Messy? painting

This past week I painted the iron posts on the front porch, porch to ceiling.  They have this leafy design in them, and it was sort of time consuming, first priming and then painting.  I thought about spray painting, but opted for the brush.  Whenever I paint I make every effort not to make any mess, laying large plastic to protect other surfaces from getting unwanted paint on it.  But it never fails, I end up with splashes or specks of paint here and there anyway.  It made me think of Daddy.  How did he do it?  He painted for us before, and other than having paint all over himself, he never had paint where it didn't belong.  And I never saw specks of unwanted paint at their house after he did their housepainting, either.  But overall, I'm satisfied with the result.

Fun With Erin and Jill

This is my last week to spend with Erin and Jill before they go back to school next Tuesday.  I've truly enjoyed my time with them this summer.  Today we went to Slugger Museum and saw the special display there, Big Fields, Little Bricks, everything having to do with baseball, made from Legos.  Truly astonishing that all this could be made from Legos.  Miller Field had over 55,000 legos in it, it lit up, and retractable roof.  There would be signs up suggesting things you might want to look for in the ballpark, such as the tv crew, the American flag, etc.  Wrigley Field was another huge ballpark, and the ones I loved best were four portraits of ball players on the wall.  I remember Stan Musial and Derek Jeter, but forgot who the other 2 were.  But there were pictures of the ball players, and the lego portraits next to them, and the resemblance was amazing.  But my favorite were the four "statues, maybe 36 inches high, sitting up on a platform.  From a distance they looked like black cast iron but when you got up close you could tell they were all black Lego.  Each was a different baseball pose....one a player catching a fly ball, one sliding into base, one winding up to pitch, and the 4th swinging a bat.  Each of these had around 35,000 legos in it.  Each piece there told how long it took to make.  Truly fun to look at.  There was a Slugger bat made from Legos, and one interesting bat made from cardboard, which doesn't sound much, but it was if you'd see it.

After touring the Lego section, we got our Slugger Bats. The man getting our bats asked Erin and Jill if they'd like pink bats  Jill jumped on this, and she loves her pink bat.  But as soon as he left to get Erin a regular bat, she let it be known she was in kind of a huff that it was assumed a girl may want pink.  She asked me why pink was for girls, why couldn't boys wear pink, and why were just girls supposed to like pink. 

We then walked a few blocks looking for a restaurant that pleased all 3 of us, and having no  luck returned to the museum, caught a trolley and rode down to East Market Street where we ate lunch at Toast On Market.  They serve breakfast all day and we had breakfast for lunch.  Yummm.  We all liked it.  A few doors from there is Muth's Candy Shop, so we went in there and got a treat.  We then boarded the trolley and headed back to the museum.  A very enjoyable day with my 2 favorite girls.

Dental implants

Ah, yes, most of you blog about your fun and interesting times.  I'm blogging about my dental implants yesterday.  To each his own.  I already had one false tooth being held in by a bridge.  Then when I had a problem with another tooth and it had to be pulled, the entire bridge had to come out because a bridge connected all these teeth together.  So now, where these 2 missing teeth are, I had the 1st part of my implants yesterday.  Implants are surgically placed in, and fuse with the jawbone.  This way, the neighboring teeth are untouched.  The implant is a titanium post placed in the jawbone,  and over 2 to 4 months or so the implant will fuse with the jawbone and forms a base for the next parts of the implant, which will be above the gumline.  That will be the abutment, which holds the crown on, and the crown, or the tooth.  Bridges, like I had before, require cutting down neighboring teeth to get them in.  Implants are self sustaining since they fuse with the jawbone.  It also helps prevent bone loss, which can be a problem with bridgework.

