Showing posts with label 20 in 2020. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 20 in 2020. Show all posts

Friday, January 1, 2021

Wrap It Up & Move Ahead

Wrapping It Up

I had a superb year of completing all my goals in 2020. Here are the results:
  1. Transcribed my session with John Holland from Skamania Celebrate Your Life retreat

  2. Created a watermark for my photos

  3. Bought a car

  4. Lost 25 pounds

  5. Found a new medical team

  6. Put 42 jigsaw puzzles together (my goal was 20)

  7. Filed all my digital photos once per quarter

  8. Zeroed out my email box once per quarter

  9. Learned to make 16 Keto recipes (my goal was 6)

  10. Listened to 28 short podcast series (my goal was 20)

  11. Found 33 geocaches (my goal was 20)

  12. Watched 120 movies from my Netflix / Amazon / Hallmark queues (my goal was 20)

  13. Celebrated 28 minor holidays (my goal was 20)

  14. Read / listened to 26 books (my goal was 20)

  15. Wrote 27 Throwback Thursday blog posts (my goal was 20, then to finish my photo transfer series from my old website).

  16. Made a preliminary design for furniture and fixtures in my Studio and built my worktable

  17. Completed a master bedroom closet organizational system

  18. Sent 23 cards and letters via snail mail (my goal was 20)

  19. Painted 40 rocks (my goal was 20)

  20. Bought needed furniture for the house


    I made progress on these alternate goals:

  21. Completed 12 projects that were waiting in the wings for years (my goal was 20)

  22. Made a food treat or dessert each month. (my goal was 12, and I did all of them)

My Word of the Year for 2020 was Settle

Dale and I feel like we did this well. We feel well-established in our home. We've made friends with some of our neighbors. We can get around town without having to use Google Maps all the time. Some of our settling within our new community was thwarted due to the pandemic keeping us in our home so much. But considering our restrictions, we feel relatively settled into our new home of one year.


Onward in 2021!




.
My goals for 2021 are simple and should be a lot of fun for me. I plan to attempt 21 new-to-me artforms! This means I get to try nearly three new types of art each month. 

I've made a list of possibilities, but I'm open to trying other options that present themselves throughout the year. My options include:
  • Artrageous book
  • Braided cord (using the loom I already have)
  • Broomstick lace
  • Crochet a corner to corner afghan
  • Embossed foil labels
  • Felt embossing
  • Finger painting
  • Hairpin lace
  • Heat embossing on paper/cards
  • Macrame
  • Metal punch jewelry
  • Mosaic
  • Nail art
  • Needle felting
  • Paint pour
  • Paint with string or chain pull technique
  • Painting on canvas with oil or watercolor
  • Postcard journal or other journals / bound books
  • Potato stamps
  • Pottery / Clay vessel
  • Quilling
  • Resin
  • Roman shade (for my bathroom)
  • Scratch board
  • Screen Printing
  • Sculpture
  • Security envelope art
  • Silk ribbon embroidery Studio sign
  • Solar printing
  • Sparkler painting
  • Spinning
  • Stained glass
  • String Art (heart)
  • Tatting
  • Tie dye
  • Weaving

My Word of the Year for 2021 is Explore. Where my hope last year was to get to know my new hometown and nestle into our home, this year is a bit of the opposite. It's to learn more about Oregon. Once the pandemic subsides, we hope to find new favorite restaurants. I need a new favorite nature walk area. We want to visit state parks and see the waterfalls.

It also means exploring more inside our home. Obviously, my 21 goals are all about exploring art. But I may also explore more photographic techniques. Maybe I'll try more home decorating ideas. I might do more inner-life exploration by journaling in a different way. I'm considering exploring a different way to express gratitude as well.

One more idea I have for 2021 is to play with the concept of Try It Toosday. I have a folder on my desktop called "Blog Fodder." In it are all kinds of ideas I've gathered from other artists/writers/photographers that sparked an interest in me. So on some Tuesdays, I'll attempt to re-create one of those ideas and write a blog post about it -- because I want to try it too!


I'm looking forward to giving these new goals a try. I think by exploring and learning, my eyes will be open to many more possibilities.

Tuesday, December 1, 2020

Studio Worktable

In a big step toward figuring out permanent furniture for my Studio (one of my 20/2020 goals), Dale and I spent the weekend building my new worktable. I couldn't be happier.

