So it turns out that one of my favorite muscles has been making me miserable for nearly four decades

Hi! My name is Liz Miller and I have had TMJ for 37 years, ever since I smashed my face into a step in the pool at summer camp and chipped a tooth.

(Hi, Liz!)

In the early years, my mouth would get stuck open, and a chiropractor taught me how to get it back to a position where it would close. But that's all I ever did about it. Through the decades, I've had tension headaches that felt like they started in my neck and wrapped around my head like a big old rubber band of pain, but I never associated them with my jaw.

Various dentists had asked me, "does it cause you pain?" And I'd answer that it only hurt when it would get stuck open (rare) or when it would snap and make me bite myself when I was talking or eating (frequent). And they would mention bite plates and surgery, and I just...never thought it rose to a level of needing to do something about it.

But this year our family has pretty good insurance with a high deductible, and what with one thing and another (including stuff that needs to be done every five or ten years), we seemed like we might go over that deductible, in which case, why not actually do some end of the year medical giving to ourselves? So....I asked my doctor for a referral to an oral surgeon, who told me to get a bite plate (on its way) and some physical therapy.

The physical therapist (who is AWESOME, BTW) measured all sorts of things including how far I could open my mouth without the joint popping out, and how far I could turn my head, and nod my head, and lean my head to each side. And then he had me start doing neck stretches, and shoulder and neck strengthening exercises. "Wait!" I said, "My problem's with my jaw."
"Actually," he replied, "It's with your  sternocleidomastoid" (he also had me do exercises opening and closing my mouth with various levels of resistance).

And I am here to tell you that I hadn't realized how much pain I was living with until I didn't have as much of it anymore. My tension headaches have receded, I have better range of motion, I don't bite myself as often.

It's amazing.

On the menu

We're switching things up here at Chez Mystery this year. Christmas dinner will be tomorrow evening. The Thanksgiving Feast will be served Christmas Day. Yes, I know I'm Jewish. Wanna make something of it?

Tomorrow's menu:

• Standing Rib Roast au Jus
• Yorkshire Pudding
• Mashed Potatoes
• Brussels Sprouts and Pearl Onions in a Horseradish Cream Sauce
• Green Beans
• Pumpkin Pie
• Strawberry Shortcake

Do you think that's enough food for three?

Woman of Mystery

Me at the mystery bookstore

I've posted about the bookstore before. Here are some links:

• Why MysteryMommy?
• So why aren't I working at the book store?
• Laura started it
• Book Meme
• Murder Ink is closing
• What I wanted to be when I grew up
• Mr. Spock
• Blogging for donations: Murder Ink

Hey, Mystery Mommy, why the heck aren't you posting?

Because I'm doing this instead.

Eight days until the election!

Say hello to Beast Boy!

This weekend was MarsCon, and we did it up in style. Muffin Man wanted to be in the costume contest again, and chose Beast Boy as his character.

Our inspiration

Since we won the Beginner's Division the last time we entered, honor compelled us to enter in the Advanced Division this time.

Which meant we had to kick it up a notch. Or, actually, more than a notch. This time, more than half the costume had to be hand-made. And nicely made at that. This is not a Thrifty, Non-Crafty costume, people.

Muffin Man worked hard practicing his stage routine, to a soundtrack Mr. Spock put together. And Mr. Spock and I spent about 40 hours over several months on the costume.

Mr. Spock does the sewing in our family, and he went above and beyond on this costume. The purple leotard, the belt (including the device on the belt), the cuffs and devices on the gloves, and the cuffs on the shoes are all completely hand-made. He didn't even use a pattern. Engineered from scratch, folks. All the grey fabric you see is that color because he dyed it, It was all originally plain white cotton. The black body suit is an Under Armor compression suit. Mr. Spock added stirrups to the sleeves and leggings to keep them smooth and tight.

I'm particularly pleased that Mr. Spock was able to design this so it wouldn't need a zipper to spoil the line front or back.

Beast Boy Front View

Beast Boy Back View

Beast Boy Side View

I was, as always, responsible for the make-up. Which included painting the boots. For this performance of Beast Boy, the boots are played by a pair of Rugged Outback shoes from Payless. These were darn near perfect. They've got beautiful outlines right where I needed them. We removed the laces, I taped over everything I wanted to stay black, and then painted them with grey and amethyst leather paint.

