What's worse...

What's worse than having a root canal...Ouch..how about having two root canals on the same tooth, then oral surgery. That's what has happened to my poor mouth this past year! Spring of '08 when I went to the dentist I was told I needed a crown on tooth #3 (upper right almost to the back). I had that done; then during the summer I developed severe pain in the same area. Went back to my dentist; he took x-rays. There was a shadow in the area of the tooth that hadn't been there in the spring and it was determined I needed a root canal. This was my first r.c. and at this point I was in so much pain I would have paid anyone anything to get me out of it. Dr. M did the r.c. I recovered, the pain went away and all was fine...until fall. The pain prior to the r.c. never came back, but the area around the tooth felt funny and there was pressure when I bit down on the tooth. The Dr. thought it was a bite problem. He adjusted the bite; I went on my merry way feeling great but was back to him a couple of months later with the same problem. This went on for several more months, several more adjustments with me feeling fine for a few months then it would come back again. Finally the Dr. recommended I go see an endodontist because I may need surgery. The endo took xrays and said I needed another root canal on the tooth because instead of 2 canals, there were 4. He did the r.c. and all was fine until a week ago when the pain returned again. Went to see him last week and he said surgery was in order to cut the roots of the tooth and clean out the bone area of the tooth. I went in today; he split my gum open, cleaned out the area (which was infected), did the rest of the work and sewed me back up. I'm feeling okay right now, surprisingly not too swollen, and am on antibiotics and Advil. I feel both my dentist and the endodontist did what they had to do with what they saw on the xrays. They are very professional men and I would go back to them in a minute. I am just hoping this is the end of my battle with this tooth and I don't have to go back to see them for a problem with it.
You know what? Life is still good...

Yard Stuff

While our North Carolina family were working their yard sale Saturday, Mel and I were working in our yard. Mel does not have a big smile on his face--this is bag #17 of the 18 bags of bark mulch he carried and dumped in the beds as I spread it out. The good news--we have this all done before the heat hits Texas. The bad news--this was only the front. We're off to do the back when the rains stop!

Featured yard sale items

Will the kids even know what these are?






"Home Alone" keepsake











They will be fighting over this one.











Talk about Flash Back Friday.







Weather forecast is perfect for tomorrow - sunny, mid-70's. I'll let you know the outcome. I'm tired already.

Flash Back Friday

Back in the late 70s, Mel's company hosted a party for one of its accounts and brought in a couple of their artists to perform. Jacky Ward was from Houston and had recorded a couple of records. The young lady in the middle had just signed with Mercury Records, was straight out of Oklahoma where she sang at rodeos and this was her first live performance as a signed artist. (She was the only person I know who said Mel's name in 2 syllables---HI ME...LLLL) . Jacky never did make it in the recording industry but I think you could say Miss Reba McEntire was and is a pretty successful artist!

Let's talk

Click to enlarge. This ad appeared in a 1958 issue of National Geographic. Take away the copy and I really love the picture. It tells the story on its own.

I love a long leisurely chat on the phone, sipping a cup of coffee (or wine in the p.m.) If it wasn't so late I would pick up the phone right now.

I couldn't help it

With all the news about Twitter this past week, I became very curious and had to find out more. I did some research. I still don't quite get it, but once I saw that Oprah joined up, I knew it had to be something good. So I did it.

I can now tweet whenever I want just like Oprah. It feels great. And I know I will soon be getting a call from the Oprah show when she does her segment on the Twitter phenomenon.

I can only now tweet from a computer because I haven't learned the cell phone method yet. That will be next. I absolutely will not tweet at work. I might get caught and would not be able to explain something I don't quite understand myself.

If you wish to check my Twitter, look at the new addition on the right sidebar. You might notice that I am following no one and no one is following me. I will work on that part.

Life is so tweet .... ooops .... I mean sweet.

Winning T

Here is a new Tar Heels fan proudly displaying her prize winning t-shirt. Yes, it does make me feel magical...should I try walking on the water over to the other side of the pool?

Rolllllllll Ti....oops! I mean Tar Heels!

Flash Back Friday

Detroit, Michigan

This Easter picture looks like the weather we had for our Easter Sunday last week. And you can be sure if it was Easter, the Barr children were dressed to the nines. It seems every Easter picture I have of us, we are all dressed up in new outfits. I'm sure all the new clothing came from J.L Hudson where our dad worked. Don't you love the brothers hats? I bet they went right along with our dad's hat.

Happy Easter everyone!

Years ago when she was 12 years old, Melanie volunteered to be the Easter Bunny at our annual church Easter egg hunt. The little kids thought the Bunny was wonderful. I think Melanie enjoyed it just as much.

I hope everyone has a nice Easter Sunday.

Books I Love

As a surprise gift from dear daughter and son-in-law, these were presented to me and Tim several weeks ago.

See this post in "A Coffee To Go" and this post in "American Elephant" for more details.

Camping '09

The weather looked great last week so we ventured out on our first trip in '09.

Someone let out the secret of the beauty at Tyler State Park. This is what it looked like when we arrived on Tuesday. The Lakeview section was full and this is Big Pine. As the week wore on more and more campers pulled in. We'd never seen it this full during the week. We're almost all the way down on the left in the picture.

We enjoyed the beauty of the blooming dogwood trees as we hiked throughout the park. I was breaking in my new hiking boots. Mel has been reading message boards on Alaska and waterproof foot gear is a must for glacier walking etc.

Hiking around the lake in the woods of East Texas is a beautiful adventure.

I read about this hamburger joint on the internet and wow what a great discovery. We go into Tyler every time we camp at the park to enjoy a Jucys' burger and the best onion rings we've ever tasted. It makes me hungry just writing about this.

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Hope the weather is good in the coming weeks. We're ready to head out again soon.

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Life is good!

I know him!

Hoping for a 5th

Tomorrow night the UNC Tarheels will play for it's 5th NCAA basketball championship. They go against Michigan State in Detroit.

If Carolina wins, my 4 siblings can win too! How? Each sibling must comment on this post wishing the Tarheels luck. Comments must be posted no later than 9:00 pm. est April 6th. For each sibling commenter there's an exciting prize ... to be announced. So, sis and bros, now you know who to root for.

Go Heels!

Engagement party

Last weekend we celebrated Will and Angela's engagement with a party at Melanie's house in Cary.

Her home was beautifully decorated throughout. The bakery department at my favorite grocery store in Winston-Salem did a good job making the image sheet cake. All I had to do was provide the print of the photo and they made it into frosting for the cake. Hi-tech bakers.

The couple had fun opening gifts. These will be put to good use.

About twenty guests enjoyed a delicious meal of NC barbeque. Then as the party wound down, the cake was cut. It was delicious too. We had a wonderful time.