It's a very generous four foot square tabletop that's at counter height. That is a lot of horizontal workspace! My large cutting mat fits on it with ease, so cutting fabric for sewing projects will be a breeze.


Let's start at the beginning. The base of the table consists of two of these cubby units. They are three feet square and one foot deep. Five of the cubbies have a cardboard backing, four are open.


We placed the two cubby units back to back and secured them on the sides with metal braces. It makes for a very sturdy pedestal base with the added benefit of lots of storage.

Next we took two 2 ft x 4 ft shelves, butted them together on a long side, and braced them together with four 10-inch metal strips. This created a sturdy, flat surface for the tabletop.

We centered the tabletop over the cubby units, and drew a line on the underside of the tabletop around the cubby units. That created an approximately 2 ft x 3 ft area. We flipped the tabletop over, then created a lip out of 1" x 2" strips and some "L" brackets. This forms a lip that rests around the tops of the cubby units. The tabletop has essentially become a lid on top of the cubby units!

We finished the piece by ironing melamine edging strips onto the edges to give it a finished look.

We didn't want to attach the tabletop directly to the cubby units because then the entire unit would be too cumbersome to move. This way, when needed, the tabletop simply lifts off, then can be turned on its side to fit through doorways.


Though the table is very heavy, it can be moved fairly easily because we added furniture glides to the bottom of the cubby units. As long as we push the table from the base instead of from the top, it slides on the vinyl flooring very easily. This will come in handy when there are more than two people working at the table and we need to slide it to the middle of the room. (I'm imagining the time when all my daughters and granddaughters will be here together, building a gingerbread village again).

The sides of the table have a twelve inch overhang so that, when seated, there is plenty of room for my legs. For Christmas, Dale is planning to buy me two bar stools so that I can easily craft while sitting as easily as while standing. Once this darn Covid time is over, I'll be able to have my daughters in for Crafternoons and have a nice place for them to sit, too.

The ends of the worktable have a six inch overhang. I'm using that space next to the wall to store large, flat items like my cutting mats, mat board, foam core, and poster board.


Since only five of the cubbies have a cardboard backing, I have four spaces that are two feet deep. Here I can store some of my longer items, like bolts of fabric and rolls of interfacing.


When I'm doing papercrafting and cardmaking, my Guillotine paper cutter and my Big Shot embossing/die cut machine can sit on one side of the table, leaving plenty of room for me to spread out on the other side.



I'm still rearranging my supplies, trying to come up with an efficient use of the space. For the moment, I have all my painting supplies on one side of the table. On the other side, the cubbies are filled with "crafts that are about to happen." For example that's where the supplies for the Grandbaby Craft Kits are temporarily stored. I'm sure I'll be moving things around quite a bit before the work flow feels right. The nice thing about cubby cubes is that they easily move from one unit to another without a lot of fuss.

I am pleased as punch to have such a big and practical work and storage area. I plan to make very good use of it.


Sunday, November 15, 2020

Achieved!

I'm happy to announce that I've completed all of my 20 Goals in 2020!



Having them all done by mid-November is a record for me. Without doubt, it's because I've been homebound during much of this pandemic. It's also because most of my goals did not involve going outside or having to rely on the company of other people.

Having this massive set of goals helped me stay sane. It gave me focus. I had something tangible to work toward. I've earned my gold stars.


I hope that going forward, I don't become rudderless. Our governor ordered Oregon to "freeze" due to the rising Covid cases. It's not a total lockdown, but we have additional restrictions. It looks like I'll need to find ways to stay occupied here at home for quite some time to come. 

Time to settle in some more, do more crafts, read, watch movies, take photos. Whatever comes my way, I'm quite likely to document it here on my blog.

Let's see what opportunities present themselves.

Monday, November 2, 2020

Welcome to Our Patch

For the last couple years, I've wanted a sign with this sentiment to place on the porch or near the front door. Most of those I saw were either too expensive, would take too long to arrive, or had a design I didn't like.

So what's an artist to do? Make her own.


This is the very first time I've ever painted on canvas with acrylic paint. Since the entire attempt was a crapshoot, I made it as inexpensively as possible. (My entire expense for new materials was three dollars!)

I started with an 8" x 10" canvas from Dollar Tree that I had on hand. I used white chalk paint from my stash to give the canvas an initial coat of paint. Then I mixed some light orange paint with a dab of red and dry-brushed over the white. By making several batches of the orange paint, I was able to get variations in the color. I absolutely love how the orange background came out.