After several coats of paint, we glued on the Velcro straps. I do think they came out rather well.

After

Before

For Muffin Man's own make-up, I tested out the routine a couple of times at home, and found out that the ears and neck are tough spots to do, and that one should leave the nose for last unless one is going for a Rudolph look. Also, I realized I needed to brighten and widen the eyes, and that a base of chapstick on the lips does wonders.

First attempt at makeup. Including hair gel.

For the contest, we gave ourselves 90 minutes for hair and make-up. First, we pretty much swathed Muffin Man's body in plastic wrap, paper towels, and my own over-sized bathrobe to protect the costume. Then, I put gel in his hair to get that messy look. Next, I did his ears. I've never done prosthetics before, but I watched a lot of videos and did a pretty good job for a first timer!

Then, I used up a can of green hairspray, and deliberately got it on the ears and neck, see tough spots, above.

When I was satisfied with his hair, I began on his face. I used a base of Nyx green primer, all over his face and neck, covered by Mehron green pancake (next time, I'll try their liquid instead. The powder doesn't really last long enough). Because Mehron's green was a tad too dark for what I wanted, I did a highlight layer of Nyx green primal color (not eye safe), which is much lighter. Then I blended in the bright green on his ears with a mix of the two powders. When everything else was green, I put a thick coat of chapstick on his lips and then covered them with Mehron alone, to keep them slightly darker than the rest of his skin.

I used a Super Fat Eye Marker on his brows, and for that little crease between the brows. I brought his brow line out just a bit beyond where it naturally ends.

Through all this, I left his eyes alone. When I was happy with how the rest of the make-up looked, I used a green Jumbo Eye Pencil on his upper eyelids, and a thin darker green pencil next to his upper lashes, bringing the line out beyond his natural eyes. Then I used a white slim eye pencil on his lower lashes and a white jumbo eye pencil on his lower lid. Again, I brought the line out beyond his natural eye. I finished his eyes with a black Super Skinny marker just under where I'd drawn the white.

Then I put a boatload of transluscent fixative powder over the whole thing, and finished it all off by spritzing fixative spray over that.

Finally we unwrapped him and put on his gloves. And went down to be judged, and do the performance, and walk around getting photographed. Not necessarily in that order.

The Beast Boy team, admiring our handiwork

We didn't win the contest this time, but we sure got a huge amount of audience approval and people wanting to take pictures. It was a blast! Plus, we got to see a wee little Dalek (won Best Overall), the cutest little cosplayer EVER (she won the children's division), and a Steampunk Buzz Lightyear.

I'll post a link to the performance video once they post it.

I love Amtrak (which is something I might have mentioned before)

I love riding the train to New York or Vermont or wherever* and making friends with my seatmates and the folks nearby. My most recent two adventures led to long discussions with: a professor of English Literature (the Romantic period) from Scotland; a professional rock-n-roll violinist; and a woman who lives less than a mile from my house.

My conversation with the English Literature professor involved us talking about Noel Streatfeild, Frances Hodgeson Burnett, Jane Austen (of course), Georgette Heyer, Josephine Tey*, The Bronte sisters, Agatha Christie, Ngaio Marsh, Dorothy Sayers, George Eliot, Reginald Hill, and World War One. She's not on Facebook or Twitter, but she said she'd check out my blog. So here, my dear new friend, is a post for you, with links galore. Thank you for talking with me on the train. I hope you have a terrific time visiting your friend!!!

*More links to related content contained therein

Muffin Man, a year in pictures

Beach in Puerto Rico, Feb 18, 2012

Sleeping in Puerto Rico, Feb 18, 2012

Cousins! In Puerto Rico, Feb, 2012

At Chicon, with Prince Zuko, Labor Day Weekend, 2012.

Chicon. Best. Playdate. EVER.

The Joker, Halloween, 2012

Laughing, December, 2012

Spock, before haircut, January, 2013

Spock, after haircut, January, 2013



Help me! MarsCon, January, 2013




With costume judge, Wade Cutrell (a movie make-up artist),
after winning Best of Beginners
at MarsCon's Masquerade, January, 2013.

Random on a rainy Tuesday

(original title, "Random bullets on a rainy Tuesday" and then I read it over, and realized that the phrase "random bullets" has only one meaning now, and it's not "items in an unordered list that have nothing to do with each other.)

