When I was 4 years old (or so) I had a horrible dentist experience. All I remember is that I must have swallowed the fluoride and threw up in the truck on the way home. Even worse? I threw up on my balloon, which promptly burst in the truck (can't even imagine the mess THAT made!).
This experience has created an intense fear of dentists and all things dental. Now, the question becomes, is my fear of dentists and all things dental the cause of my dental issues, or is that just an unfortunate twist of fate? Of course, I have to also be the person who needs cleanings every 3 months, alternating between periodontists and regular dentists. AND, while I've remained fairly cavity free most of my adult life, I have gum issues and crowns and all sorts of random stuff. I've even had 2 "gum grafts" to fill in my receding gums so that roots aren't exposed any more than they already are.
Needless to say - I'm a mess! Dental visits would come up and I would begin plotting reasons to cancel them weeks in advance. The day of the visit, I would have to come home, take pain meds and sleep it off b/c I would be so tense during the cleaning that literally every muscle in my body would hurt. We tried swishes that would numb my gums, but I could still feel the pain.
When I had a crown put on, I had to go under full sedation to do so. I HATE DENTISTS AND ALL THINGS DENTAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
THEN, I discovered Nitrous Oxide! Yep - Laughing Gas! I finally found a dentist who will give me Nitrous Oxide for my cleanings and now I actually look forward to my quarterly visits! I just close my eyes and go to happy, tingly town while my teeth are being cleaned. Sure, it still hurts, but I just don't care! AND - the best part? Recovery is almost instantaneous and I can continue with my day with no ill effects of my "nitrous nap". I joked at my last cleaning that I want to come back weekly for these...but I was only half joking :) The hygienist calls it the "last legal high" and I totally agree! I LOVE NITROUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
SO - yesterday I have a dentist appt with my periodontist. Yes, it was a reschedule, but not because I was dental dodging, but because I was coughing so bad when I was supposed to go last time that there was no way on earth I could have made it through a cleaning. Anyway, I'm waiting to go in and they tell me the nitrous is not working. HUH???? I wait a few more minutes and they get it up and running - WHEW! SO, I head on in for my "Nitrous Nap". I'm in happy land while she checks recession and gums and does that number calling out thing. She does the sonic cleaning on the teeth and I'm happily zoning out in the chair. Then, the unthinkable happens...somewhere after the top teeth were cleaned and she started the bottom teeth - the tank ran out. Luckily she caught this happen before we continued and we decided to stop right there and reschedule for another day when the tank was up and running again. AND - she won't charge me for the nitrous today (there is a small fee for using nitrous, but SOOOOOO worth it!).
As I'm leaving to reschedule for another "Nitrous Nap", they give me a $10 gift card to Starbucks for my inconvenience. Seriously?
SO - to sum up... I got a Nitrous Nap for free, an appt for another Nitrous Nap in 2 weeks, AND a $10 gift card to Starbucks.
I'd say it's a good day for BJ!!!!!!!!
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Winter Celebration
Tonite we are preparing for M's school Winter Celebration. This was supposed to happen on December 18th - Mom had gotten the night off work for it, the in-laws had planned their arrival in time to go to it, and our favorite neighbors had booked time out of their schedule to attend with us. HOWEVER, here it is, January 22 instead...the in-laws are on their way to Florida for their annual fishing trip, Mom is working a 2-11 shift, and our favorite neighbors have an important conference call with an attorney to attend to. SO - D, M and I shall go to the Winter Celebration.
As I was waiting to bring M home from school today, I was chatting with another mother about this whole thing. Sure, I understand that the kids worked hard...IN DECEMBER...to prepare for this celebration. BUT - doesn't this seem a little late to be doing a Winter Celebration? I'm hoping that they've taken "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" out of the program, and other such songs, but it still seems a little late in the game to be doing this. Wouldn't it be a better choice to just cancel and call it good?
My friend whom I was talking to has 2 children - both of whom have swimming today, then her daughter has dance while her son (who is in M's class) has this celebration tonite. Her husband is currently out of town on business, and she is not feeling well herself. She is going to have to drop and dash her daughter early, possibly picking her up late so she can be there for her son. AND, as she's telling me what her afternoon schedule looks like with all this, her son is upset that he won't get any time to "rest" in between all the activities.
Is this really the best choice for the kids?
