I'm alive

but just barely.

Also,  I haven't napped all day, so, I think that's good news.

Yesterday, after getting 9 hours of sleep, I came home from church, told the kids not to worry about me for dinner and they were on their own, went to my room to take a 4 hour nap, got up in time to put the kids to bed, watched TV for a couple hours, then got another solid 8 hours of sleep.

That has been pretty typical behavior for the past few days, only I'd watch more TV, or more exactly, fall asleep in front of the TV, and then John would convince me to go upstairs and get in bed and take a real nap for a couple of hours, then I'd get up, say hi to the kids, eat something, thank John for doing EVERYTHING, then get a solid 11 or so hours of sleep.

I want to say it started last Tuesday? or Wednesday? (it's all a blur) My back had been bothering me, but only enough to say "Hey, honey, while you're watching this football game, would you mind rubbing my back, for a little bit?"  but then one day I just bent over to pick up a shoe, and my back cramped or something. The doctor said something about pressure on nerve bundles or something to that effect.

Anyway, it hurt.  Apparently I was whimpering in my sleep. I went to the doctor and got lots of good drugs including a muscle relaxant and some painkillers, all of which had warning labels saying "may cause drowsiness" and so combining them meant I probably spent more time unconscious than I was awake.  I do remember going to lunch with John on Thursday, but that's all I remember of Thursday. 

And then, through the haze of painkillers, I started to notice one of my teeth were killing me. Like I couldn't even eat at all in case something accidentally touched that tooth.  I've been down that road before- I was positive my tooth was infected and needed a root canal. Of course it was Saturday and I had two days to go before a dentist would be open. At least I had some good drugs at my disposal.

So today, I got the root canal and more pain killers.  And antibiotics. There are now six different prescriptions on the counter with my name on them.  I just have a hard time remembering what I took and when.  As long as I remember the antibiotics I think I should be good.

Anyway, I tell you all this not to garner sympathy, but just a little understanding.  I'm not just being lazy. The plan was to take down all the Christmas decorations when the kids went back to school on Thursday.  The kids can help me decorate, but I am the only one to take it all down so it gets put away just the way I like it.   Anyway, the pain in my back made it impossible to bend, or reach, or stretch, or turn my head, or use my right arm, and the drugs made it impossible to stay awake, so my goal of putting away Christmas hasn't exactly happened yet.  I did take down the stockings and the wreaths today, so you know, baby steps. 

So if you stop by my house, and wonder why it looks like mid-December, instead of mid-January around here, that's why.  (and that's also why I haven't been blogging for the last week- thinking hasn't really been on the list of things I can do. Along with driving, or eating, or staying awake for more than 5 minutes in a comfy chair with a heating pad on my back)

But, I'm on the mend. My goal is to put Christmas away by the time John gets back in town, but I also promised John I wouldn't push it, so we'll see how far I get.

And in other news, I might have my Excedrin addiction kicked within the week as well. I can't take that in conjunction with any of my prescription pain meds, so that bottle has sat untouched for several days.  And I just opened one from Costco.  (of course give me a bad night's sleep, a killer headache, and a crazy busy day, and I will most likely once again find myself a slave to those little white pills)

Coming soon

Guess who's getting braces on Monday?

They were having "Spirit Week" at the office when Nick went in for his initial consultation.

It was 80's day.

The cute assistant convinced Nick to turn up his collar and peg his pants so she could pose for a picture with him. (I think Nick has an itty bitty crush on her even though he knows she's too old for him)

And then cause they looked so awesome we got Dr. Chamberlain to pose with him. (he also happens to be a friend of the family)

I think I have a Honda Civic in my mouth

When John and I were first married, we both owned Honda Civics. At one point I think, they were both reliable cars, but by the time I had anything to do with them they were giant money pits.

John had had his car for a few years, and as a teenager just ran it into the ground. Put a bunch of miles on it, didn't change the oil enough, you get the idea. We were repairing and replacing something every other month. When they finally said "you need a new engine", that's when we traded t in for something more reliable.

My car was just as bad if not worse. I bought it used, from a neighbor who bought it used, and she only had it for a couple months, and probably had no idea how bad the car really was. Near as I can tell the car had probably been in some kind of pile-up as it seemed both the front end and the rear end had major work done, and then there's the fact that some mechanic commented (during one of many repairs) "wow, it looks like this thing's been on fire."

I'm sure you can see where this is going.

At one time my teeth were perfect and wonderful, and I never had cavities, or needed braces, and life was good. And then I got pregnant. And now I am wishing I had taken better care of them when I was pregnant. Besides those little leeches growing inside me, sucking all the calcium out of my bones, flossing made me want to puke, so I rarely did it. (besides, I rarely flossed before, and I never got cavities, so I guess I figured it was optional or something)

Years, and years later I am paying the price. Instead of replacing whole transmissions, I am getting implants and bone grafts. Instead of major repairs draining our savings, I am getting root canals.

Such was my life last week. I knew I was in trouble when one of my teeth starting hurting. I'd been there before. I put it off, just in case it was nothing, but I knew. There was also the fact that I had already spent all my dental insurance money (and then some) this year, and anything wrong was going to come straight out of my pocket.