Feeling encouraged with that small win, I moved on to the design. I found the image on the internet. I transferred it onto the canvas using fabric tracing paper from my sewing kit (of course!) It worked remarkably well.

Then it was time for the hard part: painting.

I first tried using the two white paint pens I had on hand. I wish they were fresh, because I think that would have been the ideal way to tackle this piece. But the pens weren't working well. So I tried some white acrylic paint. It didn't cover the orange well. So I ended up using the same white chalk paint as the original coat. Chalk paint covers quite well, but it does dry fairly quickly and gums up the paintbrush. 

I obviously have a lot to learn about paints and paintbrushes. I had quite a bit of trouble. So I took my time, listened to podcasts while I worked, and eventually got the design painted.

It was ... messy. I decided to use an ultra-fine tip black Sharpie to outline all of the white design. It's still messy, but doesn't look too bad from a distance.

I decided I needed to seal the painting. This was another fraught step. Would it work? I have a very old spray can of matte sealant - honestly, I think it's over 35 years old! The last time I tried to seal on top of Sharpie, the ink bled. So I took my chances and gently sprayed the sealant on the painting. Not only did the ink not bleed, the sealant helped the colors to pop. I am so pleased!



I bought two different 8" x 10" frames at Dollar Tree, (one of which had to be super-glued back together at a corner). When I tried to put the painting in the frames, I learned that my canvas wasn't cut straight. It was slightly too big for either frame. (I've spent two dollars at this point).

The following day, I stopped by a different Dollar Tree location. They had 11" x 14" frames! So I bought one of those. (The third dollar spent). I used a black mat from my stash. It was 11" x 14" with an 8" x 10" opening. I simply taped the canvas to the back of the mat with some painter's tape. (I go high tech). Then all the pieces fit together. 

I hung the painting in our entryway at a rather unusual height. But it works! This is what it looks like when we walk in the front door.


And here's a close-up of the completed painting, in place.



Three dollars! Plus, since most of the supplies were on hand, this is another step toward finishing my 20/2020 goal of completing 20 projects where I already had the supplies: canvas, paint, mat, sealant.

As a bonus, I'm rather proud of myself for trying a new technique and having a measure of success.

Sunday, November 1, 2020

October Goal Update


I'm nearing the end of the year and the end of my 20 Goals in 2020 list. All I have left to complete my goals are a couple that need to be done once per quarter and finish my Studio furniture plan. Having to stay inside and keep busy during this Covid year has given me the opportunity to focus on these goals. For that, I'm grateful.

The biggest accomplishment for September is that I finished one of my alternate goals: buy a new car. I've been putting that off for well over three years. When I finally got down to it, I ended up purchasing the very first car I took for a test drive.

Other than that, I continued going above and beyond on several of the goals I already finished. For example, I've now watched more than four times the number of movies than my original goal.





Overall Statistics

Completed: seventeen goals
In Progress: three goals + two alternate goals
Unstarted: zero!
High-achiever (reached my goal but did more anyway): thirteen goals

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Goal Details

1. Transcribe session from last year's Skamania Celebrate Your Life retreat
Finished in February

2. Create a watermark for my photos
Finished in September

3. Buy a car (switched out this alternate goal).
Finished in October

4. Reach a new goal weight
Finished the 1st in March.
Reached the 2nd goal weight in April.
Reached the 3rd goal in July.

5. Find a new doctor, a new dentist, and a psychiatrist
Got a counselor in October

6. Put together 20 jigsaw puzzles
Finished in February.
Put six more together in October, bringing my total to 40. I doubled my goal!

7. File all new digital photos once per quarter
Finished third quarter in September

8. Zero out email box once per quarter
Finished third quarter in September

9. Learn to cook six keto dishes
Finished in March.

10. Listen to 20 podcast short series
Finished in July.
Listened to three more podcast series in October:
25. You and Me Both with Hillary Clinton - October 07
26. The Michelle Obama Podcast - October 10
27. Kamala: Next in Line with Joy Reed - October 31

11. Find 20 geocaches
Finished in March.
Have found 33 so far this year.

12. Watch 20 movies or series from my Netflix / Netflix DVD / Amazon Prime / Hallmark queues
Finished in May.
Watched 16 more movies in October, bringing my total to 81 so far - more than four times my original goal!

13. Celebrate 20 minor holidays
Finished in May.

14. Read / listen to 20 books / audiobooks
Finished in July. 
23. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J. K. Rowling
I'm 3/4 of the way through another book, but it's a bit of a slog. Not great writing and not a very engaging story.


