My sister-in-law is visiting this week and yesterday I saw her sitting on the couch writing post cards. I commented that I've never done the post card thing. She told me she has been collecting post cards since she was a little girl. She even wrote about it in her blog yesterday.
It reminded me of my long-standing collection. Years ago I started collecting mints. I remember how it got started, I told my mother I wanted to have some candy in my room and I wanted to eat it slowly. Yeah, right. Eat candy slowly? Save candy? Not eat it immediately? Good luck there. But it was my goal. Shortly after that I got some candy of some sort and I got a little container of breath freshener mints. I put them in the keepsake box at the top of my dresser and planned to not eat them for some time.
So the next day after the candy was gone—you saw that coming, right?—I looked at the little box of mints and decided I could still accomplish my goal. I would eat one mint every other month and in so doing, I could make them last through the end of the year.
It worked somewhat. It mostly worked because I forgot about the mints for long periods of time. I did eventually finish them all and I don't have the container any more, but it sparked my interest in collecting mints.
I've traveled all over the world and bought mints and people have brought them to me from their travels. The thing is, many of the "mints" aren't mints. Some of the neatest items I have in my collection aren't even remotely minty. I love the cinnamon clove balls I got in Seattle in 1992 that inspired me to create my favorite hard candy flavor we like to call "crack" because once you have one of my super strong cinnamon clove hard candy pieces—and have survived the assault to your taste buds—you're hooked.
Many if the items in my collection have interesting containers, some that have elegant dispensing methods for their contents and some have unusual shapes. I like mints that are different shapes and flavors that are wild and crazy. And then there are the funny mints. The mints are boring, the container itself is boring, but there's a great saying on it or it's from a special location.
It's an interactive collection too. Mints don't really go bad. When I show the collection to people, we can sample the collection and see just how crazy strong the Italians like their liquorice.
The Big Boy Update: Sleepy. When he's asleep he's very asleep. He's very cute when he tries to wake up and is groggy. The past two mornings he's not been awake when I had to go get him for his breakfast so he could get to school on time. He puts his head on your shoulder and tries to tuck his arms in so he can fall back asleep as you take him downstairs to eat.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: Self entertainer. She plays by herself very well. Her father did this too I've heard. She will happily play with toys for long periods of time. But if you leave the room and she notices, she'll follow you so she can entertain herself while being close to you at the same time.
Fitness Update: To run or not? Some time back I signed up to run a race tomorrow. I have a checkup with the eye doctor today in which he'll remove the protective contact from the PRK eye and let me know how well everything is healing. On Tuesday he thought it might be best if I didn't run in the race I've signed up for on Saturday. But, the majority of his concern isn't the act of running itself, it's the danger of something getting in my eyes. I have glasses that give fairly full coverage. But I'm not making any decision about the run until I see him today and get an update on how well they're healing.
Someone Once Said: An insult is like a drink; it affects one only if accepted.
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