Book Shipment and Contest Reminder

Just a reminder: the IH contest ends tomorrow at noon Detroit time. If I've received an email, preferably with a picture, by that time, you'll be entered.

Trixie Belden Book #4...and More!
In a previous post, I stated that I was seeking book #4 (The Mysterious Visitor) in the Trixie Belden series to give to my niece. As far as I can tell, #4 is the only one of the recent re-releases that is out of print; the cheapest one I could find on Amazon was $18. Well, I got lucky on eBay (not easy to do lately, it seems): eight books for $21 (plus shipping). John got them from the post office today,* and I'm so happy! They were packed carefully, wrapped in plastic bags, with recycled foam pieces wedged in to keep everything comfy. (The seller even shipped before I'd paid, AND included a bonus book (shown on top of the stack)!)

I'm going to insert these into my collection and pass my paperbacks onto niece K: book 4 now, and the rest for Christmas. We just need to find book #5 to get her through the first 12. (I found book #6 and sent it to her at camp this summer as a surprise.**) Book 2 (The Red Trailer Mystery) is a duplicate, so I may sell or give away the extra (paperback).

*Our mail carrier has issues. We were home all day Saturday, and she didn't even try to deliver the box. She just stuck a slip in our mailbox. This happens a lot. If it's bigger than a magazine, she won't deliver it.

**I remember being at camp, seeing other kids get mail and being so jealous! (It was only a week.) K was at a similar camp for a week this summer. She was allowed to get email (the staff printed out messages and distributed them), so I sent an email and a fat envelope. She was so excited! While John and I were in Ann Arbor that weekend, I found a necklace with her name on it, so I included that. Her name isn't very uncommon, but it's not found on every rack of personalized goodies, so I generally buy whatever I find. She's getting closer to that age where she'll suddenly be too old for all that kiddy stuff (11?). I think my brother was a little surprised to hear me sound so positive about my camp experience: I told him it was the best "religious institution" experience I'd ever had, and as long as it wasn't like that awful Jesus Camp documentary, I was rooting for her to go and have lots of fun. (She did. Big time.)