My friend Colleen (in the red dress) had just gotten married. Ceremony was in one of the courtrooms at the county justice center; officiant was Judge Molly, a good friend of Colleen’s.
Al, groom, at far left. Wedding guest Mary, in black, had locked herself out of her car.
If you lock yourself out of your car, do it somewhere where there is person skilled at breaking into cars; say, a sheriff’s deputy. They have the best tools.
Need to try a different angle.
Try another angle.
Success!
We all made it to the reception. Colleen was a librarian, so all the guest favors were books previously weeded from the library collection.
…and they all lived happily ever after.
(The couple celebrated their tenth wedding anniversary last November.)
(Found this in my drafts folder. I hate to waste a blog post, so here it is…five months later.)
Well, that was an eventful weekend.
It all started Saturday morning when I woke up. Percy the pit bull, who likes to sleep under the covers with me, was curled up in the absolute center of the bed, covers pushed southward… and the bed was wet. Apparently, poor Percy had peed himself in his sleep. Gak.
I had a dentist appointment in Excelsior (MN) that day, plus some other errands to run, so I left the bed in its pee-soaked state. Put a couple beach towels over that nasty spot when we got home late that night so I could sleep without getting damp. Result: damp pjs in the morning.
On Sunday I stripped the bed to wash everything and discovered that the memory foam mattress had been contaminated by Percy-pee. Smokey worked on eliminating it but was ultimately less than successful. All that combined with the fact that the mattress is 12 years old led me to mattress-shopping. Consumer Reports, various mattress-reviewing websites, and, ultimately, comparing three top-rated mattresses led me to this one.
It had the longest free return policy (365 days), the longest guarantee (lifetime), was the thickest (11″ vs. 10″ for the other two), and — wait for it — was the cheapest by $50 – $200. Since all three were highly rated and highly reviewed, I went with this one. Plus a waterproof mattress protector from the same vendor. No more damp mattresses for me.
We have rather odd sleeping arrangements. Back in the aughts we inherited Smokey’s parents’ adjustable beds, which I loved and he tolerated. Eventually we moved the queen-size bed that had been our former bed into our bedroom for him — he has always adored that particular mattress, plus the bed was big enough for him AND three dogs plus the occasional cat — and moved his adjustable bed downstairs to one of the spare bedrooms. He was happy, and I was happy; my back does not tolerate lying flat while reading in bed, and the adjustable bed obviated that problem admirably. Our bedroom is large enough to accommodate a queen and XL twin comfortably, although it does look a little strange.
Want to hear about my dentist appointment? Sure you do. One of my bicuspids broke a couple years ago; this dentist put on a temporary crown and told me to plan on having it replaced with a permanent one. Time went by, I occasionally remembered I supposed to get a permanent crown, and eventually in the past few weeks I began to have some sensitivity in that tooth.
Why do we drive ~100 miles to Excelsior to see a dentist? Normally, I go to one 20 miles away and I like him fine, but the the Excelsior dentist is the one we went to when we lived in Minneapolis. He was a long-time instructor at the University of Minnesota dental school and practiced in a U clinic for low-income folks, largely southeast Asian and later Somali immigrants. He is meticulous and painstaking in his work, exactly what one wants in a dentist, plus he is a one of the nicest people on the face of the planet. So when I need major work done, like a crown, I go see Joe in Excelsior.
He started out the appointment telling me that he had no idea what he was going to find when he removed the temporary crown. Maybe there would be additional decay, maybe I would need a root canal, who knew? Much tapping and an x-ray or two later, he told me 1, it looked like a crown, rather than a root canal, would be the answer, and B, the nerve in that tooth could have passed for that of a teenager. As one ages, the pulp area in the center of a tooth calcifies, but mine had not. (Yay, one part of me is still young!)
He worked on that tooth for an hour and a half to get it ready for its eventual crown. Novocaine and nitrous oxide made it (relatively) pain-free, but I was really glad when it was done. That is a l-o-n-g time to sit immobile with one’s mouth open very wide. Joe also gave me the formula for pain relief that he said is equivalent to that obtained from opiates: 3 ibuprofen and 2 Tylenol. I think he explained the chemistry, too, but I was drifting on the nitrous and didn’t pay much attention. All I know is that the dental tech gave me 3 ibuprofen and I had no pain after the Novocaine wore off.
Æbleskiver (Danish pronunciation: [ˈɛːbləˌsɡiːwɐ], [singular: æbleskive]) are Danish snacks that are spherical in shape. The name literally means apple slices in Danish, although apples are not usually an ingredient in present-day versions. Somewhat similar in texture to European pancakes crossed with a popover or Yorkshire pudding, æbleskiver are solid like a pancake but light and fluffy like a popover. Æbleskiver are cooked on the stove top by baking in a special pan with several hemispherical indentations. Pans are usually made of cast iron, allowing good heat retention.
As is common in small towns, we ran into many, many people we knew (several of whom congratulated me on our recent takeover of the leadership of the 7th Congressional District Democratic Party) (and one who approached me to ask, “Are you who I think you are?”). There is nothing like small town friendliness.
One of æbelskiver cookers was a guy whom I used to prepare taxes with. The ticket taker and I used to sit next to each other when we were on the county board. One of the servers is the secretary of our local county party. And so on; you get the idea.
It was a light meal; really, more of a breakfast. Æbelskiver, always served three at a time, according to tradition; sausage; and fruit soup. Yes, that dish that looks like baked beans is actually fruit soup.
Plus strong coffee. No Scandinavian meal is complete without lots of coffee.
* It would not be a waste of your time to peruse the linked website for the church, and not only because it is probably the best non-profit website I have ever read. The events are interesting, and the pastor’s page is a delight.
Three things I do when Smokey is gone (which doesn’t happen very often).
Netflix and knit. I watch things that I don’t think he would enjoy. Midsomer Murders if I want something light, You if I want something dark. Others on my TBWatched list: Jessica Jones, Bojack Horseman, Call the Midwife, West Wing, and many others.
Eat Indian food. I discovered these microwavable meals back when I was working during tax season. It was the ingredients list that sold me; there was nothing that I could not pronounce. No preservatives, no weird chemicals! After I quit working I no longer had easy access to Cub Foods where I had discovered them initially, so I resorted to Amazon. I cook some brown rice and mix it half and half with the lentils or whichever Tasty Bite package I opened. Presto! Two easy and healthy meals!
Get up and get dressed as soon as I wake up. Because he is a night owl, he sleeps much later than I do, and I hate to risk waking him by scuffling around the bedroom finding clothes and shoes (and hand-knit socks to match my outfit!).
