Word from Indonesia

Ohmguh! Andrew emailed Allison and I today and he is still in good humor, which is important to me. Apparently, nearly three months after the holiday, Andrew has finally received his Christmas CD. Evidently, it takes a long time for a package to reach Indonesia. His gratitude was remarkable and remarkably funny to boot. I present to you a section from the middle of his email which made me laugh a good deal.

After lunch with Panji, which was a fifteen minute adventure in laughing and rejecting his argument that I should eat fish curry with my spinach, I drove home and I thought of ways that I could convey to you how happy I was to get the package.  I wondered if it was possible that I was in fact happier to get it now than I would have been in January, when we all still expected it to arrive, and then I decided this was something that is entirely unquantifiable.  But it is qualifiable!  Look at this.
 
JOYS THAT ARE AKIN TO RECEIVING YOUR PACKAGE
1. The joy of walking up to an escalator that you assume is broken, only to realize that it is the kind that starts up only as you approach it.
2. That feeling that I sometimes get when I look at a pair of shoes and realize how well they've faired after all this time, and I consider how much longer I'll get to wear them.  Lately, my Reeboks have really been impressing me.  They're just sneakers, but they're doing really well.

And this was all before I'd even popped the cd into the computer. It was so much fun to hear it.  I listened to it two and a half times today.  I really, really like it, and I really, really appreciate it.  You two are so good.  I'm so sorry that on the occasions when I've spoken with you one the phone, there is a delay and it makes conversation difficult.  I promise, upon my return, to never speak with you with a delay, unless you ask me a really difficult question.  Even then, I'll just put on a thinking face, and then you'll know what's up.

Tonight at Margarita Monday's, I discussed the email with Allison (and invariably everybody), particularly his first joy which describes a type of escalator that all of us had neither encountered nor even heard of. However, it does bring to mind my favoriteFamily Feud moment. Everyone found it amusing that I even had a favorite Family Feud moment. Haters.

Angel then asked when Andrew was coming home. I stated matter-of-factly, "June 19th, because June 20th is his sister's birthday." This response was accepted, until I second guessed it. "WAIT!" I screamed, finishing, "Andrew doesn't have a sister!" The thing was I didn't say it as though I had made a mistake, but instead in an accusatory manner. I worked myself into a tizzy as though Andrew had lied to me. Then a clearer, less intoxicated mindset prevailed and it occurred to me that I had misspoken, not been lied to -- it's his brother whose birthday is on the 20th. Since my sister's birthday is on June 19th, that's probably what I was thinking.

In summation, Andrew is funny, truthful, and listening to Christmas music in Indonesia. Come home soon.