Feelings about Fillings

I'm interrupting my Seattle highlights to fill you in (heh heh) on my thoughts on fillings.

I got my first filling today.  I'm not happy about it.  I was informed at my dentist appointment over a year ago that "98% of people have fillings!  It's normal!"  and I responded while sobbing (like a grown woman)..."I want to be the 2%!"

Here's something that's not a secret: I have anxiety when it comes to needles.  I don't know why...or where it came from...or how to get over it.  If I knew those things, I would take care of it and not be such a ridiculous person when I arrive for my appointments.  The knowledge of my anxiety probably adds anxiety. 

My dentist is scared of me.  He didn't know what he was getting into the first day I walked in his office and was told I had two cavities and needed all of my wisdom removed.  I showed him.  I cried the entire time.  Not over the top crying, just a constant stream of tears through the entire cleaning.  Now everyone in the office knows who I am and it's terrible, but they are very kind.

I have ignored this appointment ever since I made it a month or so ago.  I ignored it so well that I actually completely forgot about it and forgot to get someone to cover my classroom this afternoon.  It worked out, don't worry.  I showed up for my appointment (that's honestly half the battle).  

So while I was offered nitrogen (right?) and happy pills, I opted to only be gassed because I can't pop pills and function properly and that bothers me.  I thought maybe I could do it without either, but in the end I was entirely too anxious to attempt toughing it out.  

Headphones in.  Eyes closed.  Laughing gas (is not funny at all, quite disappointing).  

Why doesn't everyone just get gassed when they get fillings??  At first I was like...this isn't working.  It took awhile...does that mean I weigh a lot?  It's based on weight, right?  No?  But when I stopped thinking about it, I was all "ohhhh yeahhhh".  It was great timing for relaxing gas because right now I have a lot of deadlines looming and they've been constantly dangling over my head and threatening to fall.  Best $87 I've spent.  

So since it was my first filling, I wasn't really sure what was going on.  I tried to just close my eyes and ignore everything, but dentists have this weird thing about talking to you while they have all these tools in your mouth.  

Fillings seem like a dentist's opportunity to craft teeth.  He just traded out various tools that looked like glue guns.  If I were in his place, I may have enjoyed myself.  I also think I already have those all tools in my craft closet.  I call them craft supplies.

Would it be cheaper to provide my own superglue to put in his glue gun to fill my fillings??  Because I'm pretty confident, based on smell, that all he did was fill those holes with super glue and then paint them white.

So I guess what I'm saying is, call me if you need a filling done on the cheap...and also it wasn't so horrible. I hope to never have another cavity ever again ever....after the next one I'm getting done in a few weeks.

And now my teeth feel weird.

And I might be drooling.  

Otherwise, I survived.

Sticky situations

Let's walk further down the street and away from the market.

After our afternoon stroll down at Pike Place Market, we took a quick turn down a back alley to the Gum Wall.  I don't know how this got started or why, but it is really gross.  It's just a huge wall downtown by the market that people have stuck their gum on ever since the year gum was invented*.

*I have absolutely no factual basis for this guesstimate.  

It's just....a wall of gum.  Tons of people walk down there to see it, though, so I guess it's some kind of tourist destination point!  Weird.  

We ended our afternoon downtown with a stroll along the water and all the seafood eateries.  Then we huffed and puffed back up the hills of the city for dinner.  

I call this guy the Hammering Man.  I'm not sure if he has a name.  I'll have to learn that when I'm a local.  He stands outside the SAM- Seattle Art Museum- and his arm moves up and down.  Those are my tiny friends below him.  They aren't kissing, but it kind of looks like it.  They are waiting patiently for me to figure out how to turn off the time delay on my camera so that I wasn't waiting 10 seconds to take each picture.  Nothing looks cooler than standing on the streets downtown figuring out your camera....which is why they left me standing there alone! 

To Market, To Market...

