A Loki and Thor interlude

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

I know, it's a little too early for holiday stuff. I'm sorry. But Loki and Thor want to wish you an early Season's Greetings.

Wordless Wednesday: Croc bait

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A peek into the life of Simba

It's not easy being a world-famous lion. Once the rush of movie stardom ends, some kid throws you in a garage sale where somebody buys you for a buck and says, "Hey, my dogs would like this."

So, here we find you, Simba, on an October morning, sunning in the grass. Neglected like so many other of Loki and Thor's stuffed toys. You've been dropped, stepped on, rained on and mostly dried out. But you're a lion and you like the outdoors. If only you'd been dropped in that tall grass, right? Better to hunt from.



Then, after several days of laying in the backyard, you get picked up and sent on a dangerous voyage through the washer and dryer, where several weaker toys have met their doom. But you survive this trip and arrive safely to the shelter of the toy bin in the family room, clean and sweet-smelling.



Later in the week, we find you laying around in the dining room, then in the guest bedroom, sadly neglected again. Or perhaps you're just too lazy to walk yourself back to the toy bin today?



What's this? Thor is actually playing with you in the bedroom? Is that comfortable, being held by your face?



Oh wait, now I see why you don't like the toy bin. There a giant snake trying to eat you! Oh no!



Then you disappear for another week. I begin to think that maybe the snake finished you off, but then where do we eventually find you? Outside again! Sunbathing after playing in the rain with the other stuffed toys.



So it's once more through the wash-and-dry cycle, then safely into the toy bin, to be abused enjoyed another day. There's no sign of that snake this time.

By the way, your eyeballs are looking kind of faded. Did you know that? At least you still have eyeballs. You should have seen what happened to the first Simba. It wasn't pretty. Go talk to Mousie, he'll give you an idea.

Note: I don't really have conversations with stuffed toys. Stalk them with my camera for a few weeks? Yes. But have a conversation?No. At least, they haven't started answering my questions yet. When they do, that's when you should start getting worried. :)

Wordless Wednesday: Truth in Labeling

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Musings on a cold and drizzly Veterans Day

It being Veterans Day, and me not having taken any photos for a while, I decided to grab my camera as I was walking out the door this morning and see if I could get away at lunch and snap some photos. I did.

A nearby park has a Memorial Pavilion that I'd noticed during a work picnic several weeks ago. So, braving the cold weather and the drizzle, I headed over there. Unfortunately, I was having trouble getting inspired by anything inside the pavilion. No one had laid any wreaths or left any flowers. It had a drab, concrete, institutional feel about it, and I don't seem to be able to photograph drab, concrete and institutional very well. I'm working on it.



At the end of my visit, a carload of skateboarders arrived looking to use the shelter of the pavilion. They kept their distance from me and my camera, but I did get this photo. Perhaps, while they were keeping out of the rain, they looked around and thought about the Veterans who had sacrificed their lives. Perhaps. Especially because the pavilion has a plaque recognizing two residents of their own generation who lost their lives in the current wars -- both Iraq and Afghanistan.



I'm sure there must be some sort of Veterans Day observance happening in Des Plaines, where the pavilion is located, but I could find no sign of it at the memorial or by doing a quick Internet search. They had a service there last year. I know, because I could find a YouTube video.

I guess I'm a little bothered that there was nothing at the pavilion to draw attention to the day. On the VFW website, I saw a post lamenting that fewer and fewer people show up for official observances. That might be true, but you don't have to be part of an official ceremony to appreciate the sacrifice of veterans. Maybe if the pavilion had been decorated with a few wreaths or some bunting, then the random people passing through today and throughout the week might have stopped and taken notice.

Just thinking out loud here. That's what a blog is for, right? I suppose I should take my own words to heart, and next year try to remember to bring my own token of observance.

Or maybe it would have been more appropriate for me to be photographing the pavilion on Memorial Day. In the United States, Memorial Day at the end of May is the holiday intended to honor veterans who died in war or as a result of injuries sustained in war, while Veterans Day is intended to honor all veterans, especially those still living.

Any veterans out there reading this? You have my sincere appreciation.

Feeling adolescent

This photo was taken of me in March 1984, which was 24 years ago. I was a freshman in high school and all of 14 years old. I'd been named student of the month for achievement, and an 8-by-10 of this photo hung in the school hallway, where I passed it regularly for that month.

What struck me about that photo, and why it will always hold a special place in my heart, was the smile. You see, when they took this photo, I'd just had my braces removed. I'm not sure if it was hours or days prior, but it was certainly within the first week.

I'd worn braces for over three years and, trust me, it was a shock to see a photo of myself like this.

Here's a photo that had been taken just six months prior. See what a difference it is? (I'm on the left.)



Problem was, once my braces were off, I was done. I'd been visiting an orthodontist since first grade. I'd had baby teeth pulled, then more teeth pulled, then headgear, then braces. As my mother explained it to me, I had big teeth and a small jaw, so there just wasn't enough room.

Somewhere between 1984 and now, though, my teeth started to shift. (I wish I'd worn that retainer!) The shifting was mostly on the bottom, where you couldn't see it. Then, a few years ago, the bottom started to affect the top, and they started to shift. My teeth didn't look bad, but they bugged me. I missed the confidence that I used to have in my smile. And after all those years of visiting an orthodontist as a kid, shouldn't I have perfect teeth to show for it?

After a friend successfully completed straightening her teeth using Invisalign, which is an invisible retainer system, I decided to check it out. Turns out, my problems weren't just cosmetic. My bite on one side was off now too.

So I talked it over with my husband, and he told me that since I'd been talking about it for years and it was obviously so important to me, I should pursue it.

This morning I had my Invisalign system "installed". I don't think that's what they officially call it, but that's what it felt like to me.

And let me say that sitting in that chair, with the lip spreader torture device on while the technician attached little pieces of cement to my teeth, I experienced what I could only call deja vu. I was in junior high again. I was getting braces!

Albeit, fancy, hi-tech braces, but still braces.

The Invisalign system works by computer modeling where my teeth are now and where the orthodontist wants them to be when the treatment ends. A series of clear plastic retainers (trays) are made to move my teeth gradually. I'll wear each tray for a minimum of 22 hours a day for two weeks each. I have to take them out to eat and drink, but otherwise they stay in. My top teeth will be done after 20 trays, and my bottom teeth will be done after 29 trays. Not only will they straighten my teeth, but widen my arch, too.



Right now, I'm on day No. 1 and getting used to the trays. Everyone assures me that my lisp will go away in a few days, but right now, my "S"s aren't pretty.

My teeth are a little bit sore from the pressure the trays are putting on them, so every few hours I find myself popping the trays out for a little while. But once they're out, I can feel the dots of cement on my teeth, which are there to help anchor the trays. Right now the dots of cement are kind of sharp and feel weird, especially the four on the back of my front teeth that rub against my tongue, so I find myself wanting to put the trays back in. It's a brilliant system, actually, that must have been surreptitiously designed to make me want to keep the trays in.

If all goes well, on Dec. 4, 2009, I'll be popping in my last set of trays and getting ready to finish the whole teeth straightening process. And this time, I WILL wear my retainer.