Ouch!

Happy Mother's Day!

Yes, we're still here, still alive, still kicking, still in love. I'm sitting at our kitchen table typing on my laptop with the whirring of the overhead fan, the soft "on" static of my paused iPod speakers, and the muted sounds of people playing at the park surrounding me. Amy is asleep in bed, recovering from wisdom teeth surgery on Friday.

We both didn't go to work Friday, slept in a bit, and drove to the oral surgeon's office in Huntington Beach a little before 8:00am. Amy was a bit nervous about having her first surgery, but it was over in barely half an hour. I sat with her for awhile as she groggily woke up from the anesthesia, and then we went home less than two hours later than we left. I went to CVS and filled the vicodin and penicillin prescriptions and tried to help Amy out. We watched two movies on Friday (Shrek 3 and August Rush) and just generally took it easy. I doubt anyone would be surprised to learn that I did a lot of reading!

Saturday was more of the same: laundry, reading, soft foods (yogurt, cottage cheese, applesauce, etc.), and the Indiana Jones Trilogy on USA. This morning, Amy didn't take the vicodin so she could stay awake at church. She has been a real trooper and is ready to head back to work

Also, we have neglected to announce that we got a new used car! Several Saturdays ago (April 26), Amy and I headed over to the Angel Stadium parking lot for the semi-annual Enterprise Car Sale. Enterprise teamed with several local credit unions to sell '06, '07, and '08 cars. We went armed with our Consumer Reports magazine, wanting but not needing to buy. After driving the V6 and four-cylinder editions of the Hyundai Sonata, we decided to see how much it would cost with the number-crunchers. It was too much, and so we headed back out on the lot and ended up driving a 2007 ruby red Kia Optima. Amy liked it better than the Hyundais and so we decided to go back to the numbers game and see what kind of deal we could get. After much discussion with each other, looking through the magazine and calling my dad, we decided to do it! Amy really loves "her" car and I now get "my" car back.

Last weekend, we took the new car up to Santa Clarita because Amy was helping host Heather's bridal shower at my parents' house. On Friday night, we went on a fun quadruple date with Nick and Christie, Brian and Becca, and Travis and Katy to Black Angus. We got to catch up on a lot of things, eat (too much!) good food, and laugh a lot. The next day, my dad and I helped the ladies set up for the shindig, and then jetted out of there so as to flee the girliness! That night, we celebrated Trevor's 17th birthday at Chili's before heading home.

A lot more has happened and will happen, but (do I always say this?) we will try to keep you better informed and perhaps offer some thought-provoking links as well. I leave you with a picture of a (not our) 2007 ruby red Kia Optima:

Don't Get Cavities

Yesterday was phase one of a crown on my number 14 tooth (at least I think that's what they were saying). It's my second molar on the top left side of my mouth. For those of you who are familiar with my love of needles, I was more than a little nervous about all the Novocaine shots. In light of that, my dentist was made very aware of the fact that he must keep the needles out of my line of vision, which he did very well. It went something like this "Alright, Amy, close your eyes now..." Then I'd shut my eyes tight and open my mouth imagining I was in New England walking in the snow. I was even singing "I'll be Home for Christmas" in my head.

All in all, I had two long shots of Novocaine on the outer gums to numb the two major nerves that are connected to the tooth. Then I had several (I didn't count because I was trying to transport myself by singing the aforementioned song) smaller shots on the inner gums by the tooth just before he shaved the inside of the tooth. The shaving of my tooth was not a big deal, aside from the smell and little bits of silver flying all over the place. They took an impression, made a temporary crown for me, glued it on and sent me on my way. I'll go back on the 24th after work to get the real crown.

There was only one point at which I was concentrating on anything and everything to get myself not to puke, but I was thankfully already lying down. Leaving the dentist, I was shaky and still feeling a bit ill and traumatized so I was glad Happy was there to drive me home. Once the Novocaine wore off, the throbbing started and now my jaw is pretty sore on the left side of my mouth. But, I slept great and can talk without a problem, so answering the phones today is just like normal. I figure it probably would have saved me a bunch of hassle (not to mention a bunch of money) if I hadn't gotten a cavity in the first place. So that's the wisdom I have to share from this experience: Don't get cavities.

How-to of the Day

This morning when I got to work I decided to check out the "How-to of the Day" on my google homepage. There are some pretty random things at times, but today I thought it was worth sharing--especially because Happy and I are sticklers for this (and many other things like it). If you aren't good at differentiating, don't take this as a personal insult, and have a wonderful Thursday!

p.s. I'm going to the dentist again today because my tooth, which was drilled and filled in JANUARY is still so sensitive that I can't chew on the right side of my mouth. Hopefully something can and will be done.

The Dentist

Just after Christmas Happy and I visited our new dentist. I found out I had two cavities. Bummer. But, I finally made an appointment to go in yesterday at 4:30. Not only did they drill and fill my two cavities, they also sealed 5 of my other molars and they feel weird. Now all that's left is to get one crown on a molar that has a silver filling. I'm sure that will be fun.

Once the dentist came in my little room I told him my "issues" with needles (thinking of the Novacaine) and he told me that for 99% of kids getting fillings, they don't use Novacaine because the drilling really isn't so bad. He gave me the option of using it or not. I opted not to use it. All in all, it really wasn't so bad (even though he did drill four separate times--he'd drill, rinse, then say "Just a little bit more...") and there was only one point where my eye twitched at the pain. For me, it's well worth it to not have the shots.

The last cavity I had filled was a long time ago, but I clearly remember at least 6 shots of Novacaine and still being able to feel the drill just as much as I did yesterday. Then I had a numb mouth for several hours. Yesterday I didn't! As I was leaving they asked if I wanted to have my teeth cleaned right then because one of their appointments didn't show up. Apparently there's new technology to clean teeth (shows how long it's been since I had my teeth professionally cleaned) which uses baking soda and a high powered sprayer. It tasted kind of gross, but it made my teeth whiter :-D Aside from the baking soda dusting on my face afterwards, I liked it much more than the nasty stuff I used to have.

So, even though I asked Happy to meet me at the dentist and drive me home, I could have driven myself home after all! In light of my exciting evening at the dentist (all of it took less than an hour), I thought I'd ask, does anyone else have any memorable dentist experiences to share?