Back to the dentist

If you're squeamish, stop reading now.

Yesterday, I went out to Mom & Dad's to babysit while Mom went and put in five hours at the office. Dad has a cold, so he's being a complete baby and he slept all day (except for the forty-five minutes where he pushed the girls' craft projects out of the way and ate and read at the kitchen table). *eyeroll*

The girls were overall well-behaved, and we had fun, but my mouth was really sore. It felt as if the swelling had gotten much worse and my gum above the missing tooth was hot. Despite regular doses of ibuprofen, it wasn't any better this morning, and then when I was brushing my teeth, something snagged on the brush, which was how I discovered a bone sliver was working its way out.

Although the oral surgeon had done the extraction, my regular dentist squished me into her schedule. After a quick x-ray and exam, she came back with the Novocaine and told me the sliver was too big to allow it to work its own way out. As soon as I was numb, she enlarged the hole, pulled out the piece of bone, and showed it too me.

I am not exaggerating when I say that this sharp-edged, pointy piece of me that had decided to break loose was the size of my pinkie fingernail. Eeep! I wound up with three stitches in my mouth and an appointment on Tuesday to see the oral surgeon again for follow-up. I also feel as if someone has been beating on my gums with a mallet.

Ow.

Girly day

Today was a complete immersion in girly stuff. Mom, Princess Mathgeek, Tinkerbell and I went out to lunch with Vegan Lawyer and her granddaughter and stepgranddaughter. We had lunch at Southern Gardens Tea Room, where the girls' soda, pink lemonade and milk were served in teapots and their lunches arrived on two-tiered stands. After lunch, we went to a kids' salon, where all four girls got their hair styled, their fingernails painted, their makeup done and then an all-over dusting of glitter. Michelle from All Lacquered Up would be pleased that both of my nieces selected Dorothy Who? for their manicures. Cupcakes were consumed, pictures were taken, and we had a lovely pink day.

Toothless

It's done. It was fast and brutal. There were two points at which I came up out of my chair, but the whole thing took only 25 minutes. Of course, after reading the "post-surgical" instructions, the potential side effects sound worse than a bad tooth!

Can someone give me a ride?

The good news is that I don't have to wait three weeks and two days for my extraction, the dentist had an appointment available tomorrow evening.

The bad news is that it's at 5:15, which makes it impossible for Mom or Dad to take me, since they have the girls. It's not a long distance or anything, but driving myself means no sleepytime meds to make things easier.

So if anyone wants to give me a lift tomorrow evening, I can pay you in perfume, bath stuff or cinnamon ice cream. ;)

Edited: Dad's going to take me when he's done with work. He said yes and then hung up on me. Ahhh, paternal love. *grin*

"But I didn't want a birthday party!"

So said Plaid Jammies when informed that events had conspired against him. Flannel Jammies said with utmost reasonableness that it hadn't started out as a birthday party, it just sort of evolved from the following chain of events:

Plaid Jammies turns 70 today.

Captain Crossword, Princess Mathgeek and Tinkerbell flew in to Ohio from Texas last night.

Flannel Jammies' big brother Robert* and his wife were headed back to Florida from Lakeside, and would be stopping overnight last night.

T and C, a couple that the Jammieses knew from grade school on, were babysitting their two granddaughters about three minutes away from the Jammies homestead.

Therefore, Flannel Jammies elected to feed everyone she could get her hands on, from dinner to dessert, and we also had presents.

I got there early, both to help Mom get ready and because she had asked me to stop for some sweet corn. That is one of Captain Crossword's all-time favorite foods, and while it's available other places, it's best in Ohio in July and August. He'll get more up at the lake, too.

When I got there, Mom was out getting ice cream, because heaven forbid she only have Dad's favorite dessert, three kinds of Ben & Jerry's, diet soda cake and fresh berries, someone might want vanilla ice cream! So I talked Dad into opening his present early, and he was very pleased with the book and the Borders gift card. Then I sat on the front porch and shucked the corn, finishing up just as Mom came home.

For some reason, before he left for the airport, Dad decided he had to show me how to refresh the page the flight info was on. Thanks, Dad. :p

Mom and I had just gotten everything to a point where we could sit down and talk when her brother and sil arrived, so they joined us on the deck. After we'd caught up for a bit (I can't believe my cousin's daughter just finished her first year of college), we resumed dinner preparation.

At that point, a pretty impressive storm was blowing up, but fortunately, it didn't hit until just after Dad came home with my brother and nieces. Princess Mathgeek, who has stayed at Gramma's house before, showed her sister everything she remembered, from the guest room to the toys in the basement, and then we sat down to eat.

T and C and their granddaughters joined us later, for dessert, and the four little girls had a great time making sundaes and playing while the adults chatted. Unfortunately, I was the one to break up the party, since I had the longest drive home.

All in all, a great night, even if Dad didn't want a birthday party.


*Yes, Bob's my uncle. :)

The warranty on this body has run out...

can I trade it in? :(

The latest bad news came after a morning of fruitless phone tag at work, when I went to the dentist and discovered I need an extraction. Because it's the very last tooth in the back, my dentist feels that a root canal would be extremely difficult, expensive, and buy me at best three years before the tooth had to come out anyway. Oh, and it's also infected.

What on earth did her Majesty do?

Mike Campbell, guitarist of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, collapsed on stage in St. Louis this past weekend. Today, the group announced that their show here was postponed because doctors had told Mr. Campbell to take it easy.

So I want to know if it was Queen Mediocretia's overwhelming sex appeal, or if she just cursed him.

Hmmmm.