15. Write 20 #throwbackthursday blog posts.
Finished in June.

16. Create a preliminary design for permanent furniture and fixtures in my Studio.
Made more progress in October.
Did some research to find a proper worktable. 


17. Master bedroom closet organization.
Finished in February.

18. Send 20 letters / cards
Finished in July.

19. Paint 20 rocks.
Finished in March.

20. Buy furniture: couch, loveseat, glider, dining room table.
Finished in April.
In October we bought a medicine cabinet for the powder room.



Alternate Goals

Complete 20 previously started projects
Finished six more in October
6. Navy blue sweater pillow - October 07
7. Blue sweater pillow - October 08
8. Black sweater pillow - October 10
9. Gray sweater pillow - October 10
10. Black sweater googly eyeball pumpkin - October 11
11. Black sweater sequins pumpkin - October 11
I also completed four crafts that were new ideas. I can't help myself.

Make a food treat or a dessert each month
October - Brownies



Word of the Year: Settle

As for getting more settled into our new home, in October we:
* Bought a medicine cabinet for the powder room (not yet installed)
* Decorated for Autumn
* Bought a basket that sits on the stairs to temporarily contain items that need to go upstairs
* Power-washed the fence

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In November, I hope to decide on a work table for my Studio. I plan to bake some cookies for our neighbors. I'd also like to zero out my email inbox again and file my latest photos. Finally, I hope to take a photo of one thing per day that I'm grateful for.

Tuesday, October 20, 2020

Pretty. Frustrating.

 The image on this puzzle and the colors of the Antelope Valley are beautiful.


However, as a puzzle, this picture stinks. This was one of those very frustrating puzzles where too many of the pieces look alike. Once the blues and yellows and purples were done, a sea of red and orange was left over. It was a case of sorting pieces by shape, then having to try piece after piece after piece with very few visual clues. That's not engaging or fun. It's drudgery. 


As a further insult, the four pieces in the top right corner were missing. Hrumpf.


It wasn't even a dollar's worth of fun. After taking photos, I threw this one away. 

Not good. Not good. 

I'm tempted to redo the guitar puzzle as a cleanse. 

Monday, October 19, 2020

Call Me Sparky

 After over 12 years with my blue Charmed Car (Hyundai Accent), our ways have parted. Jeanne's car gave up the ghost the week before she moved from Spokane Valley to Eugene/Springfield, so I offered my car as a way to get her here quickly.

I've missed having wheels! Yesterday, Dale and I found this 2019 beauty. It's a Chevy Spark. This baby fits me just right and has lots of features the Charmed Car never had ...



like a rear windshield wiper.

It's the little things.


Happily, "buy a new car" was one of the alternate goals on my 20 Goals in 2020 list. It feels great to check that one off. I'd been meaning to get a new car for over three years. I was finally pushed into the dreaded searching/buying process. Luckily, I felt comfortable with the very first car I test drove. Bam! Done!

Sunday, October 18, 2020

Growing the Patch

 Once I completed the turning-sweaters-into-pillows project, I still had sweater fabric left over. I used the sleeves of the black sweater to decorate a couple more pumpkins. 

I saw examples of black pumpkins with orange polka dots on Pinterest, so decided to use the ideas as my starting point. 



I covered the first pumpkin with silver and orange sequins, held in place using straight pins with black and orange heads.


I fashioned a stem out of floral wire covered in black yarn. Then gave the stem a collar of black felt imbued with iridescent glitter.



The second pumpkin was covered in the black sweater, then bedazzled with four sizes of google eyes.


I admit to burning my fingers several times with the hot glue as I stuck the eyes to the pumpkin.


I created another stem with floral wire covered in black yarn. This time, I unraveled some yarn to use as a collar around the stem.


They're quite a pair! My granddaughter Melody particularly likes the one with eyeballs.

Using the sweater material for two more projects works toward one of my alternate 20 Goals in 2020. I may yet finish 20 of the projects I've begun or had kitted up. 



Friday, October 16, 2020

Day of the Dead

 Another day, another 300 piece puzzle. Because this puzzle has so many colors, so close together, I really couldn't sort the pieces by color as I usually do. Instead, my approach to putting this puzzle together was to grab a piece, check it out against the photo, put it on the board in approximately the correct spot, repeat. Eventually the pieces start lining up and connecting. 


