Checking in

A couple of winter perfumes 2011 & 12

It's funny how one little thing can turn your world upside-down. Having MIL here for a grand total of 17 days has changed my perspective on things, and not really for the better, well, perhaps a positive thing or so. Since her arrival I have not been able to think straight nor have had much peace around here. It led me to take an inventory of my life-what do I want out of it, what are the plans for the future, and I have questioned if I've learned anything from my past.

It has also got me thinking in depth (if that's at all possible because my mind has turned to a nervous mush since 2/29) about selfishness. What reasonable expectations can you have of those around you? When does, uh, I dunno, respect for one's self or self concern cross the line into selfishness? When does selfishness turn into a narcissistic personality disorder? Or histrionic personality disorder? How about having a false sense of entitlement. I'm dealing with some heady shit here. I thought she was a simple,  easy going woman....you learn a lot when you live with someone.

I feel like I'm taking Psych 101 again, but this time it's in real time, with real examples being played out instead of reading it from a textbook.

 BTW her health is fine, physical that is.

Ewwww, this post is getting ugly. Am going to end it here. Or try to....

Scent. Memory. Time

I've always loved how the scent of something can transport you back in time. For me, it does this more than seeing a photograph, or just looking at something (say, an object) or hearing a song from the past. Scent brings you there, right back there, even if it's only for a few seconds or a minute, it's like experiencing that block of time once again.

The feeling is more intense with scents I haven't smelled in a while. I keep a bottle of Jovan Musk Oil around, and once in a while take a whiff of it when I'm in the vault, and it's summer/fall 1984 and I'm 16, wearing my turquoise colored leopard print top, running around with my friends, playing in a band (or so we thought, lol). But the feeling isn't as strong as it was when I smelled the bottle after it had been tucked in the cellar for several years. That time it was like, Bamb!  I AM 16 again. Billy Idol & U2 playing on the radio, Aerosmith on the turntable, me turning the ringer down on that ugly green push button phone in our kitchen so my father wouldn't wake up from my friends late night calls. Ok, enough.

The bottle w/ the square cap.

Now a whiff of Spiritual Sky's Dark Musk, which I haven't smelled in, oh, say 20 years or so would bring me back to my late teens. Was it Dark Musk, Egyptian Musk or plain ol' Musk from Spiritual Sky? I can't remember but any one would do, I think. I had & wore all of them, plus their Frangipani, which I didn't wear much, thought it was too sweet. Unfortunately I know I'll never get to smell again the Sandalwood or Patchouli oils I wore for a couple of years in my early twenties. And Mango, although I can still recall the mango's sweetness, the depth and dirt of the patchouli, and the smooth & slightly sweet wood in the sandal. Sometimes I'd mix them. The patchouli smelled like actual dirt. I had dried patchouli and it smelled just like it. Mixing the patchouli and the sandal and/or mango would even it out, take the edge off the dirt. My scarves reeked of them. They were odd-ball brands I'll never see again. I bought oils at witch stores, botanicas,  street vendors. Why, oh why did I throw them out? I think there was only drops left and I was cleaning house, but that was probably real sandalwood! Might have been....

Where was I going with this? Scent, Memory and Time. There are a couple of scents and times I do not want to experience again. One is Vanille Banane from Comptoir Sud Pacifique. Nothing wrong with the scent, but it's what I was wearing on and around the time my mother died. She was in the ICU and you really can't wear perfume there, but I figured the Vanille Banane was light enough and I was loving that scent at the time. Not long after I switched to Bath & Body Works, it was an EDT with coconut, beachy and green notes, gosh, I can't remember the name. Not Il de Tahiti. Anyhoo, I couldn't stomach going back to Vanille Banane, brought me right back to that horrible time. Same with Chance by Chanel. Got that for Christmas from Hubby-but I think it was Coco Mad that I wanted, maybe it's just as well I got Chance, so I can still enjoy Coco Mad. I had a miscarriage in January, then another in April.  Don't want to return there.

