It probably took longer to arrive because I suspect it might have been mailed "parcel post" which takes a long time to arrive. The mail date was December 2nd so it took more than 2 weeks to get here. 18 days to be exact. Just from the weight alone, I judge that mailing it using a medium flat rate box would have been cheaper and would have arrived within 3-4 days time. We can't blame it on Christmas as DD's boxes to us here is taking only 3 days (and it normally takes 5 days otherwise; she lives in a very small town). The post office is doing it's utmost to get the boxes out and delivered quickly.