Foot, Again

"Silly old bear," said Christopher Robin.

When I went back to see the orthopedist on Tuesday, I thought I was going to get an "all clear -- good to go" from him...even though my foot still is not back to "normal."
Silly me.

Instead, I was given a prescription for four more weeks of physical therapy.  At least he didn't use the "s" word:  surgery!  Not yet, anyway.  He told me that if (at some point) my foot does not continue to get better, and if (at that point) my foot is not fully functional, then surgery is in the picture for me.

You can believe these two things:
     I will be going to physical therapy twice a week, faithfully (even though I
          am tired of going to therapy).
     I will be doing my physical therapy exercises at home, faithfully (even
          though I am tired of doing exercises).

I'm so totally ready for my foot to be "fully functional," as my orthopedist put it.

P.S.  If you don't know what in the world I'm talking about, you can read my last post about my foot here.  :)

Carousel, Act 2

I made this meal for T for lunch today.  It is based on the musical, Carousel, by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II.

• playing cards > rectangular-shaped peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with candy decorations (for the 10 of stars and the Ace of flowers)
• money > tossed salad of romaine lettuce (for bills) and carrots (for coins)

Synopsis of Act 2

Everyone reminisces about the clambake.  Julie sees Billy trying to sneak away with Jigger and, trying to stop him, feels the knife hidden under his shirt.  She begs him to give it to her, but he refuses and leaves to commit the robbery.

While they wait, Jigger and Billy gamble with cards.  They stake their shares of the anticipated robbery spoils.  They don't know that Mr. Bascombe already has deposited the mill's money.

The robbery fails.  Mr. Bascombe pulls a gun on Billy while Jigger escapes.  Billy accidentally falls on his knife.  Julie arrives just in time to see Billy die.  Julie strokes his hair, finally able to tell him that she loves him.

source:  Wikipedia

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   Bento Blog Network

Carousel, Act 1 (continued)

I made this meal for T for lunch today.  It is based on the musical, Carousel, by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II.

• sailboats > boat-shaped peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with pretzel masts and paper sails
• herring > goldfish crackers
• clams > lemon cookies

Synopsis of Act 1, continued

More than a month passes, and preparations for the summer clambake are under way.  Julie and Billy are married now.  Julie confides in Carrie that Billy, frustrated over being unemployed, hit her.  Billy arrives with his ne'er-do-well whaler friend, Jigger.  The former carousel barker is rude to Enoch and Julie, then leaves with Jigger, followed by a distraught Julie.  Enoch tells Carrie that he expects to become rich selling herring.

Jigger tries to recruit Billy to help with a robbery.  However, Billy declines since the victim, Mr. Bascombe (Julie's former boss), might have to be killed.  Mrs. Mullin enters and tries to tempt Billy back to the carousel, but he would have to abandon Julie.  Billy is mulling it over when Julie arrives and tells him that she is pregnant.  Billy is overwhelmed with happiness, ending all thoughts of returning to the carousel.

Determined to provide financially for his future child, by whatever means, Billy decides to be Jigger's accomplice.  The whole town leaves in sailboats for the clambake...and Billy, who earlier refused to go, now agrees to join in.  He realizes that being seen at the clambake is integral to his and Jigger's alibi.

source:  Wikipedia

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   Bento Blog Network

Carousel, Act 1

Since we ate out for lunch, I made this meal for T for supper tonight.

It is based on the musical, Carousel, by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II.

Here are the details...

three carousel horses > horse-shaped peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with a striped paper straw placed inside of each

sparkling star > star shape cut from pie dough, baked, and sprinkled with powdered sugar and coarse sugar

starbursts with sparkling star picks > tortilla chips

Synopsis of Act 1

The musical begins with Billy polishing stars Up There...and then flashes back to how it all began....

Two young female mill workers in 1873 Maine visit the town's carousel after work.  One of them, Julie Jordan, attracts the attention of the carousel barker, Billy Bigelow.  When Julie lets Billy put his arm around her during the carousel ride, Mrs. Mullin, the widowed owner of the carousel, tells Julie never to return.  Julie and her friend, Carrie Pipperidge, argue with Mrs. Mullin.

Billy arrives and, seeing that Mrs. Mullin is jealous, mocks her.  As a result, he is fired from his job.  Billy, unconcerned, invites Julie to join him for a drink.  As Billy goes to get his belongings, Carrie presses Julie about her feelings toward him, but Julie is evasive.  Carrie has a beau too, fisherman Enoch Snow.

