Waiting, waiting�

As I have mentioned more than once before in the short history of this diary � or whatever it is � I generally always have something or other on order from overseas and am waiting for that fun little package to arrive in the mail.

I even have all these things sent to my office, mainly so my magazines don�t get ripped in and/or stolen from the mailbox at home, but also because of the delayed gratification problem. If I send packages to home then I have to wait until the end of the day to get them, and chances are they�ve been sent to the Post Office to await parcel collection because they�re too big for the box. And although the Post Office is only about a two minute walk from my house, I never get home before it closes during the week, so I have to wait until Saturday to pick up my books, DVDs or shoes, and that�s just not acceptable.

Prior to this morning�s mail delivery I was waiting for 4 separate items to arrive from various parts of the world, not counting the not-yet-released-but-pre-ordered Alias season 1 DVDs. And only one of the 4 is for me. The main things I�m waiting for are my birthday present for Nathan (birthday 9 days ago and counting), my birthday present from Smurfette (birthday 9 days away and counting) and Betty and Jane's present for Smurfette which they are sending here because they�re away at the moment.

I got the shipping email on Smurfette�s present a week ago today, and I�m really not expecting it to arrive for another week. I know that there was a hold up with Nathan�s present, so there�s not really any hassle there. But it appears that waiting for parcels to give other people has created some anomaly in the postal system which has resulted in my West Wing Season 2, Part 2 DVDs arriving from the other side of the world this morning in record time. 6 days in fact. That never happens!

It usually doesn�t even happen when stuff comes by FedEx � though I did once receive a package via DHL from London in 3 days.

And as I am at the beginning of glorious house to myself fortnight, I can go home and watch to my heart�s content � or until I fall asleep on the couch at 9 o�clock. But that�s also a benefit of house to myself fortnight: I can fall asleep on the couch at 9 o�clock and not be disturbed or woken up until my hip goes numb because the couch really isn�t soft.

Which is also exactly what happened on Sunday afternoon, which was one of my two types of favourite Sunday afternoon. The other one is spending the afternoon in the pub sitting around chatting and drinking pints with friends. This Sunday was the get up when I want, don�t have to wait for the shower (as you inevitably do when you share a house even with only one other person), and laze around eating breakfast in front of The Simpsons. Then I watched a few shows I�d taped during the week, in total peace and quiet and without interruption. After a lunch on homemade pizza I went for a lazy walk in the afternoon and then came home to the still warm living room in time to read on the couch and have the aforementioned nap. This was followed by a bloody mary, a long hot bath with no hurry to get out, and the evening of left over home made pizza, guilt-free because there�s no one watching me eat it chocolate, half writing and half watching a mushy and predictable Showtime movie that I actually enjoyed in the privacy of my own company. Perfect.

I�m going home as early as possible every night this week in order to enjoy this peace and quiet and freedom to watch whatever I want. I would like to add that most of Betty and my TV tastes do run in the same direction, but it's nice to have the chance to watch mush without shame.

So tonight it will be DVDs. And hopefully tomorrow�s mail will bring Smurfette�s presents. Or at least the next issue of Vogue. Which I can then fall asleep on the couch while reading tomorrow night.