Pen pals, and other missives.

Well, today is election day.  Which actually has nothing to do with anything, except I am at the sub early, and writing is my plan for most of the day.  I had to arrive an hour early, and will have someone come in an hour early to spell me...  7am to 8pm, we have decided is MUCH too long of a stretch.

Anywho.  I am writing my blog, of course.  Then I am going to write my Aunties.  I didn't get my Easter cards out to anyone, (Hi, messymimi... eep.) and, so I am going to do a "Yes, I am late, but I am thinking of you" notes.  It's hilarious, in a way, I sit and type my blog, and everyone is soooo serious when they come in, she is working so we must not disturb her with our requests. So I make a point of dropping typing when someone comes in.  When I am writing with pen and paper, more than a few ask if I am filling out forms.  

Didn't know why that came up, until I realized, I am usually writing with a clipboard.  Most places use those for forms, at least around here...  The funny thing, when I am doing some of the "actual" work for the sub, where I have a ream of paper, and am intently looking at the computer, most folk don't notice!  Odd...

(And Heaven help me if I am reading a book, or knitting. Which has been perfectly fine with everyone from Sheriff on down, as long as we aren't ignoring what we are 'supposed' to be doing with customers...)

I have two pen pals, and I just sent off letters to them.  One is a brand new pen pal, we accidentally met up on a knitting forum.  Think I told the story, but short version, we were dropped, unintentionally, from a pen pal list, and so we checked with each other, hey would you like to be MY pen pal?  Yep!  And off to the races... 

She is in New Jersey, so we have rather different experiences, and places, so have (hopefully) a lot to talk about.  I have written with my computer, just to make the letter easier to read, but I have a new printer.  It can print both sides of the paper, which is wonderful, saves paper and postage.

Except...

It prints the back page upside down.  I am going to have to figure out how to correct this problem...  Right now, I will just pull the paper out, and turn it so it's correct, but there has to be a way to do this without needing to mess with the paper...  So my pen pals will get a unique letter or two until I can get it sorted out, but hey, it's still a letter, right?

Orphans of a sort.

I am on a knitting forum online.  I noticed a gal had put up a notice for trading addresses for pen pals.  I was intrigued, and popped right in that I would like to have a pen pal.

No response.

I sent a second, private message, uh, did you get my info?

Nada.

Odd.  I send one more vaguely hopeful note to the group saying this is great, I would love to be a part.

Zippo...

So, I figure, well, maybe she's busy, maybe I will just receive an address later, something.  Maybe.  I note that she had said she had trouble receiving private messages sometimes.

Huh.  Well, I had messaged her both publicly, and privately, so I didn't know what to think.

She then mentioned, she was going to wait until the first week in April, so she could sort all the names, get people the requests as much as they wanted, (i.e., I would like to have someone from England, or someone from the Midwest), so I waited.

And waited.

Two weeks in, pbbbt. Not a thing.  I decided that if I'd not heard anything by the end of the month, I would both publicly and privately give her a shout.  Hello, even...

That's when I noticed someone ELSE had a question about the pen pal group.  Had anyone received a pen pal?  She hadn't, and was wondering if they'd been sent out yet.  Several piped up, oh, yes, we've exchanged one or two letters by this point.

Huh...  Grumble.  So I private messaged the gal that had asked about the pen pals, and had not received one.  I told her I was in the same boat.  And, that being the case, would she care to be MY pen pal?  She was tickled!

So, I am west coast, she is east coast, and we have officially exchanged one letter at this point.  I will be writing another soon.  I am pleased.  Even if it was a total accident, we two "orphans" ended up together!

(And so, I will be writing her, and some cards and letters to friends over the next few days, I have a bit of catching up to do!)

Oh, and happy Blogiversary to me, this is my 1000th blog, if the stats be correct!  Yaaay!