Scent of a Woman

I confess, I love perfume. I do. Aside from the historical viewpoint, I love the romance of it. I love the bottles, and the labels, and the names, and the stories attached to their journey from nature to bottle. I own quite a few bottles, too. Perfume doesn’t have to be expensive to be nice and appreciated. I remember waaaaaaaaaaaaay back in high school, a friend gave me a tiny bottle of Babe™ eau de toilette for Christmas, and I loved it. And who can forget Love’s Baby Soft™?? I still have some of that. Not that it’s appreciated around here:

Hubby: What are you wearing??

Me: Uh, pajamas…

Hubby: No, I mean what perfume??

Me: Oh! “Love’s Baby Soft”, why? Don’t you like it?

Hubby: Any chance you can shower again, and throw away the bottle?

Me: Hater…

Not all perfumes are divine scents, though. My mom gifted me a bottle of some high-priced designer stuff that reeked like a dead skunk that had baked in the sun for days. It was so bad, I threw it out, and I never throw out perfume. That’s just wrong. But that was just awful. And I don’t care what people say about “personal chemistry”. You wear what smells nice to you. My sister prefers floral scents, and I prefer orientals and woodsy scents. Basically, that means she never borrows any of mine, and vice versa. Not that she would. My signature scent is Shalimar™, and that just reminds her of our grandmother.

Remember: the gift of scent is a personal one, so make sure YOU can live with it, as well. It is no secret what Hubby likes, from the myriad Shalimar™ and Samsara™ bottles I own 😉

Sunday Sithy

Apparently, the kids are itching to go travelling again today, so off we go! Our planning method involves a map and a dart thrown at it, so no telling where we’ll end up. The only rule we adhere to is the “200 mile radius” rule.

Which means the town of Old Dime Box is still in play.

Anyway, here’s a Sithy for y’all!

Instead of Earth Science, perhaps he should have been teaching about building a better Death Star.

Have a great Sunday!! 😀

Outta Here!!

Today we are going out of town, so y’all will have to rely on social site games and football to tide y’all over. And from my friend roamingfirehydrant:

Well, I do speak Fwench, you know 😉

Have a wonderful Saturday!!

On Being Lonely

November is the beginning of National Blog Posting Month at WordPress. Basically it entails writing a blog entry a day, which I pretty much do anyway. lately though, I have been running low on inspiration, so I thought I would look up some suggestions at the Daily Prompt. Some of them were quite fun and others were not really for me, but one of them caught my eye:

When was the last time you felt really, truly lonely?

I read that yesterday afternoon, and have been quietly pondering it since. My first thought was, how can I possibly be lonely?? The second? WHEN DO I HAVE THE TIME TO BE LONELY??? But the thing is, one can be lonely surrounded by loving people, while being busy as a parent, and even in the midst of joy.

I can’t think of many times I have been lonely. There are plenty where I am alone, though. The most recent memory of loneliness was a bad one for me. The walls seemed to close around me and all I could do was escape to the closet and cry for hours, where no one could find or hear me. My faith was strained that day, a very dark, bleak day. But somehow I managed to pull myself back from that darkness and embrace my faith again, because it was the one thing that had stayed with me. There are days when I feel the need to close myself off from everyone, and just shut down every feeling and every care. But I can’t. Not “won’t”, mind you. I can’t help but care and feel, even towards those who have shut me out of their lives.

Loneliness is only a small phase in the course of Life. When handled well, we can learn much about ourselves. The trick is to make sure it is a small phase, and not one that takes over your soul. That is the path I choose to take 🙂

Reasons Why I’m in Charge of Halloween Candy

Never underestimate Hubby on Halloween.

This year, our kids dressed up and went trolling up and down the neighborhood, while Hubby and I stayed behind. In the years past, we had a block party in order to “streamline” the Trick-or-Treaters into one area to make things easier on the parents, but this year was called off due to several neighbors moving away. So, we sat outside so that the kids wouldn’t be ringing the doorbell and driving the dogs crazy.

Normally, the evening would have entailed me exclaiming over the costumes and Hubby going off with the kids. Not this time. This time he was adding to the conversations.

Hubby: You know, we can go get the other snake and place it in the candy basket and let the kids pick through.

Me: Uh, NO!

Hubby: Oh, c’mon! It would be fun!

Me: You’re insane.

And then there were the costumes…. Hubby is not one to *ahem* gloss over anything.

Me: (pointing out a woman dressed as a so-called Little Bo Peep in stockings and high heels) I would NEVER be outside dressed like that!

Hubby: What’s wrong with it?

Me: Obviously nothing from your point of view.

Hubby: She’s sure Peeping out of it.

And the kids dressed like zombies got two pieces of candy, for obvious reasons.

Zombie Kid: TRICK OR TREAT!!

Hubby: Hey! A zombie! You’re lucky I left my shotgun inside.

Zombie Kid: Huh?

Hubby: Practice for the Zombie Apocalypse, you know?

Me: HERE’S SOME CANDY HAVE A GOODNIGHT!!!!

I think next year I’ll put him in charge, and videotape the whole thing. It’s the only way people will believe me 😉

Out of My Gourd

I love pumpkins. As an Aggie, I had…. issues with their color for a long time, but once I had my first slice of pumpkin pie, my issues were over. Carrots weren’t such a big deal because Texas A&M figured out a way to make maroon ones. But not pumpkins, which is a real shame because I bet a maroon pie would look amazing.

