Tag Archives: post office

It’s that time of year again!

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The Frango Mints have arrived! This is my work station in the casita. If you haven’t had a Frango Mint, you’re missing out.

I wrote about Frango Mints last year about this time HERE.

Every year for Christmas and Hanukkah, I mail out Frangos to my husband’s clients. They are a traditional holiday gift in Washington, my home state, where they were first made for Frederick & Nelson’s, a wonderful department store that no long exists.

I keep my postal workers in mind and follow their suggestions of when the best days and hours are to stop at the Carefree post office with my stacks of Frangos. It’s a tiny place and only one or two postal workers are on duty at any time. The people in Carefree who wait patiently in line behind me are so kind and nobody gets upset. I had a very different experience living in Palm Springs which I describe in last year’s story (link above). I also give Frangos to the postal workers. I notice they get showered with gifts each Christmas season.

The history of Frangos is printed on the back of the box.

I hope to get everything done and mailed in one week. After that I’ll be traveling to see my dad who was in the hospital totally out of it and incoherent for a few days. Now he’s in skilled nursing care and thriving. He’s alert, doing PT and eating well. It’s time to make some choices for his future. He may be choosing to enter assisted living at the same place where he’s in skilled nursing. He’s been living on his own, but he’s turning 94 in January. Yes, he does need more care than he needed the past few years.

What traditions do you have for the holidays? Any special foods, treats or movies?

Just say no…

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Bobcat on wall
A bobcat sitting on our wall outside the front door.

I’m having one of those weeks where I have at least one big thing on the calendar each day. Monday through Sunday. Plus, my Frango project that I wrote about Monday HERE as well as an ever expanding list of work and writing to do.

Anywho. I decided to say no to my Thursday meetings and get stuff done. It felt so good to say NO.

I went to a Board of Director’s meeting Wednesday night for my Creative Women’s Group. We raise funds to support victims of sex trafficking. You can read about a residential facility we support HERE. They have a link to our group’s fundraiser HERE. It’s last year’s event, so I’ll ask them to update it to our March 2025 event.

I needed to get my own list of things done. Like going to the post office with boxes of Frangos to mail. I have to say the people are so nice here. Not at all like So Cal where people were impatient with me and my multiple packages to mail. To be honest, in Palm Springs, they were downright nasty and cursing. The employees were great by the way. The Carefree folks, employees and customers, are chatty and love to laugh.

The Post Office is on Easy Street. Think of that. Easy Street in Carefree, Arizona. Love it.

I joked with two women standing behind me in line that I needed my husband to retire so I could quit the Frango job. They laughed and one said, “Oh, you’ll find out there will be other things that he will do to keep you busy.”

The other one said, “I tell my husband Yoyo.”

“Yoyo?” we asked.

“Yoyo. Your on your own!”

Not to go off on a tangent, but I have a Frango dilemma. I’m missing 40 boxes of Frangos. I ordered them weeks ago. I got an email confirming my order. Next, I got an email saying they had shipped and were on their way. I clicked on the tracking link and I read a notice from UPS that said they never received the box. I called the store. They said they’d be delivered by Dec. 4 and that UPS was wrong and hadn’t updated their notification. Well guess what? I still don’t have them.

I was so proud of myself for starting this project early. I guess it’s a good thing!

When do you find yourself saying no? Are you overwhelmed when you say no, or do you say no as a preventative self care measure?

It’s that time of year! Frango time!

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Every year, for as long as I can remember during my married life, I’ve helped my husband with Holiday cards and small gifts of appreciation for his clients. I add that to my personal cards and friends and family gifts.

Frango mints hold a dear place in my heart. When I was in elementary school, Mom would drive me to the city (Seattle) for back-to-school shopping at Frederick & Nelson’s, an old fashioned department store. Frederick’s had an amazing toy section, books, clothing, even a Steuben glass room and a whole floor of fabrics, patterns and notions. We’d have lunch at the counter in the basement and after lunch, Mom would buy me a single Frango mint.

When I have a Frango mint, I remember Mom.

For the past years, I’ve mailed out Frangos to my husband’s clients. It’s quite a project and I’m pleased that over our quiet Thanksgiving weekend I got started.

I enjoyed when my daughter was in high school and helped me with this project because two hands are better than one!

I’ll never forget one year in the Palm Springs post office, when the postal worker asked me to re-label my stack of Frango Mints to save money on mailing. My daughter and I wrote new labels as fast as we could, and the postal worker was ringing them up and punching into her computer. We actually had teamwork going and it didn’t slow down the process at all for those waiting behind us. It looked like it did — because of us filling out new labels — but in reality it took no more time. The postal worker was moving as fast as she could and she hadn’t caught up to our new labeling.

But the comments and cursing I heard that day! My daughter had my back and defended us loudly to those behind us. I was afraid one impatient person was going to come to blows with us. Or my daughter would get into a fight defending me.

I’ve made friends with our postal workers in Carefree (like I did for 30 years in Palm Springs) and gave them their own box of Frangos. This will be my third year of overwhelming the small Carefree post office with packages. They’ve told me to never come in on Mondays and what hours are best. I’ve also learned to come in on multiple days with no more than ten to a dozen boxes. It may take a few more trips, but I understand how people in line get annoyed at having to wait.

I’ve never had a bad experience with a postal worker. Just the people waiting behind me. I’ve also found people in Carefree are happier and more patient than the Palm Springs customers.

Thankfully, gift giving in our family has gotten smaller and easier. It’s spending time together that’s most important. I can’t wait for Christmas this year with our kids coming to our home for the first time to celebrate. The past few years, we’ve rented a place in Palm Springs or Santa Barbara to be together.

So what are Frangos?

Are you superstitious?

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Angus our yellow lab and Sherman our black cat (RIP.)

Sherman and Angus lived to ripe old ages of 17 and 15 respectively. I was surprised when my husband’s uncle came over years ago and I discovered he was superstitious about black cats.

Yesterday, I was ready to take my daily trip to the post office with my husband’s client gifts. My plan is to go five days in a row with a dozen packages. Any more than that, my mind gets muddled writing addresses and I make mistakes. Plus, the dirty looks from the patrons behind me, isn’t fun. Once I had a woman cursing at me. My daughter was with me and I was afraid she’d beat up the woman attacking her mom. So, 10 to 12 packages gets me under the radar of the impatient. (Boy, do I miss my daughter’s help with this annual project!)

I counted the packages as I put them in bags to carry. 13. I had 13 packages. That wouldn’t do. Why not? I guess I’m superstitious, too. I notice I avoid the number 13 at all costs. I took one package out and saved it for the next day. Whew! That was close.

Are you superstitious? What about? Do you change what you’re doing because of superstitions?

Sherman helping me with my work. Actually, Sherman wanting attention from me and telling me to stop working.