M is excited about it, but she's having to make a choice between karate class and getting dolled up for the celebration (3 guesses which she picked, and the first 2 don't count...). With the 5:15 arrival time, we could do karate, but would have to possibly bow out early to change and rush to the celebration, but no hair or make-up time. OR, we could come home, relax, get gussied up, and go straight to the celebration with no karate. SO - we're at home right now. She's watching a show, then we are going to do her reading homework, get gussied up and head on out for the celebration.
The good news? Rather than the "traditional" gingerbread and cider social after the celebration, they chose to go with finger foods and juice. THANK GOODNESS! None of us are fans of gingerbread in any way, shape, or form, let alone in the multiple ways, shapes, and forms that traditionally show up at this event. Still, we'll probably be heading out after a few obligatory visitings to grab some dinner and head home.
As long as the kids are happy, right????
As I was waiting to bring M home from school today, I was chatting with another mother about this whole thing. Sure, I understand that the kids worked hard...IN DECEMBER...to prepare for this celebration. BUT - doesn't this seem a little late to be doing a Winter Celebration? I'm hoping that they've taken "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" out of the program, and other such songs, but it still seems a little late in the game to be doing this. Wouldn't it be a better choice to just cancel and call it good?
My friend whom I was talking to has 2 children - both of whom have swimming today, then her daughter has dance while her son (who is in M's class) has this celebration tonite. Her husband is currently out of town on business, and she is not feeling well herself. She is going to have to drop and dash her daughter early, possibly picking her up late so she can be there for her son. AND, as she's telling me what her afternoon schedule looks like with all this, her son is upset that he won't get any time to "rest" in between all the activities.
Is this really the best choice for the kids?
M is excited about it, but she's having to make a choice between karate class and getting dolled up for the celebration (3 guesses which she picked, and the first 2 don't count...). With the 5:15 arrival time, we could do karate, but would have to possibly bow out early to change and rush to the celebration, but no hair or make-up time. OR, we could come home, relax, get gussied up, and go straight to the celebration with no karate. SO - we're at home right now. She's watching a show, then we are going to do her reading homework, get gussied up and head on out for the celebration.
The good news? Rather than the "traditional" gingerbread and cider social after the celebration, they chose to go with finger foods and juice. THANK GOODNESS! None of us are fans of gingerbread in any way, shape, or form, let alone in the multiple ways, shapes, and forms that traditionally show up at this event. Still, we'll probably be heading out after a few obligatory visitings to grab some dinner and head home.
As long as the kids are happy, right????
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
a weekend away
Last weekend was D's company's annual kickoff party at the coast. We had been planning on this weekend away for months! Because he is a "Team Leader", he is strongly encouraged/required to attend, therefore the company pays for a hotel room out there. WOO HOO! SO - we had a swanky hotel room at the Hotel Elliot in Astoria. This is an older hotel with all the bells and whistles - heated floors in the bathrooms, super comfortable beds - well, those are pretty much the bells and whistles, but what more do you need?
Mom took the weekend off to stay with M so D and I could head out and enjoy our night away from it all. A nice, romantic, relaxing evening out with no worries about driving home afterward or bedtimes or even wake up calls in the morning. All we had to do was be out of the room by noon and we were golden.
We hit the road at about 1pm on Saturday to head over to the coast and I was feeling pretty OK when we started out. Well, somewhere along the way (perhaps as we went over the pass to the coast) my head started pounding and my cough kicked into high gear - I was a mess! By the time we got to the hotel, I could barely stand up straight and was doing my best to make it up to the room before collapsing for a nap before the party.
I made it through the party, but after D took me right back to the hotel where I climbed into bed and stayed there till noon the next morning when we had to leave. He was able to go out and have fun with his co-workers while I laid in a semi-conscious state staring at the TV watching the new Real World episodes, so all was not lost. AND, we did get to lay in bed and relax in the morning without child, mother, dogs, phone, etc. waking us up.
Not exactly the weekend away we had hoped for, but still turned out to be just what the doctor ordered...
Until the trip back over the pass, but that's a whole other story...
Mom took the weekend off to stay with M so D and I could head out and enjoy our night away from it all. A nice, romantic, relaxing evening out with no worries about driving home afterward or bedtimes or even wake up calls in the morning. All we had to do was be out of the room by noon and we were golden.
