Something for Sunday

Dentist Humor (Photo credit: MTSOfan)

My dentist is a funny guy.

He is also gentle, efficient, quiet, skilled, calm, and altogether very pleasant.

It is really hard to hate him.

I didn’t intend to go back to see him again so soon, but a chunk of a very old filling came loose so I made an appointment, without having a mild panic attack.  It’s about time I outgrew this fear, wouldn’t you say?  My dentist is not all that scary, after all.  The night before I was scheduled to see him, (and the only good thing about this is the timing) another chunk of another very old filling also broke away from another molar.  My teeth are falling out of my head as we speak.  Or at least I am living with that stupid worry.

As much as I distress myself about all the work that has to be done, I’m very thankful to be in a place and time where it’s all possible and to have dental insurance that will pay for some of it.  The prep work for a permanent bridge to fill in a gap (which I’ve had for years but before now never agreed to have fixed)  has already been done.  Ouch, physically and financially.  Two more visits to completion, including a temporary and then a permanent crown.  I can do this.

He told me I made a good impression.  HAHA!  They took about four of them with that weird pink goop that hardens and sets and feels like it’s never going to come loose without cracking your jaw. He assured me that only a couple of teeth came out with it, no worries.

I came home feeling a bit sorry for myself, had a liquid lunch, took a couple of pain killers and went to sleep.  And after all that I felt a lot better.  I forgave the dental assistant for gagging me with the suction pump, or whatever it’s called.  The freezing came out of my eyeball and my nose.  Frankly I don’t care if they freeze my entire head, but why do dental people always ask complicated questions when your mouth is full of plastic and clamps and pink goop?

So what does all this have to do with Sunday?  Well, nothing really, it’s just what day of the week it happens to be, and the dentist visit happens to be what popped into my head.  And now I would like to pop it right back out again and listen to something that has nothing to do with drills and bridges and bibs around the neck.

There have been many covers of this song, but nobody comes close to Etta James.  Enjoy, and have a lovely lazy Sunday.

How To Have A Good Day

Colourful leaves in autumn (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

From now on I’m going to start every to-do list like this:

1.  Write a list.

That way there will always be at least one item crossed off at the end of the day. Today was a much more successful list day than normal though.

Other things I managed to accomplish today included making an appointment with the dentist for yet anther chipped tooth.  This one happened on holidays while I was eating a handful of popcorn.  Dangerous things, those un-popped kernels.

My lab work, including an ECG (requested by my new doctor)  was done this morning, and there is a mammogram scheduled for Friday, same day as the dentist.  I prefer to get all of my physical torture over with in one fell swoop.

The health food store where I purchase chia seeds and coconut oil and veggie greens in powder form at exorbitant prices (go ahead, take a breath while I ponder how to punctuate that) is right beside Chapters, so although ‘buy books’ was definitely not on my list, I managed to buy some anyway.  Book stores just suck me in and spit me out with an armload of treasures.  A seven year pen with elephants on it can now be checked off all future lists.

I picked up a package at Purolator because I missed their delivery and I got to marvel at the gorgeous trees in this town on my drive home.  The leaves are just starting to change color, so I suppose you could say they’re at the pre-breathtaking stage.  Should have stopped to take a picture.  I’ll put that on the next list.

Then I came across this lovely little video – even if you’ve already seen it, it’s well worth another look and listen.  You think this is just another day in your life? Think again.

Every day of your life is a gift. I hope you’ve spent your Monday very well. ♥♥♥

Notes To Self

Smile (Photo credit: Håkan Dahlström)

1.  Visit the dentist for a check up the next time before something goes wrong.  It’s his turn to be shocked.

2.  Learn how to hold that stupid suction thing properly while the hygienist tries to drown you with her power washer.  Or whatever it’s called.

3.  Floss.  Rinse.  Repeat.

4.  Be proud of yourself because now you are finally brave enough to forego being laughing-gassed practically into a state of unconsciousness for everything, including the initial consultation.

5.  Be thankful every day for the rest of your life that Steve Martin is not your dentist.

Dental Mental Health

I have been neglecting the blog world more than usual lately, and the reason is because I have had some appointments with the dentist.  Is that a good enough excuse?  Because it’s really all I’ve got.

Tomorrow, at the ungodly hour of seven-thirty I make my third and final trip to Smiles Dental House of Horrors (not its real name) to get two chipped teeth repaired (not caused by chewing on branches or twigs) and then I have to suffer through the obligatory cleaning where the pissed off dental hygienist  tries to scrape off every speck of enamel I have left while muttering about my gums bleeding on her instruments.  All hygienists are pissed off, it’s in their job description.  Plaque makes them downright belligerent.  They really should try to be thankful for it, because – come on – without it, they would be unemployed.

All my life I’ve been a dentist avoider.  I prefer to wait until the situation gets serious before wasting their time on something as boring as mere maintenance.  I went for two days once with a toothache because I was afraid of the pain the dentist might cause with his drills. So I guess you would call that suffering pain to avoid suffering pain.   Not the proudest or brightest page in my life story.

My dental phobia is a lot milder than it used to be, thanks to a great dentist who has a lot of patience with wimps.  All it takes is a couple of traumatic experiences as a child to instill a lifelong fear – and then a hundred million non traumatic visits to get over it.  I just have to keep telling myself that it’s an hour or two – that’s all – and then it’s over.  And I can come home and play candy crush for the rest of the day.  There’s still that little kid in me who likes to be rewarded for being brave.

What Are You Afraid Of?

Public speaking (Photo credit: brainpop_uk)

Daily Prompt: 1984

You’re locked in a room with your greatest fear. Describe what’s in the room.

1.  The Ocean

2.  Flying

3.  Death

4.  Heights

5.  Failure

6.  Rejection

7.  Public Speaking

Bunnies Gone Wild! (Photo credit: dissolve)

8.  Nuclear War

9.  Being Lost

10.  The Unknown

Some room, huh?

I suppose it could be worse – being locked up with rabid wild animals, spiders, snakes and a dentist.

I wish I had a morbid fear of eating salted peanuts for breakfast, but apparently that doesn’t bother me at all.