So...yesterday, I had the first part done.   It took about 4 hours.  The first 45 minutes was sawing off the bridge that I had.    It had been reconnected  with temporary cement but was still a job to get off.   There was an incision made in my gum.  Precisely measured.   Holes drilled.  Implants inserted in the holes.  Gum tissue repositioned around implants and stitches placed.  I'm on an antibiotic, was given pain med, which I took and needed yesterday, but don't feel like I need today.  Need to eat soft diet for 48 hours or so, have stitches taken out next week, will have occasional appointments to see how healing is going and when the implant and bone have fused, will get the abutment and crown.  End of story.  And everyone lived happily after.

The Ooga Booga Man and the Ooga Booga Catcher

I picked Erin and Jill up at 1:00 yesterday after Chance Camp.  We went for frozen yogurt and then headed back to their house.  One of the things we played in the backyard was the Ooga Booga Man.  The Catcher has to catch the ooga boogas.  we took turns being the catcher, partly because they wanted to be the catcher, and partly because I can't catch them.  Ooga Boogas can fly, can be invisible, have magical powers.  But if the Catcher catches an ooga booga, the ooga booga is taken to the lab and has its blood drained out of him or her.  Two dainty little girls who can burst into tears one minute if a sister says something that hurts her feelings; next minute - backyard draining blood of the ooga boogas.  That was yesterday. 

the Digestive System

or..lunch conversation with Erin and Jilly.  I picked Erin and Jill up at school yesterday when they had a half day of school and we headed out to lunch before going to their house.  Erin decided to tell us what she knew of the digestive system, which was plenty.  She was explaining how we swallowed our food, it went to the esophagus, telling us about the intestines, and pancreas, how long it took for the food to digest, etc.
Jill then added.  "And then we  poop it out."
Erin:  Jill, we ARE eating.
Jill:  Well, we do.

I also got to hear Erin play the piano; she's something else.  When they first got into the car, Jill announced that we're going to Steak & Shake for lunch.  Erin told her that wasn't their decision to make.  Of course, I was all for it.  I fully intended for us to go to lunch someplace or another.  I'd have tried to get them to the moon if that's what they'd wanted.  We enjoyed Grandparents' day earlier yesterday morning, always a treat.

I've rented Seasons 2 & 3 or Downton Abbey which I've been watching so I'll be caught up when Season 4 starts in the fall.  I'm hooked!  And I've got a great quilt project that I'm working on, though I've not made much progress yet.

Anyway, Erin can explain the digestive system, and Jill will more or less sum it up for you.

Easter Sunday

My my..my last blog was a Halloween blog, and now Easter has come and gone already.  But Bobby posted a little about the egg roll and I thought I'd add a little more.  First of all, we didn't get even 1 picture of Brian on Easter.  I thought we got everyone rolling eggs and didn't realize until later that he didn't participate.  He claimed to have a bad back, but I wonder if he didn't want to face the agony of defeat.  Or maybe he just knew to stay away from Julie where hard boiled eggs and sticks were involved.  The intent was to softly and quickly push your egg around the course we'd set up, trying not to crack your egg.  Julie actually sent one of her eggs airborne once.  I saw something coming at me out of the corner of my eye; yep, Julie's egg.  When she and Jill "rolled" their eggs, you could hear the stick Whacking the egg.  Not a good sound when you don't want to crack your egg.  And once Erin and Jill were accompanying Judy around the course, and coming up the hill Judy fell and it was a hoot.  Erin and Jill were laughing so hard.  Well, okay, we all were laughing so hard.  And Pam actually managed to get the yolk of her egg to break free from the shell once; sort of neat.  Mark Wagner was a good competitor, and when Mark Tabler won he offered Kevin another chance to compete, but Kevin graciously accepted defeat.  Or maybe he was just too tired to try again, or was more interested in watching a game on tv.  Erin never tires out and loved rolling the eggs.  She was pretty good at it, too.
 Anyway, the egg roll was a success and will be a yearly event.  It was followed by the egg hunt.  Thankfully the weather cooperated.

So much for my blog.  Maybe I'll blog again after Derby Day.