We hit the road at about 1pm on Saturday to head over to the coast and I was feeling pretty OK when we started out. Well, somewhere along the way (perhaps as we went over the pass to the coast) my head started pounding and my cough kicked into high gear - I was a mess! By the time we got to the hotel, I could barely stand up straight and was doing my best to make it up to the room before collapsing for a nap before the party.
I made it through the party, but after D took me right back to the hotel where I climbed into bed and stayed there till noon the next morning when we had to leave. He was able to go out and have fun with his co-workers while I laid in a semi-conscious state staring at the TV watching the new Real World episodes, so all was not lost. AND, we did get to lay in bed and relax in the morning without child, mother, dogs, phone, etc. waking us up.
Not exactly the weekend away we had hoped for, but still turned out to be just what the doctor ordered...
Until the trip back over the pass, but that's a whole other story...
Those 3 words...
4:30am Monday morning my "Spidey Sense" woke me up with a start - you know the "Spidey Sense" that can take you from a deep sleep to wide awake at the mere sound of something "not right" with the force? I developed this "Spidey Sense" upon becoming a mother 8 years ago, and am still amazed at it's effectiveness.
SO - upon awakening, I noticed that the lights were on in the hallway indicating that M had woken up and was in the bathroom. I laid there and listened for any "odd" sounds that would let me know that she was sick or such. No sounds came, I heard the toilet flush and thought we were in the clear. THEN, the door opened...
I'm thinking she's had a bad dream and is coming to join us in bed (this has been a fairly common occurrence in the past few weeks), but rather than that I got those dreaded 3 words...
"I THREW UP"
SO - D and I jumped into action - me on clean up (she is a very thorough girl, have to say that about her), and him on keeping her company by laying on the floor reading her a book while I scrubbed and did laundry around them.
I'm thinking that she had enough drainage from her sinuses that just caused her to be sick b/c it was just the once(ish) that she actually threw up. She did have some diarrhea at about 7am, but other than that, all body systems were a go. Luckily Monday was a holiday, so we were able to lay around and do nothing all day taking it easy - her recovering from being sick, me recovering from taking care of her.
Yesterday she was still feeling pretty cruddy - said her head hurt and tummy felt "gurgly", so stayed home from school. BUT, when the end of the day came and she was still saying that maybe she'd return to school today despite acting just fine, we had to play a little hard ball. I'm thinking she enjoys sick days a little too much - so we decided that if she was home again sick today, no TV, no computer, no cards/games with Mommy (Mommy had to work), just resting and reading a book. OH, and did we mention that if she didn't return to school we'd have to seriously consider if she'd be able to attend snow camp next weekend? Then there's the Winter Celebration at her school which was rescheduled for Thursday evening that she'd have to miss...
Needless to say, she returned to school this morning without a complaint about anything!
I feel a little bad doubting her, especially given that I've been sick in one sense or the other for 6 weeks now with no outwardly visible symptoms to "confirm" to those around me that I'm feeling crappy, but sometimes a Mom knows...call it the other part of our "Spidey Sense"...
SO - upon awakening, I noticed that the lights were on in the hallway indicating that M had woken up and was in the bathroom. I laid there and listened for any "odd" sounds that would let me know that she was sick or such. No sounds came, I heard the toilet flush and thought we were in the clear. THEN, the door opened...
I'm thinking she's had a bad dream and is coming to join us in bed (this has been a fairly common occurrence in the past few weeks), but rather than that I got those dreaded 3 words...
"I THREW UP"
SO - D and I jumped into action - me on clean up (she is a very thorough girl, have to say that about her), and him on keeping her company by laying on the floor reading her a book while I scrubbed and did laundry around them.
I'm thinking that she had enough drainage from her sinuses that just caused her to be sick b/c it was just the once(ish) that she actually threw up. She did have some diarrhea at about 7am, but other than that, all body systems were a go. Luckily Monday was a holiday, so we were able to lay around and do nothing all day taking it easy - her recovering from being sick, me recovering from taking care of her.
Yesterday she was still feeling pretty cruddy - said her head hurt and tummy felt "gurgly", so stayed home from school. BUT, when the end of the day came and she was still saying that maybe she'd return to school today despite acting just fine, we had to play a little hard ball. I'm thinking she enjoys sick days a little too much - so we decided that if she was home again sick today, no TV, no computer, no cards/games with Mommy (Mommy had to work), just resting and reading a book. OH, and did we mention that if she didn't return to school we'd have to seriously consider if she'd be able to attend snow camp next weekend? Then there's the Winter Celebration at her school which was rescheduled for Thursday evening that she'd have to miss...