Anyway, yesterday I showed y’all the paper mache, or if you are a stickler for correct terminology, papier-mâché pumpkins. I had waffled around trying to figure out what to do with them for months. But finally I managed to decorate them.

First, I applied a thin coat of medium and laid strips of Ideaology™ tissue as I went along, pressing it into the curves. Once it dried, I sprayed some Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist™ in Tattered Leather, a dark brown, and then rubbed in Distress Ink™ in Spiced Marmalade, repeating the process twice. Once THAT was dried, I glued jute twine into the crevices for definition. I applied some Distress Ink™ in Peeled Paint to the stem, as well as to some Sticky Back Canvas™, also spraying it with the brown glimmer stuff. Then I cut out leaves from the canvas, peeled the backing off, and stuck it to some more tissue paper. I crumbled it, and then reformed the leaves to suit, gluing them to the stem. I curled some more twine and voìla! Rustic pumpkins for my Great Pumpkin Mantelscape of 2012!!

And yes, the big one in the middle is a mercury glass one that I purchased a while back. It is open in the bottom, so I placed some Christmas tree lights inside and light it during the holidays. I couldn’t light it for the pic because A) it would be too bright for my crappy phone camera, and 2) the extension cord was too short. After Thanksgiving it will be moved down to the hearth area so I can once again plug it in.

Oh, and I just remembered the rest of the pumpkins I have stashed away. I may or may not have enough room on the mantel, but hey, that’s what the fireplace is for 😉

Cut to the Quick

Yesterday afternoon, my friend Jennie told me of a scrapbooking class she will be teaching. Five minutes later, after a round of SQUEEEE!!!– I confirmed my spot to take her class. Five minutes after that, I was taking inventory of everything I would need for it.

This is where I noticed some of my stuff was *ahem* out of commission.

Apparently, one of my kids needed to use some of my paints and tools for a project. Normally that would be fine, since I am of the opinion that things are there to be used. But it hurt to see the sorry state of my scissors. My beautiful, magnetized, do-everything scissors, which someone thought meant “do-everything-including-use-as-pliers”. I am not at a loss for scissors, not by a long shot. But these are special!! They cut through chipboard and wire and short of doing dishes, they make me happy. Now I have to make do with regular, run-of-the-mill scissors, and that’s going to take a bit of adjusting to do.

But enough wailing about that. Some of y’all may remember this.

Well, I finally found some paper mache pumpkins!!

So today, I am working on altering these for the Great Pumpkin Mantlescape of 2012™, without my scissors. But no matter. I can do just fine with a knife and a ballpoint pen.

Trust me. I’m a professional 😉

Taking the Wheel

I don’t know who is more nervous: Eldest, or me.

I’m not a great teacher, no matter how patient I am. I don’t have the confidence, I suppose. But now Eldest is learning to drive, and that means she needs practice.

She gets behind the wheel, and you know what? It’s fun!! She starts off a bit nervous, and then begins to drive comfortably and explain everything that she will be doing. All I do is sit back, and not distract her. At least for now. Her father has a bad habit of pointing out things while she is driving, and that *ahem* drives her nuts. Of course, he is teaching her to drive like a man, which means I have to put myself in his shoes and adhere to his style. But not to worry. I shall refrain from describing the driving cones as little elf hats and telling her that parking between the lines is like making a car sandwich 😉

In Vino Logica

Today I am finally going to a local winery for a tasting tour. I have been wanting to go for about…. Hm…. I want to say six months or so. Why? Because apparently I can only buy a certain wine at that particular winery and I need it like burning.

Let me attempt to explain the logic here. I like sangria. My father’s cousin used to make the best sangria ever, but she passed away before I was old enough to ask for the recipe. Don’t judge me. Anyway, I have tried sangria everywhere it was offered, hoping to find one that was close enough to her recipe, usually to no avail. Once while in Berlin we saw an offering at a biergarten. That alone should have tipped us off, but we went ahead and tried it. It looked like someone had *ahem* upchucked their fruit salad, and tasted just as vile. After that, I tried the bottled sangrias, but usually they are not sweet enough, and the citric acid tends to conflict with the alcohol somewhat.

Bunch of liars…

Fast forward to May 2012. The ladies of our local wine club make plans to go to the Wein and Sangerfest just north of here, and ZOMG!!! I find the best cheap sangria recipe EVAH!!

Texas Style Sangria

• 1 6oz can of frozen orange juice concentrate, plus one can of water
• 1 6oz can of frozen limeade concentrate, plus one can of water
• 1 liter of grapefruit soda
• 1 bottle Dry Comal Creek Foot Pressed Red Wine™

Blend limeade and orange juice concentrates with water. Add the wine, stirring well, then add the grapefruit soda, and stir well again. Freeze until slushy, or serve over ice if you are impatient, like me. Garnish with orange slices, or pass on the fruit if your impatient, like me. Those of you that are sharp-eyed will recognize where I originally posted this recipe.

Anyway, see that last item?? THAT wine is ONLY sold at the winery. Why?? Why can’t they offer it locally in all other stores that carry their brand?? It is a nice table wine, and a less expensive alternative to their Black White Spanish, which is also awesome, by the way. My point is, if you want people to buy your wine and entice them with an awesome cheap recipe, you should make said wine available to the masses. But no…. Now I have to make the sacrifice of an afternoon, and go to a tasting room just so that I can purchase a bottle or five of wine.

It’s a sacrifice I’m willing to make 😉

Saturday Sithy

And I know just how they feel, especially after going junking for Eldest’s room stuff.

You have to start somewhere 😉

Have a great Saturday!!