New Teeth

Posted in life on September 28, 2008 by FiftyBogue

I was born with bad teeth (well not literally, but, you know…). And then they got worse. Having inherited my mother’s bad dental genes (she had full dentures by 35), I then contracted scarlet fever and was given the antibiotic tetracycline when my adult teeth were developing. So my teeth were always kind of a grayish color and developed fractures. Add to this the fact that flossing wasn’t something known to occur in our house while I was growing up, and that I had more tetracycline for my acne as a teenager, and that’s how I wound up with a filling in every off-colored tooth. But there’s more! My jaw is small and my teeth are kind of scrunched up and one of my front teeth never fully descended and was always shorter than the other. They weren’t deemed crooked enough for braces back then, so they stayed with me. Fortunately, I was never very aware of how gray and crooked they were.

UNTIL I got veneers on my four front teeth in 1986, that is. Then everyone felt obliged to tell me how they’d always wondered how my front tooth got broken, but never wanted to ask. (In fact, no one HAD ever asked.) When I moved back to Kansas City I became a patient of Dr. M., and he’s taken good care of me, putting crowns on eight of my molars over the years. But he’s always been keen on improving my smile, something I wanted too, but couldn’t afford. But veneers aren’t supposed to last more than 20 years, and mine were 22. So, after selling the house, I put some of the money aside for new choppers and this past summer I started the whole grueling process. I was persuaded to have my canine teeth redone as well, and instead of veneers, I went with full “jackets” which I guess is what they call caps nowadays.

I’ll spare you the details – no one reads a blog for the dental procedures (I hope) – but suffice to say that after weeks of bleaching, 4 long dentist appointments, 3 of which involved 6-12 shots of a novacaine/epinephrine cocktail that left me jumpy and my face numb until bedtime, more drilling than I want to remember, and consultations with the “tooth artist” who makes the teeth, I now have a Hollywood smile. Here’s the proof:

(Remember – even these “before” pics aren’t my natural teeth. So I’ve included one with those…)

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If you’re squeamish, don’t read this.

Posted in fifty on September 2, 2008 by FiftyBogue

Last week, I experienced that most infamous of the 50th year rights of passage – my first colonoscopy. It has capital letters in my head: My First Colonoscopy. Laura’s First Colonoscopy. I won’t say much about it, but I can’t resist saying a little. Here’s what I learned:

  • KU Med Center has a beautiful new endoscopy center – only 3 days old when I was there. Still had the grand opening flowers.
  • Everyone tells you the prep day “is the worst part.” That’s basically true (although the procedure is pretty bad too), but for me “the prep” went on and on, seeing how I felt sick to my stomach right up until the procedure.
  • Why didn’t I think about how shaky I would be from not eating? I guess I thought broth and Popsicles would be enough.
  • Drinking a bottle of magnesium citrate is pretty much the same as giving yourself the instant stomach flu. Don’t drink it right before you go into a grocery store. The effects are immediate.
  • I knew I was going to poop a lot; I mean, they have you drink your weight in laxatives. But I didn’t realize that my guts would completely liquefy.
  • I am now the proud owner of a photo of my ileocecle valve. And some other parts I won’t name. Why do they give you those? I already had proof enough that they’d been there.
  • I was NOT completely asleep. As God as my witness, THAT will never happen again.
  • Note to self: always have some Depends on hand. Because you never know when you might need them, now that you’re 50…

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Where’d summer go?

Posted in life on August 26, 2008 by FiftyBogue

I truly, truly can’t believe it’s almost September. B. and I were talking about how we feel a little gipped since we didn’t get to do everything we thought we’d do – fishing, water parks and the like. We’re hoping to make the most of the fall, which is starting to look a little booked up. We’ve postponed our big vacation for a number of reasons, but are starting to think about some smaller trips in the coming months.

I did have a couple of adventures this summer that I’ve neglected to set down here. I’ll do it in brief, since it’s late and tomorrow’s plate is full.