Though I call it the Day of the Dead puzzle, it's officially called Colorful Traditional Mexican Ceramics.


This is another case of a one-dollar puzzle with a missing piece. I did my trick with gluing several layers of card stock together to make the 4th corner. This puzzle was enjoyable enough that I can picture putting it together again.




Wednesday, October 14, 2020

Guitar Happiness

This is the most enjoyable jigsaw puzzle I've done in a long time. It is small enough to do in one sitting. The colors are beautiful. There is enough color and texture variation to make it a feast for the eyes. There are plenty of clues to help move the piecing along because there are not too many similar pieces. I wasn't fighting the image and having to default to sorting solely by shape.



It made for an extremely pleasant evening. It's a keeper. I want to find more puzzles like this. 


That's a lot of fun for a dollar!

Saturday, October 10, 2020

Upcycled Pillows

I did a bit of upcycling this week. I took four of Dale's old sweaters (that are now far too big for him), and turned them into some cozy couch pillows.


I cut the sweaters into 19" x 19" squares, then serged three of the seams shut. Next I inserted the 18" pillow forms (bought from Amazon) and closed the last side seam with an invisible ladder stitch. Finally, I reinforced the seams by topstitching all the way around the pillow with a zigzag stitch 1/2" from the pillow edge. That created the small flange.


I like that these pillows are not simply for decoration. They'll be great for getting some real use, napping on the couch or propping up a book as we while away the winter hours in front of the fireplace.

Happily, this project completes four more steps towards one of my alternate 20 Goals in 2020. That is to finish up 20 of my partially done or kitted projects. I've finished up nine of those projects so far this year. That's encouraging!

Next up, I plan to use the arms of the black sweater to craft a couple more decorative gourds for my Autumn pumpkin patch. 

Friday, October 9, 2020

In Progress

 I didn't sleep long enough last night, so I've been off kilter all day. I'd planned to do some sewing, but that didn't happen. Instead, I started a jigsaw puzzle. Of buttons. That's almost like sewing, right?



Let's hope I can find that last green piece.


Thursday, October 8, 2020

Bicycles

 Rested for a while with another jigsaw puzzle



Working with these vibrant colors was enjoyable. I needed to get into the groove by completing the tires first.



Monday, October 5, 2020

Fishing Boats

 I had the chance to pick up a few more one dollar, 300-piece puzzles last week, and the chance to put one together today.


I didn't feel well yesterday, and was still recovering today. This was an excellent quiet activity, working with very pretty colors.



Thursday, October 1, 2020

September Goal Update

It's hard to believe another month has slipped by! I'm happy to report I finished two of my more challenging goals: having a dental appointment and making a watermark for my photos. I managed to zero out my email account. Plus, I backed up my computer.

Other than that, I continued going above and beyond on several of the goals I already finished and did a bit more settling into our new home.




.
Overall Statistics

Completed: sixteen goals
In Progress: three goals + two alternate goals
Unstarted: one goal
High-achiever (reached my goal but did more anyway): twelve goals

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Goal Details

1. Transcribe session from last year's Skamania Celebrate Your Life retreat
Finished in February

2. Create a watermark for my photos
Finished in September

3. Memorize the names of all the U.S. presidents in order
Not yet

4. Reach a new goal weight
Finished the 1st in March.
Reached the 2nd goal weight in April.
Reached the 3rd goal in July.

5. Find a new doctor, a new dentist, and a psychiatrist
Finished in September
Had a dental cleaning and replaced crown. Great dental office!


6. Put together 20 jigsaw puzzles
Finished in February.

7. File all new digital photos once per quarter
Finished third quarter in September

8. Zero out email box once per quarter
Finished third quarter in September

9. Learn to cook six keto dishes
Finished in March.

10. Listen to 20 podcast short series
Finished in July.
Listened to two more podcast series in September:
23. The Oath season 3 with Chuck Rosenberg (highly recommended)
24. The Other Latif from RadioLab (interesting)

11. Find 20 geocaches
Finished in March.

12. Watch 20 movies or series from my Netflix / Netflix DVD / Amazon Prime / Hallmark queues
Finished in May. 
Watched 23 more movies in September (too many to name)

13. Celebrate 20 minor holidays
Finished in May. 

14. Read / listen to 20 books / audiobooks
Finished in July. 
Read one more in September:
22. Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling


15. Write 20 #throwbackthursday blog posts.
Finished in June. 

16. Create a preliminary design for permanent furniture and fixtures in my Studio.
Made more progress in September.
Put together and filled storage furniture in the alcove. Bought (but haven't put together) more storage furniture for the Studio. 


