My darling Posse! I know I’ve been punkish about replying to your comments – and I apologize. I’m fighting the re-onset of the symptoms that caused that surgery (hyst) and even though I knew this was going to be a SLOG! I really expected for everything to be sunshine and unicorns by now. Well… the unicorns are here – and they are poking that damaged nerve. Surgeon told me it would be likely – I mean, 40 years of being hurt doesn’t get fixed in a day – but it’s juuust enough discomfort to make me feel off-kilter. Mostly just cranky… but also out of sorts, with me having to make a real effort to manage daily things because … eh. Yoga and a whole lotta leg press is helping and this is NOT some Real Pain Drama – just irritating. So. I’m sorry. I’m just a puny, whiny pee-pants right now. I’ll get past this. Hopefully this very afternoon!
In the meantime, I haz musings. And I haz questions. Hopefully you’ll have answers!
Why don’t I have those eyebrows?
- When you are feeling puny, what do you wear? I try to break out of the No5 armor but… yeah, mostly No5. I thought it would be Mitsouko… but looking back, it’s always been No5. So be it. When you are feeling fragile (which is how I feel – I’m not in actual PAIN) do you reach for one of your standards? And I…think… I might’ve already asked you this but c’mon – tell all, again 😉
- When is ‘a lot’ too much? A few days ago I wore Amouage Dia. Body creme and edp. An elderly neighbor who was at Physical Therapy said (to a friend) ‘wow. She always smells so good – but today? She is wearing A Lot of Perfume! ‘ And I realized: I WAS! Amouage body creme is luxe! and very, very saturated with perfume. Alone, it’s just fine – fabulous, even. Top it with the edp? Boom! I thought I smelled Just Fine – but it was A Lot! At what point do you think ‘ooop! Maybe too much (?)’. Layering? 7 spritzes of perfume? (and no, I didn’t wear SEVEN spritzes of Dia – just 2 – but it’s Amouage. They don’t play. So maybe… yeah. A Lot.
- What I’m reading: I just picked up ‘A Whiff of Murder’ by Angela Sanders. Most of you will know her from NST – she’s a marvelous writer. I’m on page 5! and already I’m hooked.
- What I wish I hadn’t tried to read: Agnes Aubert’s Mystical Cat Shelter by Heather Fawcett. It’s not poorly-written… it’s just… well, it’s like when my librarian friend read ‘Gone Girl’ and her response was ” omgosh! I wanted them ALL gone! I can’t believe that I hated Every Single Character in that book!”. I didn’t ‘hate’ anybody in the Cat Shelter book – I just… well… I kept trying but… I really couldn’t have cared less. So… I DNF’ed it! I find myself DNFing a whole lot of books these days, which is surprising. In the Jurassic Era that didn’t really seem to happen. But now? Eh. And I’m surprised that I am FINE with it! Life is unpredictable – and I don’t want to waste known time on a book I don’t care about. March and I discussed the differences therein – me? Couldn’t care less. But I have a friend (not her) who will doggedly slog through some tiresome tome… what say you? Are you a Finisher or are you a Nahmgood? What is the criteria for finishing/not finishing?
- Are you sick of my whining, prying ways? Probably ( Floyd knows I am! This discomfort is finally abating and Squeee! It comes and goes but as I said it’s not Pain – just me whining about a discomfort that I want Gone! So I’ll get over myself.
Constant long term niggles are vastly more draining than acute pain. Acute pain is our body’s way of screaming “something wrong get help now”. Chronic pain just nags away. It’s like getting stuck with the most dull person at a party.
When things are A LOT I go naked. Delicious bath goo is my treat for long hot soaks. Palmers, either cocoa butter or coconut oil, after bathing. If I’m itchy Aveeno spray lotion or oil.
Hoping the niggles leave you in peace very soon
You are NOT whining. You are sharing with your friends. There’s a difference!
I’ve been in PT for more than a year for a shoulder replacement that got complicated, and mostly relying on citrusy/sandalwoody scents, which soothe and ground me. They also seem reasonably acceptable to my therapist and other patients, which is a secondary benefit. But I may try No 5 tomorrow, in solidarity!