Our deluxe accommodations

Our deluxe accommodations

V. and I took a trip to Minneapolis to celebrate our 50th birthdays. We stayed in a very nice hotel (down comforters, pool, hot tub) near the Mall of America where we shopped a great deal (uh, like 14 hours) and we also took in the sights of Minneapolis and St. Paul. We drove and honest to god never stopped talking the whole way. I was hoarse when I got home. I mean, you’d think we’d listen to music or something for a few miles…

Then, a couple of weeks ago, some of my good friends and art school cronies got together for a reunion, some coming from out of town. I had fun houseguests for a few days and had a great excuse to play hooky and just generally PLAY. Good food, good friends, great memories.

I’ve had a bunch of doctor’s appointments lately and have been trying to get my nose back to the grindstone everywhere – at work and at home. I’m trying to get an HOUR a day of exercise on most days – a new resolution – and sheesh! it’s kickin my butt. But I managed it today and we’ll see how tomorrow goes. I’d like to live forever, so I have my work cut out for me, huh?

So I guess I’m sharpening my pencils and getting ready for fall – not a new school year, but it feels like something new, anyway. Time to put away the dreams of summer for another year, maybe? Well, not until the pools close, I guess.

Then

Then

Now

Now

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Together again

Posted in life on August 8, 2008 by FiftyBogue

I’m gearing up to spend a wonderful weekend with some old friends. College friends, but that makes it sound so plebeian… We were in the Art Department fer crissakes, and a freakishly talented group, too. So out of the ordinary, we need a better, more descriptive designation, right? Art Rats. Visually Trained Humans. Aesthetes. Hmm. Not nearly cool enough. Oh, and I’d have to add “& friends.” Not everyone was an art student. Some were just cool in their own right.

Anyway, my friend R. and family are already here and we’re having a blast, hanging out, swimming, shopping, dining. And tomorrow kicks off 2.5 days with others of the gang (alas, not everyone could make it), hanging out, eating BBQ, looking at art, laughing, eating some more and generally having fun.

A nice thing to do, reuniting. I’ve been doing this a good bit lately. Against all odds, I, a formerly not-so-popular, non-cheerleader choir nerd, am now heading up my high school reunion committee, and we recently got together in a non-reunion year to celebrate turning 50. The party was fun, but the committee meetings leading up to the party were perhaps even better. I LOVE catching up with friends from my past. And the older I get, the more past I have. Awesome.

Advice of the day: I recommend going to a high school reunion, even if you didn’t have a great high school experience, and even if you didn’t know many of your classmates. It teaches you a lot: That all that stuff that mattered SO much back then – how popular you weren’t, how snooty the cute girls were, how unkind life seemed – all evaporates with time. Time is the great leveler. The handsome jock may be scraping by in a dead end job, while the guy nobody noticed has the brilliant career (but you already know this if you watched Romy and Michelle’s High School Reunion). There are time-worn yet relevant lessons to be learned from this, folks. Like:

  • don’t take yourself too seriously
  • appreciate what you have now
  • don’t judge a book by it’s cover
  • don’t follow every fashion trend, especially if you’re going to be photographed

Reuniting with pals (or even enemies) from the past isn’t only fun (and anthropologically fascinating), it gives you perspective. And that’s never a bad thing.

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Garden Update

Posted in food, sustainability, Uncategorized on July 16, 2008 by FiftyBogue

You know, we really don’t know what we’re doing. But despite ourselves, we’re going to have some food to harvest (fingers crossed).

