Dollar Tree values

A week ago, I went to the dollar store to buy matches. I desperately needed some & kept forgetting to buy them when I was at the grocery store. While at Dollar Tree ("pick the deals"!), I picked up a few candles and some incense.

The candles have been duds, meaning, they do not emit the lovely fragrances promised (hazelnut cream, apple pie). The incense has emitted its hard-to-identify fragrance; however, I had to look at the box to figure out what it was. (See below.)

Something about this unconventional combo makes me think this stuff wasn't made in a top-quality incense plant.

Mint fennel? Do those 2 scents go together? Is it just me or do those two fragrances seem like an odd combo, like the guess of a manufacturer NOT located inside the United States who is trying to discern what Americans want to smell in their homes?

I should have picked up a box of lemon chocolate incense too. Do they carry basil strawberry? Hope so!

Giggling

I am like a laugh addict, trolling the internet or NPR, when possible, for something that will make me giggle out loud. It's good medicine.

Things that make me laugh - these are either proven laugh generators or things I've enjoyed lately:

30 Rock, Glee and The Office

Shouts & Murmurs

Roz Chast

Modern Family (thanks to Heather for the recommendation)

the first aid class at Cub Scout day camp (deserves its own post ... let me just offer this teaser - spilling innards!)

Jon Stewart

the Christoph Niemann Abstract City blogs 

Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me (previously praised by me on this blog!)

Cedric the Entertainer

parody clips from hulu.com (I thought I already posted this Suze Orman spoof but can't find it, so here it is again)

and ... this wonderful blog from the creators of failblog, also a favorite: There I Fixed It!

Flocked

My friend Corinna ordered a flock of plastic flamingos this spring and organized a shareholding collective. Anyone interested in a *share* could pay the set fee and then have access to said flock for whenever/whatever the anyone wanted. Corinna even set up a Google calendar that governs the flamingos' schedule. We sign up to use them through the calendar, and I, for one, have enjoyed tracking their journey around town as they move from birthday to anniversary to Boss week and back.

The very first recipient of the flamingo flock was Graham. Although I joined as a shareholder (and got to attend the ensuing flamingo party), I didn't know when they were arriving, only that they were on their way.  Corinna, meanwhile, snuck over to my house late on April 20th and decorated our lawn so that Graham would wake up on his birthday morning and feel celebrated. Wouldn't you love to have this waiting for you outside your front door? It was so bright and happy, and the signs (made by her talented kids) were great too.

Graham was super excited, though perplexed at how I just "knew" it was Corinna who had done it. A bit later, he commented happily, "I think Mrs. Strayer really loves me like a son, Mom. If something happened to you, not that I'm saying I want something to happen to you, she could raise me like her own child."

All opposable digits UP

Just got back from "Toy Story 3". The kids and I saw it in 3-D to celebrate my birthday.

It was fantastic. I literally experienced every emotion in my repertoire while watching it. Talk about catharsis. It is hilarious, suspenseful, heartbreaking, heartwarming, scary, silly, beautiful, thoughtful ... and on and on. I don't think it's an overstatement to say that the trilogy of Toy Stories are epic.

I would go back and watch it again right now. I can't wait to add it to our family movie collection. I especially like the way Pixar gets the adult/kid formula right. Their movies work on an adult level but not through double entendres or inappropriate wink-wink jokes. Don't get me wrong - the Ken & Barbie plotline was a gutbuster - but I never felt like the jokes were out of line. Andy is still a good kid with a sweet heart, for example. And the message of loyalty and friendship and love is so touching.

And yet, I couldn't stop laughing either.

The animation, too, forged new ground. You'll never look at waste management the same way again. And the filmmakers obviously had fun "nodding" to other movies, like "Cool Hand Luke".

In conclusion, two words that point to my (perhaps) favorite part: Big Baby. You'll know what I mean when you see it ...

Here's a link to the New York Times review - A.O. Scott says *exactly* what I was thinking (ha ha) about the film without giving too much away.

Birthday

My friend Kevin asked me today what I wanted for my birthday. Good question. The quick answer is Season 4 of "30 Rock" (not yet for sale).

The grateful answer is that I should first note all of the wonderful things I've already received for my birthday:

*a trip to Minnesota to participate in the Mississippi River Creative Writing workshop (big big thanks to my parents) earlier this month. It was an amazing week that fired me up about the work necessary to be the writer I want to be.

