about those Monthly Marvels the kids are all talking about...

I signed up for a Monthly Marvel in October, because I heard it will arrive by mid-month...and you know what's mid-month in October? My very own birthday! So that was my birthday present to myself this year.

First of all, it's quite an experience.  I woke up on my birthday, and headed out to the post office (where else would I want to hang out on my birthday?) - but WAIT. There's something at the bottom of the stairs.
It's big.
It's round-ish.
It's orange.

Hmm.
It's a pumpkin! Maybe my neighbor's kid forgot it?
Nope.
It's for me. It's got a mailing label that says so.

I tore back up the stairs, pumpkin clutched in my greedy little hands.

I managed to take some pictures before breaking in to the lid.

What a happy little pumpkin.

Here's the lid, which Mary had to fabricate.  I've never seen a pumpkin bucket with a lid, have you?

A first look inside the pumpkin reveals a Halloween-themed mixed CD, which I enjoyed greatly.
I might be partial; one of my favorite songs of all time happened to be on it.
(That's "Rock Lobster" by the B-52s, in case you were wondering.)
Plus, it's always good to have a CD full of dance tunes hanging around.  You never know when a dance party might break out.

More Halloween things than you can shake a stick at!
My personal favorite was the ring with a tiny glow stick in it.  Very fancy.

And of course, here's Taco, trying to get in on the fun.  He liked the glitter pumpkin and the dangle-y skeleton.

So, basically, if you're looking for a literal bucket full of fun and surprises to arrive on your doorstep, Monthly Marvels will surely quench your thirst for a mail adventure.

I kind of already can't wait for February...I might hazard a guess that it would be a better Valentine gift to myself than anything I could pick out.  :)

Thanks, Mary - you're doing a cool thing.