Here’s the report:

Spinach - none
Lettuce - we ate some; it wasn’t very delicious, but it was OK. It’s gone now.
Radishes - didn’t get very big; the ones that were edible were very hot. Is the soil too clay-ey for root plants?
Carrots - still too little to tell, but the greens look good. Hope they can shove their way into the clay…
Lavender - drowned. Will it come back next year?
Tomatoes - some good, some not so good. Most have at least a wilted part, but I hear heirlooms are prone to wilt…? We have some baby tomatoes (fingers crossed).
Peppers - looking good. Some baby yellow banana peppers.
Cucumbers - we have one almost ready to harvest and all the vines look good.
Spaghetti Squash – might take over the backyard. Lots of blossoms.
Watermelon - only 5 out of 9 vines survived and aren’t growing as fast as I thought, but they’re hanging in there.
Red Poppies – no shows
Purple Coneflowers – no shows
Marigolds - regular ones blooming, French ones getting ready
Zinnias - blooming, mostly gold
Meadow flower packet – tall and lovely, mostly gold also

B. bought some native plants and put on the side of the house and they’re flourishing. Can’t wait to see the columbines bloom next year. The rose bed I rehabbed for his dad is looking a little peaky, but blooming. The pink impatiens his folks bought for the front terrace aren’t getting as big as I expected. The Alyssum seeds I planted out there washed away and never germinated (as B. predicted).

Here’s what I’m thinking for next year:

  1. No-till, square-foot beds.
  2. No more Seeds of Change seeds – we had too many that didn’t germinate.
  3. Plant raspberries and/or blackberries.
  4. Read lots of gardening books this winter.

And that’s it. We’re certainly not urban farmers yet.

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Gardening 101

Posted in food, sustainability on July 2, 2008 by FiftyBogue

Wow. Finally some time to post.

I need to tell y’all more about the garden. At B.’s house there’s a BIG back yard. In fact, when they were kids, B. and his brother had a pony. There’s still a small, red barn, now used as a storage shed, that bears witness to this fact. Anyway, back in the day, B.’s dad had quite a vegetable garden, way in the back there. As he’s gotten older, he’s been less able to take care of a big garden, and has settled for a few tomatoes and pepper plants. The last couple of year, B., who has never been all that interested in yard work, decided to help his dad out with the plants, and sort of got into it.

In the meantime, I read Barbara Kingsolver’s Animal, Vegetable, Miracle and was infected with the need to make changes to my food supply. This dovetailed nicely with my switching to the Weight Watcher’s CORE plan, which is more about whole foods, and interestingly enough, this book was the thing finally acted as a tipping point for this fat, old environmentalist to start buying more organic and local foods. At some point in there, I said something like, “Hey, B. – I’ll help you with the garden this year.” Little did I know…

The Garden at B.\'s houseSince, OF COURSE I’d want to do an organic garden, and OF COURSE, since I knew very little about vegetable gardening, I started reading up on it. I literally got Vegetable Gardening For Dummies and Organic Gardening For Dummies and set to reading them. I work with accomplished gardeners, so I started picking their brains. B. was also reading up a little bit. We decided to keep it simple and start out easy.

When it got warm enough to work the soil, B. went out and roto-tilled and also expanded the existing garden to 20×24 feet! When we each compiled our list of things we wanted to grow, it was pretty long, and we also realized that my fondness for salad would require a rabbit-proof fence to protect the lettuce and cabbage. Aaargh.

Well, I’ll cut to the chase. It’s been more work at every step of the way than I expected – and it’s only July! I did most of the planting and the early weeding, while B. worked on the fence (it’s really nice now). We’ve had some no-shows, most notably our spinach and, oddly enough, our purple coneflowers. Who can’t grow coneflowers?! I’ve got less time for sewing, reading, watching romantic comedies and hanging out at the pool. Cultivating kills my back and weeding kills my knees, even with my little pink kneeling pad. I get sunburned, hot, sweaty and mosquito-bit. B. and I disagree about lots of garden things – thinning (he really hates to thin the seedlings for some reason; I think it seems wasteful to him), where to plant stuff, how to build the fence, how to make the compost, etc., etc. Plus, we don’t have a lot to show for our efforts yet, beyond some lettuce, a few marigolds and some really lovely basil.

early lettucesAnd yet. Even though I don’t love it the way avid gardeners do, it’s oddly compelling and quite satisfying in its way. Every time I’m out there, I think of ways to do it better next year. I’m already piling up books to read in the fall and winter about no-till gardening, square foot gardening, “lazy” gardening. I’m talking to my gardening friends about planting raspberries. I’m really looking forward to our first tomatoes. It’s something B. and I are building together, and a continuation of his dad’s tradition. We have a log to sit on in the corner, and B. wants to build a bench to go there. It’s nice to sit there together, knees all pocked from the soil, drinking ice water and looking over our straggly little patch.

