I've Been Busy

It has been more than a month since I've posted. And, for those of you who keep checking for new news, I've been here, but I haven't been here. What do I mean? I've been here, at home, around town, here; but not here, not at the blog, not up to the usual tasks. What have I been doing? I've been volunteering.



For the past few years I've volunteered to work at the neighborhood's Historical Shaw Art Fair http://www.shawartfair.com/ . This year I managed to volunteer to be the Volunteer Coordinator. My job was to recruit up to 300 volunteers to work on the days of the fair, October 6th and 7th, as well as pre-event and post-event activities. I can't think of anything to say to make all this sound humorous. Maybe I'll laugh about it later.

The planning starts every January for the Art Fair held every first weekend in October. A committee of ten or so people meet every month to plan and report the progression toward this event. As we get closer to Fair date, the work steps up and I become less and less available to my life as I knew it. In July, it is summertime, hot, humid and miserable. I don't feel like cooking, cleaning or smiling. Got to start actively calling for volunteers: newsletters, posters, phone calls. Got to get them into the data base and days at the office become more frequent, then longer. Mistakes must be corrected, shifts must be switched, and begging and convincing must be done. Ditto for August. Ditto for September, except the begging gets to be more desperate.

Finally, the weekend came--and then was gone. My head was down most of the time, looking at lists, checking boards, directing volunteers, handing out t-shirts, problem-solving. Collecting money, handing out programs, greeting fair goers. Blah, blah... All this with our table and tent directly behind the bandstand that boasted some good, but very loud bands. (The volunteer table will be moved next year.) "He" even pitched in, working for three days to help set up, then as admissions chair for two days--that's the person who gets to ride around in a golf cart from admissions gate to admissions gate and pick up the cash from time-to-time then taking it to the "bank." On the second day, the cart broke down then He was afoot all day, walking, I would guess, at least ten miles back and forth and around the fairgrounds. All this with good humor. I was impressed.

I took my camera to take some pictures, but only had time to take a couple at the very beginning. I'll try to get some from friends and post them for you. Anyway, there is no rest for the weary wicked, as I'm now off to the West Coast for a week or so. That will be the next post.

If we want a better world to live in, it starts with you and me and our communities.

Our Old House.

We bought this old house in 1993 with plans to restore then flip it in 3 to 5 years. Fourteen years later we are still here. The house was built in 1897 in the Shaw neighborhood. where most structures are brick and built between 1880 and 1920. /http://stlouis.missouri.org/shaw/

To the right is a picture of our second floor bathroom (picture taken in May) as it has been for the last, oh...10 years? Yes, just about that long. But we are happy to report some progress. "He" has recently replaced all the old plumbing and electricity, added vents and strengthened floors, etc. Me? I supervise.

Below is a picture of the bathroom taken last week. So you can see that things are moving right along.

Amazingly, we have remained married through all this, and remained relatively happy. (?)

Owning and restoring an old house is a test of endurance. A real life money pit, it can test the bank account. Our dreams of flipping have faded as it is testing our mortality as well, taking much longer as we get older. We do wonder if we will be able to climb the stairs to use the bathroom when this is over. I've recently thought about where we might install an elevator to get us up and down the four levels of the house since He would have trouble leaving all this behind after having put so much into it: his sweat, his money, his satisfaction of having done it.

Oh well.

Well, it's like this, see...

I haven't posted anything for a bit because it appears that I've only been complaining about the hot weather. So, I waited for something new and exciting to happen to talk about. That's not working. It is pretty much same-o same-o around here. But I did have a tooth pulled last week.

A couple of years ago I had a root canal done by an aging dentist whose hands shook mildly as he worked. I was a bit worried about this but stayed in the chair and had the work done. Well, it's like this, see...

I developed a root canal infection.

I've copied information from an Atlanta Dental website that fully explains the problem.

There are several causes of a bad root canal. The most common reason is inadequate filling of the canals. The filling may not have sealed the entire canal space and an unfilled area at the end of the root contains dead nerve
material. This dead tissue rots, develops a root canal infection and results in
root canal pain.

A root canal infection can become serious and spread to other areas of the face and skull. It is not uncommon for teeth to die and get infected. Since the tooth is dead, blood can't enter the tooth and bring protective immune cells to kill the infection, so the problem grows. In most cases the infection spreads to the surrounding bone.

In most cases, a bad root canal can have root canal retreatment but the success rate of the therapy is much lower than with new root canals. If the root canal tooth
continues to have problems then root canal surgery or a dental extraction are
options.

I opted for the extraction.

I was referred to a reputable oral surgeon (with steady hands). The dental assistant called me in and as I approached her I said, "I want the gas! Just give me the gas." She laughed as she showed me the chair.

So, the tooth is out now and I'm recovering nicely, thank you very much, and getting back to a regular schedule.