List #6: Smells I Like; List #7: Smells I Don't Like

List #6: Smells I Like

1. Baking bread
2. Cookies
3. Roses
4. Lilacs; in fact, someday I'm going to create a lilac "room," and during that time when the lilacs are blooming, I will sit out there on my bench on a warm evening and just breathe.
5. Infant poop. I know that's just weird, but there you go. And it has to be a breast-fed infant when they still have that yellow poop. They can't be eating food yet.
6. Asian grocery stores (although one of the smells I really don't like is Fish Sauce. Blech.)
7. Lavender
8. Damp dirt
9. That first whiff when you walk into an Indian restaurant and you just know the pilau rice and naan bread are going to be heavenly.
10. Drying laundry
11. Husband
12. Freshly washed kids' hair
13. The soap they use in the women's bathroom at the Jordan River Temple. Pure almond delight.
14. Pizza
15. Pickled onions

List #7: Smells I Don't Like

1. Wet dog
2. Fish Sauce (already mentioned)
3. Wet washcloths that are a little too ripe
4. The Great Salt Lake when the wind wafts in the wrong direction -- it's like sulphur
5. The poopy diapers of older children
6. Moth balls
7. Fresh perm
8. Food I forgot to clean out of the fridge in a timely fashion
9. I can't decide if I like or don't like that green, somewhat sickly sweet smell of the Jordan River Walkway when you're going through the swampy areas.
10. New car
11. Heavy, exotic perfumes, like Opium. They make me feel sick to my stomach.
12. Incense
13. Cooking rice, although it's fine once it's done
14. Heavy chlorine

List #5: Reasons I've Been to the Emergency Room

1. Appendicitis when I was 12.
2. Car accident when I was 18. My head cracked the windshield and dented the dashboard (that was the last time I didn't wear a seatbelt) and I had a horrific heachache when by brain swelled, but was amazingly okay other than that. I think. Just nod your head and smile.
3. Needed my eye washed out when I was 22 or 23. I was cleaning the bathroom and managed to squirt some of the toilet cleaner right into my right eye. They gave me an eye patch for the rest of the day. Arrr.
4. I took Child Two when she was five months. I was trying to move something while holding her and she suddenly kicked back, which caused me to lose hold of her. She flipped over and landed on her stomach, snapping her thigh bone in half. It was horrible. She was in traction for a week and then had a hip-spica cast (covering both legs) for the next six weeks. She still walked at 10 months, though.
5. Child Two again when she was about 18 months. She was climbing out of her playpen and fell out head-first, breaking the growth plate on her right elbow. Cast for six weeks.
6. Child Three also broke the same growth plate, but I can't remember why, and I don't think we took her to the ER, come to think of it. Sorry.
7. Oldest Child fell off the back of the couch at the age of five or six just after I warned her she was going to fall off and break something. She broke her left arm. Cast for six weeks. Of course, I was not happy to be proven right.
8. Husband when he had severe chest pains, which we thought was a heart attack. It wasn't. The problems stopped when he stopped working as a carpet cleaner.
9. Husband again when he was food poisoned at a buffet restaurant. They put him on a drip because of his severe dehydration and he felt relatively better after that.
10. Asthma attacks with both Child Three (who was admitted twice to the hospital for a week each time) and Child Four.
11. I took my nephew in when we got in a car accident with all the kids in the van. Although they all had seat belts and car seats, he still put his face through the window and got a lipfull of glass, which had to be removed. I have not gone through that particular intersection again.
12. Oldest Child when we thought she had appendicitis.
13. Child Six, just a couple weekends ago, for dehydration.It was probably the shortest ER visit I've ever had.

List #4: Things On My Shopping List

Bartender's Friend tub and sink cleaner
Borax
Washing soda
Lettuce
Italian sausage
Eggs
Milk
Squash

List #3: Ten Words That Are Fun To Say

1. Pipkin
2. Susurration
3. Obfuscate
4. Creatine
5. Conglomeration
6. Avuncular
7. Globular
8. Rural
9. Lollipop
10. Noodle

List #2: Spices and Seasonings In My Spice Cupboard

1. Cinnamon (stick and ground)
2. Cloves (ground and whole)
3. Allspice
4. Poultry Seasoning
5. Dried juniper berries
6. Chinese 5 Spice powder
7. Curry powder (various kinds, from mild to hot)
8. Black mustard seeds
9. Whole white pepper berries
10. Black ground pepper (lots)
11. Bay leaves
12. Cumin
13. Oregano
14. Basil leaves
15. Sage (rubbed)
16. Rosemary
17. Thyme
18. Parsley (you knew it was coming)
19. Montreal Steak seasoning
20. Saffron
21. Fennel seed (several bottles. Not only is this a must for Italian tomato sauces, but a small palmful, when chewed and chewed without swallowing the seeds, will alleviate embarrassing intestinal gas. Ahem.)
22. Dill weed
23. Onion powder
24. Salt (cheap stuff and sea salt)
25. Marjoram (leaf)
26. Celery seed
27. Cream of tartar
28. Garlic powder
29. Ground mace
30. Coriander (whole and ground)
31. White ground pepper
32. Garam Masala
33. Root Beer concentrate
35. Liquid smoke
36. Mint leaves
37. Lemon grass
38. Meat tenderizer
39. Greek seasoning
40. Ground ginger
41. Crushed red pepper
42. Mustard powder
43. Paprika
44. Bouquet garnis
45. Almond extract
46. Lemon extract
47. Orange extract
48. Tarragon
49. Imitation Coconut extract
50. Roasting Rub -- French herb
51. Caraway seeds
52. Turmeric
53. Fines Herbes
54. Wasabi powder
55. Tamarind concentrate
56. Peppermint extract
57. Imitation rum extract
58. Nigella seeds
59. Asafoetida
60. Fenugreek (ground)
61. Whole cardamom pods (green)
62. New Mexico chili pods
63. Worcestershire sauce
64. Cantonese oyster flavoring sauce
65. Soy sauce
66. Teriyaki sauce
67. Olive oil (light and extra-virgin)
68. Canola oil
69. Sesame oil
70. Taco seasoning
71. Ginger oil

You see why I can't find anything in that cupboard.

Month of Lists Kick-off.

I have decided to publish a Month of Lists. Not only can I come up with a ton of things to list, I won't be trying (and failing) to be clever. Whatever I decide to list for the day will be my post. I know you're sitting there, agog, wondering how I come up with such brilliant ideas. I have to humbly admit I came up with it myself, after much thought, and with a great deal of enthusiasm. Maybe I'll get so enthused I'll post a couple lists at once some days. You just never know what I'm going to do next, do you? It keeps you on your toes trying to duck and weave with me, getting the feel for the spontaneous and highly creative mind processes that are just part of my everyday thinking. I know, I know. I'm just as amazed, and I live with it every day!

List #1: My Good Qualities

1. Humility

6th picture

My friend, Cynthia, tagged me in her blog to pick the 6th picture in my Pictures File and blog about it. Here is the 6th picture:





This is Child Two, her real self, her scheming best. When she isn't coming up with some plan to rule the world, she's coming up with a plan to go somewhere -- usually with her friend, M. She and M come to me on an almost daily basis, asking me to take them somewhere because they're so booooooored. Lately it's been ice-skating and bowling. This is the face she uses, I'm sure, to come up with her plans. As I can't just drop everything and drive them all over the place, her plan rarely works; I shudder to think how little I'll see her once she's old enough to afford her own car.