do Not go in there...

Yesterday Neena had ballet and I was hungry so I went next door to get a bag of those pre-cut apples to munch on. But I couldn't find them. So I settled on a pack of Celery/Carrot Ranch to-go snackers. Only there were no carrots or celery--only the Ranch. The package was totally misleading. So, I settled for the cheez-itz that I had in my purse. (You always have to be prepared, ya know?) But that is not the point of this story. While I was in the apple section of the produce department, I was overwhelmed by the scent of the apples. Like a tv commercial where someone closes their eyes & breathes deeply & suddenly they're taken somewhere different b/c of the scent. That totally happened. If it was a commercial, they probably would've pictured something like an apple orchard or outdoor setting but what came to mind was a miniature version of me in a wooden crate of apples. Nevertheless, it smelled wonderful.

Then it reminded me of another story...Ya know how they say that smell is a powerful tool for recalling forgotten memories? This past January, we had a full/backed up septic tank & went through quite a bit to get it fixed. While the septic guy--what a title, poor guy; but he WAS my hero for the day--was here, my job was to go inside & start flushing. "If it starts overflowing, just start plunging." Riiiight. I was so not prepared for what was about to come. I got the wet/dry shop vac ready to suck out the water if it started overflowing. (That is the point of THIS part of the story.) So I flushed.....immediately the water started overflowing on me & the rug, I turned the vac on, it didn't work, I was plunging with the other hand, water was still going everywhere, including through the floor to the basement. I got the vac going & then Neena unplugged it in the hall, so I start screaming at Amber to plug it in. But she can't b/c it's childproof. We finally got it going & eventually got everything clean again. I will never again take happy, healthy plumbing for granted again. Side note: In order to prevent said disaster, try to find the water on/off knob in advance.

Now for the relevance of this...Jane & I used the shop vac after this whole mess one day & this nasty toilet smell came from the filter which we changed after this. then after the smell sort of subdued, I realized, "Aww, Jane, it kind of reminds me of my grandmother." To which she said, "Lord, I hope you can never say that about me."

I was talking about my mom's mom; she lived with us almost year-round when I was young. She had Alzheimer's disease & was in diapers at the end. It was a huge sacrifice for my mom but we loved her & enjoyed getting to spend that precious time with her. So it was endearing, even if it was a, well, potty smell.

Oh, & here's one more pic of Neena at ballet =) She looked like a little angel.