Two Down!

Chandler got her braces off yesterday, it was a successful treatment and other than wisdom teeth out later this year, she only needs 3-month retainer visits for another year and we will be done.  Hers are all paid for, too.

To be fair, I took Ben in for an evaluation.  He did not want braces and was fine with his little gap, though I decided I wanted a second opinion and I was the youngest of 3, time and money run out so often before the youngest gets stuff and often he is in second hand clothes and borrowing shoes because his feet have grown and I have not moved him up a size, he gets last choice pretty often and while I would have loved to not spend the money on another set of braces, I was not about to let that be the issue.

So, off we went, and he needs them, badly.  He has an underbite that is pretty well disguised at the moment because his lower teeth are tilting back as his lower jaw grows.  But when he closes his teeth together, they don't meet in the back.  We may be too late in getting him braces, there's a good chance he will need jaw surgery to correct it when he's in his late teens, but we are going to try.  Jake was in the same boat, opposite jaw.  His lower jaw was too short.  And we avoided surgery in his case, so I am hopeful. 

If Ben has to have the surgery, he will have to go back into braces afterward as well.  So we may get to pay for braces twice for him. But there's no sense borrowing trouble from some future date, it's a waste of energy to worry about it now.  6 years is a world of change in a child and a family, Matt may have a different job, better insurance, I may have a job by then-there could be all kinds of changes in our lives, no need to give it that much focus now.  Much.  I can't say I don't worry about it, that's a LOT of money and also not the least of it-surgery on my child.  No one can just shrug that off totally. 

Anyway, Chan looks great, if a little freaky.  Different freaky, not freaky freaky.  She has this teeny little mouth, so all I have seen for nearly 2 years is the brackets.  Now she has these little square white teeth in there!   And more of them and they are arranged so nicely.  It's a pain to budget in the initial down payment, but I have to say, it really is worth it for them to have not only the structural advantages of a perfect bite, but also to be so pretty!  LOL  Everyone wants to look nice and a great smile is no small matter to self esteem.

Short Update

Jake had his wisdom teeth removed today.  I can't say pulled because they never emerged.  He was a little loopy afterward, but seems totally over it already.  I am amazed.

We went camping over the weekend, had a great time.  Matt and I talked it over today and we decided to try doing all 22 miles of the Richard Martin Trail end to end and back.  We are in talks with a friend who lives close enough to come bail us out if it's too much, just waiting for the right weather for it.  There's some heat coming in this weekend.

I am down 45 pounds from 2 years ago.  These long walks are really pushing the numbers, we do 10 miles on Sunday and I am still losing weight on Tuesday!  I am glad, as I had stalled at 38-40 pounds for about 6 months.  I am loving the longer walks, I dread summer coming in because we won't be able to walk all day when it's so darn hot and dry.  Hopefully we will be able to just walk early, we can do 10 miles in less than 3 hours now.  5-8 in the morning should be cool enough most of the summer.

Sleeping around 7 hours a night now, with oak-pollen induced 10-12 hour comas from time to time.  I have been reading several sleep books, one recently done one by a Harvard-trained doctor has been interesting, he recommends taking your average sleep (when you are not getting enough) and say you get up at 7 and sleep about 5 hours. He says go to  bed at 2 no matter how sleepy you get and get up at 7.  The next night, go to bed 15-30 minutes earlier and so on until you're back on a 7-8 hour a night schedule.  It's called restrictive sleep and it resets your sleep schedule.

Waking up with an active brain is called hyperarousal and it's because your brain is in overactivation mode.  There are relaxation and other things you can do to calm it down, though I have not had much success with any of them yet.  Mainly-the pollen and long walks are knocking me out.

Richard Martin Trail North End

Today Matt and I headed out to walk the northern end of the Richard Martin Trail from Elkmont to the Tennessee state line, about 6 miles one way.

We did the southern 5 miles last spring.

We had barely gotten started down the trail when we saw this! 
There were at least a dozen scattered along the trail, it was very exciting.

These guys are not due to bloom until June.

The northern end of the trail is prettier, I think.  It winds around and goes down a long hill for a couple of miles (which is uphill on the way back and somehow steeper!)

 Other than 3 horses and a couple with a dog, we had the trail to ourselves all day!

The trail ends at the TN state line at Veto.

Matt took this one!  I thought we were doing 10 miles total, so I wanted a pic with the 10  mile marker.  When we got back to the van, we had done 12.1 miles.

 Looking waaaay back over the road toward Alabama off in the distance.

I got excited, thinking I had spotted the Easter Bunny off in the distance under that mower trailer!

*sigh*  No bunny.

