Journal: Lincoln & Omaha & David City, Oh, My!

Last Tuesday, we went to Affordable Dentures in Lincoln for a consultation for Larry.  He’s had root canals in every tooth, and several have broken off, and the rest are crumbling away.  He needs to have all his remaining teeth removed, and replaced with dentures or implants.  We hoped the place would be true to the name of their business! 

On the way there, in between picture-taking, I placed an order for groceries from Wal-Mart.  Imagine explaining to our great-grandmothers how we can do that.

Larry had X-rays taken, then discussed with the dentist the best procedure.  He got a price for a full set of dentures.

We’ll be robbing the bank as soon as our order for faux rubber faces arrives.

The dentist gave Larry a prescription for penicillin, as he had four or five abscesses.  No wonder his mouth hurt so badly!  Since it wasn’t quite time for our 2:00 p.m. appointment at the nearby LensCrafters, we took the prescription to Walgreens, and, while the pharmacist filled it, trotted down the sidewalk to Hobby Lobby for glass pearl beads for the New York Beauty Variation quilt.  After a lengthy search, we finally found some small bags of beads that were the right color and size (I needed both 3mm and 4mm), in quantities of 1,000.  There were only three bags of each size, and I need around 10,000 beads; but this will give me a good start.  I’ll look at our own Hobby Lobby next time I’m there.

In Hobby Lobby, I also got a rustic wooden plaque for Loren to put in his garage.  It reads as follows: 

You need only two tools in life –

WD-40 and duct tape. 

If it doesn’t move and should, use WD-40. 

If it moves and shouldn’t, use duct tape.

He’s always liked WD-40 and duct tape.  Daddy used to laugh at him, because if those two products ever went on sale, Loren would buy cartons of them.

Sometimes, when his stock was overflowing, he’d sell to the rest of us – for the same low price he’d paid.  (The neighbors had to pay regular price, heh heh.)  If Daddy ever saw an ad for either of those items, he’d tell Loren, “Rent a U-Haul!  Duct tape (or WD-40) just went on sale!”

Mama once told him, “If your garage ever catches on fire, it’s going to go off like a rocket, with all those cans of WD-40 in it.” 

Loren made an alarmed face.  “Do you want to buy some?!” he asked in a rush.  hee hee

We were hungry after only a small breakfast of cereal six hours earlier, so we went to Starbucks and used the last of our gift certificates from a couple of our children.  I got a plum cream Danish and a Juniper latte.  Mmmm, mmm.  Larry got a bacon egg muffin sandwich and a chocolate mint latte.  I was glad he liked his food well enough that he didn’t want to share mine, ’cuz ah sho’ ’nuff din’t wanna share, huh-uh, nosiree!

With appetites happily placated, we headed across the highway (that’s always easier said than done, in cities of 285,000) to LensCrafters.  We chose the one at the SouthPointe Pavilions Shopping Center, since it was closest to the Affordable Dentures office.  What a pretty shopping center it is.  Many of the stores and boutiques are connected, but there are multiple separate buildings and shops and offices, too, gotten to by way of brick pathways and roundabouts through beautiful gardens that are pretty even in the winter, with their evergreens and yews.  There were hidden speakers all over the place, and Christmas music followed us everywhere we went.  Good and decent Christmas music; not the jarring cacophony that often passes for ‘music’ these days. 

We had our eye exams, then chose some glasses.  I stuck some very gaudy dark frames on my face, and went to find Larry, asking how he liked them.   He was grinning... the ladies who were helping us were laughing... I looked funny.

And then...  I belatedly noticed that the pretty young woman helping Larry was wearing some spectacles that were almost identical to the ones I was mocking to scorn.  Oops.

I will say that, while they looked totally ridiculous on me, they really didn’t look all that bad on her. 

Black and White Striped Angelfish

While we waited for Larry’s glasses to be completed (mine always have to be ordered, ’cuz I’m so unique), we walked to the gigantic Scheels All Sports store at one end of the shopping complex.  It has the giant Ferris wheel that’s a customary fixture in Scheels stores... and this one has three giant aquarium tubes connected by overhead arches, so the exotic fish can travel from one tube to another.  The centers of the tubes are full of colorful coral reef.  There were some of the most beautiful and unusual fish in those tubes that I’ve ever seen in my life. 

Queen Angelfish

Yellow Angelfish and Palette Surgeonfish

Azure Damselfish

Powder Blue Surgeonfish

We trekked about the store, looking at anything and everything.  Larry spent four quarters on the shooting range... and then it was time to go get his glasses.

Blue Striped Angelfish

Next, we headed for Omaha.  First stop, Northwest Tools & Equipment for some blangdoofs and dooblechucks that Larry needs.  (I’m almost certain I got the terminology correct.  Almost.)  Mission unsuccessful, we then went to Nebraska Furniture Mart and went on a wild Christmas shopping spree.  We got some big Lego sets for some of the grandsons...  and I can't tell you the rest, just in case some of the family reads this.  😉

By the time we left the Mart, it was late, and we were hungry again.  We headed for the Olive Garden.  They have some of the best food we’ve eaten at restaurants (granted, our restaurant experience is limited).  If you order soup (homemade), they’ll keep filling your bowl and bringing breadsticks – fat, soft, warm breadsticks – as long as you like.  They shred fresh cheese over it, too.  The problem?  We’re always too full for seconds!

We ordered Chicken & Gnocchi – a creamy soup made with roasted chicken, traditional Italian dumplings, and spinach.  I got a bowl of fresh, steamed vegetables, too.  Larry had a platter called ‘Tour of Italy’, with three different samples:  spaghetti and meatballs, chicken alfredo, and chicken lasagna.  We ordered Chocolate Brownie Lasagna – multiple layers of brownie and cream cheese – for dessert, and shared it. 