Needless to say, she returned to school this morning without a complaint about anything!
I feel a little bad doubting her, especially given that I've been sick in one sense or the other for 6 weeks now with no outwardly visible symptoms to "confirm" to those around me that I'm feeling crappy, but sometimes a Mom knows...call it the other part of our "Spidey Sense"...
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
I've been tagged!
SO - Marlea "tagged" me in this assignment thingy where I have to go into My Documents and blog about the sixth one listed there. I think it's supposed to be a picture, but I'm not sure, so just for fun I'm going to use the actual sixth document listed.
It's the "I-List" dated January 7th, 2009. Basically what this is is a list of all of the inmates currently housed in the county jail at the time that the list is printed. It contains their booking number, Inmate Name, Sex, Race, "Class", File No., and their Cell/Bunk. This particular one is 4 pages long and contains a total of 199 inmates. Our jail has 250ish beds (I think), so we are well below capacity on this particular day.
SO - why do I have this information, you may ask...one part of my job is to provide special education services to any inmate in our county jail who is under the age of 21 as of September 1 of the current school year, and who has not received their GED or HS Diploma. The tricky part is finding these guys and gals, so I end up gathering information via 3 different jail produced "reports" into my own report, then send out questionnaires asking for vital information, such as "did you graduate?" "from where?" "if not, what was the last school you went to?" "are you interested in being taught while here?"...that sort of thing. Then based on the replies, I track down their records and if they actually have an IEP (Individualized Education Plan for folks with a qualifying disability as determined by IDEA - the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act), THEN I get to teach them. It used to be that I'd teach anyone in the right age range, but this year the job changed to just folks on IEPs. SO - by the time I track down that information, unfortunately many of them have moved on. The sad part? I keep the files because often they will be back.
AND THERE! My assignment is done! Thanks Marlea for giving me homework!
It's the "I-List" dated January 7th, 2009. Basically what this is is a list of all of the inmates currently housed in the county jail at the time that the list is printed. It contains their booking number, Inmate Name, Sex, Race, "Class", File No., and their Cell/Bunk. This particular one is 4 pages long and contains a total of 199 inmates. Our jail has 250ish beds (I think), so we are well below capacity on this particular day.
SO - why do I have this information, you may ask...one part of my job is to provide special education services to any inmate in our county jail who is under the age of 21 as of September 1 of the current school year, and who has not received their GED or HS Diploma. The tricky part is finding these guys and gals, so I end up gathering information via 3 different jail produced "reports" into my own report, then send out questionnaires asking for vital information, such as "did you graduate?" "from where?" "if not, what was the last school you went to?" "are you interested in being taught while here?"...that sort of thing. Then based on the replies, I track down their records and if they actually have an IEP (Individualized Education Plan for folks with a qualifying disability as determined by IDEA - the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act), THEN I get to teach them. It used to be that I'd teach anyone in the right age range, but this year the job changed to just folks on IEPs. SO - by the time I track down that information, unfortunately many of them have moved on. The sad part? I keep the files because often they will be back.
AND THERE! My assignment is done! Thanks Marlea for giving me homework!
Sunday, January 11, 2009
What Christmas???
Mom, M and I spent this weekend packing up all of the Christmas decorations at both houses. Very busy weekend for us while D was off at a rugby coaches training both days. Now the only things left to do are to put the boxes in our attic, disassemble trees at both houses, and take down outside decor. Normally this process takes so much longer, but we just plowed right through Mom's house yesterday, then our house today, and now we're all done! YEAH! Of course, with all the craziness of the holidays, I never even fully got my house decorated, but now it's all undecorated. *SIGH* It's such hard work to get it all put up, then even harder to take it all down...but I do love it when it's up!
I broke down and started taking antibiotics on Thursday and while I'm feeling less like death warmed over, my coughing fits are more intense when they do occur. I'm thinking it's officially in my chest, and am going to try and go get it looked at tomorrow. I'm not sure what they can do for me if it is as I'm already on the horse pills of antibiotics, but maybe I could get some cough syrup that will work or something.
The charter school where I teach is set to re-open tomorrow, at least according to the outgoing message this morning. I'm planning on calling before heading out and waiting till I talk to a human before driving out there. SO - if they are open as planned, it's back to the "normal" grind of my job this week.
