Unexpected Pony Surprise...

I am feeling so overwhelmed by the whole thing and that doesn’t happen often.  The last time I felt this way was when my brother bought me a new laptop for Christmas a few years ago.  This gift wasn’t quite as extravagant but it’s up there in how meaningful it was.

I have this friend on a hobby-related forum that I’ve “known” for several years now.  We like a lot of the same molds and recently found out we both have an affinity for cheesy shark and mutated reptile movies.  A few weeks ago, Breyer was having a special where if you order a certain dollar amount of product from the website, they would send a glossy “surprise” model.  They told you ahead of time what the models were, but you wouldn’t know which one you were getting until it showed up on your doorstep.  Well, one day I get a message from her telling me she needed my address because to reach the minimum price threshold, she had bought us both a CollectA shark.  When it arrived at her house, she asked my address so she could send me my shark.  In the interim, we had been talking about blankets for models and she said she was going to look for a pattern so she could make her own.  When she found one, I asked if I could have the web address so I could potentially make my own.  Somehow, it was suggested that a blanket be made for the sharks and I told her we’d have to make sure there was a slit on the back to make room for the dorsal fin.

Well, she received her box from Breyer and asked for my address again because apparently I hadn’t included it the first time she asked.  Silly me.  And a few days ago she gave me the tracking number for my shark.  I hadn’t had a chance to look it up yet so I didn’t know when to expect it.  She only lives a couple of states away but I still didn’t expect it to arrive very quickly.  So, when a box arrived at the house yesterday, I didn’t think anything of it.  For one thing, my brother didn’t say anything about it being mine and for another it was way too big for a 4” shark.  So the box sat on the coffee table all afternoon with me assuming it was his and when he went to go to bed, I told him to take his two boxes with him.  That’s when he said he was pretty sure one of them was mine.  I asked which one (the other was a smaller Priority Mail one) and he said the big one.  I was confused.  I hadn’t ordered anything and it was too big for my shark.  Waaaaaay too big.  He brought the box over to the table and when I saw the return address, I immediately became worried.  What had she “done”?  She was only supposed to send me the shark.  So I opened the outer box and inside saw a Breyer shipping box.  Oh no.  I found the shark and showed it to my brother and said that was what I was expecting, not what was in the bigger Breyer box.  So I opened that one and was in stunned disbelief...

She sent her Emerson.  We were making arrangements for me to buy him from her because he hadn’t grown on her and I was wanting one.  She told me his flaws, none of I could find by the way, and said she would take pictures.  I told her no hurry and she didn’t.  Every now and then she would say she was still needing to take pictures, but it was going on near two months.  I wasn’t worried, though.  I thought maybe she was just sending him in advance of me paying for him.  That’s pretty trusting.  But I also knew there was a possibility she was gifting him to me like she has before with other models.  I told my brother this but said I was still going to offer to pay for him.  There was a note within his bubble wrap and in that note was the statement that he was, in fact, a gift.  I just can’t believe it.  I don’t deserve such a gift and when I messaged her to thank her, I still offered to pay at least half.  If she says no, he’s a gift, then I will accept it and thank her profusely again, but in good conscience I still have to offer.  In addition to Emerson and Sharkie, she also sent a blanket.  Lol.  Not a shark blanket, but a blanket nonetheless.  That made me chuckle.

What an incredible, thoughtful and generous friend I have and I am going to have to think of a way to do something nice for her...

I hope everyone is having a nice weekend...