Friday, October 19, 2018

A Litany of Complaints


My tooth is bothering me again. Ugh! I know! Just when I thought I had that problem solved, after the root canal I got in the spring, I may need to head back to the dentist. The tooth and jaw are achy and I suspect it's because the crown still isn't fitting correctly. I'm on the fence about it but I suppose ignoring it will only make it worse.

Also, Olga's stitched areas on her legs, from her recent surgery, were seriously red and inflamed last night. It looks like she'd been running through some brush with the dog walker, because her belly was scratched up, too. I'm hoping it's a temporary thing, like maybe she ran through a patch of nettles, and she's not going to need more veterinary attention.

And I need to mail Dave's ballot, which he just finished filling in last night. Hell will freeze over before he gets it to the post office himself.

And that's basically my life this morning. Clearly I am in a cranky mood.


Some of you asked to see the results of our library bookmark competition. Here they are. I realize you can't grasp all the detail but you can at least see the variety. Not bad for a bunch of 5th and 6th graders, right?

We ultimately chose just two winners -- the pink one in the top row, which you probably can't really see but which has a girl superhero character blasting off beneath the words "Power of Reading," and the flowered one also in the top row, which says, "Reading is like walking in an undiscovered garden." But because we're so wishy-washy and many of the entries were so creative, we decided to copy and distribute 11 of them. Yesterday I made 50 copies each, so we're definitely stocked up on bookmarks for the foreseeable future!

(Top photo: The back of a church in Salisbury. I loved those carefully lined-up watering cans.)

12 comments:

David said...

Great collection of book marks! Not sure how I would have chosen one to be first - they all look like winners to me.

Frances said...

I was immediately drawn to the one with the flowers, and I also like the one next to it.....the bookshelves. Clever kids!

Yorkshire Pudding said...

Have you ever considered having false teeth? Then you'll have no more dental troubles and your teeth will be as white and perfectly aligned as Donald Trump's unnatural gnashers. Just a thought.

Ms. Moon said...

Well, I love the title of this one because it expresses how I feel so often and I love that top picture (look how those watering cans are lined up!) and I love the bookmarks.
But I hate the tooth situation.
I'm just going to say it- your dentist is not the best.

Anonymous said...

Those bookmarks are fantastic. All of them. What a great creative exercise for the students.
That tooth situation is really troubling. Might be a good idea to at least get it x-rayed to make sure there's nothing else going on. Take care there.

ellen abbott said...

what a great creative experience for those kids. I was wondering if your were going to actually make them available for use.

Red said...

Being cranky is allowed particularly if it's tooth caused.

TJ Davis said...

Hi Steve,

I want to know why, "Never expect the unexpected." is not there? I love that quote. You can tell the creator of that quote that an old man in California is making a button with that quote on it.
I understand it totally. I love it.
:)

Catalyst said...

Those middle schoolers are very talented. A great selection of bookmarks.

I'll ignore your crankiness. ;^/

Sabine said...

Toothache is so awful. I hope it will be over soon.

jenny_o said...

I hear you on the tooth issue. It took over two years to get one of my teeth to a pain-free status. A slight adjustment may be all you need. As my dentist explained it, if it's not meshing properly with the tooth it's meeting, using it irritates the root, which then gets inflamed and swells, which causes even more of a bite problem and more irritation. It might take time to settle after they drill it a bit more to fit, but hopefully that's all it is. Good luck.

I'm super happy to hear that other ordinarily cheery people have days when they feel cranky. Not because I'd wish that on anybody, but because I always feel like I'm the only one.

Heal, Olga -- heal! (Old doggo joke)

Steve Reed said...

David: We had a terrible time choosing, which is why we had so many runners-up!

Frances: Aren't they? It's amazing what kids come up with. We reproduced both the flowers and the bookshelves to hand out to library patrons.

YP: I'm almost to that point. But don't rush me.

Ms Moon: I hate to say it, but I haven't found a dentist in England who is comparable to my dentist in America. The USA has elevated dentistry to a truly remarkable level. We don't do everything well, God knows, but we do THAT well.

Robin: Yeah, I think it probably deserves another look. Argh.

Ellen: Yes! In fact I kept a copy of one for myself, and laminated it. (The outer space one, fourth from the top on the left.)

Red: I hate feeling cranky, but sometimes you just can't help it. It is what it is.

TJ: Ha! It actually IS there -- it's on the third one down on the right hand side. It has a photo of a beach scene on it, and the words "There's always an adventure." Below that, in smaller type, is your key phrase.

Catalyst: Thank you. Ignoring it is probably the best response.

Sabina: Thanks! I know it's not much to complain about in the grand scheme of things. But it's human nature to grouse, I suppose.

Jenny-O: That makes a lot of sense. I've long suspected that I'm putting a lot of pressure on the tissue beneath that tooth every time I bite down, given that it's slightly higher (probably by just a few millimeters) than the surrounding teeth.