Posted By FarmerJ on May 1, 2010

With great anticipation, my Buddy Box arrived the other day!  My bestest buddy in Arizona and I have enjoyed sending each other little care packages ever since I moved to Nebraska.  It’s incredibly fun, and silly, and heartwarming.  I will tell you, though, the goodies I get from her are always better than those she gets from me.

Now, you may be asking yourself, “Why is she sending food items?  Can’t they get these things in their local stores?”  Well, yes…and no.  One thing Arizona has going for it is coupon-friendly stores ~ something Nebraska hasn’t caught on to yet.  My buddy is able to get all kinds of things for free.  And, there are some things I’m brand loyal to [like my taco sauce] that I cannot get in any of the stores here.  “Doesn’t shipping this stuff negate the savings she gets?”  Well, yes.  But, that’s not really the intent of our Buddy Box system.

You see, I know that with every item placed in the box, my buddy was thinking of me.  Sometimes we send each other things that relate to ‘inside’ jokes.  Sometimes we send each other things to encourage each other.  Sometimes we send each other things just because it’s so silly.  It really doesn’t matter, because it’s all sent with love!

Take the brown sugar brick, as my buddy referred to it as.  She’d gotten it a while back and hadn’t used it.  It’s turned as hard as a brick.  She knows that I will make it soft again.  So, now my task is to bake her something using the brown sugar brick and send it back to her.  [Perhaps some of Grandma's Magic Chocolate Chip Cookies would be good?!  Or, maybe I'll get some apples and make homemade Apple Butter since her hubby enjoys that so much.]

The Cinna-Bun and Trail Mix snack bars and the fruit roll-ups?  Well, those are for DS18.  Her ‘other’ son.  [You see, our DS18 and their DS18 are bestest buddies, too.  The boys met when they were in 6th grade.  Through our boys, and the blessings of God, is how we became buddies.  So, our DS18 is their 'other' son, and their DS18 is our 'other' son.]  Anyway, tradition has it that when the boys all hung out at her house, she’d make them a huge Party Bowl filled with snack bars, roll-ups, chocolate, Pop-Tarts ~ you know, the typical staples in a teenage boy’s life.  My task is to periodically make a little Party Bowl and surprise DS18 with it.  It’s a token of endearment from his ‘other’ mom.

The tuna?  Well, my buddy knows that Darling Husbie loves him a tuna fish samich.  She got a bunch for free with one of those fabulous Arizona coupon deals, so she put those in there just for him.  However, I think the Mon-kay has tried to stake claim to them!

There’s marinade mixes and seasoning shakers.  My buddy knows eventually it will warm up enough to bring out the grill and Darling Husbie can work his magic on some luscious pork chops.

There’s some fabulous Victoria Secret body wash and foot scrub, along with some hair conditioner and lotion.  She knows that my old, tired body will need everything it can get after a long hard day’s work in the garden.

The Listerine tabs?  Well, maybe she’s trying to tell me something?  I think I’ll save those for each of the boys’ stockings.

The envelopes and film canister contain a variety of flower seeds.  She collected these seeds when she lived in the south.  [Yes, she truly is a genuine Southern Belle.]  Arizona is not conducive to these flowers.  My buddy spent three weeks here with me our first summer.  We built our front patio and all the flower beds.  She wants to see these flowers in bloom.

And, the coupons!  Oh, the coupons.  She sends me tons of coupons because she knows my sources here are…well…rather pathetic.  She holds hope that I, too, will be able to get a good deal on something someday.

You just never know what’s going to be in there until you start diggin’ in!  That’s part of the fun factor.

It’s May already.  I’ve got my Buddy Box started to send her way ~ but I think I really need to work on finding some special treasures, don’t you?

As in water face reflects face, so the heart of man reflects man.    ~ Proverbs 27:19

Categories: Plainly Ponderings
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