• Muffin Man won his classroom spelling bee last week. Which surprised me, not because he's not a good speller (he's a terrific speller), but because he'd told me a few weeks ago that he'd participated in a classroom bee and he'd done terribly. Turn out that other bee was geography. Okay then. His winning word was "necessary".
• This means he's now going to compete in the school spelling bee on the 24th. Not much time to study. I printed out the study guide from Mirriam-Webster, and he's pegging away at it.
• He's super excited, because if he wins the school spelling bee, he'll be joining his friend ReallyTheyCouldBeTwins*  at the county-wide spelling bee, since she won her school's bee a couple of weeks ago. The county-wide bee will include middle-schoolers, too.
• We brought banana cake to services this weekend. This time, I made a banana filling for it. Wow! Delicious.
• Speaking of services, Rev. Anya came over to our house to have a confab and I made latkes using a different recipe. The one I used to use was from Kosher Gourmet, and don't get me wrong, it was good. But the one I used this time was from this past December's Bon Appetit, and it was phenomenal. Oh. My. GOD.
• My left eye is itching. It's been two days now. What is UP with that?
• Everyone in my office is wearing blue today. Including me. So far as I know, there wasn't a memo.
• Even though the weather is gloomy, I'm kind of glad it's raining. It gave me an excuse to wear my silly rain boots and poncho.

*formerly known as "SheIsAlmostAsTallAsMe", which is an out-dated name. She's 5'4". Turning 11 next week

First sentences

It's (past) that time of year again.

Time to list the first sentence of the first post of each month from last year.

January: Starting the New Year off right.

"New Year's day was spent getting some hardware sorting boxes from BigBoxHardwareStore (and a rug to cover the speaker cables in the living room, because I was sick of tripping over them), and then helping with Muffin Man with the sorting of the pieces of his brand new Lego Mindstorms NXT set."

February: DOUBLE DIGITS!

"Muffin Man is 10 today."*

March: My son got excited and made something for me.

"The best part is that he made it using something that his dad got excited and made."

April: A fairy tale.

"Once upon a time two days ago, a wicked mother offered to go with her good and handsome son to buy a new two-wheeled steed for him to ride upon while slaying dragons in the surrounding kingdom."

May: What I've been reading, OMG I love my Kindle edition.

"The latest books in several series came out, and I got 'em that very day sent to my lovely lovely Kindle,"

June: Vacation review and wrap-up.

"I was away on vacation last week (sorry no notice, ever since I stopped blogging anonymously, I've stopped giving advance notice on absences). "

July: Maisie Dobbs is my new obsession.

"Just finished book 5 this morning"

August: Do you like my hat?

"This is the hat I've talked about before. "

September: Brief bullets of Labor Day

"Muffin Man is awesome and has an award to prove it."

October: "I don't suppose you have any sushi?"

"Muffin Man the other night at Bonefish."

November: It's election day. I'm at Dominion Trail Elementary handing out sample ballots.

"VOTE"

December: December holidays are here again

"Which means I'm bringing the music and the hand-made chocolates."**

*(The first February post is always about MM's B'day. He was born on the first)
**Boy oh boy did I ever bring the hand-made chocolates. 37 dozen. THIRTY-SEVEN DOZEN.

Just a brief note about Awesome High School Friend, his Awesome Wife, and their Awesome Children

You remember how, two years ago, Muffin Man was Aang for Halloween?

Same costume as for ChiCon. Different make-up technique on the arrow.

Yeah, well, that same Halloween, Awesome High School Friend's Awesome Daughter was Katara in a costume made by Awesome High School Friend's Awesome Wife.

That week, Awesome High School Friend and I started making plans to get our kids together for a play date. It took a little doing, what with the different time zones and all, but we finally made it happen.

ChiCon. Best. Play date. EVER.

Brief Bullets of Labor Day Weekend

• Muffin Man is awesome and has an award to prove it.
 

 
• We met someone who is also awesome and has TWO awards to prove it.
 
• I met up with an awesome high school friend, his awesome wife, and their two awesome kids. 
 



Steam Punk meets Air Punk, picture courtesy my awesome high school friend. Steam Punk outfits by his awesome wife.

 
• I met John Scalzi. And Neil Gaiman. John Scalzi was the one I got all tongue-tied and nervous about.
 
