Thursday, October 07, 2004

The Very Best

On Monday, my grandmother had surgery to remove a gall stone. She was doing really well at first, but then she got a little sick (probably from the pain killers, I think) and so she had to go back to the hospital. Being the crappy grand-daughter I am, I did not shop for a card for her until yesterday. At work we have a company store which carries Hallmark, so it looks like you cared enough to send the very best when in reality you cared enough to take a break from work one afternoon. It's not a large store, and the selection isn't great. Usually this doesn't stop me from finding an appropriate card; I am creative and will branch out to other potentially-applicable headings. In this case of course, "Get Well" would be the appropriate heading, but "Thinking of You" or "Cope" might have something good. I usually get people funny cards, but this is my 90-year-old Grandmother we're talking about and the "Old MacDonald Has a Cow" card on which we see Old MacDonald yelling at all of the animals, and inside it reads "here a crap, there a crap, everywhere a crap crap" isn't what I'd consider to be Grandma-appropriate. And she wasn't expected to be in the hospital at the time I was shopping, so a lot of the Get Well cards didn't apply, and I'm an "I" not a "We" so that cuts out a good 10% of the cards right there, no matter how appropriate. I found this cutey: (click on it to see it bigger)


Inside it reads "This is especially comforting when you feel baaaaad." And there's a little bible verse on the left inside. So it's cute, grandma-appropriate, not overly religious, and knitter-appropriate, and that's why I'm sharing this with you. There was another sheep card in the Fresh Ink brand, but can you buy a card for yourself? I might. I won't describe it in case I do get it, then I'll just show you the picture.

[If you have any form of belief system that indicates that you can take some action on behalf of my grandmother (ie. prayer, lighting a candle, concocting a potion), please do.]

Today Lauren is my favorite person. She noticed that I liked tea from a posting about a week ago, and she sent me a $5 gift certificate to Adagio Teas, a lovely little on-line tea shop, which has more teas than I've ever heard of. I chose a Rooibos tea sampler (anyone got a pronounciation for that?) of six different teas, and I only paid a total of $8.75. Then I got to send more $5 gift certificates to my friends, thereby spreading the wealth. It came today:

The one in the front is a free sample! I only paid them $8.75 total, and they sent me a free sample! What a deal! It's Pumpkin Spice Tea, and it's a black tea, which I don't usually go for, but it's ok. It certainly smells yummy. I can't wait to try the rest. And aren't those the cutest tins? They are packed to the tippy-top with loose tea, so it's about 10 cups worth, and each tin has a reminder of what temperature your water should be and how long to steep. Very handy for a tea moron such as myself. I am in love. They have good information about tea, too, so get thee to Adagio Teas!

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Its pronounced Roy-bus. Packed with antioxidants. Will help with colds, clear up bad skin. Teavanna makes a toffee rooibus that rocks!

Anonymous said...

I am sorry wo hear that your grandma is ill. I said a prayer for her, & I hope she will recover quickly. I recevied one of those gift certs for Adagio Teas as well, but haven't used it yet. After reading your entry, I think I'll go check them out!
Kelly

Gwen said...

Pumpkin Sprice sounds perfect for a cold fall afternoon cuddled up on the couch under a blanket. I'll have to check it out as well. Mmmm

Anonymous said...

rooibos - an Afrikaans word, meaning "red bush". It is widely drunk in South Africa. Nearest pronounciation is "Roy baws" but the bos is more like horse without the "r"! Drink it at will, it's really good for you and quite good with honey rather than sugar. It's pretty vile with milk, by the way.

Anonymous said...

I'm glad you got it and are happy with them. They seem like the nicest little company. Your Hallmark story cracked me up. I'd prefer the smaller card selection because I end up spending way too much time in the big stores.
Lauren
(almostfelted)