We drove back out looking for a cheese place that was not open, so we kept driving to get to the next intersection and viola!  My grandparent's old house!  I have not seen it in 17 years, when they moved to Kentucky to live with my aunt.  It was SO much bigger when I was a child.  Needless to say, I chattered Matt's ear off on the way to Athens about everything Granddaddy and I used to do together.  : ) 

It was a great day, I really enjoyed our walk.  It took just over 4 hours due to us stopping and taking pictures and milling around at the bridges and the TN state line.  I was pleased with our pacing!

Tomorrow, Jake goes for his wisdom teeth to be removed.  I am a wreck! 

Double New Year, Triple Whammy

Well, 2012 and Year of the Dragon are teaming up to pickpocket me.  I had hoped all the financial surprises were left behind in 2011, then I hoped it was more a 'Year of the Rabbit' thing and by the Dragon time, I would be clear.  But...not so.

Instead of detailing up my woes, which are simple-house, car, teeth-I will just announce that the trip is postponed and I am quite bummed.  But, that is how it is, so, there's no need to dwell on it.  We can go in the fall and we will be in better financial shape because by then, we will have a couple things paid off.  That will free up some more money for the trip!  Plus, Chan will probably be out of her braces, so being gone a month won't interfere with her adjustments. 

The weather for the past 2 days has been so nice, I have felt that stirring of blood that only the combo of bright, warm sunbeams and a light, warm breeze can create.  I don't care how much I run and sweat, nothing makes my heart leap and thud like the start of Spring. 

Still, I watch things like this:

And I wonder how people function in that kind of cold.  I harbor a deep suspicion for anyone who chooses to live anywhere that snow is on the ground for more than one week out of any given 365 day span.  What happened here last year was Unnatural and Freakish and likely some Republican plot to prove Global Warming is a myth by having it snow in places where it's unwelcome.

I am so glad this winter has been mild, that Arctic Air can stay up there in North Canada for all I care!

Disappointments are to the soul what a thunderstorm is to the air.
~Friedrich Schiller

Three Weeks

 She's had her braces 3 weeks and already that one tooth is back in line!  That was SO fast!

Day One

 The new year arrived, the kids kept watching Myth Busters, but clapped at midnight.

Yes, yes that is a NASCAR blanket! 

 

Jake did a dance, I told him no one was as awesome as him.  He said, "Right now, no one could be."   

I stayed up all night reading No Direction Home.  Excellent book!
Around 3, I decided to purge everything I have eaten the last 3 days and spent the remainder of the night busy with that little activity.  Ugh, I was SO sick.  Then, it was all over and I feel just fine again.  Maybe too many pain killers?  A delayed reaction to the SEVEN vials of lydocaine he injected into my face?

 Oh, the light of noon the next day, the horror and pain of an early rising!

There was a Munchkin Marathon with the new cards Jake bought.
I worked on my new website most of the day.
It poured rain.
I played Animal Crossing a while.

Not a very exciting New Year, but I am not complaining!  My tooth is about 80%, just the...extraction site...still hurts some and my jaw is a little sore.  Nothing like having my wisdom teeth removed, that's for sure.  Upper teeth are supposed to be easier, I am so glad! 

%$#ing Dentist

Latest in the tooth saga.

I went in Nov 29 for a consult, asked for my co-pay.
I called the next week, asked for my co-pay.
I went into the office while I was in town the next week, asked for my co-pay.
I called again week before last, asked for my co-pay.
I called before Christmas, asked for my co-pay.
I was told each time someone would get back with me soon
I was told the last time that someone would call a few days before my procedure and tell me.

I called today, confirmed the appointment for tomorrow myself.
I asked again about the co-pay.

They actually called back.  $420 for a single tooth extraction.
$60 for the consult
$40 for the tooth
$320 for the sedation

So now, I am having it pulled with no sedation because I can't plan a $420 payment with a 23 hour notice.  I have it in savings, but I can't imagine a situation where being knocked out for 15 minutes is worth $320.  I am so pissed right now.  And scared.  Mainly, scared.  I don't want to feel the tooth come out, I have nightmares about that.  I was fine with la-la land.  

At least I don't have to worry about doing something stupid while under sedation.  I do have a history of that.  And I won't have to fast.  And it will be over in 24 hours, I will be on my way back home if not already here.  And I have Demerol.  I may go take one now. 

New Dentist

Triple perfect check-ups at the dentist today. Shiny-teethed kids, happy mama.
Jake goes in the 11th for his first ortho appointment. I imagine there will be many of those in our future.

I did not fare so well. : ( I go back in soon for 2 fillings, one in each back tooth that got cracked when I had my wisdom teeth pulled last February. Waaaa

But we got to have lunch with my Daddy, we went to BK after Bob Gibson's was too packed. It was the first time we had eaten fast food lunch together...maybe ever. I sure don't recall any burger combos in the years I lived with him.
What struck me was that when we sat down, Daddy put his burger off to the side and ate his fries one by one and when they were all gone, he ate his burger. That's exactly how I do it! It was a nice little surprise. I love my Daddy. : )