The Marriage of Science and Politics Is Not Science

I'll say it again: the marriage of science and politics is NOT science.

Here's a mathematical formula: Science + Politics =/= Science.

You cannot trust the results when politics invades science. Politics is about controlling the narrative to produce a result favorable for the politician(s). There is no science in this situation. Only propaganda.

The Hegelian Dialectic is at play here: thesis, antithesis, synthesis. We're being herded toward a politically desirable solution as a controlled reaction to a politically-induced problem. We're being offered a false set of choices in order to make us believe that we have a choice--such as choosing between two schmuck puppets for president but never being able to elect a wild card candidate from a third party--but the end result is already determined, and it turns out that your "freedom of choice" was never freedom or a real choice anyway.

Being herded through the Hegelian Dialectic has never proven to be of benefit for the average person in any era of civilization. Bread and circuses while Rome burns comes to mind.

How else can I say this?

When science becomes politicized, something other than science emerges. Call it pseudo-science. Call it Scientism, the religion of Science, which requires just as much faith on the part of the believer as for anyone who is part of a traditional religion.

If You Read Nothing Else in This Post, Read the Linked Article, Below

Here is a link to a fascinating article by Nick Pineault who debunks twenty-two falsities of the so-called Covid-19 pandemic. He keeps the article as short as possible while also adding some good links to back up his claims, but I encourage you to read the introduction and go through the entire thing. I've been reading the studies, research, and opinions of the scientists who present an opposing voice to this carefully crafted panic. These people are labeled "conspiracy theorists" and are summarily dismissed and stifled, though their credentials and experience far outweigh political creatures such as Fauci.

This is a hoax, people. This is a politically motivated hoax. Yes, there is something with Covid-19 that is causing some people with specific co-morbidities to develop blood clots in the lungs, but that is extremely rare.

The "spike" in Covid "cases" (where "cases" are now identified as people who have tested positive as well as people who are only suspected to have Covid-19; also included in that number are huge numbers of tests that were never administered but were counted as positive results nevertheless) and deaths is mainly due to increased testing and also because most states are only now reporting deaths from April through June (and those deaths were almost always counted as Covid-19 deaths even if the deceased merely tested positive but had no symptoms. Quite a few vehicle accidents and gunshots apparently died of Covid-19!).

This is crap. Fauci, back in 2016, when he wasn't a household name, predicted a "surprise" pandemic during Trump's administration. How do you have a "surprise" pandemic when it is completely expected? Event 201, anyone? And the Fauci of March, 2020, was adamant that it was dangerous and absolutely unnecessary for the general public to wear masks, as they don't prevent spread of ILI (influenza-like infections). Then, later, he said he lied about that in order to save PPE for medical personnel. I'm sorry, but how does your previous lying make you more believable now, especially when you obviously have so much to gain by spreading the panic about some pandemic? How can that political creature be considered a scientist?

We need to stop giving in to the panic that the propaganda artists are peddling. If CNN touted the Russiagate thing for years and is still touting it, even after it was proven completely false, how you can you trust anything else they say? When are they lying or embellishing the truth, and when are they actually telling the plain truth, if ever? Or any of the other MSM alphabet stations, who are all in lockstep with the WHO narrative? So CNN lied about Russiagate due to their slathering hatred of The Orange Man, but now they're telling us the complete truth about some pandemic that hasn't even significantly raised the death rate in any country in the world from the 2017-2018 flu season?

If you had a partner who treated you like the MSM has treated us, you would be in an abusive relationship. Yet we stay, believing that we deserve to be gaslighted and beaten because we are inferior and subordinate to our self-proclaimed masters.

And FYI, I think Trump is an amoral, feckless turd, so I'm not worshiping at his alter, either. He's better than Hillary, but only slightly. He's still one of the schmuck puppets who was selected for the job.

End rant.

Winner by a Nose

I own a large number of perfumes. One whole shelf in my bathroom is dedicated to my bottles of perfume. A few of them are gifts, but I chose most of them myself.

