Smell Ya Later

This weekend as I was getting ready to go to dinner with some friends I decided to use some perfume that I hadn’t used in quite awhile. This smell no longer had the fresh and exciting effect on me that it once had. Instead I was immediately reminded that I used to put this perfume on in place of showering when on a time crunch OR truly overtaken by laziness. Out of habit, my nose relayed to my brain that I needed to shower when time allowed despite the fact that I just did. I washed off the perfume to stop the confusion, embarrassed that my laziness had trained my nose in such a way. I knew I would have to find a new perfume, one that I would use to highlight my cleanliness not to mask my lack there of. I was happy that my new scent was my choice, a choice I can honestly say I don’t think grandmothers have.

This week, after two encounters with grandmothers who smelled just like my own, I began to question a lot of things. Do all grandmothers use the same perfume? Is this the smell we all naturally take on as we age? And, why does it make me want meatloaf? In one week, smells had confused me into thinking I was dirty when I wasn’t, I was with my grandmother when I wasn’t and I was going to get meatloaf when I wasn’t.

I don’t understand how a lot of things work. Most of these things involve technology (I’m still trying to wrap my mind around electricity so don’t even get me STARTED on fax machines and cell phones) but our sense of smell really gets me. How can something trigger vivid memories but turn on you in a split second? I have never felt so betrayed by my own body than when I drank a glass of Sprite that tasted like the zoo smells. Like, come ON.

Aside from my sense of smell I have been focusing on a lot of other things lately. I am half way through the 4th level of Upright Citizens Brigade improv classes - BE IMPRESSED. But on another note, I am losing my nannying job in September because, damn it all, kids grow up and go to school and don’t need their nannies anymore. I will be taking some time to reflect on my time as a part-time mother and will hit you all with a very mothering and nurturing blog post. But what is more likely is a post about how I’m worried I will develop a vitamin deficiency without the plethora of fresh fruit available to me at their house. But I have great news for network executives! I am now free to hire.