Monday, Monday

7:45AM - Root canal: A few days before our trip to Massachusetts, I broke a molar. My dentist was able to patch it up enough for me to carry on, but once back, we started the multistep process of crowning it. Except that tooth hurt. Which explains why I wound up having a root canal. The endotontist looked too young to have finished school, much less be wielding sharp whirring tools, but he had a quiet, reassuring chairside manner (I wonder if they teach that in dental school). There was no infection in the roots, so no antibiotics, but also no offers of Vicodin (dammit).

9:15AM - Spun some mystery roving - I think it is the alpaca someone gave me when I was in Portland (Indiana, not Oregon) taking a yarn blending class.

Noon - Health assessment. My employer and insurance company urge us to participate, offering financial carrots like credit against our health insurance premiums. My BP is normal (especially considering the root canal); my weight was close to what my scale says at home, so no surprises there; I'm still 5'6", although I used to be taller; and there was a blood draw.

Early afternoon - shopping, but not the fun kind. Stopped at Target for a refill card for my cell, and looked for an autumn wreath, but the seasonal area was mostly Halloween with a little bit of xmas around the edges. Stopped at the Co-op for the usual assortment of groceries (damn! just realized I forgot the brie). Stopped at Kroger for KoolAid (see below) and again looked for a wreath; bought a new table cloth. Stopped at Good Will on the off chance they had some wreaths, but no luck.

Mid to late afternoon - Used the KoolAid to dye roving. I've dyed yarn with KoolAid, but not roving. The purpose of this task will be revealed when I show you my birthday present to myself (it's not here yet - boat docks on the West Coast in about ten days).

While waiting on the dye vats, I plied what I spun this morning - it actually looks halfway decent.

Also while waiting on the dye vats, I tried to find out how much a Dexa scan costs (a test my internist wrote a script for last February). Now that I have a higher deductible and no co-pays, I care a lot more about medical costs. My carrier's online estimator provided some estimates (and I was shocked at how varied they were), but they also suggested calling the provider to double check the quoted amounts. My preferred provider was able to verify the regular fee ($317), but they did not know what the amount negotiated by the insurance company was (according to the estimator , $47). So now I am trying to get the insurance company to confirm.

Evening - blog, clean up the kitchen, and veg. It's been a good day.

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Notes on dyeing BFL roving with KoolAid
Instructions found here.
(Stupidly I ripped off the tops of some of the packages, where the name is. Note to self: don't do that again.)

one oz clumps:
Lemonade (not very evenly dyed)
Orange (also not very evenly dyed)
(Subsequent colors dyed more evenly once I got over my fear of felting the roving by over-stirring.)
Lemon-Lime
Strawberry Lemonade (almost identical to Pink Lemonade)
Pink Lemonade (almost identical to Strawberry Lemonade)
Tropical Punch (indistinguishable from Cherry)

0.8 oz clumps
Cherry (indistinguishable from Tropical Punch)
Grape

Unused
Black Cherry
Blastin' Berry Cherry