I would tell you how many bottles of perfume I own, but I just went to count the bottles and realized my daughters have been stealing my perfumes. I guess that means I have good taste, right? It's probably mostly Sophia who steals my perfumes, and, to be fair, she usually asks first. Elannah, on the other hand, has begun a love affair with Bath and Body Works, and every once in a while, she'll allow herself to walk into one of their stores and drop a wad of cash on her favorite body sprays and lotions, which means my perfume stash is a lot safer from her sticky fingers. I'm safe from Sian and Gabrielle, as well, as they don't live here anymore.

I don't wear perfume for anyone else but myself, and I don't wear perfume all that often, which is ironic, considering the number of perfumes I own (or, how many I would still own if my daughters didn't scarper off with them). What happens is that I'll crave a scent and then seek out the perfume that scratches that itch, much like one craves a taste or texture or color. (Right? I'm not the only one who has taste, color, scent, and texture cravings, am I?) Today, I needed to smell roses, so I'm wearing rose perfume, but I am also not planning on going anywhere, so the perfume is only for my benefit.

I tend to favor bright floral or citrusy scents, and I don't like sugary-sweet scents. If the scent reminds me of cotton candy, I think of Barbie dolls and tea parties, which is very little-girl. Obviously, choosing a favorite perfume is entirely subjective. Elannah and Sophia gravitate to the scents I consider too sweet, though that obviously doesn't stop them from stealing my perfumes, as well. I also tend to avoid scents with patchouli and a ton of sandalwood.

Here are very short lists of my favorites and least favorites. They are culled from my very limited exposure to the perfumes of the world, most of best of which I can't even afford to look at straight on, much less own.

Favorites

1. Halle by Halle Berry: I bought this when it first came out in 2009 and was available at Walgreens for about $20. Now I see it on Amazon for $145! Yikes! I've always loved the warm, bright vanilla notes in this, the best, of Halle Berry's perfumes, IMHO.

2. Eternity by Calvin Klein: This was my signature scent in college, and I hadn't worn it at all after my early 20s, so when someone gave me Eternity as a gift a couple years ago, I sprayed it on and was instantly transported back to those days. It was like being physically yanked back in time. I still like the perfume for its own sake, though, and not just the memories.

3. Rose perfumes: I don't have a specific designer's perfume here, but I love a well-made rose perfume. When I was in England for a year and a half, I bought a tea rose scent from Boots, the chemist. It wasn't expensive, but it was a good, true, long-lasting scent. I probably wore it every day I was in England and reminded everyone of their aged and wrinkly grandmothers, as it was the grandmothers' generation that tended to wear rose scents at that time.

I now own another rose perfume that always reminds me of England's beautiful green countryside (and their aged and wrinkly grandmothers), but it was a gift from my MIL and the bottle is not labeled, so I can't tell you what it is.

4. Cool Water by Davidoff: No specific memories attached to this perfume, but it's been a perennial favorite of mine for probably the last ten years.

5. revert eco by Rue 21: Some clothing retailers can put out very nice perfume lines without charging an arm and a leg, and I really like this one. It is what I think the color emerald green would smell like.

6. Embrace Green Tea and Pear Blossom by Vera Wang: Vera Wang came out with a trio of drugstore-priced perfumes, all titled Embrace. The other two are Rose Bud and Vanilla and Periwinkle and Iris, but the Green Tea and Pear Blossom is my favorite of the three. It reminds me of standing near honeysuckle trees as a child, deeply breathing in the heady scent of the flowers when they were blooming in the spring. I know the lily-of-the-valley note in this perfume is not the same as honeysuckle, but I'm still reminded of it.

What I Don't Like

1. Poison by Christian Dior: I distinctly remember one time when I was a young adult and I tried a Poison sample, which is a perfume with a lot of musky, amber notes. I knew it was a mistake right away, but it got worse and worse as the top notes dissipated  and the bass notes came to the fore. I nearly puked. After an hour, I had to go and wash it off the best I could just so I could calm my gag reflex. This is the only perfume that I've ever hated with a passion.