 All that being said, currently, due to the state of affairs around here, I am not really wearing any perfumes. Gasp! MIL is living with us. It was suppose to be only a couple of days, it's now 14 days and counting. She is difficult & selfish and trying to cause problems between me and Hubby.  I don't want to "ruin" any perfumes by wearing them now & associating them with this, um, time. I'll spray a spritz to try something new I just got (and it's none of her business if I get packages in the mail) and wear some during the day while she's at her apartment and I'm alone and can enjoy it. Right now I'm enjoying some leftover Prada Candy from my shirt-yes it's been washed, the Candy lingers.

Speaking of laundry, I am not ironing Hubby's work clothes tonight to prove I'm a good wife. It's not working and his clothes are permanent press anyway. That's the crap I'm dealing with now. It's silent crap, she doesn't say it to me, Hubby relays it back to me. I might call a locksmith by the end of the week.



Photo of Spiritual Sky Oil from Black Cat Closet.com
The photo is of Shalimar (wonder how that smells?) and it's got the square cap. My bottles of Spiritual Sky oils had the square cap. I remember them vividly because sometimes they'd stick and that square cap was a bitch to get off! I'd have my boyfriend open it for me ;)

If It's Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium

Checking in here. My mother in law is staying with us (fresh out of the hospital/nursing home). As soon as she's all settled in with her meds,  new doctor, visiting nurses, home health aides and a life line call thingy, she will be back at her own apartment. Should be sometime this week.

The meds-I don't know if she'll grasp that. I loaded up the days of the week pill container, lets see, 12 in the morning, 3 in the afternoon plus prilosec, vitamins and other OTC medications. Loaded it all up Thursday night. She spent all Saturday (day & night) & Sunday afternoon at her apartment, had a couple of daughters & their kids staying with her. She returns here Sunday, I look at the pill box and Sunday is still loaded with pills! "Did you take your pills today?" "Oh, si." The better question would have been "Do you know what day it is?" Now, since I loaded this on Thursday night, did I leave Thursday empty since it had passed already, or did I load it all figuring I wouldn't have to worry about it for a whole week? And what did she take today?

Mystery Bottle Monday has been changed to Mystery Meds Sunday

Thursday is empty, perhaps she took those. But what about Thursday night? What did she take as tonight's pills if those are still there?

She didn't take any of mine, I hid them away in my bedroom.

Maybe I should run pieces of electrical tape over the days that are not "today" so she'll have no choice other than taking the correct one. I can see her now,  holding the pill thing taped up and giving Hubby that look that she has when I've done something like I'm cuckoo, which she kind of thinks I am, I think.

  I am ready to tear my hair out over this. I know from taking care of my mother that this job isn't easy and I wasn't suppose to be in charge of MIL's care in the first place, she has other children, 17 in fact, somebody else better get their ass over here.

What does this have to do with perfume?  Well, tonight Hubby suggested I show her some of my "good stuff" so I let her try a spritz of Mitsouko, which she guessed was a man's fragrance.(She likes the fruit cocktail, young type perfumes. The new Nina by Nina Ricci is her favorite.) End of show & tell, lol. If she likes something she will ask me to get her one, a show & tell might give her the idea that these were things she'd be bringing home with her, we have a language barrier issue. Not a good idea to be doing.



Edited: I deleted the negativeness, this isn't the place for it. Again, things should be back to normal in a few days.

Ohhhh, and to deal with the stress I practiced a little retail therapy. Yes, right after my post about money, I grabbed a credit card and snuck over to Saks and Barneys, walking distance from MIL's apartment. I got Musc Ravaguer the 3-10ml vials for $100 & paid in cash. At Saks, I couldn't make up my mind (and was feeling guilty over the Malle) so, feeling like I go in there a lot and haven't bought anything in a long time, I bought Prada Candy, 1.7 oz for $80 on my Saks card. Will pay it off before the month is over. Wore the Candy to work Saturday and felt fabulous.

Tonight, not feeling so fabulous. Ate some delish chocolate ice cream after the pill incident.

Things will be back to normal in a few days....or I'm getting something at Neiman Marcus.