• I listened to Gardner Dozois, George R.R. Martin, Mike Resnick, Joe Haldeman, and Robert Silverberg tell stories of WorldCons past. And it was...AWESOME.
 
 
 
• And then we came home, and I did mundane things like being on TV and getting my ear repierced. How was your Summer vacation?

Blame it on Amalah

Amalah got this living in my head 24/7.



Pie and ice cream, it no phase me. But you got COOKIE!! So share it maybe.

Our summer so far

1. Vacation Week 
2. Last week was a one week session at School of Rock: Rock 101 (intros to guitar, bass, keyboards, vocals, drums). Muffin Man learned to play Blitzkrieg Bop on the guitar. Enjoyed keyboard and drums the best, tho.
3. And now it's the first week of the first session of the Summer at Fairfax Collegiate: Creating 3D Worlds in Alice; and Mobile Robotics with Lego MindStorms.

Also, we've been watching Season One of The Big Bang Theory. Why weren't we watching this before? 

Stuck in my head

A friend of mine on Facebook linked to this picture:

Which reminded me of two posts I wrote a few years ago and got this song stuck in my head:



And now you will also be singing it all day. You're welcome!!

Vacation Review and Wrap-up

I was away on vacation last week (sorry no notice, ever since I stopped blogging anonymously, I've stopped giving advance notice on absences).

We went to Great Wolf Lodge in Williamsburg, VA and to Hershey Park in Hershey, PA.

We went to Great Wolf Lodge on the recommendation of one of my best friends, whose daughter is one of Muffin Man's best friends, and it. was. AWESOME. The water park alone was terrific, but there was also a game that MM could play that was kind of a scavenger hunt throughout the hotel. MM completed the whole thing and now wants to go back to play the next level (I know, I know). His favorite thing at the water park proper was the Howlin' Tornado, which is basically a heart-attack on a raft. Fortunately, he found some kids his age who were happy to go on it again and again and again...

The rooms and food at Great Wolf Lodge were very good. We stayed in a very basic room, but there are rooms with log cabins in them, which I think would be fun if you've got more than one kid with you. The food was way better (and less expensive) than anything at Disney World. They had a buffet that was not just your standard kid fare.

Our original plan had been to stay at GWL one night, and to go camping the next (ready to go to Colonial Williamsburg the day after that), but GWL gave us a half-price coupon if we extended our stay...and so we did. We'll go camping one weekend in July instead, and we'll visit Colonial Williamsburg then as well. Great Wolf Lodge was just so much fun we didn't want to leave.

So after two full days at GWL, we drove up to Hershey Park to stay at the Hershey Lodge. Hershey Park itself was lots of fun, and the Hershey Gardens are beautiful, especially the butterfly house. If you're going to visit Chocolate World, be aware that only the virtual factory tour is free, everything else costs extra. Hershey doesn't let you visit the actual factory anymore, alas. The Hershey museum is lovely, and takes less than an hour to visit. They have chocolate tastings in the cafe there ($10.00 for six glasses of different kinds of chocolate.) MM's favorite things at HP were the Coal Crusher and the Trailblazer. We started out on the SkyRush, and let me tell you that it was really unpleasant. It goes very very very fast and is kind of painful. We did not go on anything that turns you upside down. The smokehouse has very tasty food.

We were all pretty impressed with how nice a guy Mr. Hershey seemed to have been. If you know for a fact that he was a huge anti-semite, or racist, or whatever, please don't tell me. I'd really rather not know.

On the whole, our family agreed that we would have been happier staying at GWL and maybe visiting Busch Gardens and Colonial Williamsburg while we were there. Next time, that's probably how we'll do it. Hershey was fine, but I think it might make a better day trip from Loudoun than an overnight stay (only a two-hour drive each way), just about the same as to King's Dominion.

Also, I read a ridiculous number of mystery books, most of which I've read before, and Muffin Man and I are reading Little House in the Big Woods, because I won a bet. He's enjoying it very much, I'm pleased to say.

This post has not been sponsored in any way. Our family received no compensation from either Great Wolf Lodge or Hershey, and aside from taking GWL up on their special deal to extend our stay, we paid full freight for our whole holiday.

In case you're wondering...