I took advantage of the long President's Day weekend to galavant across the country and check out my soon-to-be new city digs.   The Emerald City lived up to it's name with green grass and rainy weather...but it was 50 degrees so it felt like vacation to this Midwestern lady!

Day one was low key.  I arrived with luggage in tow and ready for adventures.  After dropping my things at my friends' apartment, we all met up for an early bird dinner- me being two hours behind my normal time zone and having not eaten breakfast- I was starved.  All my Seattle-ite friends met up with us for dinner and drinks at some local establishments.  It was a fabulous meet up and I smiled and laughed a lot.  A lot.

Day two began the Seattle tourist adventures.  Pike Place Market was our first stop of the day.  I've stopped there each time I've been in Seattle and so far it has not gotten old.  Here's a sneak peek for when you come to visit me...ok fine it's really more of a photo dump of pictures since I couldn't put the camera down!

Just trying to contain my excitement.

Mostly cloudy with more than a chance of rain all day long.  We hit up the market in early afternoon to wander.  Luckily most of it is under cover, so we weren't dripping wet.

Unfortunately, I didn't need any fruits and veggies...although it was tempting and they all looked delish!

And of course, we made sure to visit the main reason to hit up the market- for the seafood! 

Unfortunately, I only witnessed one fish being thrown and he was too slippery for me to catch on camera.  

After this, I was ready to grab a coffee and continue wandering the streets of Seattle.  More on that next time!  

Snow Exciting

I'm currently on Snow Day #3.  I'm snow bored.  haha just kidding, I'm keeping busy.  I made all of my valentine's for school, so I feel very accomplished today (you can read about that on my other blog...Real Teachers Learn).

We were expected to get anywhere from 8-11 inches of snow from Tuesday-Wednesday.  Here's what happened (in pictures).  If you don't like to see snow, I would suggest averting your eyes.

9:00 AM on Tuesday

5:00 PM on Tuesday... notice I had shoveled about 5 inches at 2:30.  You can kind of tell...

8:30 AM Wednesday.  I shoveled yesterday, right?  Another 5-6 inches.

Since the plow had finally arrived by Wednesday morning, I got all prepared to go dig myself out and go somewhere.  Anywhere.  

When I woke up it was about -2 degrees out, wind chill of -20 or something, so I waited until it warmed up to 10 before venturing out into the cold.  

I bundled up.  I put on my fleece ski socks, boots, leggings, pants, a long sleeved tshirt, a sweatshirt, a coat... ear warmers, sweatshirt hood, coat hood.  I put on my happy gloves to remind myself of how to feel.

Then I was ready to go.  And HAPPY about it!

fake smile.  weird eyes.

Then I opened up my front door and heyyyy it hit snow.  In the end, it wasn't so bad.  I was actually sweating because it's possible I overdressed for the event.  Always better to be overdressed than underdressed, I say.

Hi Snow!  No, you may not come in.

obligatory feet in snow picture. 

And at night, it really is quite beautiful when you're snuggled up in your house.

I guess today was too cold to go to school, because here I am at home again.  Cheers to one day work weeks (technically two with staff development on Monday, but if students don't show up, I just don't consider it work)!!

I just want APPLES!

I can't even...oh Kansas.  The night before snow in Kansas, the grocery store is always, always my greatest love/hate post-work out adventure.

I've lived in the midwest my entire life.  I had to learn to drive in the snow in high school and figure out how to maneuver icy roads.  Of all the snow days I've had since living in Kansas, I can think of only three when I didn't just leave my house and run errands.

I absolutely refuse to shovel my driveway unless it is over 2 inches of snow.  I will drive over anything 2 inches or under.  This may change with my new car, but I haven't tested it yet.

Kansas, however, will cancel school for two inches of snow....and everyone will run to the grocery store the night before and buy them out of bread, eggs, and weird things like..I don't know, velveeta.

So imagine what a weather prediction of 5-8 inches of snow will do.

School has been called off tomorrow.

This picture is from THIS POST which basically sums up how I feel about snow in general.

