Well, Merry Grinch-mas to you, too! :-(

According to our mailman, we have a real live grinch lurking around in our neighborhood. He came to the door like he usually does when I have a package delivered, and as he knows I now have a baby (thus I am slower getting to the door these days), he waited quite patiently to see if I was really at home or not. I greatly appreciated this, as our spare key is no longer by the front door (gave it to our kitty-sitter for the holidays), so it took some time to fish my own keys out of my purse.

When I answered the door, he told me that he would no longer be able to leave packages on the porch if we weren't home. Seems that someone was parking in the area, watching him deliver the mail and packages. The other day, after he left, the truck drove to three houses where he had left packages, picked them up, and drove off. Someone called the local post office to report it. Our mailman was taking it *quite* personally. "I've been doing this job for 21 years, and no one has EVER stolen *my* mail before! That's just not right, especially at Christmas. I know you'll be getting lots of stuff delivered for your little guy, and I want to make sure he gets it all, so if you're not here, I'll just take it with me and leave you one of our slips. Then you can either come pick it up yourself, or leave that slip in the mailbox telling me when to drop it off again that you'll be home. Y'all have a merry Christmas, okay?" What a nice man! Sooo much better than our old mail carrier, who was constantly folding my curling my stash envelopes to fit them in the box, despite them being *clearly* marked "Do NOT Bend!" (When I called to complain, I was told "they aren't bent, they're curled." ::rolls eyes::) I feel so bad for him that this happening on his route, and I find it quite touching that he is so concerned about Luke getting his gifts.

So as sad as it is that someone is doing that, and as annoying as it will be to have to pick up my own packages (especially considering how many of them will be coming, as I have ordered nearly all of our gifts over the internet), it's nice to know we have our own sort of Christmas angel watching out for us as well. Proof that the worst in some people often brings out the best in others.