Did you get a whiff of that?

Houses have odors.

Every house you go into has a distinct odor. If blindfolded, I can identify the house of my friends by the smell. What causes these smells? I know that what you cook can cause a smell - like a lot of curry or fried foods. But what else can?

I am self-conscious about the way my house smells. I don't want someone coming in and wrinkling their nose or counting the minutes until they get used to the smell and don't notice it anymore. Have you noticed that your own house doesn't normally have a smell to you, because you are used to it? I have air fresheners by the front door, as well as near the cat box. I apologize if someone comes in and I've recently cooked with garlic. I try to explain away the odor of my house. When I'm cooking in the crock pot and come into the house I always explain what I have cooking. I open the windows to "air out" the house.

When we went to visit my older friend recently we went into her apartment and it had that old person smell. What is that smell? Why do old people always smell the same? You know how you can smell fear? Can you also smell the body getting old or even death? While we were visiting Divy kept holding her nose and when we left both older girls commented on the smell. Am I going to smell when I am old? Will I be as concerned and use air fresheners? Have you ever noticed that little old ladies wear a lot of perfume? My dad thinks it is because they have worn perfume all of their lives and have burnt out their sense of smell so now they have to have everything super powerful in order to smell it. I don't know.

How about dirty diapers? How many moms have bent over and smelled their little one's bottom? How about being desensitized to the smell of your babies poop? Your child can walk past you several times before you actually notice the odor, but someone visiting will notice immediately.

How about your own body odor? Can you not smell your own B.O.? Hello, teenage boys! Do you ever find your bowel movements offensive? Does your own gas make you want to leave the room?

Sometimes I wonder if someone will do a study to find out how you react to the smell of gas. Let's say they pump different fart smells into a room and tell you that some of them are actually your own. Would you not be offended? What would you do if they deceived you and it was actually someone else's toot? When they told you it was yours did your brain say "O.K., this one is mine, so it's fine"? Or can you identify your own odor and know which one is actually yours and be disgusted by the other smells? Also, who on earth would volunteer to do this study? There would have to be a lot of compensation.