Pyogenic Granuloma

As some of you are aware, I had a wound on my finger that wouldn't go away - and today the doctor announced it was probably a "Pyogenic Granuloma."  To give a history, here's how it presented.  First I just had a blood blister, that did pop and become exposed.  When this tried to heal it wouldn't ever form a proper scab.  Any sort of bump would cause it to start bleeding again.  And when it would bleed it would bleed profusely.  After a while it grew into a bump, and it kinda looked like a  mushroom with a stem and a flatish balloon on top.  At this point I wondered if it could possibly be some type of wart.  Finally my finger was swollen, and the area around it obviously infected so I went to the Dr. and got the news.  Treatment - he shot numbing stuff in it, and cut it out.  To staunch the bleeding he cauterized and then put in three stitches.  To be sure that his diagnosis is correct he sent it for a biopsy, but from the descriptions I have read online I think that it was spot on.  Just thought I would share in case anyone has a similar experience.

Homemade Tooth Powder

We made our very own homemade toothpaste for the first time today!  It was super easy, and means that we will never have to throw away another toothpaste tube ever again.  Here is the recipe if you would like to give it a try in your own household.

2 T Salt
5 T Baking Soda

I put the above together in a blender to mix them well.  It costs pennies, and it lasts forever - or about 8 months for 1 user.  Just dip in your damp toothbrush and away you go!  I would probably recommend separate containers for different people, unless they are people you are okay swapping germs with them.  You can even flavor your powder if you wish.  Once the garden has a good supply of mint in it I intend to blend some in, you could even blend in a bit of Cinnamon or Clove if desired.  For those who are concerned with such things, according to the all knowing interwebs this is less abrasive than most commercial toothpastes.  I'll let you know if my dentist has any comments for us after we've been using it for a while.

**UPDATE**
So this week we had our dentist appointments.  Remember when dentist appointments used to mean sunglasses, and posters on the ceiling?  Now kids get TV's up there!  After gathering our courage we sat in the chair of torture and got the verdict.  No new cavities.  Hooray!  Spencer felt that there was less "scraping" then last time.  And I received the comment that my teeth had a surprisingly small amount of tarter build-up on them.  So I think that this recipe is a keeper!!
My Hygienist even asked me if I used an electric toothbush she was so impressed! 
As far as the recipe goes I did give some of the additional spices a try.  I added a bit of Cinnamon and Clove.  These make it look kinda gross when you spit - and fail to add any flavor whatsoever, but supposedly there are some antibacterial benefits or something.  To be honest I didn't find it worthwhile, and I probably wont be adding it in the future.

I wonder . . . should I try a Homemade Mouthwash next?

The Cottage Tales of Beatrix Potter

Books 1 - 8
By Susan Wittig Albert (Robin Paige)
Last book published in 2010, appears to be complete

These books are utterly charming.  I say that meaning both the good and bad that goes with it.  They are all sweet, bad things always turn out good, the well behaved prosper.  And you know exactly what I mean by the bad of charming.  I am hard pressed to tell you the age group for which they are intended.  The subject seems designed for a child.  The narrater directly addresses the reader in a very playful and childish way. However, the 300 page length requires an older demographic.  The writing also includes an old english dialect for some of it's characters (although it is rather simply done.)  Perhaps the intent is that grown persons will read it with the child. 

The most enjoyable part of the series for me was the enjoyable telling of Beatrix Potters life for the 8 year span of the books. There was clearly quite a bit of research done by the author, and the historical notes at the end are brief enough to encourage even the most tired reader to complete them.

My least favorite part of the books was the repitition of every blessed thing.  For example, every single book will tell the reason behind the towns names.  Every book tells the story of the Brockery's coat of arms.  By the tenth book if you cut out all the parts that you have read before you will be left with hardly a book at all!

All told, I enjoyed the read.  But I would not recommend them. 

Anniversary Vacation Time

Last weekend S and I went on a mini-vacation to St Louis!  For Christmas last year S bought me tickets to see “Memphis” and very cleverly timed the trip so it coincided with our anniversary and so this was a highly anticipated adventure.  We drove down on Friday, stopping in Burlington so my parents could babysit Fleshy.  Then we drove down on Hwy 61.  If you haven’t taken this route lately you’ll be surprised at how quickly it moves now!  Even with a pit stop the drive from B-town to St Louis was less than 3.5 hours!

