Ever realize 2+2 and 2x2 BOTH equal 4?! That's INSANE.

My week was brightened up by a pair of plain white envelopes each containing a pair of cards.

Thanks to Tom at Waiting 'til Next Year for filling a gaping hole in my collection. Believe it or not, I owned nary a card of Rock Shoulders. And now I do!

Is he a minor league ballplayer? Is he a superhero ripped from the pages of a comic book? Perhaps a bit of both. Tom generously threw a few Rocks around for free on his blog, and I was one of the lucky recipients.

He also threw in a sentimental favorite from my younger days, Ron Gant.

I had a decent Gant collection back in the early 90s, then all but a few choice early cards were jettisoned in "the great card collection contraction of 2008" in anticipation of moving out of state. And now I'm slowly rebuilding my Gant PC.

Thanks, Tom!

The other PWE was from Max at Starting Nine, getting me back for a couple Mets I sent his way not too long ago.

???

Have you ever received cards from somebody and been like, "WTF?" These aren't sets I'm working on, teams I collect, or players I'm looking for. I was thinking maybe Max mixed up this PWE with someone else's. Or maybe he's just a very lazy trader who picks cards to send out at absolute random.

But then I turned the cards over.

OOOOHHH!!! Christmas Cards!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My confused disappointment instantly turned to unbridled elation. A Christmas Miracle in March! Thanks, Max!