It Fit!!!!

The new settee came today. And...made it effortlessly through the front door.

Of course we decided I needed to go run errands during the delivery timeframe.

I was convinced it wasn't going to fit...and would become the world's most expensive piece of porch furniture.

But all is well. And the ancient loveseat has a new home...on my sunporch...and it looks quite nice there, too.

All that fretting for nothing...

Somewhere Over the Rainbow...

Is my eye...
Lovely, ain't it?

I went to the gym looking like this today. Needless to say I received some curious looks.
The bruise on my cheek by the corner of my mouth has flourished today, too. Spice told me I looked like I was in a fight.

Tee hee...

But once again...after showering and some clever concealing, none was that noticeable.



I'm on the mend!

It Must Get Worse Before It Gets Better!

Day 3: Operation Black Eye.

Here's what I looked like upon awakening...no makeup...





And then...after the beauty of modern cosmetics:

The glasses hide it even more.


Can't wait until it turns a lovely shade of RAINBOW! Although I'm hoping with the 4th just around the corner it will look more red, white and blue.

How patriotic is that?!?!

Apparently, A Night's Rest Didn't Help...

Here's what I woke up to a half hour ago:

I'm going to go into the office today, too.

Thank God for decent cover-up...although I'm not sure even that's going to work.

It's also still pretty swollen, which doesn't translate as well in the photo.

Beautiful!

PRETTY!

The surgical aftermath: When I woke up this morning, I had some swelling on the right side of my face. My upper lip was and still is all puffy. And my eye was swollen down below the lower lid up into the lashline. But I wasn't bruised.

However, the endodontist did warn me that things could get kinda ugly today...and even into tomorrow.

Ummmmmm....he wasn't kidding.

My formerly, only swollen face is now developing some lovely bruises...including a the beginning's of a nice lil' shiner in the swollen zone under my eye. I think I'm going to tell everyone they need to see the other guy if they think I look bad!

It ought to be quite a day at the office tomorrow. Thank God for good coverup!!! Although...I have a feeling it isn't quite going to do the trick...

Sigh.

Instruments of Torture

Yesterday morning at this time, I found myself sitting in the patient chair at the local endontist's office, examining this scary selection of tools -- and the ubiquitous rubber gloves and wondering how in the heck did I get there.

You see, a root canal I had done 10 years ago had begun to fail, really fail...and this particular doctor decided it was worth trying to save the tooth rather than merely extract it and do an implant. Why? Because it was my right lateral incisor -- yep...my right side front tooth.

Apparently when a root canal fails, it usually happens at the tip of the root...an easy repair job. But not mine. I'm never normal...or simple. My failure happened in the middle third of the root and thus, the good doc had to cut off most of my root yesterday. I wasn't asleep for it. All I had was a huge faceful of Novacaine. I didn't feel anything...but I'll tell ya -- it didn't sound good at all!

I had figured I'd be a bruised mess today, but actually, while it's bad, it isn't as bad as I had thought. No bruises....just a hugely swollen upper lip that looks like I wandered into a wasps' nest. And.. strangely enough, the area underneath my right eye is swollen...guess I'll be wearing sunglasses wherever I go today.

Maybe later, once I've showered and brushed my hair, I'll take a pic for posterity's sake.

Then again...maybe not.

Storm Clouds

Sunday, we went to Swings 'n Things to belatedly celebrate Evan's 9th birthday with my mom, my sister and nephew.

The entire time we were there, dark clouds hovered overhead. Threatening clouds.

And just as we were getting in our cars to leave, the storm began.

It was so nice of it to hold off until we were done.

Evan particularly agreed -- two years ago when we went there, he was too small to drive the rookie go-carts. This year he was more than tall enough.

He's growing like a proverbial weed, so by next summer, he'll probably get to drive the full-size ones.

Watch out...he's hell on wheels!

Big Bazookas!

Ever get hit in the backside with a fast movin', giant Nerf bazooka dart?

Lemme tell you this -- it's not all that pleasant.

Yeah...I was a victim...as were all the grownups during a night of Nerfdom at Ty's house.

Her son, Drew, got this fine weapon that day for his 8th birthday -- it even comes with a little removable ancillary dart shooter on the side. Evan snatched that one up right away.

Bedlam, I tell you... bedlam!

I Hope It Fits Through the Door!

Because it's a non-returnable floor sample.

The long-awaited replacement for my battered, but-well-hidden-under-a-slipcover, 17-year-old loveseat. And my dog, Baker's favorite back scratcher.

We planned to wait to replace it after the elderly dog moved on to greener pastures, but I have had my eye on this little gem from Crate & Barrel for 6 months. And this week, on a rare visit out to the Cleveland-area store, I discovered the floor sample on sale at $500 off the order price. And it is in great shape. So I pulled out my VISA and voila...

It's arriving on Saturday.

I have to think delivery will go fine. After all, my regular sofa is a behemoth, and it made it through the door just fine five years ago.

Fingers crossed that all works out. And that

Baker doesn't love it as much as he loves the old one. I guess I'd better get a sheet ready to cover it, just in case.

