Kind of a Shitty Day

So the ARB report came out today.  I have no comment on it, obviously, but it's still hard to see everything rehashed from mid-September.  It's like having a scab picked off by your worst enemy while he pours salt into the new wound.

But on the plus side, I picked up my stuff from the most recent mail delivery today - specifically, eight boxes of awesome.  My mother, my mother-in-law, and a few friends conspired to send me exactly the things that make me happy.  I have basic kitchen goods (measuring cups, dish towels, a cutting board), spice mixes, my favorite candy (sour patch kids!!), fancy smell-good soap, wild rice, quinoa, the particular type of couscous I like, my university alumni magazine, recent pictures of family members, a deck of cards, a Scrabble set, and a few hand-written letters, among other things.  I was able to make a healthy, tasty dinner for myself and a sick housemate, plus I could make her a modified hot toddy after dinner to soothe her throat with the apple cider mix I got in today's mail.

Whenever I have a down day, like today, all I have to do is look in my kitchen at all of the care packages I've received since I've been in Tripoli.  Thank you, all of you - you have no idea how much they mean to me.