UNDER THE KNIFE

Excision, stage left

I've been off pain medication for four weeks, I was complaining to Charlene on the phone last week. It shows, she said, you're very crabby and you've lost your sense of humor.

OK, that was mean. I'm always funny.

I've been off pain meds due to having surgery today, Doctor H didn't want me to bleed out and not clot when cut.

Surgery: A 'suspicious' mole on my left breast. I drove to Clayton and rode up the elevator.

Office hallways are creepy:

So is a table that looks similar to a GYN's table. Dross!

There's the needle waiting for me on the counter! Nice size, it didn't even impress my needle phobia.

Doctor H and her tech yakked quite a bit about personal matters while cutting on me. Doc H's brother-in-law is 51, was recently diagnosed with tonsil cancer and is stage three. He's also a physician and father of three kids.
I was treated to his prognosis (not good) while avoiding looking over what's left of my chest. Cancer is rampant in Doc H's family (and extended family). It's terribly trendy these days.

I waited for a pause in the conversation and asked the tech to take this photo. That red outline is blood.

I scolded Doc H for talking over my open skin. If you have Hep C, it would be instant transmission! And what about that superbug?


Results in a week.
I am crossing my fingers, legs and eyes.

THRIFT STORE FIND - BLUE CORAL

What a hunk of beauty. Blue coral, slightly larger than a man's baseball glove. Silly me, I thought it had been dyed so I bleached it. Nothing happened so I googled blue coral and sure enough, it's the real thing.

Things like this make me happy for days.

MARVELOUS BRICK WORK!

Over the weekend I took a stroll with Gen. Our pups trailed along. Gen kindly tolerated my yelping over the brick work, holding Beau's leash and waiting while I took photos. I xoxo Gen and I'm crazy over RIPley (just barely seen on the bottom).



We stopped at this home.
Check out how the bricks were chiseled to accommodate the design on this building. I live for this stuff!




Dyed black mortar with pebbles to match the details in the bricks!



This bungalow is on the 38 block of Humphrey. Down spouts were smartly painted black but oh no, those little shrubs will grow and cover the killer details!

INTRODUCING MARY, M.C.

There's nothing better than a Mexican Voodoo Mary shrine but this one achieves elevated Mojo status. It's encased in dog house style lodging, has a beacon of a night light that burns 24/7, includes stiff and uninspired roses that are somehow hyper real, and has a rabid posse of Mary's!

Holy Cats!
This completely tops my former Voodoo Porch on McPherson during the 80's (the letter carrier was so willied he tossed the mail onto the porch)

Located on Gustine between Utah and McDonald in TGS.
Pay your respects and pass the ammo.

CANDLELIGHT VIGIL WALK - TGS/TGH

Last night many residents of TGS/H met to walk with their neighbors along Grand Ave and then into TGH and TGS both to pay our respects to the victims of two recent murders in our neighborhood and to make our collective presence known.

While the media covered this as a demand for the police to react, that wasn't true. The third district police have been extremely responsive to our phone calls and provided escorts. Props to TGS residents, Scott Heima and Chris Kuban for helping organize.

BRUK & I HAVE BEEN SEWING DOG COATS

I bought the fabric, cut the design, pinned the fabric, supplied the trim and Bruk redid everything and whipped up these coats!

Beau is modeling his Get-a-Long Little Doggy, doubled fleece trimmed with strands of beads, perfect for a hay ride or singing around the camp fire.






Beau is turning heads in his tartan Rodeo coat! Accented with a black western motif and scalloped trim, he's ready to herd cattle or sit on the bleachers in style at the Gay Rodeo!

INCREDIBLE BRICKS!

Spotted on 38 Humphrey Street, these bricks were a joyous discovery. I would love to come home to this every day.



Dyed pink mortar, Oh momma!



Check out the surface which looks like pumice. Astonishing!

THE WALL COMES TUMBLIN' DOWN

The stone wall in McDonald Park needs extensive repair. Huge stones are missing as well as mortar. The granitoid 'top' along the wall is cracking.

I emailed it in to Citizen's Service Bureau for action.

NEW CHIMNEY LINER

Jeff Neumann sent a crew of wild men over to install my chimney liner. Their leader was a guy named Hans who shouted encouragement up to the roof from the basement. Since he was working right below where I was working in the front room, I was treated to his various directives.

Girls, lift that liner up, its dropped on my hands!
Hey, don't pee on her basement floor!
This damn thing was made in Canada. I can't read centimeters. Saddle up, we're going on a road trip to Canada!
WHAT ARE YOU DOING UP THERE, stretch that liner!

I decided to step outside and catch some rays...


And to see what the monkeys were doing...


Hans




I barely resisted calling him Daddy.

Installation, materils, and mortar time: 1 hour. Cost: 300.00.
Increased insults and new cuss words added to my vocabulary: priceless.

LESEL COMES TO VISIT

Lesley (or Lesel as I call him) Caldera came in from the West coast to visit the Kansas City with some family members. Since he was five hours from St. Louis he decided to take the train over to visit with me for a day.

I headed down to Union Station to pick him up. I made it back to the train yard when something looked amiss: no trains. Once inside the mall I discovered I was in the wrong place (not the first time) and hightailed it (with my renown driving skills) over to the Amtrak station. Hey, what do I know? The last time I took a train, it left Union Station!

Saw this headline while I lingered at the Amtrak depot:


Changing landscape? That's an understatement.

The Ann Rutledge was running late so I entertained myself by spying on this little building and its fabulous bricks. Very tidy mortar with little pebbles.







That lasted a few moments so I decided to check out the bathroom graffiti but could only snap this photo before I heard the rails singing with the arrival of the Miss Ann Rutledge.

Apparently this is the place to go when in need of a future husband.


The Amtrack station is a step above the Grayhound port.

The Ann Rutledge skidding in.


Lesel debarking:





Lesel at the City Museum where I always take visiting artists.

WORRY WART

A few years ago this mole starting growing and expanding.

I didn't notice since it's located on the southern slope of a breast. The surgeon who yanked the cancer out of the other breast saw it two years ago and freaked. She did a biopsy which came back negative.

I went back to ignoring it until a recent mammogram. She noticed it again and promptly sent me to a Dermatologist. It's been biopsied, I told the new doctor.

She slipped up and said, Sure, but she probably missed the cancer.

Excuse me?
Well, it really does need to be removed as well as the one on your neck.
There's one on my neck?
How could you not notice this?

Sufficiently scolded, I shuffled out to the front desk where I was given a surgery appointment for December 10th.

Some time during the weekend it slammed hard, I called on Monday and demanded an earlier date. November 12.
25 days.