I’ll let you know how the tomatoes taste…

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Dancing in the spring

Posted in contra dancing, life on May 30, 2008 by FiftyBogue

Besides allergy sufferers, who doesn’t love spring? I love spring, but given the importance of April – Earth Day Season – to my job, spring is hectic for me and I don’t get to savor it. I mean, I notice the weather changing, flowers and trees blooming and all that, but don’t get outside much until mid-May. So the thing that’s come to signal full-on spring and the beginning of summer to me is the Kimmswick dance weekend that I go to every year on or near Memorial Day weekend.

It’s held at Cuivre River State Park near Troy, Missouri, which is in a very beautiful, heavily wooded area. There are bunk houses that sleep eight (with bunk beds), grouped into “villages” of six cabins and a showerhouse. Some of us have taken to staying in the same cabin every year and we arrive early to clean and decorate it with twinkly lights, pinwheels and lawn flamingos.

However, my first visit to Kimmswick was traumatic. I came down with some friends and I believe I’ve never had more fun than I had that weekend. HOT dancing and lots of laughs. However, as we were eating breakfast on Monday morning and preparing to go home, I got called to the dining hall phone (I had uncharacteristically left this emergency number with my parents) and heard my dad’s choked-up voice telling me my mom had had a stroke and probably wasn’t going to make it. My friends got my stuff and me into the car and got me to the hospital in Independence in record time and took such good care of me. (My mom lived, wheelchair-bound for another five years, but that’s a story for another time…) I wasn’t sure I would ever feel as happy at Kimmswick again after that. But I did, and I do, every year.

I haven’t written much about contra dancing (yet – stay tuned for my next post), but let me tell you, there’s some great and abundant dancing at Kimmswick. (Here’s a video from 2007.) But for me, it’s as much about the visiting as the dancing.

The second year I came, I traveled alone, worried that I wouldn’t know many people there. That’s when I devised a brilliant strategy: I set up two extra lawn chairs next to me. I’d ensconce myself with a book and some sewing under the trees outside the dance hall. I’d dance a bit, and sit a bit. Every year, I’d sit and visit more and dance less (during the day, at least – I dance my ass off at night) and someone would alway join me. My friend D. always says I “hold court” there, but really, it’s just the extra chair trick. I could sit there all day, breathing in the fresh, spring air and listening to the bands play. Some times it’s the first real relaxing I’ve done in a while.

It’s almost always perfect and sunny. I’ve been going there for nine years (this was the 47th Kimmswick weekend – they used to have it twice a year, so I don’t know how many years that is) and there have been torrential rains, cold weather, hot weather, but more often than not, it’s been that perfect spring weather – sunny and 80 degrees in the afternoon, lovely and cool at night.

OK, it might be more perfect in my memory, but still…

This year, there were good friends who couldn’t go, but other folks I got to know better as a result. There was some hard rain, but some sunshine during the day. It was both hot and cold. Lots of ticks. We held our sewing circle in the dining hall to avoid the rain, and visited a quilt shop in town. B. and I got ice cream at a local joint called Krumbly Burger, in memory of a trip I took there my first year. The potlucks were wonderful and so was the company and the dancing.