17. Master bedroom closet organization.
Finished in February.

18. Send 20 letters / cards
Finished in July.
Wrote one more in September

19. Paint 20 rocks.
Finished in March. 

20. Buy furniture: couch, loveseat, glider, dining room table.
Finished in April.
In September, we installed more furniture in the living room and alcove.



Alternate Goals

Complete 20 previously started projects
4. Framed You Are What You Eat in September

Make a food treat or a dessert each month
September - Brownies



Word of the Year: Settle

As for getting more settled into our new home:
* Found a handyman who cleaned our roof and cleared our gutters. We've made arrangements with him to remove a tree and add some gates to the fence.
* Installed three side tables for the living room and entryway. 
* Built three storage cube units for the alcove, and bought two others for the Studio
* Helped Jeanne move to Springfield
* Bought some rugs for the porch and entryways
* Bought some throws and a quilt stand for the living room
* Got a new computer 

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In October, I hope to build a work table for my Studio. Maybe I'll finally memorize the names of the US presidents in order, too.


Sunday, September 20, 2020

Big Fat Beautiful Goose Egg

 Such a satisfying feeling!


Another step toward my 20 Goals in 2020 

Wednesday, September 16, 2020

It's a Double!

Today I made two more steps toward my 20 Goals in 2020. They're both in this photo.

The first is getting all the bins placed in the cubes. The alcove is one step closer to organization. So far, I've only filled one of the bins, so there's still lots of work ahead.



The second goal is up here in the corner. I learned to make a watermark for my photographs, using my own handwriting as my signature.



Though I'll use it less often, I also learned how to add a watermark to the entire image.


Go me! Check that goal off my list!

Friday, September 4, 2020

Accompli

 'Tis done!

This afternoon I framed Jeanne's stitchery. It looks sharp. I used a black wood frame with no mat. I added a thin layer of batting under the stitching. I wrapped the ground fabric around foam core.


I added a label on the back for posterity, because, why not?


Now all I'm waiting for is to have our daughter move here! Soon. Soon.


Bonus: This is part of an alternate goal on my 20 Goals in 2020 list. I've now completed five projects that were started or kitted. I'm hoping to complete 20, so I'm a quarter of the way there!


Thursday, September 3, 2020

Throwback Thursday: Serenity

 I stitched this piece for my mom in 1995. Her favorite prayer was The Serenity Prayer


I love this pattern. I love the color pallet. I love the depth it has from full cross-stitches in front and half-cross-stitches in the background. I love how the pine trees, the lupines, the foggy sky, and the bird in flight all remind me of north Idaho where we lived. After Mom died, this piece came back to me.


After twenty five years, the stitching is still in good shape, but the cherry wood frame was pretty beat up. So this week I took the piece apart and gave the frame a nice coat of black acrylic craft paint. The final result is beautiful.


The Serenity Prayer now hangs in our living room in the corner where the couch and loveseat meet, over our new square glass & chrome table.


It's a happy accident that the grey mat board surrounding the stitchery coordinates so well with the wall color in our new home.


Wednesday, September 2, 2020

Some Royal Assistance, Please

 I feel the need for a crown.


No. Seriously. I need a crown. The one on my molar snapped in half on Monday night. I about ripped my tongue open on my tooth's jagged edge. Thankfully, Jodie hooked me up with her exceptional dentist and I got an appointment yesterday. The temporary crown is in place. 

In a couple weeks I'll get the permanent crown and a teeth cleaning. Yeah! I'd been waiting until the pandemic had run its course before trying to find a dentist. But this broken tooth moved the timeline forward. I'm actually very happy about that. Not only am I six months overdue for a cleaning, but now I get to cross another goal off my 20/2020 list!

Dale dropped me off in downtown Springfield to get me started at the dentist's office. But he had a presentation to give at work, so left me there until after my appointment. I had about an hour to kill before he could pick me up, so I decided to take a walk around the shops and city buildings.

I had the opportunity to walk by many of Springfield's murals, including this one of The Simpsons


Fun fact. The Springfield depicted in The Simpsons had its origins in Springfield, Oregon.

Another fun fact. There is a geocache associated with this mural. It's a puzzle cache that will take some working out of clues to find the cache, so I didn't try for it today. I'm looking forward to nabbing it with Jeanne and Jodie in the not-too-distant future.