Tagged!

I have been tagged by a beautiful, erudite and endless supplier of lemmings. Who, you may ask? No, you're not asking, because you all know it's none other than Colombina. I have been charged with making a list of five weird habits or peculiarities and then I must challenge five other bloggers to do the same.

The problem is that we really don't usually recognize our own pecuiliarities and weird habits. So I took a cue from Colombina, who elicited help from her husband. Here's what my husband had to say:

DH: Well, you think you're always right.
Me: It's not a peculiarity when it's true - I *am* always right.

No help. I asked a couple of friends. The one answer I got from DH and both friends was "the foot thing." So without further ado, I give you my list of 5 weird habits or peculiarities:

1. The Foot Thing. OK, I don't really like feet. I have come to terms with them (mostly mine) as I have gotten older, but until recently nobody was allowed to touch my feet. In college, I had to put socks on before anybody was allowed into my room, because I didn't want anybody to see my feet. They're normal feet - no abnormalities or anything...I just didn't think they needed to be out there in the public domain. Interestingly, and through no fault of my own, I am now the proud owner of an extremely large collection of foot and stocking fetish porn movies - but that's anbother story entirely. How's that for irony?

2. I Floss. Not just like dental hygiene, I floss my teeth several times per day and keep flossers in my purse for flossing emergencies.

3. I Love Fragrance.

The bulk (but not entirety) of my collection.

OK, that one was no surprise to most of you...I have, um, a little perfume habit. I'm not stinky, not trying to cover anything up, I just love and appreciate the art of fragrance. I also smell all food before I take the first bite, but that may be more of an animal instinct kinda thing.

4. I am a night person, and I despise mornings. My husband will get up early to finish something, after going to bed when he's tired. I will stay up until 4 am to get it done, because I am useless in the morning and if I have to get up early to finish it, it doesn't get finished.

5. Clothing Issues. I have lots of casual clothing and quite a bit of formal attire, but very little in between. So a nice evening out usually finds me either overdressed or underdressed. I recognize this as a problem but have yet to do anything about it.

So. There you have my five. I officially charge five bloggers to reveal 5 weird habits or peculiarities about themselves: PFG of Do Not Enter The Tea Room; Kyahgirl of Mother Hen's Place; Katiedid of Seldom Nice Nowadays; Lupa of no one knows why the wolf laughs and Bela of Slap of the Day (please don't slap me, Bela!) Enjoy!

Today's fragrance: Les Parfums Rosine Rose d'Ete. This is a beautiful, ethereal yellow rose scent, perfect for a late Winter day, when you can feel Spring right around the corner, waiting to come and stay for a while. This is sunshine in a bottle. Notes: Head - Apple, galbanum, bergamot. Heart - Yellow rose, linden blossom, mimosa, lotus blossom. Base - Ambrette seed, musk. Thanks to LusciousCargo for the notes.

What would you do

if you woke up at 4am and saw a gigantic scary black bug on the ceiling directly above your head?



1. Go back to sleep, hoping everything is find and have nightmares about gigantic scary black bugs dropping onto your face in your sleep. BUGS...ewwww.

2. Get out of your nice warm bed, go into the kitchen, get a glass and a piece of paper, go back into the bedroom, catch the gigantic scary black bug and release it into the 15-degree weather outside. I mean, I am a 21-st century woman, right? I can handle a bug.

3. Wake up your sleeping husband who spent all day Friday in the emergency room of the local hospital to rule out pneumonia...and make him get up and get rid of the gigantic scary black bug? Isn't that what we keep the men around for? Bug patrol?

4. Other (explain in your post)

What do you think *I* did?

Today's fragrance: Napa Valley Boheme. I really like this spicy floral oriental fragrance, only wish it had better lasting power. I sprayed it on generously less than two hours ago and I'm barely smelling it now. It definitely stays close to the skin, little or no sillage (waftiness). I personally like to waft. Listed notes are: Top notes of Bergamot, Lemon, Pepper, Rosewood, Neroli and Galbanum.
Mid notes of Rose Geranium, Orris, Lily, White Rose, Bulgarian Rose, Carnation, Grandiflorum Jasmine (Egyptian), Honey, Lilac and Clove Bud.
Base Notes of Tolu and Peru Blossom, Benzoin, Siam and Virginia Cedars, Amber, Sandalwood, Frankincense, Patchouli, Myrrh, Tobacco and Tree Moss.

