Goodbye June!

Well, 2021 is now half-way over. WOW! Where does the time go?

I took Sheila out for her birthday last week to a neat place that she found in South FW. It is a non-profit that serves upscale food but doesn’t have prices on their menu. You can choose to pay what you think it is worth, pay what you can afford, not pay at all, or pay enough to help cover their expenses for those who can’t pay. The food was great…as was the service! (All of the servers are volunteers.) It has a casual ambiance, so anyone would feel comfortable going there to eat. There looked to be several people there who could benefit from their service. Such a great idea (although I realize that it wouldn’t necessarily work just anywhere)!

I had planned to take Sheila out for pedicures that day. However, a few days previously, I think I broke my little toe. I couldn’t even wear closed shoes. There was NO way that I was going to let someone mess with my feet! (My toe is much better now.) So we just hung out and did a little looking around the area close to where we ate lunch. We went to the Best Maid Pickle Emporium, which I’ve been wanting to visit since I learned it was in FW. It was interesting. I had recently bought all of the pickles I needed, so I didn’t make any purchases. But it was fun learning about the history of the company and seeing all of the products that they provide. We also went to a little market, where I bought a GORGEOUS cantaloupe. Dennis and I ate on that thing for days! It was HUGE! Finally we stopped in at a cute little diner for a glass of iced coffee and a shared piece of coconut pie. Even though we didn’t do anything exciting, I still enjoyed my time with my girl. When I took Sheila home, I picked up Nam and brought him back with me for a couple of nights. We had some great conversations on our way home, as usual! During this trip, Dennis introduced him to the shooting range. Dennis shot a few of his rifles, and Nam shot the BB gun. He loved it! He has now started a brass shell collection. :}

I was sent for an MRI on my brain yesterday. (I REALLY hate those things!) Since phantosmia can be caused by brain anomalies, my doctor wanted to rule out anything there before proceeding. Guess what? I really do have a brain! And it appears to be normal. Some sinus issues showed up on the MRI, so I’m now being referred to an allergy specialist. We’ll see what he has to say. Dennis goes to the same one, and he really likes him. I hope that he can help with my issues…without having to do anything invasive. I’ve already had sinus surgery once, and I DO NOT want to go through that again!

Dennis is still working on the doors for the furnace/water heater closet. They are coming along well! He’s already mounted them, but hasn’t finished them out yet. It already looks so much better, having that area closed off! I will post another picture when he is finished with all of the painting and metal screening.

The louvers will be painted black and covered by black decorative metal. The rest of the doors will be gray...to match the other doors in the hallway.

We are really looking forward to the meeting at Henrietta Creek this weekend! It sounds like there will be a very good turnout. It will be so nice to see friends that we’ve not seen in a couple of years! It will be a little bittersweet though. Ricky and Amber will be heading up to Arkansas next week for his new job. I am so happy for them…it is a great opportunity, and they have always wanted to move up to the Clarksville area. But I am REALLY going to miss them…and the little one when it is born! I dare say that we’ll be making a LOT of trips to Arkansas in the future.

Summertime has definitely arrived! We are still getting some nice rains from time to time, but they have finally slacked off to a reasonable amount…no more DAYS on end of storms. With the rise in temperatures and the high humidity, it feels HOT!

I hope to see a bunch of you this weekend. Safe travels to those who will be on the roads! Try to stay cool, and take care! 

Delightful Smells

My last post was about the phantom smell of cigarette smoke that I experience on a regular basis. Today I am enjoying some real smells that make me happy!

First thing this morning, I started some sourdough in my bread machine. I enjoyed the yeasty, tangy smell of the dough being mixed and proofed all morning, until the bake started. Ahhh! I don’t know if I can think of a better smell than fresh bread baking!

Dennis has been building (from scratch) some doors that cover the closet where the furnace and water heater are. I don’t like louvers, because they are so hard to keep clean, so he is going to fit some decorative metal screening in the door panels for ventilation. Then he’ll make slots on the INSIDE of the doors for louvers, to block the view of the appliances in the closet. They will be painted black, as will the metal, so they should be virtually invisible. Plus the way he’s installing them, they can be easily pulled out for cleaning. ANYWAY, he is making the slats from cedar (it was the cheapest alternative he could find). So the house is filled with the sweet smell of cedar!

