An old flame.....

Man alive but my house smells good right now! Imagine if you will the combination of bread baking, curry making, apple cinnamon scented candle burning, herbal tea brewing, clean warm laundry folding and you have the olfactory delight that I am currently experiencing.

This is the reward of a day of domesticity. It smells good. I am greatly motivated by smell. If I am promised that something will make my house smell good I will endure even my kitchen to make it happen. If something smells bad, I will hysterically root out the cause and not rest until it has been eliminated. With the combination of these two claims one would think that my house would be spotless at all times....hmmmm.....

It is a dark, windy, chilly, spooky Autumn day and it is perfect for nesting. My house was made for this time of year and I revel in it.

For now I forget that it is too small, too outdated (kitchen? guest loo anyone?), too dilapidated and I embrace the poor old thing for it's warmth, it's charm and character.

I'm romancing it by cleaning it out, shining it up, adorning in its Fall finery and getting it smelling delicious. This season is my sweet little home's time to shine. We bought this house in the Autumn and we were infatuated with it. Everything about it's warm wood and cozy spaces made us feel safe and cosseted after the huge, high ceilinged airy new and soul-less place we had been living. Not a day went by in that first year or two that I did not say, "Oh how I LOVE my little house!" I'm not sure when I started getting dissatisfied with it. Maybe it was when my kids really started needing a bigger backyard to kick a ball, maybe it was when I thought I would go insane if I was cooped up in this shoe-box one more day of icky icky winter, maybe it was trying to cram both my shoes and Aaron's into a one foot square space one too many times, or all of our clothes into 2 sq ft or less, or maybe it was just that infernal, heinous guest bathroom that finally did it, but tragically, we grew apart.

I still loved it sure, we had made commitments to one another, and there were the children to think about. But the passion was gone. I was not in love with it any more. On the outside sure, we put on a happy face, but inside, I just was not feeling it. And neither, apparently, was the House. But! Now it is the unanimously adored season of Fall, the memories and warm feelings we once had for each other are rushing back, and I feel as if the romance is being kindled again. Hopefully this will be productive time, a time for us to work on and strengthen our relationship sufficiently to get us through the winter. I think we are off to a great start.

Now if you'll excuse me, mommy and the wood floors need some time alone together.

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