2. Obsession by Calvin Klein: Nope. Not my thing at all, and if I had to wear it for any length of time, it would make me feel ill, though probably not as ill as Poison.

3. It should go without saying, but I can't handle any perfume that is very cheaply made, with that astringent alcohol stink like a punch in the nose, an affront to every decent aroma in the world, and which burns into your very brain until you fear you will only ever smell that for eternity. Welcome to hell! Most Avon and Mary Kay perfumes fall lightly into this category for me, though I've taken the unfortunate snootful of some far worse concoctions.

When I was a young teenager, we had a family friend, a single mom of three, who bought a bottle of this awful, cheap perfume and then kept refreshing it every fifteen minutes as her nose became desensitized to it and she imagined she needed to re-odorize herself. I was fourteen, so I didn't know how to tell her to knock it off, that everyone within a one-mile radius was horribly aware of her presence, and that the only man who would come sniffing around (she was hunting) was one with no sense of smell or taste--which, in itself is not an indicator of personal worth, but in her case, always attracted the men who truly had no taste in general. She was a decent person, but she attracted trashy men. I can only think that the perfume chased off the decent men.


Thanks for coming along with me on my journey into happy schnozz country. I have now successfully procrastinated doing some online training I needed to do by writing this post. I'm still overwhelmed with my new job's learning curve, but I'm not the only one. The other new administrative assistant has confided in me that she is also feeling like she is drowning because we're only getting dribs and drabs of training, which makes the whole thing seem nearly insurmountable. It will work out in the end, though it will probably work out better for me if I stop procrastinating.

Sausage Rolls: A Safe Subject and a Delicious Treat

Sometimes I get all fired up about something and feel the need to write it out. Often, I don't publish those drafts into this blog. I'll sit on them for a few days and think about them, and then see if I feel the same way about the issue a few days later and if I feel it strongly enough to publish my thoughts.

Today is not the day I'm publishing something like that. I currently have three drafts sitting in my list. I probably won't publish any of them.

To completely change the subject, then, let's talk about sausage rolls. That's safe.

Oh, and by the way, I've now lost fourteen pounds and husband has lost ten pounds doing keto, with a few instances of eating more carbs than is strictly allowed, but which brings some joy and delight into our days--not that eating keto is difficult or hard to do. I'm now losing weight more slowly, anyway, after the initial quick weight loss: about one or two pounds a week, which is healthy and sustainable.

What is a Sausage Roll?

I first encountered sausage rolls in England. They seemed to be a savory staple at parties, along with chicken drumsticks. Every time I went to a party, there was the inevitable platter of sausage rolls alongside the inevitable platter of chicken drumsticks, and then all the sweet things, like gateau and Battenburg cake. I looked forward to those parties.

Sausage rolls are simple: sausage logs rolled in puff pastry, brushed with beaten egg, and then baked to a golden brown and served hot. They're a nice snack to eat out of hand or a nice addition to a meal, if you add chips (fries), some malt vinegar to sprinkle on top, and a Dandelion & Burdock soda.

Husband often gets a hankering for sausage rolls, and as they are exceedingly simple to make, I like to indulge the hankering on occasion. No, they're not keto, but everyone needs a little puff pastry in their lives once in a while.

How to Make Sausage Rolls

Serves 4 to 6

1 lb bulk sage-flavored sausage (not in links); I usually use the Jimmy Dean brand.
1 package frozen puff pastry
1 egg, beaten

1. Preheat the oven to 350 deg. F.

2. Thaw a package of puff pastry until it can be unfolded without breaking, about 40 minutes to an hour.

3. Unfold one rectangle of puff pastry onto a lightly floured surface and use a rolling pin to flatten the pastry a little in both directions. You don't have to go overboard, and you don't want to make the pastry so thin you can see through it. A few passes in each direction should do it.

