daughter's orders!

"Mom, you'd better write a new blog entry!" came the order from my oldest daughter today. Being the good mom, I obeyed! LOL~ wow, role reversal or what??!!!

I don't have anything that's pressing, just lots of little thoughts. One thing I was thinking about the other day was smells. House smells in particular - every house has one. Its only when i go away from my house for a while and then come in the door, that i smell our 'house smell'. . .its a bit of a 'basementy' smell that i actually like, as weird as that may sound. I couldn't describe it to you, but I notice the smell of every house that I enter! Its like the smell of living. . . all kinds of things combine to make each house smell unique. . the different cleaning products used, air fresheners, dampness level, carpeting, old cooking smells, candles, wood, the cologne/aftershave of the occupants, pets . . . My grandparents house - i love that smell -- again, I can't put it in words. Now its been sold for someone else to notice, but I will always remember it.

I love all kinds of smells. . i think that smell is one of the great pleasures in life! good ones, that is!!! I love the smell of paint and turpentine, stain, etc. . my parents used to use this product called "sweeping compound". I don't even know if they sell that stuff any more, but its a dense, granular substance that you shake onto your sweepable surface and when you sweep it weighs down the dust, so that less dust goes into the air and more gets swept up. It has this evergreeny smell. . i go right back to childhood if i smell anything remotely like it. Closest thing is the 'evergreen' car air fresheners. Another cool smell is the black walnut tree at the front of our house. Some weed and feed smells very similar to black walnuts. . peppery, citrusy, very pungent.

The cooking and baking smells are too numerous to mention!!! ahhhh. . one i do want to mention is this savoury smell, i don't know - almost like a goulash-type smell when i'm outside walking and i smell the cooking coming from other people's kitchen vents. . . believe it or not, i have smelled the same type of smells in both cities i've lived in. . and in several neighbourhoods. . I don't know exactly what all these people are cooking, but it smells GREAT! flowers . . . lilacs, lily of the valley, roses, honeysuckle. . a walk through the neighbourhood is a great olfactory celebration for me! My poor Rob, he can't smell a thing. . . he's had chronic nasal polyps and allergies, so he no longer smells. I have to describe smells to him. I feel bad -I have such a strong sense of smell. If i could i would make up for what he lacks!

I love wood smells. . . cedar. . ahhh. sawdust smells great. . i love the smell of earth, i love the 'rain smell' that you get in the spring and summer. . i love the smell of rivers, lakes, the ocean!!! i love soaps , i love the smell of a good camp fire, a fire place, i've always loved the smell of lit sparklers!!! they always smelled like burnt marshmallows to me. I love the smell of leather, of puppies, magic markers, herbs, gasoline, clean baby smell is the best! Rob used to like the smell of my skin if we'd been outside walking for a long time (back when he could smell). . He'd always sniff my neck and say "i love that!"

Good smells have this effect on my mood, and my memory. They make me happy. . they cause me to remember so many events and good times. . I love doing the laundry because i love the smell of the soap and softener!

I can still remember in my mind the smell of the glue we used in kindergarten! the teacher used to put the goopy stuff in little, disposable tart tins. . some of us goofballs used to eat it!!! (yes, i was one of them!) She used to mix this powder with water and pour it in the tins. We all watched her with great interest. . i think because we wanted a snack!!! GAH!! I remember the smell of the pale blue, custard-like laundry starch that she used to mix with the powered paint to make our finger paint! wow that was a great smell! and it was so squishy and cold to the touch. . i just go right back there when i think of these smells!

well, i don't know if i want a nap now, or whether i want to do some reading. . .i think the latter. We had a great lunch today, me, KK, Joely, Linds, Jimmy Jo and Eri. . home made turkey lasagna (which Linds calls "heaven on a plate") raw veggies, bread and butter and banana/cinnamon chocolate chip cake for dessert! man, that's good stuff! I made the cake for 2 reasons - 1. I had some over ripe bananas. 2. I lost a bet!!! KK bet me that her grandma would again mention that she likes to wind her purse strap around the shopping cart handle so as to deter would be purse snatchers! If mom said this, i had to make the cake, if she didn't KK had to make the cake! So, yes, not only did mom mention this once, but TWICE! and so i told KK "woah, i'm not making 2 cakes" But guess what? I did! (the recipe makes so much batter that i had to use 2 pans!!!) We giggled and mom had no idea what we were giggling about, nor was she even suspicious! So, yeah, that was hilarious! and now we have cake! The house still smells like lasagna and cinnamon! weird combination, but very yummy!

So, as Nelson (from the Simpsons) would say "Smell ya later!"