George and Alabaster go to a game

Friday night, Mom and I took my nephews to an Akron Aeros game. While the younger was more interested in the junk food, the elder has played baseball and explained quite a bit of the game to his little brother.

The Aeros played well, they trounced the Erie Seawolves 8-1, the weather was great for anyone who doesn't have MS-induced heat intolerance, Canal Park is a small jewel, we had seats just to the left of home plate and the fireworks were spectacular. Gramma bought nachos, popcorn, slushies, cotton candy and ice cream, while Auntie Pam bought giant foam claws. I'd say the boys had a pretty good time, and I know I did.

Whew, she's not stupid!

Allie of Hyperbole and a Half did an experiment with her dog, and her drawings of her dog bear a striking resemblance to Little Miss. Having seen that, I had to try the treat-under-a-cup test on Little Miss (I already know how she does on the blanket and name recognition tests). It took her about twenty minutes, but she did eventually figure out how to knock over the cup and snag the treat.

So she's not dumb, she's just ADHD.

Could I just burst into flame?

Northeast Ohio is in the middle of a spate of gross summer heat (high today was 91), and given what happens to me when I'm out in it, I think I'd prefer to actually be a vampire.

Little Miss got herself stuck outside today, and in the time it took me to walk outside, unloop the chain and walk back in (less than a minute), both forearms and my chest blazed up with itchy redness. I didn't go near any plant material, I just got touched by sunlight.

I've never wanted to be a vampire, because the thought of drinking blood is disgusting. However, I've changed my mind. If I were a vampire, I wouldn't be one long enough to drink blood, I'd just go out in the sunlight and burst into flame.

Then I wouldn't be sitting here itching.

Uncool at the pool

Because I feel as if I've maxed out on the water-walking, Mom suggested I start water aerobics with her. However, the times I have tried it, the class is too fast-paced and complicated for me to keep up. After a bit of thinking, I decided I needed to add wrist and ankle weights. I ordered them from Swim Outlet, and they arrived on Thursday.

Saturday morning, I decided to skip the class and instead do a 40 minute workout on my own when there was less of an audience* in case I made a fool of myself. I only used the ankle weights, figuring that when I get used to those, I will add the wrist weights. They were certainly effective--my speed slowed down to where it was when I started taking the class fifteen months ago, and I could still feel the strain in my leg muscles when I went to bed last night.

While I was at the pool, a woman came in wearing a shower cap rather than a swimming cap, and then proceeded to wave her arms about in very weird gestures the whole time she was walking. Uncool, but very amusing.

As I was leaving, a man on a motorcycle, with a boy behind him pulled up to the curb. The boy got off, the man watched him walk in the door and then left. I'd have given the guy lots of points for being a cool dad, except neither of them was wearing a helmet. Risking your own life is one thing, risking your kid's life is unconscionable. Uncool dad!

Dear Princess Mathgeek and Tinkerbell,

Thank you for the beautiful cards and my wonderful birthday present. Two weeks ago, when my company was here, we went to Beachwood mall, and saw exactly those duckies in the Swarovski store. I thought how adorable and sparkly they were, but didn't get one for myself. This was a perfect present.

Thank you again,

Aunt Jammies

Gaaaaaaaaaaah

I hate summer. I hate sweating, I hate being heatsick, I hate being confined to air-conditioned offices and houses, and I hate the fact that my car AC doesn't work the way it should and I. HATE. SUMMER!

The joys of home ownership

As I mentioned, Sherri and Jay made a spontaneous trip to Ohio on Thursday. We had a lovely, quiet Friday and Saturday, full of shopping, baking, eating, movie-watching, perfume-testing, laughing, exercising, lunching with relatives, etc.

On Sunday, I got up at my usual 6:20, and the water was out. I tried flipping the breaker, to no avail. When Sherri woke up, I sent her down to the basement, and explained what had happened, then put some empty bottles in my car and headed out to the folks' house.

Mom was out riding her bike, but I got in the back door to the garage, and started filling water bottles at the utility sink. I was almost done when Mom got home, and she invited the three of us to spend the day at her house. I wound up not going anywhere, although Jay and Sherri went to Barnes and Noble and picked up dinner at the Olive Garden. Somehow, throughout the day, the pump came back to life enough for us to be able to flush toilets, although not shower or wash dishes.

Monday morning, I took a shower at the Natatorium, then went on to work. While I was there, I talked to Dave, the well pump guy, and he said he'd meet me at the house at 12:30. It wound up being closer to 2:00, but he replaced the switch, and didn't have to dig anything up, yay! As soon as he was gone, I told Jay and Sherri to have the long showers they both wanted, and then it was time for a nap, then dinner, then a quick trip to World Market.

Tuesday morning I dropped Jay off at the Nat and went on to work, then headed for a local nursery, where I picked up six pink-flowered lavender plants. When I came home, Jay walked Little Miss and Sherri and I made pesto. We also discussed books and knitting and gardening. She's taken up knitting again, so I can count that and BPAL as my enabling successes for the visit.

While I did very much miss Imp and Rob and Dampy, it was nice to have Sherri and Jay all to myself. I wished they lived closer.

The calendar lies...

it says my birthday is in eleven days, but it's already over!

Sherri and Jay surprised me with a weekend visit and birthday presents last weekend.

Mom took Sherri, Jay and me out to lunch for my birthday.

My parents got me a new bathroom floor last month.

My dear friend Mickey Mouse sent me a lovely card, British potato crisps and handcrafted artwork.

My dogs sent me a card from New Jersey.

Several of my Lush friends sent cards.

Clearly, it's all over except for the driver's license renewal!

Thanks to everyone for making my birthday wonderful.