Nerdalert!

Should we be concerned that Evan so easily and willingly will pose in any sort of goofy scenario?

Of course...as my t-shirt so honestly notes, he does come by it naturally.

Vacation Photos...That Aren't Mine!

Seems like practically everyone I know is on vacation somewhere beachy this week. Where I'd rather be at the moment. A kinda of "anywhere but here" mood has taken over my senses this week. These camera-phone contributions from my friends, Mary and Ty make me want to pack my bags and get the heck outta Dodge, er, Cleveland.This first picture is morning in Amelia Island, FL. I am so wanting to dive into that pool. As I am fond of saying, I LOVE to swim if I can see the bottom and it's painted blue. And it's even better if it's surrounded by palm trees!


The beach shot is courtesy of Ty. They're camping at Hunting Island State Park in South Carolina . Makes me want to grab my book, a couple of iced teas and my trusty, aging iPod and just chill under the tent...sea breezes ruffling my hair. The sound of the ocean gently soothing my frazzled nerves.

Boy...am I jealous!!!

My Worst Nightmare...

The Madagascar Orb-Weaving Spider.

Thank God it was behind glass.

You couldn't begin to fathom the piercing shriek and subsequent primal, hysterical wailing you would hear if this ridiculously large arachnid climbed on me.

I was shaking just attempting to take the picture.

Wide-Awake Koala

I've never seen this before at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo.

The koala was wide awake this afternoon.

Ok...not just wide awake...completely active, too.

In all the years I have gone into that exhibit, I've only seen that thing hanging off a tree sleeping.

Today, he was running all over the ground, climbing up trees, climbing down trees

And he really does look like a stuffed animal...too cute for words.

The Boys of Summer

A breezy night.

A little league baseball game.

On the shores of one of the Great Lakes.

At sunset.

If this doesn't say summer, I'm not sure what else does!

Ain't Nothin' Like the Sunday Paper

It looks like Sid agrees.

I wonder what headline in today's Plain Dealer Metro section caught his eye.

Thanks to Spice, Sid's owner, for contributing the picture and the inspiration for today's post!

On a somewhat-related note, I'm sorry I've been rather MIA on my postings as of late. I have been on a major freelance deadline. I finished it up about an hour ago.

Time to get back to blogging!

So...I'm Terrified of Clowns

And this piece of "art" at my stepsister and brother-in-law's house doesn't do me any favors.

It hangs on the wall in Johnny's studio. Thing is, supposedly it has been there for long time. I've hung out in that studio before.

Why have I never noticed it until now?

And believe me...I NOTICED it.

I told him if I woke up at 2 a.m. with nightmares, I as was calling him.

At least he doesn't have a ventriloquist dummy in there, too.

That would have sent me over the edge.

Lady Liberty Holds High Her Torch...

In the bottom of a coffee cup, nonetheless.

Take a gander...do you see it?

It's not quite the miraculous pilgrimmage-inducing manifestation that the face of Jesus would be, but it's still pretty nifty.

Thanks to Spice and her co-worker, Rusty, for supplying me with this caffeinated apparition...and more material for the ol' blog.

I'm feeling we now should break into some sort of patriotic song...

Bedazzled Banking

The beauty of the Bedazzler continues to follow my friend, Kate.

Today, she took money out of the ATM.

And got this lovely, bejewled $20 bill.

Here's a close up. And yes, the jewel is firmly affixed to the bill. It is not a hoax.

I've never received a blinged-out $20 from the ATM before.

I'm a little jealous.

Oh, and photos of this unique find...courtesy of Kate.

Finally...Shoes that are CUTE and COMFY!

I recently splurged on a pair of shoes that caught my eye in an ad online.

When I say splurge, I don't mean a Carrie Bradshaw $500+ splurge on a pair of Manolos or Jimmy Choos (although I wish I could do that...).

A splurge for me is more in the ultra-modest $50-$100 range.

And I'm glad I did with this pair. They're cute. They grab attention.

And...best...they are COMFORTABLE. No pinching. No rubbing. No undignified limping despite the fashionable footwear.

I didn't know cute and comfortable could co-exist.

What's more...even though I bought them online, I had them the NEXT DAY with free shipping. That's right. Praises to Zappos.com...there is no such thing as delayed gratification for my shoe fetish. I ordered them at 7 a.m. They landed on my front porch by noon the next day.

This could be a dangerous discovery...

Lake Erie Sunset

From the banks of Lakewood Park this evening...

To the west...

To the east...

On an absolutely perfect, almost-summer night.

Cleveland's Rodeo Drive...

Ok...not quite.

At one time though, Tower City Center boasted such designer retailers as Calvin Klein and Barney's New York on the high end and upscale mid-price chains such as J. Crew and Banana Republic, among others.

Nowadays, the roster of "fine merchants" is quite a bit different, as this sign proves.

I'm not going to even comment. I'm sure what retailer in the list prompted me to snap this picture.

It's just a sad commentary on the state of downtown retail in America. Only a few cities still have the panache to pull it off.