It's probably a legit snow day and I'll likely stay home in my pajamas the entire time drinking coffee and contemplating how to shovel my driveway without actually going outside.  Wednesday will probably be canceled as well.  Two day weeks are nice.

Teachers had meetings at school today (no school for kids!), and then I went to the gym, which was packed because everyone is doing much better on their New Years resolutions this year.

Per my usual Monday night, I stopped at the grocery store on my way home (my life is exciting, y'all).  I keep no food in my house...plus my house is on the market so I am trying not to smell it up with my burnt toast.

At the grocery store there were:
a) No parking spaces.  I circled three times and stalked someone walking out.
b) No carts available.  None.
c) No bread.  Even the fancy/expensive bread was slim pickings.
d) One lady walking out with 2 carts of groceries.  Seriously?

It was like this.
 (I got this picture from a broken link, so I don't know where it came from)

Don't worry-  I already had tp.  But, you have to be kidding me.  It will snow for 24 hours, and while Kansas is possible the 2nd worst (Georgia for the win) at plowing snow, you may be at home for those 24-48 hours without access to the grocery store.  How much do you plan to eat in that time??  


In other news, I was at the grocery store in order to be away from my house when it shows, and I think I accidentally locked the storm door when I checked my mail before leaving, therefore making it impossible for anyone to get in to my house to look at it.  Argh.

My new blog. 'Sup.

I decided to start a (well, another) blog.  It's a bit of an addicting activity.  Much like working out... if you actually do it, you don't want to stop.  The trick is starting.

 I want to be able to keep in touch with my family, friends, and anyone else who is interested without using facebook as my platform.  Hi guys!

So here it is.  Keep the Change.  Because, let's face it, last year was not my favorite.  I went back through my facebook posts over the last year- particularly last January, to see where my head was at.  Everything I posted was basically pointing to one thing: I was getting a little tired of where I was in my world, and was looking for a change.  You know, in an upbeat way.  I wanted 2013 to be exciting and fun and new.

This was a clear case of "be careful what you ask for" because change hit me like a ton of bricks and wasn't all sunshine. The year turned out to have some super highs and some extreme lows.  More than I have had in awhile so I suppose I was due, and in the end I learned a ton.  So I guess that makes it all worth it.

I decided to start this year by being active about change rather than passive, so I jumped right in at the beginning of the year.

I started with my car.  I know!  My CAR!  My little red Honda CRV that I've driven since college.  My family was tired of hearing about it.  Plus it got two flat tires and the garage door was broken and it was stuck inside, so obviously I just went and bought a different car.

My new car does not have all the perks of the Honda.

For instance, I can't sneak in and out of dark parking lots without being noticed because this new car has dome lights that work and also lights on the outside that light up like the fourth of July when I unlock it.

It also doesn't have a built in disco dome light that blinks randomly on the interstate, which seriously takes away from the pop culture car atmosphere while driving.

This new car has tires that stay inflated so I don't get to scour the couch cushions for quarters to go buy air.

My new car isn't two different colors, so when I describe it I only say "gold" instead of "pink hood and the rest is red".  Because I describe cars by the color.

In my old car I had the gift of silence for at least an hour when driving back home because the cd player didn't work (it didn't work back when people actually used cds) and the radio took a break from playing sometimes.  Now I have music that accompanies me the entire three hours.

Now I won't know if someone is breaking into my car because the doors don't squeak when I open them!

This new car doesn't have amusing stories that go along with it.  I haven't hit a deer in it (thankfully).  I haven't driven 11,000 miles without an oil change (I know, Dad).  It hasn't been towed in a bar parking lot at 2am.  I haven't driven over 100,000 miles on it yet.  It wasn't my aunt's car originally.  It hasn't slid off the driveway and ended up in the street.

My dad says this car would be a great Honda commercial.  It has seriously been a great car for me...but it was time to give it up.

The only problem with this new car is that I can't park it.  I'm practicing, though.

It was a good choice.  I'll keep this change.