Ohhh that smell

There are two things covered in this post. Part of this was posted on the MIL support board, but I have added some information to this, including what comes first, also removed some changes in fact. Sometimes when posting on the support board, I change minor facts that do not change the gist of the story just for disguise. In this case, on the support board, I was talking about boxes and left what was in the boxes kind of generic. The true story is it was Six Large garbage bags full of Tupperware.


But first some back story that will seem totally unrelated until I get to the end of the posting.

I love strawberries and making strawberry pies. Last year when eating strawberries, I noticed I was itching some. I made two strawberry pies yesterday -- one for Mom and one for us. After eating a small piece, I was itching all over. Last year, it was only around my mouth and wrists that I was itching. I ended up taking some benedryl, but it didn't help. I really hope it isn't strawberries.

When hubbie went to help his sister clean his Mom's house out, he called and wanted to know if I knew anyone having any yard sales. There was a lot of extra tupperware that they did not know what to do with. I told him that I did know of a couple charity groups having some. So he came home with SIX large garbage bags full.

My Mom and sister found out about it and they wanted to go through it. I didn't want anything from JB's around because I didn't want anything to remind me. I decided to look through it and see if there was anything that I wanted myself. I had gotten rid of everything that comes from her house because it only reminded me of her, but it seems that not having the stuff doesn't get her off the mind, so what the heck? My friend was coming over yesterday to look through it and see if there was anything I wanted.

I mentioned in a blog post yesterday that when I started going it I smelled the smell of her house. I can't really say what the smell is, but it is it's own. I never thought much of her house having a smell before, until smelling it out of place. Friend, Mom, and sis did not notice any smell when going through the stuff yesterday and today. And when friend was over yesterday going through it, I did not smell anything during that time.

OK, so last night I am itching, thinking that unfortunately it was from the pie.

The hard part came when t I bags in my van today to take to Mom's for Mom and sis to look through. When I left home, the smell hit me again, quickly and unexpectedly. I had sort of forgotten it was back there. But the smell just hit me so that I could not ignore it. The smell emanated the van so much that I didn't think I could get out of the neighborhood. And it even hit me in the stomach to almost making me nauseous. I thought I was going to have to turn around. Luckily, it is a nice day. I opened the passenger side window, the sun roof and the back vents and ran the outside air fans on full blast and got away from most of it. When I got back home, the bags of stuff that they didn't take went out of the van and into the yard immediately. Hubbie got home right after I did and carried them back to his workshop. I left both sliding doors, the sunroof and the hatch open in the yard for a while to air it out. In the garage, I left the side doors and sunroof open a while longer. Smelling it made me feel kind of nauseous. I also started itching again when I was smelling the smell, so I wondered if the itching was because of smelling that tupperware/garbage bag/JB smell instead of the strawberries.

I also have a nauseous feeling and still kind of smell that smell. Now I wonder why I feel nauseous. I used to feel nauseous at her house all the time and I sort of thought it was the stress of being around her. Now I wonder, was the nausea from the stress or from some kind of fumes from the stuff in her house? Or did smelling that smell bring back the feeling and make me feel nauseous again -- was it in my mind?

I ate more strawberries and I am also itching again. Is the itching from the strawberries, from the Tupperware, or from the MIL-related stress? The benedryl didn't work last night. I am getting ready to go take some more.

And now the memory of that smell is ingrained in me and I am smelling it right now, even though the stuff has been taken back to hubbie's workshop until a charity yard sale he is taking the leftovers to.

I am also grinding my teeth again. My physician had recommended that I get counseling because teeth-grinding is often MIL-related. I did not get counseling then, but got counseling later on account of MIL.

Oh and when it goes to the yard sale -- it is going in the bed of the pickup truck. I don't know if I will be transporting it or if hubbie will be. But, if it is me, hubbie will le me drive his precious truck. It's not going back inside my van again.