4. Squeeze out some sausage from the package and shape it into a log about the circumference of your big toe, though I don't recommend putting your bare foot up on the counter to compare. Place the log about 1 1/2" away from the edge of one of the shorter sides of the rectangle. Shape the sausage log so that it stretches from one end of the dough to the other, wetting your fingers with water if necessary to facilitate shaping.

5. Stretch the dough over the log of sausage and use a little water and your finger to moisten the dough on the other side of the log. Press the dough onto itself to create a roll.

6. Use a sharp knife to slice the long roll off from the rest of the sheet of pastry and then crimp the moistened edge of the roll with a fork to seal.

7. Slice the long roll into four shorter rolls and place them on a parchment-lined cookie sheet.

8. Repeat the process with more sausage and the rest of the dough until you have used all the sausage.

9. Brush the tops of the sausage rolls with a little beaten egg.

10. Bake the sausage rolls for 15-20 minutes, or until sausage is cooked through and the top of the pastry is golden brown. Let cool slightly.

11. Serve warm with malt vinegar, fries, and something carbonated to drink.

There! Now don't you feel a little more English? Pinkies out!

Why I Will Never Compliment a Slim Woman on Her Body Shape Ever Again

The Miss [Our City] Royalty were invited to participate in a podcast recently. The topic was resilience, and each of the girls were asked to share an experience of something that had been very hard for them to deal with and through which they had learned resilience.

Elannah, who had been briefed on the topic a few days before the broadcast, told me that she had decided to talk about her struggle with bulimia, an eating disorder.

I was surprised but pleased she chose to talk about this subject. I know a lot of kids--both boys and girls--are struggling with eating disorders, and I was glad that she considered herself to be in a place where she could talk about something so personal and difficult in order to possibly help someone else who might also be struggling.

I haven't talked about Elannah's struggle with bulimia (and to a much smaller extent, anorexia) before because I didn't want to "out" her without her permission. Now that she is sharing this publicly, I have permission to talk about it here.

When Elannah first came to me over a year ago and admitted that she'd been struggling with bulimia for her whole high school career, I was shocked. I was also horrified that, as a parent, I hadn't figured it out before (she's never become dangerously thin, which would have been a tip-off), and I was really upset that she'd gone through it for so long on her own. But if there is one thing I've learned from the various suicide-prevention and identifying-abuse workshops I've had to attend, it's to contain your shock, horror, or disgust and remain neutral in your tone of voice, your choice of words, and your facial expressions so that the person who has chosen to tell you about their experiences will feel safe to express themselves.

Elannah and I had multiple long talks over the next few weeks and months. I wanted to get her into therapy, as I wasn't sure how much of a stranglehold this eating disorder had over her and if I was at all equipped to help her get through it, but she didn't want therapy. However, once she had finally confessed and was confident that a) I wasn't angry or disgusted with her, and b) that I was not going to force her into anything she didn't want to do, she started opening up about her experience.

We talked about her body image, why she chose to vomit up or deny herself food when she did, and how it made her feel. We also talked about the damage that bulimia can cause--both mentally and physically--and why she needed to find ways to de-escalate the urge to vomit. She was open with me when I asked her if she'd made herself throw up on any particular day, and she started coming to me when she was tempted to stick her finger down her throat and needed to talk something through or be distracted.

We talked about not classifying food into "good" and "bad" categories because eating foods from the "bad" category was one of her triggers. She wanted to remain slim, but she was having a very difficult time knowing what to eat and why she was so weak in the face of temptation for certain foods; vomiting a large meal of "bad" foods she'd binged on made her feel better, as if she'd erased her weakness and mistakes. It was then that all my research on the keto diet really came into play. I was able to teach her which foods to avoid--not as "bad" foods, but as foods that would not contribute to her health--and how many delicious foods she could eat to satiation without feeling guilty. For her, feeling full also made her feel guilty, which tempted her to stick her finger down her throat.