Billy returns for Julie as the departing Carrie warns that staying out late means the loss of Julie's job.  Mr. Bascombe, owner of the mill, happens by and offers to escort Julie to her home.  She refuses and is fired from her job at the mill.  Left alone, Julie and Billy talk about what life might be like if they were in love, but neither quite confesses to the growing attraction they feel for each other.

source:  Wikipedia

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Candyland

Yesterday, I made this meal for T.

• Gumdrop Gully is gumdrop fruit slices candy.
• Pretzel Palace is Rold Gold Tiny Twists Cheddar Pretzels.
• Animal Alley is animal cookies.
• The path is peanut butter and jelly sandwiches (honey wheat bread and whole wheat bread) cut into little squares.
• CANDY LAND is Scrabble Junior Cheez-It Crackers.

I'm not sure T made the connection between his meal and the board game, Candyland.  It's been so long since we've played the game.  Nonetheless, T enjoyed his meal!  :)

Linked to:
   Bento Blog Network
   I Heart Lunch
   What's for Lunch Wednesday
   Bento Blog Network

Egyptian

Here is our Egyptian boy.

No...we didn't coach him for that pose!  He remembered it from an old Blue's Clues episode he used to watch...in which Joe was dressed as an Egyptian.  :)

T had a good time playing games and trunk-or-treating at an Awesome Autumn Celebration, held at a church where he used to go for Awana.

Pumpkins

This was T's lunch today.

• pumpkin-shaped peanut butter and jelly sandwiches on honey wheat bread with Twizzler Pull 'n' Peel green apple-flavored candy for vines
• pumpkin-shaped pretzels
• Little Debbie Pumpkin Delights filled soft cookie
• apricot halves with pumpkin pick
• milk in jack-o'-lantern cup

Linked to:
   I Heart Lunch
   What's for Lunch Wednesday

Spider Breakfast

This was T's breakfast this morning.

• spider web-shaped pancake (food-safe marker details)
• spider-shaped pancake, sprinkled with cinnamon sugar
• vanilla yogurt in silicone spider liner, with candy eyes
• milk in cup, with spider design

No...I didn't starve my boy!  haha.  I gave him a couple of additional pancakes...they just aren't shown.  ;o)

HaPpY  HaLLoWeEn!!

Linked to:
   Meatless Monday

Creepy Crawly Spiders

T's lunch today was full of...spiders!

• spider-shaped sandwich on honey wheat bread (with sprinkles for eyes)
• spider web-shaped sandwich on whole wheat bread  (I used a food-safe marker to draw the spider web.)
• tortilla chips (with plastic spider)
• vanilla yogurt (in silicone spider liner, with candy eyes)

The spoon even has a spider web and spider on it.  :)  For a placemat, I used a little spider web-shaped rug that I purchased at Target.  (I found it in their dollar section.)

Linked to:
   Bento Blog Network
   Meatless Monday
   I Heart Lunch

Foot

I went back to see the orthopedist yesterday afternoon, and...
Yay!!  --No more cast!  :)  That was a looong five weeks.

Now, I have to go for physical therapy three times a week for the next four weeks...
with lots of exercises to do at home between PT sessions...and then back to see the orthopedist.

The orthopedist told me yesterday that although my foot is better, the ligaments are stretched still.  He said that if they don't go back to "normal" and I'm having pain in four weeks, then we'll have to talk about surgery.  Yikes!  :/

Has anyone been in a similar situation?  What did you do to help your ligaments go back to "normal"?

Czech Republic

I received two postcards last week.  The second one was from the Czech Republic.

This postcard shows the Giant Mountains...

a mountain range located in the northeast of the Czech Republic and the southwest of Poland. The border between the Czech Republic and Poland runs along the main ridge.  The highest peak, Sněžka, is the Czech Republic's highest point with an elevation of 5,256 feet.

On both sides of the border, large areas of the mountain range are designated national parks.  The River Elbe springs within the Giant Mountains.  The mountain range has a number of major ski resorts and is a popular destination for tourists engaging in downhill and cross-country skiing, hiking, cycling, and other activities.

source:  Wikipedia

Russia

I received two postcards last week.  The first one was from Russia.

The sender did not mention what this building is, where it is located, etc.  Also, there is no identifying information printed on the back of the postcard.  (Is it a building with a mural?  Is it a candy factory?)

I have requested some information from the sender.  Hopefully, she will respond!  :)

If you are reading this post and happen to know Russian, will you translate the words on this postcard?  :D

Update - Wednesday, July 2, 2014:

Thank you, dear reader, for providing some information about this building!  (See the "comments" section below.)