Thoughts

I had a back molar and my last wisdom tooth removed two days ago. The wisdom tooth was "special", as it was laying sideways in the jaw with the base of the sinus cavity resting on the length of it. The dentist had to add some sort of plug-thingy to close the cavity up after he removed the tooth. But the effect was readily apparent - the throbbing ache I'd had on the side of my face just below the ear disappeared immediately. It looks like there had been some interplay going on there for all these years. So I can hope for fewer ear and sinus infections in the future.

I got to try laughing gas and was disappointed. There was no real effect at all, darn it. I thought I'd at least get to do a minor riff on the dentist scene in Lethal Weapon https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-bWIkGa0QA but no, it was surgically-normal oxygen delivery and nothing else. Bah!

Woke up with a swollen cheek today. I thought I was past the time when that could occur but apparently 2-3 days after extraction is more commonly when there is swelling. Ice packs are helping, when I remember to use them as I really don't notice the swelling. There is no pain or awareness of it unless I touch my face. Maybe a little tension when opening my mouth but given what he probably was doing to hold it open during the extraction I should expect resistance now, shouldn't I? I don't think that has anything to do with the swelling.

I finally built the Lego Winter Village kit that came out last year. There was a shortage of them when they came out and anyone who tried to order one two days after release was SOL. I got mine in January, I think it was, so left it in the box until now. And learned that some genius in the company decided that printing the instructions on black paper was a grand idea for the adult-level kits. Yeah, dark grey, dark brown, and black pieces show up so well on a black background, yes? Idiot. Apparently there were so many complaints that the company reversed policy after 18 months. So I only have one more kit with the disastrous printing. I'm so glad I wasn't wanting to build the Batmobile!!

I love my new computer keyboard. It is so nice not to have to deal with the mousepad thingy in front of the keyboard like a laptop has. It is going to take me a while to get used to the huge new screen on the all-in-one. It's 22.5" and because of the configuration of it, it doesn't fit inside the cut out on the rolltop desk but has to sit in front. It blocks two of the upper drawers, too, but since those hold old computer CDs (mostly fiber research photo collections), I'm okay with that. It is going to make watching shows online very nice during the rest of Arni's football season.

Here is a picture of the 'tiny' Lego mini-set that was sold which reproduces the larger city sets. I have two pictures - one is of the three larger buildings I own with the full mini-set in front of them, and the next is of the individual buildings to compare.

I have a pile of paper on the table behind me and a pile of fabric on the table in the kitchen. Both are crying out to get taken care of, and both are going to be time consuming. What I should probably do is alternate between one and the other - but I feel the creative itch (I sort of dreamed about outfits to make with the fabric) so I think the paper is going to be neglected for a little while longer. Can't neglect it too long - it has already gone longer than I've ever let anything go unfinished.

I ordered a new Lego kit a few days ago. It should arrive tomorrow or the next day. I won't be putting it together for weeks, probably, as I work on the stock needed for the Holiday Faire booth. But it will be patient, I'm sure. It's the new Theatre one. I'm not going to be able to get all the kits that I want before they go out of stock, darn it. Lego came out with too many simultaneously and I've just not got the funds. But oh, the decisions. I shall harden my heart and skip the Lord of the Rings & Hobbit ones (sob) so I can continue to collect all of the Castle sets.

Leftovers are all-lll gone. I cooked the smallest turkey in my Thanksgiving-cooking life last week and the leftover bits lasted about, oh, two days. I think that little thing was twelve pounds. 12 pounds does not make for very many post-holiday sandwiches for four people! At least, not for three men and one woman. Nor did the fruit salad last long. So off I go today to visit the commisssary again and buy, yes, another turkey. Which will be roasted and deboned for yummy sandwiches as well as adding to my gumbo stock. I feel the need to make gumbo. And stew, too. A big pot of beef stew would make me very happy.

I've been resting more. Sleep has been high on the list of things I do whenever the mood strikes and as a result my discomfort while standing has lessened. I timed myself while on my feet and was rather stunned by the result as I would have sworn that I had no back pain at all but in fact there is pain about 9-10 minutes after I stand, and it is a good five minutes or longer after that before my legs start to go numb. I notice the numbness but I'd been so busy with the doing of things (and the mind-ghosting refrain of "gotta hurry, gotta hurry") that I was never aware of the low back pain. People's advice was read and heeded. I've been using the handicapped tag for parking. I have to admit, I was very grateful for it at Whole Foods! We would have been parking in Outer Mongolia had I not that tag. (And our parking spot gave Bossman a chance to notice something I'd read about but he'd missed - the free electric car charging pole at the front of the store's parking lot.)

Our Youngest helped me put together a Lego kit. Or rather, he started one while I worked on another, as neither of us were interested in the Thanksgiving Day football game. It had sucked in Bossman and provided a in-chair nap excuse for Opi, so we were left with a wide empty table and a disinclination to continue playing games (we'd all played cards for a couple of hours). The haunted house kit isn't like other tall building kits. You can't build each floor separately and then put one on the other. So he started that while I hunkered down to build the little five building miniature street set. Oy, was that a pain in the patoot! Over 1300 pieces and none of them bigger than a two-point lego piece. Most were those tiny little 1/3 singles. I was impressed by the creator's ingenuity and completely cold to the end product. Mostly because I'd not really enjoyed making them. Taking over the haunted house after Shawn left made me much happier! (And the ladder to the attic is Da Bomb! So very cool! And yet, not so cool... I was missing pieces again. This time, instead of calling and getting a customer service rep who will merely make soothing noises at me, I'm moved to write a real, actual, paper letter of complaint.

I built my (only) two Lord of the Rings Lego sets this evening. And because I love you, I'm putting the pictures, which I took using candles as my lighting, behind the cut. But I did want to record them online somehow. ( Read more... )

All he can do is roll his eyes and step carefully away... coming March 17th: The Emporium - first floor:clothing and jewelry, second floor: housewares, third floor: toys.

Have they got my number, or what?

http://shop.lego.com/ByTheme/Product.aspx?p=10211&cn=356&d=9

Aie! I have frozen my fingers! I actually thought it was a good idea to go outside and take pictures of my newest Lego building in what passes as sunlight during the winter. *shiver* Whoa, is that cold work.

( For those who are interested in a two story urban Firehouse as interpreted by Legos Company - or who just want to see if the cook really is holding a Nathan's hot dog. )

While out making copies of cheques I was depositing for the SCA, before I hit the gym to make an appointment with a trainer*, I passed Toys R Us. ( That may have been a mistake )

I mean, the Grim Reaper was tempting enough but once I saw the Elizabethan Queen and then the Jester, well.... they just couldn't stay in the store, now, could they? Besides, I'll need them for my someday-"Medieval Village".

*Tomorrow morning I meet him and have my eval & first session. He's a retired Marine - wish me luck!

After going to the meeting (and the obligatory restaurant afterwards for breakfast-for-dinner) we got home and I attacked the building.

The first floor is done. It took me three hours and I am actually calling it quits for the night... It is 3:00 am and I want to fully enjoy this thing so I'm going to go to bed and dream about it - then get up and make the second story. Oddly, the grocery store looked more impressive when it was half-built. Once the walls got up towards ceiling height they obscured some of the details and even looking through the windows & doors there is less impact than when it was open.

I love the little mailboxes. Each one of them has one letter in it, sealed with a kiss. I suppose for reality's sake I should double up on one box and let one be empty. But why ruin a lego-person's life? Let them ALL have love letters! (There were no bills. Huh. Fantasy land indeed!)

The door to the grocery has golden entwined animals in the Urnes Style (Viking-era Norse) which just tickled me pink.