November 2009

I am starting to put together my Christmas/Holiday card list.. would you like one? Personally autographed by me – and my husband and my kids? Yes? Of COURSE you would!

Please email me your address – don’t leave it in the comments – even if you’ve given it to me before.. I don’t like using someone’s info (address, etc) without express permission, so I’ve deleted last year’s Christmas card list!

You can email me at: no spam thanks (at) g mail . com

Put those 3 words together, add an “@” symbol, then put the last bit together to make it gmail.com

Yay for mailing stuff!!! :)

Yesterday, after a successful 2 years of avoidance, I visited the dentist.

I am not a fan of the dentist. I am, in fact, rather hysterically afraid of the dentist – even though my most traumatic experience in the chair has been nothing more serious than a few fillings. No root canals or braces or extractions (though I did have 2 wisdom teeth removed while I was knocked out).

I’ve visited several dentists who specialize in “phobic” patients, including one who taught me a bit of self-hypnosis. I have medicated myself with anti-anxiety meds, too.

Mostly, however, I just try to avoid going. At all. Even as an adult who knows better.

But when my school’s insurance kicked in, I couldn’t use the excuse of “we can’t afford it” anymore. I could barely use that in the past anyway because, really, we CAN afford it. But I kept saying things like, “Let’s wait ’til we have insurance coverage, ok? Then we can just, y’know, get it paid for, right? Yeah! All good.. la la la..”

A new dental office announced that they’d be opening up within walking distance of our house and I decided that we’d start going there instead of the other further away office – that way, when the kids are a bit older, they’ll be able to walk to the dentist after school instead of needing me to drive them (or take a bus, or whatever). So, then we had to wait for them to finish building the new office, right?

One day, sadly, I ran out of excuses. I had insurance. The office was open.

I called and made appointments for the whole family.

And my appointment was first.

7:30, Friday morning, I was sitting in a massaging chair with my mouth wide open. They took pictures and did x-rays and scraped and polished and.. no cavities. Handed me a new (lime green!) toothbrush and some toothpaste and some floss and sent me on my merry way. I have an appointment in 2 weeks to return for a new bite guard (because I may have bitten my last one into pieces recently. *cough*stress*cough*)

Easy peasy. My hands sweat like crazy but I didn’t cry and I didn’t scream and I didn’t hyperventilate – and I wasn’t even medicated.

The best part for me, beyond the TV in the ceiling and the massage chair and the friendly people, is that I didn’t have an cavities.

Because people in our family who visit the dentist without cavities get a fresh, crisp $20 bill as a reward.

Even the adults.

Awesome.

1. There are no hard and fast rules for GiSTs, so I can combine my lists.. Phew!
2. Spending yesterday afternoon at Tracey’s place working on a group project and laughing a LOT.
3. My jeans are washed and hanging to dry.
4. My nearly 2-day long migraine went away while I slept last night.
5. My husband will happily play endless games of Dropcast with me.
6. Having the option of writing a 2-3 page paper or going to class on Thursday (for an hour) to discuss the movie “A Time to Kill” and choosing the latter for a guaranteed 5 marks.. AND enjoying the discussion.
7. Removing my sparkly nailpolish to discover that my nails are an interesting shade of orange (stained) and finding this entertaining enough to leave ‘em alone for a few days.
8. That physio has helped my pain levels SO much that being in pain on any given day is really noticeable instead of “just another day”.
9. A friend of mine bought a farm in the literal sense. I’m totally jealous, of course, but also seriously giddy that someone I know did it! I’m hoping she’ll give me endless details about it.
10. Sleeping well is a huge blessing.
11. Starting to think about additional classes I’d like to take, on top of my diploma program, to make myself more marketable when I graduate (like CPR, conflict resolution, etc.)
12. I did a “group counseling” simulation – where I was the group leader – earlier this week and it went well and I felt comfortable and I was really pleased, even if I totally forgot to do one of the important things (specifically, I didn’t speak of my credentials to run the group!)
13. Our Christmas fund has enough money in it to buy some great gifts from the kids’ lists.
14. I always felt that I was somewhat aware of my privilege – financial, racial, etc – but being in school for social work-related stuff really, really drives that home in a lot of other ways.
15. Earlier this week I was driving to school for the aforementioned simulation and encountered huge amounts of traffic and was running really late. I called my friend Paula, who was at school, and she rallied the troops and let the prof know.. and I was able to relax and just drive. I am SO grateful to Paula!
16. That the number one item on Middle One’s Christmas list is.. a pogo stick.
17. Our sideways-swimming fish, who spends his time lying on the bottom of the tank, is still alive, eating and occasionally swimming happily around. Weird, but good.
18. Mulled apple cider POP!
19. That there is time, every single day, to snuggle up with my husband.
20. Maymo’s teacher wrote home to let us know that he’s already reading at the end of grade 1 level – even though they just started the reading program. He’s really likes to read and, of course, this makes my little literary heart sing..
21. BONUS: I had no problem whatsoever finding 20 things to put on this list..

