Infected Tooth and Hydration on Wednesday

Yes, I have an infected tooth, on top of everything else!  It started to hurt a couple of days ago and was quite painful, yesterday.  I've found that chewing on a clove helps toothaches, so that's what I did, last night, along with rinsing my mouth with warm salt water.  This morning, the pain was less, but my face had a slight swelling on the left side.  So, when I went to the clinic, I showed it to the nurse practitioner (I saw her as my doctor was on vacation).  She checked it, confirmed that it was quite inflamed, and prescribed antibiotics to treat the infection.  Fortunately, I didn't have a fever, so, hopefully, we caught it before it became too bad and the antibiotics will take care of things.   Ideally, one doesn't have dental work done when one is undergoing chemo therapy!

My white blood cell count was better.  It was 15, which was still a bit raised, but it could have been due to the tooth infection, as well.  I will have it checked again, next week, to see where it is before my next chemo treatment.

I also had another hydration session, today and another one scheduled for Monday.

After I came home, I worked on office-related stuff for the rest of the day until early evening.  Sent in another completed work product, and plan to send in two more completed products, tomorrow.

Daughter and I picked up some Japanese food for lunch, on the way back from the clinic, today.  Teriyaki chicken and beef with vegetables and rice.  But later, around 5:00 p.m., I wanted a snack, and so, I decided to have a tamale.  The first time I ate a tamale, many years ago, I didn't much care for it.  But, these days, I enjoy tamales.  It was the same with pizza, too - the first time I tried pizza, I didn't like it and for years, I wouldn't eat pizza!  Then, I tried again, and liked it!

Tamales are quite popular here, in Southern California, especially around the Christmas holidays.  Many people make them at home, but I haven't tried making them yet.  The one I ate today was a frozen tamale, heated in the microwave:

Tamale

After I took the tamale picture, I thought I should take a picture of my Santa placemat, as well.   I have a set of 4, which I sewed from pre-printed fabric (bought during an after-Christmas sale), several years ago (I actually made 12 placemats, but gave away two sets of 4 placemats each, as Christmas gifts, that year).  The mittens are actually pockets for the napkin and cutlery.  The placemats have quilt batting in the middle and I machined an outline quilting of the face and hat.

Santa Placemat

The placemat is lined with Santa fabric:

Reverse Side of Placemat

I guess they could be considered as reversible, but I usually use the Santa face side.

I also found a pre-printed panel for an apron, with the same Santa face, during another after-Christmas sale, another year, and I sewed that apron and gave it as a Christmas gift to one of my friends.  Don't have a picture of that apron, though.

The placemats go with the Santa cushion covers my mother sewed, using preprinted fabric panels:

Santa Cushions

There are two designs - Santa with a sack of toys and Santa relaxing in front of the fire (presumably after he has delivered the gifts).  Mother made 6 cushion covers, three of each design.  I had 6 additional fabric panels and made 6 more cushion covers to give as a Christmas gift, a few years ago.    The cushion backs are from a holiday fabric printed to look like patchwork:

Back of Cushion

There were two more sets of 6 cushion covers with angels on a deep blue background; we gave them away as Christmas gifts.

I guess the placemats and cushion covers will be part of the family "heirlooms" that daughter will eventually inherit!

I normally keep the Christmas decorations up until Epiphany (January 6).  So, my decorations will still be out to be enjoyed for another week or so.  When do you take down your tree and decorations?