Up and Up...

Winter can sometimes be the hardest time of year for those who live with a chest illness. What with the cold and damp, ice, snow and onset of all kinds of chest bug, flu or other problems. It is no surprise that this winter I have had my share of problems and the complications that can cause (just getting over pneumonia at the end of last year and then having another smaller lung infection that meant that I was on antibiotics for 2 weeks. My asthma is still all over the place and I have recently had to review everything with my lovely GP (who is almost like a father figure and a friend).

We started by looking at peak flows, my current medication and we looked at what we could do to essentially fire-fight the symptoms and try and get everything on to an even keel. We have introduced Tramadol in to my normal medication (its been proven that it helps me and makes the pain easier to live with) which was something that we were previously a little wary of, but now it is on my normal meds and now I am coping with the pain a lot easier. We are also looking at my maintenence dose of Prednisolone, its currently 15mg, but I have been given instructions to knock it to 20mg when my peak flow and symptoms are troubling, we then aim for a week of no symptoms before reducing it back down to 15mg... And I am to continue with inhalers and nebs as normal.

So far, I seem alright and I am feeling like I can cope. I have been playing with the animals (including new additions Kibou the guinea pig and the rats, Dante (who is Becky's) and Virgil (who is mine) as well as Nero, 'Daj, Gizzy and Tenzou). It took some time to tame Virgil as he is a nervous rat and he is easily spooked, but now I can get him out of his cage and he will happily lie on my lap while he gets stroked. They are funny little creatures, rats. Amusing to watch as they run around happily and then decide that they want some human interaction. They're not as laid back as guinea pigs or hamsters, but they are very intelligent and they do respond well to kind words, gentle handling and treats. He's slowly coming out of his shell and he does love to be cuddled by his mummies.

I got my hands on the "Sephiroth" Eau de Toilette. I am alright with some perfumes, so long as they aren't too strong (me and Eau de Parfum do NOT mix well, as an Eau de Toilette is a lot less strong I tend to cope alright, as long as it's ONE spray every so often) and I have to say, it is a lovely scent (the perfume is a bit more fruity than the candle, but you do get the exact same scent, its like Twilight mixed with something else, not sure what yet though), a bit mysterious and deep, notes of fresh blooms, amber, vanilla and musk. Definitely has the makings of a signature scent and I really loved how it was presented.

My first impression was the elegance of the presentation box. Black, with silver embossed writing saying "Sephiroth - Eau de Toilette". It was such a simple thing yet so bold and it makes such a statement, much like the character himself really. It does come with a plastic slip-case around it to protect the box and has the Japanese label on it (this product is hard to find for a reasonable price outside of the UK so I was quite lucky in this one, it is is a special thing really, and not something that I would be wearing every single day (as much as I would love that, and believe me, I would love to smell like my hero every single day).

On opening the box, I found the bottle well packaged and in a protective foam to keep it stable and secure. The bottle itself is absolutely beautiful. Made from black crystal glass and it has the one wing symbol etched on in silver, along with the name of the scent. It has a small black silver wing charm hanging from the neck of the bottle, it's so elegant and so stylish that it does seem a shame to have it hidden in the box all day every day, so I have to have it displayed out of the box and on my dressing table. One touch I really liked was that the charm was wrapped in tissue paper to avoid it scratching itself or the bottle.

It's a wonderful addition to my collection and when I smell it, I can almost feel a black wing wrapping around my body. It really is something to behold and there really isn't words to describe the scent. Other than dark, mysterious and elegant, it's a unisex fragrance that is as masculine as it is feminine and elegant. It does really suit the character that it was based on (I was skeptical when I ordered it a while back as it was a perfume based on a fictional character, but I was really impressed with it). I think this is the sort of memorabilia that Square Enix should make more of, maybe creating fragrances for characters such as Vincent Valentine (from FF7) or Seifer Almasy (from FF8) or even Gabranth (from FF12). There are two other perfumes available, one is based on Cloud Strife (FF7) and Lightning (FF13) but I think I will just be happy with my Sephiroth fragrance.

As for the small, silver wing charm? Well I thought it was a shame to leave it in the box or on the bottle, Becky gave me a really good idea to take it off the string that it was hanging on and hang it on a silver chain and wear it as a necklace so I can wear it and always have that reminder of a character who has made me feel strong despite my troubles ever since I was about 10 or 11 years old. It was a one off thing and to find it at a reasonable price instead of the usual price tag of over £100 (I love ebay because you can get some real bargins) without having to pay import costs or things like that.

I am hoping that this is the beginning of a rapid improvement and a good omen for things to come. I am glad that I have landed on my feet and I have wonderful people around me who make it all feel worthwhile. I've started the new year well and managed to break a bad habit of self-harming. It's been 9 weeks since the last time and I really REALLY want to keep this up because I feel better for not cutting myself and I finally feel like I am getting somewhere.

Loves
Wendy xx