(There was a weird little cloud over my head, though. I was NOT dancing well. I pride myself on being an accomplished contra dancer, but I was screwing up right and left. It was so frustrating at the last morning’s dance that I had a mini-meltdown and cried for a few minutes. This was the only time I can remember when I couldn’t just laugh off my mistakes – and everyone makes mistakes in this kind of dancing. But I was having brain farts of such massive proportions and I couldn’t seem to concentrate enough to overcome them. I don’t know if I was just sleep deprived or if I’m having some hormonal menopausal deal or if I’m really losing it. I’m going to go with sleep deprivation, but plan to keep an eye on myself…)

This is the place I’ve gotten to know people that are now very important to me. It’s the place where I can slip off my shoes and ease into summer. It’s the place where I can dance without restraint or sit still without guilt. Thanks, Kimmswick.

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Another task…?

Posted in life on May 15, 2008 by FiftyBogue

I would imagine that many new bloggers struggle to find the balance between the blog being a joy or a task on the to-do list. This blog hasn’t become an automatic part of my day yet. It gets added to the list of pleasurable activities that I have trouble getting to. But I won’t expend energy writing about the ubiquitous time crunch – there are blogs dedicated to fitting more life into our lives and they speak more eloquently than I.

There’s always a “hump” to get over before you get to the fun stuff, right?

Suffice to say that I enjoy posting here and am trying to do more. I like to think a few of you read this and care. I’m always yearning for time at this keyboard, the same way I yearn to work on quilts, travel with B., exercise more and have a cleaner house. Instead I work late, shop for groceries, drop things at Kinko’s, return printers to Best Buy and go to meetings. Well, and fun stuff too – dancing and quilt shows and the like. It’s not bleak or anything. Just busy.

I keep making lists of things I want to blog about, so there’s no shortage of material. So more, soon. In the meantime, I’m trying not to blow all the house money on new Keens.

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house & home

Posted in life on April 28, 2008 by FiftyBogue

Our house sale closed on Friday. We still have a couple of hoops to jump through to get the money – nerve wracking, since my sister leaves on vacation in the morning. I hope the new owners aren’t complaining too bitterly about all the layers of wallpaper and are settling in comfortably.

I pick up my check from the title company later today, but I’ve already been shopping unrestrainedly all weekend. Don’t worry – I’m not going to blow all the money. I’m going to invest most of it wisely. But first, I’m going to invest some in clothes. And electronics. And a cute little rug for my kitchen. And maybe a pair of shoes. New teeth. A bike. Jeez. I’m really shallow.

Last Thursday, I put together a memory book for the new owners – a brief history of my family in that house, along with a dozen pictures. That afternoon, I went there and left it and my keys, and stood in our home for the last time. I’m too sentimental sometimes. I’ll think, “Remember this! Remember everything!” But there’s only so much you can absorb when you’re trying to feel everything. I can never soak up all up – I’m only human. And I have to walk away in the end anyway.

So, I expected to be stressed when I was there (for THE. LAST. TIME.) but it was actually peaceful and relaxing. Lots of visual memories floated through my mind – my rocking horse in the basement, playing dress up in the fruit cellar, swinging on the swing. The last dreg I slurped was this: as I was locking up the garage, I simultaneously saw the handle on the door frame that my dad installed after my mom started having trouble with the steps, and the piece of black electrical tape on the garage wall that he put up to help him park the Bonneville so the garage door would close. Beautiful.

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So much going on…

Posted in life on April 20, 2008 by FiftyBogue

…yet I’m doing nothing today, thank god. And today, nothing = bliss.

I flatter myself that some of you kind folks may have bookmarked this site and check in on me once in a while. And I hate to disappoint my readers, even if they’re only imaginary, so I apologize for not having posted for two weeks.

As my friends and loved ones know, April is the cruelest month* for me, due to Earth Day. Yesterday was the big event, so I’m ready to kick back a little. Or a lot. But I mean to clean the kitchen and take out the trash. In a minute. Really. In a minute.

So I’m just going to hit the highs and low of the last two rather exhausting weeks here, and offer more detail in future posts.