We stayed at the Mayfair, which is right downtown.  We were able to get off the highway just as the traffic was slowing down which was perfect.  At the hotel, they had some trouble finding our reservation.  I guess that because we booked through a third party, Orbitz, the reservation didn’t upload into their system.  After maybe a 5 minute search they found it, and because we were inconvenienced they gave us a free upgrade to a suite!  YAY!  The room was nice, if a bit old school.  There was a sitting room, bedroom w/ 2^nd TV, and then a large bathroom/closet area.  There was no fridge, and no towel bar for used towels.  Not huge deals, but I’m more than happy to save a hotel on its laundry fund if I can hang my towel up.  The bed was super comfy – and the comforter was the lightweight washable type which made me happy.

That night we went out to explore downtown.  S had googled the area and made a short list of restaurants in the area with food that seems yummy.  We ate at Caleco’s and had some yummy pizza.  It was a thin crust and you could choose any toppings for $.50 each.  We chose shrimp, onion, and olives and it was delicious!  S sampled a local beer that was on tap . .. you’ll have to ask him which one.  I know that the 1^st one was a bit flat, but then they switched to a new keg and he seemed to enjoy the 2^nd one more.  (Beer tasting still isn’t my forte, so if this is something you want more info on – again you’ll need to ask him.)  After dinner we walked down to Busch stadium to try and get some cheap tickets to the game.  The scalpers down there mean business though and although we tried we didn’t have any luck.

Saturday we went to Forest Park.  This was a short maybe 10 minute drive.  We walked through the park, purveyed some of the local graduation ceremonies going on and finally made it to the zoo.  (Those dang ceremonies sure made it a long walk!)  St. Louis zoo is FREE, with the option to buy passes for the train and certain special shows.  It’s large enough that the two of us spent at least 3 hours walking around, and we still hadn’t seen it all, so I would definitely recommend it if you are in the area!  We had a great time – the reptile house there is fantastic.  Spencer spent forever watching the Gorillas.  And the penguins put on a swim show just for us!

After a while walking around though we got hungry so we left and went to The Field House.  Seems like everywhere you go there’s a Field house – right?  It is just what you would expect, a sports bar with greasy food.  We had polenta fries for an appetizer and they were amazing.  They actually convinced us to stay and eat, as we had planned on just getting a drink and then going to the Italian place across the street initially.  At any rate the entrée’s were good, I had smothered chicken, and S had a burger with bleu cheese, jalepeno’s, onion, and a caper sauce.  They are big on choosing your topping because it was just like the pizza the night before.  There was a base price for the burger, and then you chose the toppings.  S enjoyed the Stupid Jerk drink he had.  And I enjoyed my Stella’s.  (Ok, his drink wasn’t really called Stupid Jerk, but it was something like that.  Maybe Arrogant Jerk?  Again ask him for the beer details.  Maybe I’ll just make him do a beer update!)

After dinner we went back to the room to get ready for our date.  I had a new pretty party dress for the occasion, and I will call it a hit, because 2 random people at the show came over and told me they liked it!  “Memphis” played at the Fabulous Fox Theatre, and it was a very good show.  I laughed, I cried, and I wanted to sing along.  What more should a musical do?  The people behind us were from the deep south, and I don’t know if they just don’t get out much or what but they thought the theatre was just so beautiful – and the ceiling decoration was “just like a disco ball.”  S and I found the whole conversation hilarious. 

Sunday we just headed home.  It was Mother’s day, and we wanted to spend some time with each of our mom’s on our way.  So we stopped at B-town and saw my folks.  Fleshy was happy to see us.  He didn’t like having to sleep in his room, he likes sleeping on beds, or cushions, or at least a folded towel.  He didn’t like the solitude of sleeping in the dining room all alone either.  After seeing my folks it was on to see Spencer’s mum.  She had made the most delicious enchiladas!  They were amazing!  We saw his sister and her kids for a quick visit too.  So it ended up being a very full day! 

Who am I kidding – it was a very full and wonderful weekend.  S made every moment entertaining, which is one of the things I love best about him.  I can’t wait to see what the next adventure with him will be!

Space Trilogy

 by C. S. Lewis

This book was written in 1938 by an English author.

I am on the fence with this book.  On one side I wish that it had been longer.  On the other I'm not really sure that I liked it all that much.  I am sure that this is a personal failing.  I loved parts of the premise.  The idea of animal beings on Mars bearing more humanity than humans is interesting.  The concept of Earth falling into an evil sphere is also fun.  I'm just not sure that there is enough to the book for it to be considered great.  The elaboration all focused on the Malacandran landscape, and I would have appreciated more character, and social developments.  However, I am still excited to read the remaining 2 books in the series, and I will add to this post as I complete them.