okay, so that MIGHT be a slight exaggeration. but it ain’t far from the truth.
you guys, I feel like I’m in a real-life Agatha Christie novel!
[minus the murder/death/sadness of human nature parts and keeping the intrigue/whodunit/mind-bending parts, of course]
this is pretty darn awesome.
Agatha Christie is my all-time favorite novelist and I am in love with every single book of hers that I’ve read. especially the Miss Marple ones. oh, that Miss Marple. I wish I was as clever as you…
I guess I should explain.
it all has to do with this little lady:
the rad sweater, of course, not myself. haha.
how cool is that sweatshirt?! I love it. muchas gracias to my dear friend Maye for introducing me to it!
after she posted this on Facebook, I perused the original site and ended up pinning it.
about ten people I don’t know then liked and re-pinned it. I felt pretty cool.
a few weeks later, I get an email from the company that manufactures these babies (Cat vs Human and the Spreadshirt Team). it was a confirmation email, thanking me for my order and informing me that they would make my shirt and ship it shortly.
the only catch?
I WAS NO WHERE NEAR A COMPUTER WHEN THE ORDER WAS PLACED AND MOST DEFINITELY DID NOT ORDER THIS MYSELF.
so I sent a quick email to my hubs, at work, thanking him for the surprise. His response?
“Umm, that’s weird, I didn’t order that for you…”
that was when things started to get crazy.
———————————————————
the order was addressed to be shipped to a temporary address that I hadn’t given out to many people. this temporary address was also listed as the billing address. the order used my married name and new email address, which are fairly recent developments. AND, the order was for an item that I had discussed on two forms of social media, so the anonymous party followed my online networking at least somewhat.
it HAD to be someone I knew fairly well, I thought.
[actually, I thought for a moment that it was this online stalker I had dealt with recently, but I have convinced myself that is not the case…still hoping it isn’t the creepo stalker. haha.]
I texted/emailed/called all of my family and good friends. none of them fessed up. so…I emailed the company to be sure my credit card wasn’t the one actually paying for the order [my billing address had been listed, so I wanted to be sure].
“Thank you for your questions regarding order # blahblahblah. Your name does not match the name used on the card given for payment. If you would like to discuss the matter further please call phone number during business hours. Thank you for your time. blahblahblah.”
okay. so I am not financially responsible. cool beans.
my big question now was not so much WHO had sent me an anonymous gift, as WHY they were sending it. it’s nowhere near my birthday, it’s kind of a weird thing to give for a late wedding gift, I haven’t done any favors that necessitate a return lately…I was puzzled.
WELL. the shirt finally arrived a few weeks ago, and it answered that worry! the enclosure card read “Merry Unbirthday, Rachel Ann!”
so, it was an Unbirthday gift. how delightful! I have 364 of those a year, and it was fabulous to finally celebrate one of them!
after receiving the gift, my detective-sleuthing instincts kicked in. here is how I dissected the message:
01 – “Merry”. obviously this salutation in addition to the punctuation at the end of the enclosure is wishing me well. the packaging also did not appear to be tampered with, it looked as if it had come straight from the distributor. I will proceed as if I am meant no harm and there is no hidden anthrax/bombs/anything else harmful contained in this package.
02 – “Unbirthday”. I sent a card to a dear friend recently-ish, wishing her a Merry Unbirthday. this same friend had denied any knowledge of these suspicious activities [and continues to do so], so I will take her word for it. I will therefore simply assume that the sender is rad and loves Alice in Wonderland. this is a good thing.
03 – “Rachel”. they know my first name. that is good. they also did not use any of the nicknames popular among my close friends, so it either was not sent by one [or more] of them or they are covering their tracks. very sneaky.
04 – “Ann”. they also know my middle name, but not well enough to have spelled it correctly. this is very understandable, I myself was mistaken about how my middle name was spelled until I was twelve years old. I could never for the life of me remember if there was or was not an “e” at the end (there is). I never use my middle name in public places, so it is quite possible that a friend who has heard the name, never would have seen it and would have been left to guess at the spelling.
so….where does this dissection leave me?
nowhere, really. it’s all inconclusive. [what a letdown, right? this is why I don’t write novels. hahaha]
all I’m left with is a sweater that I LOVE to wear and a WHOLE HEAPING LOT of gratitude for whoever the mysterious giver is!
so, mysterious giver, I’ve inferred that you follow my online presence and I am assuming that you will read this. which is why I have decided to recount the story in its’ entirety and say a big, fat, “THANKS A MILLION!” not only for the wonderful gift, but for the marvelous adventure you’ve sent my way. I’ve enjoyed it SO MUCH. you are the best and I love you forever.
I’m sure the answer to this riddle will turn up eventually, somewhere down the road.
but until then, I’m quite content to have the thrill of an unsolved mystery in my life!
[in addition to the thrill I get seeing the looks on people’s faces as I walk by while wearing this shirt. they are pretty awesome.]
Love — Rach
Waffles&Cereal 