I’ll cheerfully put a book down / back to the library / little free library without finishing it. For book club I’m almost finished Master & Margarita, and our next project is Middlemarch, which is loooooong and which I’ve never read. Don’t tell anyone but the past couple weeks I’ve barely remembered to put scent on, and also I’ve been spending time in a medical environment where they don’t encourage it.
I hope you are doing ok.
You didn’t ask (me) but since you were kind enough to inquire… she’s been paw-holding; physically, she’s fine (I hope !) .
Thanks.
1: Something rock ribbed like French Lover that says “good strong amurrican values” with “a bit of a kink monster” below. That’s for like, being sued. Otherwise I might be in Bandit. Sometimes when I am alone it’s Fracas.
2: When they file a class action suit or need a respirator (see above)
3: The bio of Barbara Payton “I Am Not Ashamed” (and I am not, even a little)
4: “The Devil Wears Prada.” Tried to read it when it came out and hated it. Miranda was a monster and Andy was so annoying(“I went to Brown!!” she always seems to be whining..) you kind of want to smack them all. Even at the time the movie was being filmed they were assuring people that it wasn’t like the book. I tried to finish it again and still couldn’t. And it’s not like I am trying to read A La Recherche de Temps Perdu in the original French while swinging on a swing.
5: No.
SNERK! on alladem! And… I think I told you about Fracas on men… didn’t I? Women LOVE it!
Everyone whines once in a while. It mysteriously helps things a bit, at least for me! And when you get better, you can share the joy.
I used to always feel that if I started a book, I should finish it. I got over that after reading a loong dull book about even duller people in dull situations who I could not care less about. Book theme, dull! lol. That cured me. I do love a good mystery though, book or show!
I have sprayed too much once or twice. 🙂 I try not to do that anymore, especially since I do not like giving myself a headache. But if the perfume is a light one, I can and do spray with some oomph.
Life is too unpredictable to read a boring book! I, too, learned that the hard way!
Dia is gorgeous! But definitely NOT a ‘light one’
Dear Anita,
Apparently we are going through parallel chapters in our lives right now! I’m also going through PT for months now. I have a wonky right hip flexor that acts up and causes lots of pain. So I have stretches, and stabilizing and strengthening exercises to do. Wanting to do them is a whole nother issue.
I never douse myself with a lot of scent because of chronic migraines. My go-to comfort scents are the ethereal irises, green florals, powdery/soapy orange blossoms.
Mysteries are my fav! I tend to be a completer — gotta struggle through no matter how dull it gets. But my Kindle show me there are a handful of books that I gave up on or the library snatched back. Lately this year I’ve been reading a lot of old Sue Grafton and Rex Stout and Ngaio Marsh ones that I hadn’t already read. I guess I’m a completionist in that respect too.
But those are worth the completion, imo! I really love the old mysteries and love re-reading them.
Yeah… I can imagine that Dia (especially the combo) taking you right to Migraine City!
Hope the annoying not pain/pain goes soon Musette. It’s hard to be happy when your body is attacking, even in mild doses.
Surely there’s room for a Mitsouko change up sometimes?
DIA! It can be a monster. I bought the extrait and it could blow down your house. One of the few perfumes I wish was in a dab bottle.
Reading. I’ve long been a finisher but over the years there have been a couple that I DNF. I enjoy the matyrdom of trudging through something that does not engage me. It’s like penance for all the wonderful in my life.
NOT sick of anything you write. I look forward to it. A snapshot of your life.
HUG
Portia xx
My darling! I have a scrab of Lyric extrait and thank Floyd errrrry time I open it that it’s in a vial. Spray? O.M.G. The EPA would be over here!
LOL! Martyrdom of reading! I cannot imagine. Maybe I’m just too damb old now… but … NAHMGOOD. And I’m not even that squirrely (when it comes to reading) – but it’s like crappy food – I won’t be impolite… but I will be crafty about not finishing it. Life really is too unpredictable, imo.