What is that smell?

Sunset from last night, I snapped it after I noticed the reflection in my front door window. I almost missed it! Yeah, this picture has nothing to do with the post...

On Saturday my sister Jess and I went to a big craft expo out by the airport. And it was awesome. We walked in and felt like we had just been transported to the Eugene Holiday Market (ie the Winter version of Saturday Market) because it was filled with various booths of awesome homemade goods. The only difference was that there was a serious lack of dreadlocks and hippies. We loved admiring jewelry, pottery, stain glass (the booth was gorgeous), beautiful rustic wood mirrors, but the best part was the food samples. Basically Jess and I devoured all the different food samples (jams, pickles, mixes, salsas, etc) and we were in food sample heaven. Wait, that's Costco... In the end, we ended up buying a few different specialty hot chocolates, dip mixes and a pineapple salsa.

Ok so there's the background. Last night my room smelled bad. Totally embarrassing right? It smells bad so bad, I'm worried that an animal died in the walls or something, but I don't want to search too hard in fear of what I might find.

So I did the next logical thing, I borrowed my roommate's delicious smelling candle to try and cover the smell. It helped last night, but the smell was still there this morning. I kind of looked around for it again but couldn't find it, again scared to look too hard. What if I find an old lunch tupperware deep under my bed that was now covered in mold? Ew. Gross.

Then it hit me while blow-drying my hair. One of the mixes I bough had asiago cheese in it and the guy I purchased from told me to put it in a tupperware because the smell is strong*.

Sure enough, it was the asiago cheese and herb mix. Problem solved (hopefully, if my room still smells when I get home from work I'll know it is a dead animal).

Note to self: remember to follow directions.



*They kept that particular mix under the display table, offering samples of it only because the lady next to them complained about the smell. I loved the craft expo drama. I wonder what else we could have found out...

Don't Do Dumb Things

Have people ever asked you what's the dumbest thing you've ever done and you can't really think of anything because you don't really do dumb things that would make a good story? Guys always do dumb things, "You know, this one time we threw a huge firework in the hole of a port-o-potty outside a house getting work done. It blew all the windows of the house out! It was aaaaaaawesome!" or "Once we put a dry ice bomb on someone's porch but had to run out and warn the dad because he was standing right over it! We were totally busted that time weren't we?" (Knuckle hit and chuckle)*

But the dumbest things I have ever done have mainly been due to the fact that I could have died. And not died because I dived off a cliff, or got shot while goofing around, or doing something just plain idiotic. No, I could have died because I got in the car with a stranger.

"WHAT?? Are you idiotic?" you think

"Yes. Yes I am slightly idiotic sometimes."

The Year: 2004
The Scene: Rome, midnight, Termini Train station, with one really cute short girlfriend

After some misunderstandings with a friend who was supposed to met us, my friend Cheri and I (neither of whom speak any Italian apart from, Ciao! Graci! Gelato! and maybe another Ciao! Though we understand "Principessa!") are stuck at the main transportation hub in Rome at midnight without anyway to get home. I pulled out the hotel card and attempted to ask various bus drivers if their bus went that way with a, "Scusi" and a point to the card that was wildly UNsuccessful. Finally we decided to get in the back of a ridiculously long taxi line. While waiting there a taxi driver came up and told us he'd take us to where we wanted to go for only 30 euro. It sounded pretty decent. What we didn't realize until after we got over to his car was that he wasn't really a taxi driver. And, being the idiots we were, we got in the car.

Obviously we got to the hotel. Still idiotic. I decided to never get in the car with a stranger again (unless a taxi driver of course).

Today I broke that promise to myself.

The Year: 2010 six years after the initial occurrence
The Scene: running across someone's lawn as we saw the bus pull up, stop, load, and drive away again.

As we stood on the side of the road, dejected, a nice black Mercedes with a good looking young-ish guy pulls up and asks us if we're going to the metro. We say yes and get in the car. Chatted about his job (lawyer, also in the reserves); our jobs; what his dad does because he worked a lot with USAID; etc. No problems. We got to work on time. But still, idiotic.

*Both of those examples may have been stolen from elders from my mission. Yes they were real stories. I could probably think of some others if I wanted.