Boston Market (almost) Free Meal!

Last night was my first visit ever to Boston Market Restaurant.

My impetus being an online coupon for a $1.00 meal.

Go to the Boston Market website and click on "online coupons".

Our family of four was able to print off and use four coupons. The only "glitch" was that each order had to be rung up separately and paid for separately. The deal is one coupon per person per VISIT and the promotion is running until November 1st.

So looks like if one lived handily close to Boston Market and liked that kind of food, they could eat 2 meals a day there for a few days at a small cost of $1 per meal :) We do not live handily close to a Boston Market - though looks like we may be in that vicinity again on Friday - and so I'll have some coupons with me just in case.

The food was great! I think the dinner we received generally costs $7.00. Beverages are not included in the price - a soda is almost an extra $2.00 - yikes!

The Zoo

The girl had been wanting to take a trip to the zoo for some time. Being that we have been there numerous times over the past years - the parents were not too enthused to go again.

But she asked again on Saturday and the afternoon weather was so GLORIOUS - that we let her have her trip to the zoo.

Unfortunately we did not check the zoo website before going and found the place to be packed. No doubt in part due to the beautiful weather - but also because they were having a Halloween event "Boo at the Zoo" that day.

The hub dropped us off at one of the entrances and went looking for a place to park. He eventually found one :)

The kids had a great time. We usually find out ahead of time what exhibits they mostly want to see so we don't end up running out of time and the kids end up being disappointed b/c they didn't see such and such.

Hippos, elephants, and snake house were on the "to see" list. We saw all of those minus the elephants that were not out. We also made sure to check out the penguins & puffins, the primates, the bears and the bird house.

After taking the bear photo the boy asked if he could have a copy for his bedroom :) I didn't know he was so fond of bears...I think it's for the same reason he likes dinosaurs (though ONLY the meat-eating variety!).


The girl thought it would be fun to pose alongside the photo wall of her ancestors :)

Yet Another Ankle Update

Yesterday I had my appointment with my orthopedic surgeon...he took a look at my ankle and said looks good. I pointed out that actually it was still swollen when compared to my other ankle (which I showed him).

I told him that two weeks ago when I tried running it was instant pain - but I tried again yesterday and it seemed mostly fine. "You need to walk fast first" he admonished...which I definitely have already been doing for weeks.

Soooo he wants me back on the Meloxicam (anti-inflammatory) for another month. He said that if I continued stressing my ankle while it's inflamed - it would stay inflamed.

He ended with "Call me in a month to let me know how it's doing."

My plan is to take the Meloxicam for another month and never see the doctor again - unless things get worse or stop improving. I feel like things have improved slowly - but continuously...so we shall see.

Frank Lloyd Wright House in Ebsworth Park

On Saturday my dh and I went for a tour of the Frank Lloyd Wright House in Ebsworth Park (which is located in Kirkwood, MO).

We've been interested in FLW architecture for some time now and this is the second FLW house we have toured (the other being the Dana-Thomas House in Springfield, MO) in the past year.

The unique feature in the FLW Ebsworth Park house is that there are no right angles (or only a very few) - the house is built based on the equilateral parallelogram - there is even a bed shaped like one (how would you like to have to find sheets to fit that bed?)! No indoor photos were allowed otherwise I would enjoy showing the interesting furniture.

This house was built in the 1950s and all the furniture is original (designed by Frank). There is no basement and no attic but lots of beautiful wooden shelves.

We enjoyed the tour of the house...it made me want to own one just like it - minus the furniture which I thought was actually quite unattractive.

Conundrum

My sister and I are the same age but we are not twins. Neither of us were adopted (pas à ma connaissance). We have the same mother and the same father. How can it be??

Root Canal Fun Continues...

Today was my second endodontic appointment...the filling of the canals.

The appointment took about 1 hour and again no pain except for the extreme pain of keeping my jaw open wide for so long. I have a small mouth (contrary to my elementary teachers' thinking) and I think I have TMJ (my jaw is constantly popping) and so it is very hard to force open my jaw for such a long time.

The doctor thought my tooth looked great "endodontically speaking"...he's still not sure that my crown fits properly so he'll make a note of that for my regular dentist that is supposed to permanently attach the crown in a week or so, if my tooth is feeling back to normal by then.

The doctor didn't think I should have any pain tonight b/c nothing was done that would cause irritation. Hmmm then why did my mouth need to be numbed up?

I'm hoping and praying that this truly is the last endodontic appointment and treatment necessary for this tooth...

I certainly have learned one thing - actually two things from this whole ordeal... 1. Do not have a root canal until the pain is close to unbearable 2. Have the work done by an expert. There is a reason there are dentists that specialize in root canals and in the long run it may save you thousands of dollars.
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And tomorrow I go and see the orthopedic surgeon for my ankle. I was on an anti-inflammatory for about 2 weeks and I noticed that my ankle was less swollen at the end of the day. I stopped taking the pills a couple of days ago to see how my ankle would look - and disappointingly - it's been more swollen. It's also seemed to hurt more (not that it ever hurts much).

Long Live (the) King!

The girl took a picture of this little friend named King (so named due to his/her monarch status). King lived with us for a few days and then disappeared.

King only had one antenna so he was not able to fly very well...but if the girl held him in the palm of her hand, ran and then let go of him - he would glide for awhile.

The girl mixed up a little bowl of butterfly nectar for King and placed it in the garden with him.

One day the girl went to check on her little friend and found that he was gone...hopefully off migrating with his companions.