Not much else to report - life is the same old boring as ever around here. SO - on that note, I'm headed to my comfy chair for an evening of TV watching - yep, living large as always!
I broke down and started taking antibiotics on Thursday and while I'm feeling less like death warmed over, my coughing fits are more intense when they do occur. I'm thinking it's officially in my chest, and am going to try and go get it looked at tomorrow. I'm not sure what they can do for me if it is as I'm already on the horse pills of antibiotics, but maybe I could get some cough syrup that will work or something.
The charter school where I teach is set to re-open tomorrow, at least according to the outgoing message this morning. I'm planning on calling before heading out and waiting till I talk to a human before driving out there. SO - if they are open as planned, it's back to the "normal" grind of my job this week.
Not much else to report - life is the same old boring as ever around here. SO - on that note, I'm headed to my comfy chair for an evening of TV watching - yep, living large as always!
Friday, January 9, 2009
small woodland creatures?
I often joke that our garage (and certain rooms of our house at given times of the year) could very well contain several "small woodland creatures" for all I know since they are so messy. WELL...last nite I went into the garage to feed the dogs and was greeted by the tell-tale signs of such a creature. The brand new bag of dog food which was still on the floor while we finished up the old stuff had nibble marks along the bottom edge. Suddenly it all became clear - the dogs have been VERY interested in something in/near the heating ducts of the downstairs bathroom and laundry room, and an interesting smell has been in both rooms. I was going to call the pest guy to investigate anyway, thinking that something may very well be living in there, but now I have proof. SO - I call Gus (pest guy extraordinaire) and he asks if my "creature" is by any chance 10 inches long and black. HUH?????? Seems he's been encountering several rats in the area. OH BOY!!!!!!! Luckily I haven't come face to face with my creature to tell that much, but OMG!!!! Gus is on his way this afternoon to take care of my creature...thank goodness!
In other news, I gave up on healing myself and went for the antibiotics - got the prescription filled yesterday and took my first horse pill last nite. I have 14 days of these things - oh joy! BUT - if they work and I can finally feel better, it'll be so worth it! I do OK for awhile, then I start coughing and all my energy is gone and I have to rest. This has been about 4 weeks now that I've been feeling like this - I'm just all done being sick!!!
In the meantime, I'm still working from home as the charter school is closed until at least next week. After driving out there only to find an empty building on Wednesday, I'm sure going to check before going on Monday, though, as it's about 1/2 hour outside of town. Today I'm trying something different - instead of sleeping in, then getting up and working, I'm trying to be up and work for a couple hours, then lay down and rest for a bit, then back up and work. If I do that throughout the day, it should help me to get work done as well as get my rest in. I do have to head over to the District Office at some point today, but that can be anytime between now and 5pm, well, 4ish as it's a Friday afternoon and I have to be home for Gus. Think I can handle that.
And, on that note, I think I'm going to go for my first rest break of the day - been up and working for about an hour now and am starting to feel the exhaustion. I am so grateful that I have a job that allows me to do this - if I didn't, I'd have to have called in sick several days this week.
In other news, I gave up on healing myself and went for the antibiotics - got the prescription filled yesterday and took my first horse pill last nite. I have 14 days of these things - oh joy! BUT - if they work and I can finally feel better, it'll be so worth it! I do OK for awhile, then I start coughing and all my energy is gone and I have to rest. This has been about 4 weeks now that I've been feeling like this - I'm just all done being sick!!!
In the meantime, I'm still working from home as the charter school is closed until at least next week. After driving out there only to find an empty building on Wednesday, I'm sure going to check before going on Monday, though, as it's about 1/2 hour outside of town. Today I'm trying something different - instead of sleeping in, then getting up and working, I'm trying to be up and work for a couple hours, then lay down and rest for a bit, then back up and work. If I do that throughout the day, it should help me to get work done as well as get my rest in. I do have to head over to the District Office at some point today, but that can be anytime between now and 5pm, well, 4ish as it's a Friday afternoon and I have to be home for Gus. Think I can handle that.
And, on that note, I think I'm going to go for my first rest break of the day - been up and working for about an hour now and am starting to feel the exhaustion. I am so grateful that I have a job that allows me to do this - if I didn't, I'd have to have called in sick several days this week.
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