The real-life name of Posh Place is BeanTree Learning. Muffin Man has gone there for over six years, and will be there again for a few weeks this Summer. I can't say enough good things about their pre-school, pre-K, and Kindergarten programs. And their after-school program is also terrific, with time for homework and reading, as well as playing outside and messing about with Lego.

Six and a half years later, I could have written this post yesterday. They take child care seriously.

If you live in Loudoun or western Fairfax and you're looking for a daycare program for your child, infant through 5th grade, you can not do better than BeanTree Learning. But don't take MY word for it:

Portrait of a happy camper

Muffin Man gives it two BAWKS up.

YOUR ATTENTION PLEASE, THIS IS AN IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT

The Shuttle by Frances Hodgeson Burnett is available for FREE for the Kindle, and it's even unabridged.

Granted, it doesn't smell as good as my hard-bound copy, but it won't crumble when you read it, either.

You may now return to your regularly scheduled activities.

What I've been reading, OMG I love my Kindle edition

The latest books in several series came out, and I got 'em that very day sent to my lovely lovely Kindle,

• Nancy Atherton's Aunt Dimity and the Village Witch, which had less Aunt Dimity than usual, but more of the Village, and I think is one of the best entries in this long-running and delightfully cozy series. If you haven't read any of the books yet, start with Aunt Dimity's Death.
• I was super thrilled with the latest books by Margaret Maron and Dana Stabenow, two of my favorite contemporary Mystery authors both had a similar idea: they each write two series and they had the detectives from both series meet and work together! I was particularly happy with how Maron brought together Judge Deborah Knott and Lt. Sigrid Harald in Three Day Town. She hadn't written about Sigrid in a long time, but she was able to interact while still being true to their characters. Stabenow has Sgt. Liam Campbell hire Kate Shugak in Restless in the Grave to investigate a sensitive case that may or may not be murder. Such fun to read while she points up the similarities in their lives.
•  The newest book in the Sookie Stackhouse series by Charlaine Harris, Deadlocked, is good, but not the best in the series. I get the feeling that Harris needs to take a break from these characters so that she can come back to them fresh.
• Insurgent, the sequel to Veronica Roth's dystopian young adult novel, Divergent, came out last week. And it is very good, though less strong than her first book. Very sincere, written in the first-person present, which can be jarring at times, but definitely worth a read.
• Out of the Deep I Cry, the latest in the Clare Fergusson and Russ Van Alstyne series by Julia Spencer-Fleming, satisfyingly solves two mysteries at once. One from the present, and one from the Prohibition Era past. Includes a reminder of why vaccinations are important.

I've also read several non-series books:

• 7th Sigma by Steven Gould - very richly written YA novel about the future old west when a species of metal eating bug makes it impossible for people to use technology in the infested areas.
• I generally love Walter Jon Williams' work, but The Fourth Wall was a difficult read for me. The main character is deeply unpleasant. But it is worth powering through it, because the story is imaginative, intricate, and the unpleasantness of the main character is crucial to the story. Nonetheless, it wasn't a book I think I'll read again anytime soon. Unlike his House of Shards, which I've read several times since I first found it in college.
• And I don't remember if I told you all about One Thousand White Women. It's an historical novel about an historical event that never occured. Written in diary form, it is fascinating, engrossing, and believable. 
• Also, Reginald Hill died recently, and I've been reading and re-reading everything he ever wrote. I can't recommend his work enough. The Woodcutter is his latest, and it was awesome.

Outfit Blogging

Today I'm wearing this blouse (but mine is black with beige trimming) over a beige tank.

It is paired with a black, beige, and white floral skirt. I am also wearing black knitted tights and these shoes

Etienne Aigner shoes

I think the outfit works, but haven't had any confirmation of that, so could be really, really wrong.

Hold your Dose.

I hab a siduz idfecshud. Id is dod pleazadt. For two dayz, I had a headache thad pushed by eyeballz oud of by head.

By doctor recobbedded irrigading with a Dedi Pod, becoz for wad thig, siduz idfecshud's are usually caused by a viruz, add for adother thig, the illdess I god three yearz ago cad cob back if I use addibiodics.

Dow, I am dot a persod who likes wadder up by dose. Id fact, I really hade id. But id turds oud thad using a Dedi Pod reduces the pressure on your siduzes. Who dew? I ab sdill sduffy, but id izd't az bad az id wuz, add by eyeballs are coddedt to sday where they belogg.