1. Setting ‘em up and knockin’ ‘em down.
2. Jamma pants. You just cannot go wrong with them.
3. A classmate who taught me an amusing (but vulgar) euphemism today that had me laughing for about 20 straight minutes. Heh.
4. Reminding myself that I cannot undo what’s already done and just have to keep moving forward.
5. Making plans to get more school work done. ALL GOOD.

1. 97.5% on my most recent psychology test. One more test and one more assignment in that class and I am DONE!
2. I handed in a paper today that’s worth 40% of my final mark in my Law class. I have no idea if my prof will like it, hate it, or something in between. I feel it’s good work, however.
3. Jamma pants within minutes of arriving home from school.
4. Homemade (by Coffee) candy apples. Even if the candy coating is pretty much impenetrable. Heh.
5. Shiny pink fingernails.

1. Even though I definitely cannot afford to buy the seal right now, I am SO grateful that you found me a place that I CAN buy it someday!!
2. More Dr. Pepper fueling my paper writing – and this blog post.
3. That, when this paper is done, I have a few days ‘free’ to do OTHER things before I start working on the next big paper. We’re entering Final Exam time, too. Boo! (But wow, time flies!)
4. I have a heap of good blog posts lined up to write, when I have time, and that’s a nice feeling (but I still want more suggestions if you’ve got ‘em!)
5. My husband is my cheering squad in every sense of the word (except he refuses to wear the little kilt and carry pompoms.. *sigh*) and, when I’m weepy and tired and get the “I can’t DO this” chant going, he knocks it all out.

Yesterday I stumbled across this link, in my RSS feed, and when I saw the wax seal pictured I was overcome with bug-eyed lust. I want that seal. I NEED that seal!

But I can’t find it anywhere. I’ve Googled everything I can think of – and, lemme’ tell you, the terms “wax seal” and “snail mail” don’t help narrow things down. It’s killing me. How AWESOME is that seal?!

So, dear readers, anyone stumbled across a wax seal like this before? Anyone know where I can find one? Anyone have better look Googling it??

1. Dr. Pepper, fueling my ability to think coherently while writing a very long paper on Differential Response Models in child welfare.
2. The new clip-on”daylight” lamps my husband bought me for my desk area so I can see my papers without the glaring (yellow) overhead light. They’re very cheerful and white!
3. There have been Christmas presents purchased for the kids. Credit fully goes to Coffee for that, of course.
4. The tiny pink Christmas tree my friend Mary sent me (last year?) is still on my desk – so I’m totally decorated for the season!
5. That my husband is geeky and I’m reasonably technologically savvy and the fact that so many things in our lives are made easier as a result.

1. FRIDAY! ALMOST WEEKEND! YEAH!
2. I cleaned out the linen closet this morning. It felt good. I also cleaned the bathroom and did a bit of laundry and tidied up a bit and all of that, also, felt good.
3. Contemplating some volunteer work – one “shift” per week for about 4 hours.
4. Mandarin oranges! Coffee bought them for me – I had forgotten how much I love them.
5. Dogs, snoring in tandem.

I find, looking back on my life with increasing discomfort, that too often I have been impressed by people who were seeking to impress, rather than people who were impressive. I have been dismissive of people who were awkward rather than stupid. The more I think about it, surrounded by a swirling mass of people who are all, no doubt, visionaries or villains of incredible complexity, the more uncomfortable I become.

– Jon Carroll, in his column for the San Francisco Chronicle, Wednesday, August 31, 2005.

(Via QoTD)