And that's the Tooth!

 

Happy Mardi Gras!

Played a jazz service for the carnival season.

Alejandro Skellyton got in on the festive fun.

jazz jam!

happy Valentine's day!

you deserve flowers!

the new hooptie needed a new battery.

Here we see Car Duck supervising the transfer.

I don't think this car does very well in the cold.

But it seems okay for now.

Still getting used to my new ride.

I still feel sad about letting go of my old Elantra, 

but it was going to have to happen eventually.

I was tasked with baking something to bring into work.

All I can really bake (for other people, at least) is banana bread.

So I had lots of bananas around the house, and I made sure

that the parrot got in on the fresh fruit action. Nom nom.

Getting through the book stack. The start of the year is always kind of

boring for me, so it's a good opportunity to use the extra free time to

catch up on my reading. 

I read a biography about Prince and am currently half way

through a biography of Aretha Franklin. The divine Queen of Soul!

Not a big soda drinker, but I like trying fun flavours.

Unicorn Yack. Pretty tasty :-D

some pre-spring cleaning.

Turtle tank was in desperate need of a good cleanout, and I 

remodeled a bit. I moved the haul out platform to

on side of the tank, leaving the rest of the space for swimming.

Hopefully, Sammi appreciates the extra elbow room, and she

quickly figured out how to get to her newly placed platform

to get in some basking time under the heat lamp.

tried out a local spot that I haven't been to yet.

A pay-what-you-can, locally sourced diner.

Here is the menu for the day I was there.

A tasty meal for a reasonable price. 

Technically, you pay whatever you are able to pay, but

they have a suggested plate price that I thought was 

quite reasonable.

busted out the race legs from winter storage, and ran the first

race of the year. the four mile Chili Chase

I appreciate that the swag for this race is socks, instead of

yet another race t-shirt. And after the run, there's chili to eat!

Veggie chili option provided!

The timing chip always goes on the left shoe.

I don't know what would happen if I didn't put it

on my left shoe, but I don't want to tempt fate and find out.

An unseasonably warm Sunday in February.

Great running weather!

I've been doing a lot of treadmill training, and so finished

with one of my better times for a four mile run.

Not record breaking, but good.

Particularly after the winter chill, when my workout routine is

a bit less vigorous.

Which brings me to my latest cause of distress.

I got my temporary crown put in.

I hate it. I really hope the permanent one causes less misery.

The different coloured tooth is the new fake tooth.

Somehow my tooth had gotten a fracture, which is why I 

was suddenly having some pain. It was a tooth that had

some rather large, old, gnarly looking fillings in it, so

maybe the time factor on old, big fillings caused a crack.

Anyway, this one is temporary.

They drilled away the enamel from my tooth, took

impressions and lots of imaging with some high tech

gadgets, and glued the temporary into my mouth.

I should get the permanent one installed by the end of the month.

In the meantime, I will just eat yogurt and bananas and hummus,

because it's uncomfortable to eat anything else.

And I don't want to risk it falling out before it's supposed to come out.

So, with all the running and the mushy new diet, I've actually lost a few pounds.

This past Saturday, I got up at 430AM, got some coffee, and

drove the White Whale to Savanna, Illinois to judge in the 

solo and ensemble contest for Northern Illinois.

I had to go through an online testing and certification module the 

night before, as I was called in last minute to fill in for the

other saxophone center judge, who had become sick.

I'm not new to judging. I've worked for several events like this, but

up until now, it had been only for local schools.

This was my first state level event.

They let us use Chromebooks to make comments and

submit our scores.

So much easier on my scribbling hand!

I don't mind hand-writing my comments, but this was so

much faster and efficient. And my arm wasn't dead by the end of the day.

Judge Jennifer, at your service.

Play well, kids!

The students were great.

Well-behaved and polite.

I heard some very good solos too.

Some weather this week resulted in some amazing skies.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I must perform my skin care

regimen. This old face won't moisturize itself.