I told her to never say to herself something she wouldn't say to a good friend, which is a mantra I have learned to internalize for my own emotional health. She would never pick apart a good friend or criticize every little thing about a friend's appearance. This advice was something she took to heart, as she talks about in the podcast. Even her close friends might not know how hard she has been on herself or to what unrealistic standards she has held herself in the past.

In the end, she was the one who made the necessary changes, of course. She took to the keto way of eating very well, and I helped her with cooking and prepping. She liked being able to feel full without also feeling guilty for feeling full. She quickly lost some weight and slimmed down--though not to an unhealthy degree--and likes how she feels mentally, physically, and emotionally. She also started practicing speaking more kindly to herself, even when she didn't really believe it, and it has now become a habit.

As far as I know, Elannah hasn't felt the need to voluntarily vomit up her food for nearly a year now. She now knows how to eat so that she can lose weight in a healthy way, so she doesn't feel so frantic and upset if she eats something she used to put in the "bad" category. If she feels like she's putting on too many pounds, she starts eating keto in earnest again. In this way, she can eat real food, avoid damaging physical rituals like throwing up or seeing how long she can go by depriving herself of any food whatsoever, and get the nutrients her body needs to be healthy while also maintaining a healthy weight.

Obviously, we have a problem with unrealistic body expectations in our society, and the face-tuning and body photoshopping we're seeing all over social media is a symptom--as well as a cause--of that. I, myself, have struggled with the disparity between what I think I should look like versus what I do look like, and I have had to remind myself repeatedly that I am not merely my body and that I am a worthy person no matter how I look. I barely participate in any social media platforms, much less the platforms for more narcissistic expression, like Instagram. How much harder is it for these poor kids of this generation who are constantly inundated with false, unrealistic, and sometimes bizarre notions of what beauty is on all these social media platforms as well as from all the usual pop culture suspects?

There was a very cringe-worthy moment once at church a few months ago (in the Before Time) when a woman who has lost a lot of weight and maintained her weight loss for several years (and who is a health coach in a weight loss MLM) looked Elannah up and down and complimented her on her slimmer physique. This was after Elannah had been on keto for a few weeks and had lost enough pounds for it to be noticeable. The woman meant well, of course, but she had (and has) no idea of the struggles Elannah has gone through regarding her weight. Elannah felt the compliment and was gracious, but it was a mixed emotional reaction, which we talked about later. I resolved right then and there to never, ever comment on any woman's body, whatever her body shape. I have never fat-shamed anyone in my life, and these days I have no room to judge (and I know for a certainty that fat people know they're fat and don't need either reminding or shaming. Shaming only encourages destructive behaviors.), but I will also never compliment a woman's slimness ever again, either. I'm just not going to make comments about body shape at all. We are not worthy or unworthy because of our bodies. Slim bodies can also be unhealthy. We just have no idea of the mental struggles so many women (and men, of course) are going through, and commenting on bodies can be far more destructive than we could ever know.

I would link to Elannah's part in the podcast, but it has a lot of identifying information. Though anyone worth their internet sleuthing salt would have already sussed out long ago what my real name is and who my children are, I like to retain some anonymity from those who aren't stalkers. Neither my nor Elannah's name are important here, anyway. The message is.

Kitchen Island Upgrade

Quick keto update: I've lost twelve pounds now, and Husband has lost five. Husband cheats a little more on the diet than I do, but he's also a lot closer to his goal weight than I am, so I think that's why he's lost fewer pounds. 

We've been spending a lot of time at Home Depot lately. Husband hates not feeling productive, and Home Depot is definitely a place where you can find things with which to feel productive.

Husband currently has two projects: the kitchen island and the backyard deck. I'll get to the deck in a future post.

Our main floor is cramped for space. The floor plan creates a big "U" from the front door, wrapping around the centrally located stairs (with stairs leading both down to the basement and up to the second floor), and then into the kitchen, which opens out into the double garage. Into that space, we've managed to fit living room seating, a piano (an electric one, not a full size real upright), a desk with two computers, and a dining table that we can extend with two leaves. That's a lot of furniture, and when we have people over, all available seating is used, plus someone always ends up having to sit on the stairs. We all have to squeeze around each other when we need to move.

