Dentist

Last week while we were on vacation I noticed that every so often when I was chewing my gum I'd get a strong pain in one of my molars. I was worried that I had a cavity. It wasn't constant, not consistent so I kind of blew it off until yesterday. Kent and I are going on a quick vacation next week, and I thought I'd better have the dentist check it out before we go just so I could make sure that it wouldn't cause any problems while I was there. So I called, and they said I could come in whenever I was available. Yay! I got dressed and went in. The tech took an x-ray, then Dr. Mike came in. He had me bite down on some instrument several times, and there was only one spot that bothered me a bit. I thought, "Great. This will be a quick fix since it only hurt in one spot. I'll probably just have a tiny filling and it'll be good." Wrong. I cracked the tooth. How? I'm not sure, but my dentist thinks that it's because I'm clenching my teeth at night because of my back pain. Grr... And to make things even better, I had two cavities on 2 front teeth. What?! Nothing even hurts there!

Dr. Mike is great because I'm a wimp when it comes to dental stuff. I faithfully go in for my cleanings ever 6 months, but if they find anything my heart begins to race and my fight or flee instinct kicks into overdrive. (It's only on the flee at that point...) I found that if I wear my iPod, and turn it up loud, that it almost cancels out the horrible noise of the drill. If only they could find something for the taste and smell of dental things... Anyway, going back to Dr. Mike, he always uses the numbing cream before he gives me shots. And I always take forever to numb up, and usually require extra lidocaine because I won't go numb. The only problem is that once I'm numb I stay numb for HOURS. Yesterday, my lip on the upper right side was numb, all the way up my cheekbone, and the right nostril. I went in at 11:30 for my appointment, and everything was numb until 4:30 yesterday afternoon. Here was my attempt to smile while I was waiting to pick the kids up. It looks like I am showing my teeth. This is better than it looked earlier when I could hardly talk because my lips didn't want to move. Good times, good times...

He caught that?!

We were watching a TV show when a commercial for men and women who had had mini face lifts came on. Drew usually tunes out commercials that aren't about toys or the Perfect Brownie pan. (He really, really wants me to get one.) Anyway, imagine my surprise when he turns to me and says, "Mom, I think that Person X (name changed to protect Drew's innocence) really needs to get one of those. I think they're would look better. And I think that Person Y should get one too." It was so out of the blue that I couldn't help but laugh.

Book Recommendations

In case you are looking for a good read during Spring Break and beyond I have some recommendations. The first one is The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton. This is a really interesting book about a 4 year old girl who was put on a ship alone in 1913 and wound up in Australia. She is taken in by the harbor master and his wife. She longs to find out who she really is, and it takes her granddaughter to finally solve the mystery of her how she ended up in Australia without any clues to her past. Another great book is The Guernsey Potato Pie Peel Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows. I wasn't sure if I would like this book when I saw that it was written as a series of letters between a group of people, but it is one of my favorite books. I didn't want the story to end. It tells about a group of people and how the war changed their lives. Another one that is good is Suzanne's Diary for Nicholas. This is written a la Nicholas Sparks, but it was written by James Patterson. If you want to start a series, The Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins is really interesting. So far she has written the first two books, The Hunger Games and Catching Fire. The third and final book will be released this fall. If you're looking for a series that's full of comedy relief then the Joanna Carl Chocoholic series is a fun set of books to read. I also really enjoy The Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon. She's from the valley, and has written 7 books so far in that series. I'm on book 4. The books are quite long. I think the shortest was 700+ pages, but most are over 1000 pages... in about a 9 point font so they may take a while to read. I read all the time so if you have some recommendations please comment! If you want more suggestions let me know.

What's going on...

Nothing major going on here. But we are keeping busy. I did my allergy testing a few weeks ago. I left my appointment with the serum that I now take. These are in lieu of the allergy shots. I have 8 vials of increasing concentration of what I'm allergic to... which, if you're wondering, is everything they tested me for. I finished my first vial, and am now on the second. My allergies have already markedly improved, even with the windy weather we've had lately.
With the allergy mess all sorted out I started on my diet. I met with 2 different dietitians, and found a plan that should do wonders. In fact, I have already had some success. I started last Tuesday, and have lost 6 pounds as of yesterday. What a great way to start off a diet. If I continue to lose weight and can not feel completely deprived in the process my odds of success are much greater. For breakfast and lunch I have a protein shake that's 225 calories or less. Then for dinner I can have either a Lean Cuisine or Weight Watchers meal, or make chicken or fish (so it's chicken because fish is NASTY!) and have either a green salad (with Salad Spritzers- 5 calories) or 1 cup of minestrone soup. I can also have unlimited green veggies and Sugar Free Jell-O or Sugar Free Popsicles throughout the day. I'm also supposed to drink even more water than usual, and for now, I am not drinking soda. Even Dr. Pepper. This week I am missing chocolate and caffeine. I hate this time of month... I hope it passes quickly.
Julie is over right now. The boys are doing tricks on the trampoline and goofing off for her. They LOVE it when she comes over. Trevor did an especially high jump, and when he landed his shorts fell to his calves. I had to laugh because it reminded me of my sister Michelle. When she was young she was so skinny that her pants fell down to her ankles regularly- in public too. I used to be alternately horrified or laughing about it. Trevor was sufficiently embarrassed so I'm trying really hard to keep a straight face.
Natalie is at a friend's house right now. Apparently she forgot our shopping plans this morning, so when her friend called to play this morning she was pretty ticked off at me for telling her she couldn't play. She was happy afterwards, though. She has set some goals, and I promised her that when she reached those goals I'd take her to get something. Today, since she has stopped sucking her thumb, even when she's asleep, she got her first Zhu Zhu Pet. It's a hamster. Then we also got her Easter dress and a pretty white shrug to go with it. We usually get them at the Little Girls' Dress Party, but I couldn't make it this year so we found one at The Children's Place.
Drew has been sad to not play with many friends this Spring Break. Everyone seems to either be travelling or sick. We're trying to make a trip to the snow happen this weekend so maybe that distraction will be enough for him. They've all been asking to play in the snow so it should be fun.
Well, I think I'm being summoned to come play Sorry! so I'll write more later. Maybe I'll even edit my pictures so I can post some of them...