HIGH/LOW:
The Earth Day event was good; very tiring as usual. We also launched two new campaigns at ED, so that’s made my workload more intense than it’s been for a long time. Earth Day IS every day, but you wouldn’t know it by the requests we get at work… So I’ve worked many long days, some 12 hours or more, doing my little part for the planet.

HIGH:
I’ve been helping B. with his vegetable garden, as time permits. He’s been doing a lot on his own lately, obviously, putting in rabbit-proof fencing to keep the future lettuce safe. (Or should I say “lettuce futures?” We’ve invested in lettuce futures…?) It’s been too wet to get all the early stuff planted, so I’ll probably go over there in a while too. Really. In a while.

LOW:
There’s a snag in our house sale. I’m not worrying about it yet, mostly because I’ve been too busy, and I’m letting Super Realtor handle it. Haven’t even talked to my sister, who is busy with Passover and getting ready to go to Hawaii. And who has already signed and returned the closing papers, I might add. So, if you’re reading this, LG, don’t worry, yet. If not these buyers, then others… I’ll call tomorrow. Really. Tomorrow.

LOW:
Avid, my 13-year-old cat, is no more. She’d been getting pretty thin of late, and last week started getting very weak. It turned out there were too many things wrong with her to fix – liver, kidneys, thyroid – and when they started talking about force-feeding her, I balked. So I chose eternal rest over prolonged discomfort, and she went to sleep for the last time on Tuesday. She was persnickety to the end, but is sorely missed by Grace and myself. Grace took Avid’s usual place in the bathtub Tuesday night in memoriam.

LOW:
This is embarrassing to admit, but I got another speeding ticket last week. I got it at exactly the same spot I got the first one in March when I was going 42 in a 30 MPH zone. This time, I actually had my cruise control set to 30 MPH (I’m not kidding!) and was totally thinking what a smart and prudent a driver I was! That’s when he stopped be for going 30 in a 20 MPH school zone. How did I miss the flashing light? I’ll never know. I threw money at the problem this time, paying a lawyer to fix it for me. What a deadbeat I’ve become.

LOW:
I’ve got a cold AGAIN. I think it’s the other half of the cold I had a month ago, which was entirely in my head (in my nose and sinuses, I mean; not imaginary). This one is entirely in my throat and chest. I don’t get sick very often, but NEVER this often, damn it. Too much work + stress + a virus = coughing, I think. Which is why…

HIGH (hopefully):
I plan to take some time off this week. And I really don’t want to take it as sick time. I want to take it as shopping and pedicure time. Cleaning the house time. Reading books and drinking lattes time. Posting to my blog time. You get the picture. Cough. Cough.

HIGH:
I’m still scheming/dreaming about things I want to do once the house sale goes through. Besides taking a trip, I think I’m going to buy a new, more comfy bike. B. just got a beautiful new bike and I have visions of us riding the trails together this summer (him waaay ahead of me, but still…). My old bike makes my carpel tunnel kick up, and my hand goes numb after about 5 minutes, which is no fun whatsoever. So I’m looking at a “comfort” bike, where you sit very upright on a big, cushy seat (for my big, cushy seat…).

I’ll close with a movie review, to reflect my day. I just watched Possession with Gwenyth Paltrow and the exquisite Jennifer Ehle (best known for the BBC Pride and Prejudice). I tried to read this beloved book once, but found it too slow for my taste (although it has a rockin’ pre-Raphaelite cover). My friend KR, with whom I share my love for all things Jane Austen (a rather plebian obsession these days), told me that parts of this movie are a little like watching Darcy and Lizzie’s wedding night. And she’s right: it’s a little like that.

* I’ve always loved this line. I first came across it as a reference in a Woody Allen essay, of all places. My more literary friends will already know that this is from T. S. Eliot’s The Waste Land. And no, I haven’t read the whole thing, but I sure like how it begins:

April is the cruelest month, breeding
Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing
Memory and desire, stirring
Dull roots with spring rain.
Winter kept us warm, covering
Earth in forgetful snow, feeding
A little life with dried tubers.

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