*a lovely birthday party hosted by Ulrike and Corinna. The food was delish - pasta salad, mozzarella & tomatoes, spicy ravioli from Boston's (one of my favs & brought to the party from Boston's by dear Luz!), two cakes (one with chocolate, raspberry & ganache - my favorite combo) to die for ... it all tasted amazing. The gifts, too, were amazing! I will take pictures and explain them, and everyone will be stunned by the creativity and generosity of these dear friends, I promise. (Hint: gifts may include such Erin favorites as birds, love, music, chocolate, shoes, live theater, books and/or picture frames.)

My kids also asked what I wanted. I pulled a page from my mom's playbook & said, without irony, "For my birthday, I would like it if you guys could get along." That's what my mom often requested for mother's day, as I recall. Now I understand exactly what she meant.

But in answer to Kevin's question (and I've been thinking about it a lot, in fact since long before he even asked the question), what I really want for my birthday is hope.

I thought I wanted happiness, as in, I was missing it.

But I have happiness. I recognize that. It is right there for the taking.

I find occasion every day to laugh, especially Saturday mornings at 10 a.m. I have five kittens living in my house. I have a good job that suits my skill set. My front door is red. My family and friends care about me, and I care about them. They love me and I love them. I have more than my fair share of support. I have dear friends who have known me at pretty much every stage in my life. I can text quickly. My body works as it should. Skinny Cow ice cream bars taste just as indulgent as full-fat ice cream treats. I have faith in God. Cherries are in season. My bookshelves are full. I am better singer than I was 15 years ago. Morningstar Farms vegetarian sausages really do hit the spot for me. I am surrounded by amazing music. I found blue suede sandals at our favorite Minnesota consignment shop. I like to tease my sister Courtney about reading Debbie Macomber books AND I just checked out a Debbie Macomber book from the library. I am learning how to meditate. My hair is longer than it was last summer. I share a Meyers-Briggs combination (ENFP) with President Obama. My children are treasures. My children continue to stretch me. I'm a Minnesotan. I dug out a beautiful leather belt from my college days that has been in the dress-up box for several years and was pleased to find it once again goes around my waist. I like Facebook - it has expanded and made smaller my world. I like learning. Hip hop music makes me want to dance. I have a big bottle of real Mexican vanilla in my pantry. I come from and extend a line of strong Janells. I know how to cry. I have rediscovered the wisdom of Kahlil Gibran.

I am grateful for my life.

(However, here's my anti-blogfacadeitis honesty admission: I am often/sometimes/occasionally deeply lonely even though I am surrounded by love. There you have it. Doesn't make sense.)

There's just a persistent hankering for that one additional gift, the thing with feathers, as Miss Dickinson once wrote. But in all things, patience.

I just need to remember where I set it down last year when I turned 37.

A rose by any other ...

I am using my maiden name as my last name now.

Officially.

Except for all the forms and accounts and bills that still list my married name.

On the records of the Church, I am Erin Hill.
On the records of the SS office, I never wasn't Erin Hill.
At work, on Facebook, with my family, with my students, even in my ward, I am (mostly) Erin Hill.

Just thought I'd share that here. Seems like I need a blog name change too. Or a new blog. (Yeah, because I've spent so much time updating this one lately!)

I could borrow the name from one of my email account handles: mrsbrittdaniel

A little cheeky, since I don't really know the man, but I guess I'm counting on the power of visualization.

All of it

I bumped into this Rainer Maria Rilke quote while reading Stacy Morrison's memoir of divorce, Falling Apart in One Piece, and I loved it. (This is a translation, obviously, of whatever Rilke wrote in German.) When I say I loved it, I mean that I was reading it while taking a bath (TMI?), and I had to put the book down because I was crying so hard. Sometimes words can just reach out and grab a person!

Have patience with everything 

unresolved in your heart

and to try to love the questions themselves 

as if they were locked rooms or books 

written in a very foreign language. 

Don't search for the answers, 

which could not be given to you now, 

because you would not be able to live them. 

And the point is, to 

live everything.

Live the questions now. 

Perhaps then, someday far in the future, 

you will gradually, without even noticing it, 

live your way into the answer.