It is amazing how smells can evoke emotion and bring back memories so vividly! When I smell a certain cologne, I instantly think of my Grandma and feel peaceful and loved. The smell of a freshly bathed baby fills my heart with pure joy! Dennis loves the smell of oil refineries, because his dad worked in oil fields for a big part of his formative years. People may not rank smell at the top of their senses that they would hate to lose, but it would take so much pleasure from life if one were to lose it or have it distorted. In the support group that I’m in (on Facebook), there are MANY people who suffer from parosmia, which causes a distortion in one’s sense of smell. Most of the people affected are miserable! Things that they used to love to eat now make them ill. Many are depressed. Many find it difficult to eat anything. It is amazing how such a “little” thing as having one’s sense of smell damaged can change a person’s life!

I am very thankful for my sense of smell! Even though I often smell a bad odor that isn’t really there, I can still enjoy all of the wonderful, good scents around me. I hope that you can take some time to smell the roses or whatever delightful scent comes your way (both literally and figuratively)! 

Php 4:18 Indeed I have all and abound. I am full, having received from Epaphroditus the things sent from you, a sweet-smelling aroma, an acceptable sacrifice, well pleasing to God. (NKJV)

Phantom Smells!

I have recently become aware of a strange condition that I have evidently had for a long time. For years I have often smelled cigarette smoke when the A/C comes on. Of course, I just figured that sometime in the past, some cigarette smoke got into the system and was still being recirculated. I’d even considered hiring someone to come clean our ducts, but I wanted to wait until we have completed our house remodel. About a month or so ago, I read on a CPAP support group where someone had posted a question about whether anyone else had started smelling smoke after beginning to use their CPAP. Even though I had been smelling it long before I started using my CPAP, a light bulb came on. I asked Dennis if our house ever smelled like cigarette smoke, and he said it did not (and he has a very keen sense of smell…especially where cigarette smoke is concerned). So I started googling. It turns out there are a couple of conditions that can cause one to smell something that isn’t there. One is phantosmia (or phantom smells), which is also referred to as olfactory hallucinations. The second is parosmia, where you smell something (such as coffee), but it smells like something else (like burnt rubber).

Upon learning about this condition, I started paying much more attention to when it occurred. I used to think it was only when the A/C came on, but it turned out to be more likely to occur then, but not only then. It would usually last a few minutes, then go away, but it would happen multiple times a day. The causes of this condition are varied…the most common being a sinus infection, damage to the nasal passages, or as the result of medication. However, it can also be a symptom of a neurological condition, including a brain tumor or dementia. (Parosmia is common among people who lost their smell as a result of COVID. After regaining their sense of smell, it became distorted.) One thing that everyone agreed on was a medical evaluation was recommended to rule out anything serious. So when I went for my checkup last week, I brought it up.

There was a nurse practitioner in training that was shadowing my PA. When I broached the subject, she got really excited. She had never heard of this and was very keen to learn more. My PA was familiar with the condition, for which I was most thankful. It had been about a week since I had experienced any phantom smells, but she wanted to change my nasal spray to see if that might be the source of my problem. I’ve been off of my old spray for several days now. I still haven’t smelled the cigarette smoke…going on almost 2 weeks now. I don’t know if this is just a short reprieve, and it will eventually return, or if the nasal spray was causing the problem. I’m just enjoying the relief right now. If it returns, my PA will send me to an ENT who will run tests to see if it is sinus related or neurological. I have been reading posts and questions on a Facebook support group page, and what I’ve experienced is very mild compared to what many others suffer. Most of them are former COVID patients who now have parosmia, and it greatly affects their sense of taste…making it hard to eat. I’m thankful that mine has been just a minor nuisance! Time will tell if it is gone or if it turns out to be caused by something other than my nasal spray. Right now, I’m just enjoying not having the smell of cigarettes in my nose most of the time!