favorite, and the only way you will ever be able to get her to eat salad.
• Milk-Bone chewy dog treats. Pocak doesn't like most dog treats, and certainly not anything that's hard or tough or meant to be gnawed on. I'm not sure why. We haven't found any acceptable local substitutes for his favorite American brand, so we will make these last for several months.

Thank you, Mom!