Birthday Care Package

Almost real-time update.

I had a birthday (number 30) recently, and I got a thoughtful and hilarious care package from my loving parents.

Yeah, Baby!

It was almost literally a box of dreams. I found inside all my standard favorite American foods, gummi candy, taffy, beef jerky sticks, and in-the-shell sunflower seeds. I know gummi candy is available in Europe, but it's mostly the Haribo style of gummi. Good, but different than the squishier Trolli candy and the juicier Black Forest candy. This man knows and loves his gummi candy.

Beef jerky sticks, what a treat! Usually found in the checkout lines of every gas station and convenience store in America, they are not as common here. It was nice to taste the freedom of chewy, salty meat again.

After posting here that we were making pizza with chorizo instead of pepperoni as the go-to cheapest kind of cured meat at the supermarket, my folks included packs of sandwich and pizza-sized pepperoni and salami.

Sunflower seeds in the shell are a summer favorite of mine, especially nice for outdoor activities. Correct eating etiquette of sunflower seeds differs by present company and skill with the tongue and teeth, but I choose to throw in a handful of seeds, crack them open one by one with my teeth, and spit out the shells as I eat each one. The constant chewing, drooling, and spitting make these an exclusively outdoor snack.

I also found a box of various trout flies and lures. I can't wait to try these out on the Dodder now that things are slowing down a bit here in Dublin.

Thanks, Mom and Dad!