We've been tempted more than once to turn one bay of the garage into a dining room just to relieve the congestion when we have big family gatherings. If it wasn't such an expensive proposition, we would probably already have done it. I also toyed with the idea of replacing the stairwells with a spiral staircase so we'd gain valuable floor space for seating as well as a half-bathroom on the main floor, but that also isn't a very cost-effective or viable plan. Plus, how would we go about moving large furniture, like beds and dressers, up to or down from the second floor or the basement?

via GIPHY

There was, however, one thing we could do to relieve some of the congestion between the kitchen island and the dining table, and that was to find a new island countertop that doesn't include an overhang for seating. To that end, Husband snapped up a perfectly-sized stainless steel countertop someone was selling for a hundred bucks. With the addition of a half-size, off-the-shelf base cabinet (which we got from Home Depot for 50% off because of some totally fixable damage), we now have a more functional, less intrusive kitchen island. Yesterday afternoon, my very handy Husband moved the island's electrical box, fitted in the new base cabinet, cladded it with matching veneer and trim, and then attached the new countertop.

My MIL sent over one of her delectable apple crumbles (in the round pan) despite our frequent mentions of eating keto. She uses food to show love, and she is also a great believer in cheating on your diet every once in a while. It's especially difficult when she sends over a plate of her homemade Welsh cakes, still warm from the griddle. Also shown: my soda (diet ginger-lime Coke, of course), a recipe for keto cinnamon rolls, and my cutting board with the amazing ceramic knife my daughter gave me. The knife's edge has remained razor-sharp for months now.

The new base cabinet doesn't match the style of our current cabinets, but we're painting all the base cabinets in the kitchen a dark gray and putting on new hardware so the new cabinet and the old cabinets will look more cohesive as an intentional set. I have hated the limed wood look on the cabinets for the last ten years now, and it's time for a color upgrade.

You can see how worn the cabinet fronts have become. 

Husband bought a paint sprayer to paint the fence (which he has done), and it will come in handy for painting all the drawer fronts and cupboard doors, as well.

My kitchen is a total mess right now or I would have taken more pictures to show you what we plan on doing with it. In short: replace the open shelving with new upper cabinets (open shelving is great, but I've acquired more appliances since we originally installed them, and the only place to put them was up on the shelves. Open shelving is only attractive if you have a very curated set of dishes and/or decor on display.), paint them white, and replace the hood over the stove. Also a possibility: removing the base cabinet and countertop between the dishwasher and the pantry wall and replacing them with a floor-to-ceiling pantry cupboard.

I want as much closed storage as I can get on the main floor. ClosetMaid does a tall cupboard that will fit nicely into the spaces on either side of the ductwork soffit on the dining wall (where you see the red Welsh dragon hanging), and once they're painted and trimmed to look like built-ins, a lot of clutter will disappear.

Of course, this means once again culling our possessions, which is a thought that always makes me tired. But we're not minimalists. The number of board games that we own is, by itself, a daunting thought!

Plants and Shiplap

A couple months ago, I planted some baby herbs in my front garden. I fully expected them to die, as I have one of the blackest thumbs known the man. They have, however, thrived, much to my utter surprise.

On the left, sage. At the top, two rosemary plants. And at the right, mojito mint. They were babies when I planted them, and they've really grown since then. Soon they'll be moody teenagers, who will answer merely with grunts to my questions about how they're doing. When that happens, I'll start using them in my recipes.

Additionally, I planted a rose in the whiskey barrel a couple months ago and fed it some beer, as per instructions from my rose-growing neighbors. I guess roses love a can of beer on their roots every once in a while. Something about the hops. The neighbors were also kind enough to supply us with a couple cans of beer they couldn't stand, which had been brought over by a friend, and which the male neighbor had kept refrigerated in preparation for when that friend came over again so he could make the guy drink it in front of them as a form of retaliation for the gift of such terrible beer. The specific word our neighbors used was "swill."