That's a lot of ingredients, but it's a well-blended scent. The interesting thing about scents with a lot of ingredients is that they tend to shine differently on different people. It has a bit of an old-world feel, as if maybe it would have been popular with black & white movie starlets. I love galbanum in fragrances, but the top notes are fleeting. By the time it dries on my skin, we're into the middle range. Lovely rose and orris with a hefty dose of clove & carnation and a touch of sweetness from the honey. I also get a definite tobacco feel throughout. The drydown is a bit more woodsy/ambery - an earthy context for the spicy floral, which remains. Overall, I think this scent is a slightly dangerous old world glamour scent. Like a beautiful woman with a dark side. I only wish it lasted a bit longer.

It Should Be Illegal

To smell this good.

Today I am wearing jeans, a grey sweater covered in fuzzballs, my hair is in a ponytail, I am wearing no makeup, the only piece of jewelry I am wearing is my wedding ring and for shoes? Chucks. Yup, black & pink canvas converse high-tops.

But I am the most glamorous, worldly, sexy and intriguing creature I know. Know why? Cause of my perfume.

I am thinking this might be one I shouldn't wear to work though, cause I am distracting myself with all my mystery & glamour. I'd wear this on a date with James Bond. But not the Tom Cruise Bond - Connery.

Yeah, baby.

What am I wearing today? No fair if I told you elsewhere.

Kid Bedtime = Mom Grumpy Time

I actually had a really nice evening (will write more tomorrow or the next day), but that 7:30-8:30 time frame is probably my least favorite time of the day. Visions of cuddling with sleepy, clean kids in pajamas, talking about our day or reading a book...just shattered. Every. Single. Night.

Well, sometimes we get to do the fun, relaxed, cuddly thing.

More often than not though, it's "Brush your teeth! Keep your hands off your sister. Have you brushed your teeth yet? Why are you running around the house naked with a pillow on your head? Get your pajamas on! Wash your face!" You get the point.

Tonight, 7 year old daughter D walked into my room in her pajamas, looking bored (she had been banned from the bathroom until her sister, 4 year old A, was done in there). I was getting clothes ready for the next day.

Me: "Is your sister STILL brushing her teeth?!"
D: "Yeah."
Me: "Well, she's about to lose that privilege."
D: "Brushing her teeth?!"
Me: "Yes."
D: (laughing) "Brushing your teeth is not a privilege, you HAVE to do it every day, two times a day or more."
Me: "Fine then. I'll find another privilege to take away. Like washing her hands."

D totally told on me to my husband too.

Perception of Beauty

I did actually watch the Superbowl. Well, actually, the Superbowl was on and I hung out in the company of good friends and family and mostly paid attention to the commercials. I even learned about how if the ball breaks the invisible force field of the goal line, even in the air, it's a goal. I konw there's a more footbally way to say that, but I don't care that much.

Commercials: some good, some godawful. One of the best, for me, was the Dove commerical, featuring young girls and their insecurities. You can view the commercial here. Young girls, each beautiful in her own way, unsatisfied with her appearance because society tells her that in order to be beautiful, one must look a certain way. A girl who probably weighed 90 pounds, standing in the self-defensive posture of a 12-year old, with the caption "worried she's fat."



I could go on and on about my views on this, but I wanted to share with you a conversation I had with my daughters last night. I was thinking about the commercial and decided to have a chat with my girls, ages 4 & 7, about beauty and what it means to be beautiful.

I asked the 7yo: Name somebody you think is beautiful. After going through the entire family, of course, she comes up with her friend Skylar. OK, I say, tell me WHY Skylar is beautiful.

7yo: Because she likes to play with me, and she's nice.

Ooooh, proud mama moment.

I ask the 4yo: What makes somebody beautiful?

4yo: A nice dress.

Me: OK, what else might make somebody beautiful?

4yo: A crown.

So we proceed with the discussion of how beauty comes from within and a supermodel can be ugly if she's not nice or compassionate. I say a big fat person with frizzy hair and crooked teeth can be beautiful if she cares about people and is kind.

7yo heartily agrees with me. 4yo is silent, thinking.

I'm afraid that she's thinking that if a big fat person with frizzy hair and crooked teeth has on a nice dress and a crown, of course she's beautiful.