Sounds and Smells

The winner of the Bestowed Box Giveaway is Meghan from the blog, Fitness CrEATures. Congrats Meghan!

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I am a morning person. I have never used an alarm clock in my life. If I sleep until 7:00 am it is a miracle.

I may wake up naturally but the first thing I do is look for my coffee. Pushing that button on the Keurig occurs within  minutes of getting out of bed.

However, as you know, I recently switched things up and started filling the personal KCup thingy with “old-fashioned” coffee grounds rather than using the pre-filled KCups.

I am still loving the freedom of choosing various coffees as well as saving some money. It is much cheaper to use coffee grounds and fill your own KCup thing (I should really find out what the correct term for this apparatus is) than purchase boxes and boxes of KCups.

I recently went back to an old favorite of mine from the preKeurig era – Folgers Gourmet Vanilla Biscotti.

Just as delicious as I remember.

As it was brewing, I recalled the distinct scent of the Folgers vanilla. The smell immediately made me feel like I was back in 2004, around 5:00 am, when the little boy would be up and ready to go for the day.

Funny, because back then I felt as though I could sleep till at least 9:00 am.

I would have him in his playpen waiting for Noggin to start secretly hoping he would lay down and somehow fall back to sleep.

He never fell asleep in that playpen. And I don’t even believe the parents that claimed they would find their kids asleep at the bottom amongst the toys. 

I was lucky if he made it until 6:00 am in that pen before looking for breakfast.

Isn’t it amazing how a smell can trigger such a vivid memory?

Songs trigger memories as well.

Sometimes I hear Madonna and think of myself in third grade, wearing a pink lace headband as if I was as cool as her.

Or I hear a Michael Jackson song and think of playing Beat It in my Fisher Price tape player.

My son doesn’t even know what a tape is.

I heard the song, Pocketful of Sunshine, the other morning while I was running.

I recall that song being popular a few years ago as I was going through my divorce.

Not exactly the memory you wish to trigger but hey, not all memories are pleasant.

How about smells? You know, when you get a whiff of a certain perfume, cologne or soap, you immediately associate it with someone you know (or knew)?

Seasons and holidays are  triggers too. Take Memorial Day weekend for example. First thing that comes to mind was the time my son was two and we gave him a chocolate frosted cupcake at a barbecue.

He covered his face entirely with the frosting as if it was shaving cream that needed to be worked into a good lather.

I do not have a photo from that wonderful experience (I was too busy cleaning the mess to take a picture) but I did find this one:

If the pictures earlier in the post portrayed him as cute, sweet and innocent, don’t be fooled. This is a photo that was taken of him over a holiday weekend at a barbecue at our house. He could always be found trying to get into the giant ice bucket.

Is it any wonder I drink the amount of coffee that I do?

Ah, the memories.

So, the weather forecast for this Memorial Day Weekend is not looking too good. Rain for tomorrow and colder than average for the rest of the weekend.

I had big plans of sitting by the pool and relaxing while the boy is off with his dad. I am hoping the forecast is wrong.

In addition to wanting to get my long run in tomorrow morning without having to succumb to the treadmill,  the boy is scheduled to play in his Little League All-Star Game so I hope the rain holds off!

I am very proud of my mischievous little ball player for making the team two years in a row.

Hope you have a great, long, Memorial Day weekend!

I need to know:

Have any big plans for this weekend?

Is the weather supposed to be nice where you live?

Are there any smells, songs, holidays that immediately trigger certain memories for you?