The Quiet

I'm sitting here in the quietness of my house contemplating tonight's post. The kids are in bed, the dogs are in bed, the tv is turned off and the Mister is still in Maryland. I'm enjoying my evening but all this quiet makes me contemplative.

I finished reading Maya Angelou's I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings earlier today. If that doesn't make you pensive then you have something wrong with your brain. I started Jane Eyre this evening and it has made me a little melancholy. I'm also seeing similarities between it and Frankenstein. I suppose that's probably weird.

Something that is disturbing my quiet is this pervading smell that I can't get rid of in my house. I've cleaned and cleaned and cleaned. I've taken the trash and recycling outside, there are no dirty dishes in the sink, and I changed out the dogs' crate bedding. Still, I have this odor that I can't figure out where it's coming from or how to get rid of it. It's not anything like a rotting animal under the house, it's just sort of a...stagnant smell. The money that I spend on various forms of air fresheners rivals the amount of money I spend on books and lip gloss. Considering the amount I spent at B&N and the Clinique counter the past couple of weeks, that's saying something. The only thing I can figure is that the offending aroma is coming from the carpets and since I don't own this house and can't rip them out, I'm stuck. Cleaning them, before you suggest it, hasn't helped either. I read in my psych book a couple semesters back that the brain can't handle too much stimuli at one time which is why you become used to your perfume, cologne, and b.o. Maybe, eventually, I'll become used to this smell, forget about it, and only visitors will be offended and they'll be too polite to say anything. One can hope. In the meantime, Glade, Illuminations, Febreze, and all the other air freshener companies and candle makers are benefiting from my most recent obsession.