But the rose bush loves swill! Look how drunk it is on life!

In other, only slightly less plant-focused news, Husband and I and the boys saddled up and took our posse deep into The Big City yesterday to help out Elannah.

Elannah is, as you know, a dental assistant, and her dentists recently bought a third practice, which is located in The Big City. They bought the practice from a retiring dentist who had been operating since the 1970s. The dentists tasked Elannah with getting the new building set up in preparation for patient appointments, which started today. Elannah was happy to do it because she needs the hours, but she had no idea what she'd gotten herself into. She worked all weekend on her own, but Saturday night, exhausted and out of her depth, she pleaded with us to come in and help her the next day, as she was never going to finish otherwise. She'd bitten off way more than she could chew.

I was quite enchanted with the building in which the dental offices are located. It was built around 1970, and it is a lovely, well-maintained homage to the open, airy theme of many '70s designs. The lobby, stairs, and hallways are all wide and tall and filled with light from large, two-story windows.

We climbed the broad, open stairway to the second floor and entered the dental office. From the door of the dental office, directly to your left as you walk in, there is a railing surrounding a two-story atrium, which is fed by sunlight from a skylight high above in the ceiling. The plants and trees are all alive, happy, and tidy, which is the key to a good atrium.

Next, I was thrilled about the offices themselves. As someone who is putting together a renovation/decor plan for my brother's late mid-century modern house, everything I saw was inspiration.

The photo below is from the doorway looking at the receptionist's desk. To the right, you can just barely see the opening to the hallway leading to the patient rooms. To the left is the waiting area, populated by my brother, Aaron.

You can see how high the ceilings are, which is why it feels so airy. There is a loft above the reception desk and records room, which includes a lounge/tv watching area for staff, two open offices, and a supply closet under the eaves where we found patient invoices dating back to the earliest days of the previous practice, in 1971.

There is another door off the lobby (which, as you can see in the photo below, is to the right of the potted tree) leading to another back hallway and the patient rooms. I should have taken more pictures, as even the patient rooms were bright and airy. The office also includes a deck at the back of the building that looks out onto manicured lawns and shrubbery.

With all of this inspiration, I had to call my brother, Aaron, to come and hang out with us. I especially wanted to show him the shiplap wall covering, as that was something I wanted to do in his entryway. He really liked it. He said, "What's that renovation show where they're always doing shiplap?" I said, "Fixer Upper, with Chip and Joanna Gaines?" He said, "Yeah, they always paint the shiplap. I don't like painted shiplap. But this I like. I like the wood."

So it is written, so shall it be done.

Beyond me waxing rhapsodic about the space, we really did spend a lot of time assisting Elannah. Hours. The previous dentist had been operating right up until last Thursday, so nothing was dirty or disgusting, but Elannah's dentists bought the practice with everything included, so there was a lot of old equipment and supplies to move in order to make way for the more current technology Elannah's dentists are bringing in. We emptied out cupboards and drawers, washed and sanitized everything, and Elannah organized the supplies the way she likes them. We also removed a lot of dusty old silk plants that Elannah wanted to get rid of. I'll clean those up and use them in my own office, which needs a sharp injection of greenery to make it less bland and boring.

We were all very tired and hungry by the time we left. Little Gary, in particular, was a deep shade of hangry, so we broke our rules about shopping on Sunday and went through the drive-through at a nearby McDonald's to feed the boys before the long drive back home.

Elannah stayed behind for a couple more hours setting up one of the patient rooms in preparation for today's patients before she followed us home. There wasn't a lot we could help her with in that regard--as we are all woefully ignorant when it comes to dentistry and dentistry accessories--but she felt a lot better about the situation now that we'd helped her with all the cleaning and sorting. I told her to make sure she charges her dentists for every minute she put into that project, including the driving time. Too bad she won't get paid for the hours the rest of us put in, as well; but it was fun helping out and relieving her stress, and I got a good, solid architecture/decor fix, which I feel is a fair trade for my efforts.