The food was superb, the waiter was unobtrusively attentive, and all would’ve been perfect had we not been seated next to a table of four rather obnoxious young men who couldn’t state the simplest sentence without using vulgarities.

Since one gets free refills with one’s beverages, I considered nonchalantly sauntering over to their table, smiling engagingly (the eye doctor told me I had pretty eyelashes, after all) — and then, without a single word, dumping that cold, cold tea over first one, then the others’ heads.  A polite curtsy, and back to my table I’d go, all prim and proper, smile never wavering.

But on the chance that it might make their language get worse rather than better, I refrained.

Ah, well.  Larry turned his hearing aids down, and I studiously ignored the oafs.  And we had a nice time in spite of the Barbarians.

When we got back to Columbus, we stopped at Wal-Mart (though Larry protested, since it was approaching 11:00 p.m.), and I got some ink for my printer.  I was hoping this would solve the problem with my printer.  I’d tried printing Monday night, but neither the red nor the yellow would work, despite the readout saying the cartridges were full.  Perhaps I’d popped them out and then back in, and confused the thing?  Or perhaps it had been so long since I used it, those colors had dried up?

The new cartridges did the trick, and I printed 21 Christmas letters before hitting the feathers.  I would mail them as soon as our reprints arrived.

Wednesday, I searched through my pattern files for a pattern for Elsie, then started cutting out her Christmas dress.  The skirt is made from the bottom part of a prom dress Amy got for Emma.  The amount that needed to be cut off was the right length for a skirt for Elsie, with enough for sleeves, too.  Amy found a black velour skirt at the Goodwill that would work perfectly for the bodice.  I got most of it cut before our midweek church service, and finished cutting it Thursday.

Thursday afternoon, my reprints arrived – a day earlier than expected.  So before doing anything else, I put them in the 135 Christmas cards that were ready and waiting, sealed the envelopes, then wrapped and packaged some gifts to mail.  I took them to the post office and dropped off some things at the Goodwill. 

Then, because this thumb and wrist that’s been suffering from De Quervain's tenosynovitis since June is still causing pain, and gift-wrapping made it protest – and there are a whole lot more gifts to wrap, besides – I stopped at Urgent Care, hoping to get a cortisone shot. 

Unfortunately, they don’t give any type of steroid shots.  I made an appointment for the following day with my doctor in David City.

My wrist and thumb hinder me in doing all sorts of things.  I haven’t been able to play octaves with that hand all this time.  Ugh.  I miss playing those thundering bass runs!

I wore a brace for several weeks, and kept wearing it overnight for about three months.  I thought it was improving, though slowly.  Then, a couple of nights in a row, the brace slipped, and I awoke in the morning with a wrist and thumb that would hardly move at all, and if it did move, it hurt something awful.  I stopped wearing the brace, and it felt better, so long as I was careful not to bump it or twist it.

I didn’t want to get a shot, as cortisone is bad for osteoporosis, but... it’s a matter of choosing the lesser evil, I suppose.  Thus, I made the appointment.

Home again, I cut some fabric roses for Elsie’s dress with the very last little snippet of fabric.  I rummaged up some netting to go between the outer skirt and the lining, and made sleeve caps of netting encased in lining, so the puffy sleeves will stand out nicely. 

Then it was time to fix supper, and after that, I went with Larry to the shop to get the penicillin that he’d forgotten in his truck.  He was falling asleep over his mint chip ice cream, so I drove him to town.  Didn’t want him falling asleep halfway there, driving into the ditch, and needing more than penicillin!

By the time we got home again, I was too tired to sew, so I turned off all the lights in my studio and quit for the night.  Mañana!

Friday, I headed to the doctor’s office in David City.  Arriving early, I drove around a nearby lake and park.

I can sincerely tell you, having cortisone shot directly into an inflamed tendon hurts.  Furthermore, I was supposed to be as good as new by today, but I’m not.  Thumb and wrist are still stiff and sore.  Sigghhhhh...

When I got home, I worked on Elsie’s dress.  It was looking cuter and cuter!

Saturday, I went to Hobby Lobby for a black zipper for the dress.  Why do I have every color in the rainbow, but no black??

Soon I was home again and back in business.  It’s taking a while, because of all these finishing touches:  netting in sleeve caps to make the puffed sleeves stand out properly... netting in between top skirt and lining... lined top... and when I was hunting for the black zipper, I found a piece of black re-embroidered lace that was the perfect size and shape for the front of the velour bodice.

I sewed it on... took it back off... steamed everything... and sewed it on again with lightweight interfacing behind it.

There.  I knew better than to try that without interfacing, on that stretchy stuff!

I might get really carried away and see if I have any glass beads to put on the lace that might match............  OH!  I do!  Dark turquoise that perfectly matches the turquoise taffeta with the black velvet embossing and the turquoise sparkles of the skirt and sleeves!  (What’s that stuff called?  I can never remember proper names of fabrics without searching for it.  Can’t even remember what lace on the front of a bodice is called.  There’s a name for these things!)

Okay, ‘velvet brocade’, that’s what it is.  And the lace is a wide V-shaped medallion.

I only need to sew skirt to top and put in the zipper, and it’ll be done.

After the evening church service last night, we went to Jeremy and Lydia’s house for a little party for Jonathan, who turns five today.  We gave him a Creepy Crawlers tablet.  It tells all about insects, and there are quizzes and games to play on it.

And now I must finish that little dress!

,,,>^..^<,,,          Sarah Lynn          ,,,>^..^<,,,