"Please be just a regular, little cavity... please be just a regular, little cavity...", I begged with my fingers crossed under the leaded apron they throw over you during the x-ray.

It was not to be.

I had a massive infection and needed an immediate root canal. One of the huge cavities that I had filled years ago, (from not flossing) had gone bad and needed to be fixed. The dentist said he was surprised it had lasted that long.

I pleaded poverty and they sent me home with a referral to a specialist, and prescriptions for pain killers and antibiotics. And a warning that if I didn't get it taken care of soon (insurance or not) I'd end up losing the tooth entirely and be faced with a gaping hole or another implant.

Despite the fact that I immediately started on the antibiotics, the infection was pretty bad and I spent the night with a fever and chills to prove it. (I'm still amazed I didn't bite through my tongue trying not to let my teeth chatter- anytime my bad tooth touched anything, it sent shooting pain through my jaw.)

I called the root-canal specialist the next day - I think it starts with an "o" optometrist oncologist obstetrician ornithologist endodontist!! (so sue me- there are two o's in the word- close enough)

So I called, and they got me right in, took care of my tooth and gave me better drugs than the last doctor. (yay for percocet!)

Unfortunately, while I do like the loopy-loo-ness the percocet does to my head for a little while anyway, it gets really old, and after a couple of days I start missing the ability to drive, or read, or think, or stay awake. (hence the lack of blogging.)

moral of the story- floss your teeth. Even when it makes you want to barf. Also, drink lots of milk. Even if it makes you want to barf too.

you know you watch too many murder mystery shows when...

Disclaimer- I'm hopped up on a couple percocets at the moment so if I sound at all crazy, it's because I probably am.

So I admit it, I get little itty bitty crushes on certain tv/movie/music and even book personalities.

For instance, Harry Connick jr has made me swoon since high school. I've had a longer relationship with him than I have my own husband.

In books I have Edward and Mr. Darcy.

Mr. Darcy also falls into the movie category as well, but only the A&E version. Edward doesn't make it into the movies, I switched teams and am all about team Jacob. I try not to think about the fact that I am twice his age, cause that's just creepy.

Growing up with the TV, I have always had crushes on one character or another- Alex P. Keaton on Family Ties, Mike Seaver on Growing Pains, David Addison on Moonlighting, amongst others.

Lately there's been Jim Halpert on The Office, although now that he's married and a manager, he's kinda boring. Chuck Bartowski on Chuck is pretty cute in a geeky kind of way (obviously I must have a thing for geeks since I married one) and then there's FBI Special Agent Seeley Booth of Bones. I think he's topping my list these days.

And to be clear, it's just the fictional characters, not necessarily the actors themselves. After I got into Bones I tried to watch the tv show Angel because back when it was popular, and I would hear people gushing over David Boreanaz, I never could understand what the big deal was. And frankly I still don't see the attraction- in Angel. And I really could care less about any interviews he does, whether he's on any talk shows promoting Bones, because I really could care less about David Boreanaz the actor- I like FBI Special Agent Seeley Booth. Oddly it's like the characters themselves are more real to me than the actors- I imagine that they (the actors) are so far removed from the general population due to being so rich and famous that they cease to be real people. Make sense?

So as I mentioned Seeley Booth is sorta my number one fictional boyfriend this week. I share this with you today because in a twisted, morbid way it helped me get through my ordeal at the oral surgeon's today as they were using a jack hammer to dig out my tooth, which was a hundred times worse than the bone graft which I thought sounded really scary but every bit as bad as I thought the actual extraction was going to be.

I was thinking how if I were to be murdered and buried in an unmarked grave somewhere and years later when my body was found but all that was left of me was my bones, this might help them figure out my identity. Bone graft... titanium screw in my jaw...those should be helpful right? Of course in my head my remains were laid out on a table at the Jeffersonian with Dr. Brennan and her squints pouring over then for evidence.

And then some lucky person(s) will be questioned by Booth. And hopefully an arrest made. Hopefully it wasn't John in some jealous rage over my fictional boyfriends.

"I can't believe you're not crying..."

so I'm in a crabberific mood today. Maybe it's PMS. I don't know. Maybe it's all of my kids continual fighting, the fact that John is working when he's supposed to be on vacation, that I think I forgot to put in the vanilla on my last batch of caramels, this stinking headache that won't go away, the fact that I need to go out and face the crowds because I still need a couple of last minute things that I need to ship, (which also means a trip to the post office) or this stupid, stinking tooth that I need to have yanked (actually dug out) of my mouth, and it is bugging me.

So it's karma at it's finest when you crack a tooth on a piece of candy you stole from your kid. Candy that had been sitting on his dresser since Halloween. I thought it was just a harmless gumball, but it was really an evil jawbreaker.

And I chomped down on it.

And cracked a tooth.

Under a crown.

Clear down to the root.

It can't be salvaged.

They say there is nothing they can do except "extract it". I have to go an oral surgeon. Where they will talk me into an expensive and what sounds to be very painful implant. And apparently the whole process takes MONTHS. There are a couple recovery periods of several weeks while they wait for the swelling to go down. (Fun, no?)

When the dentist explained all this to me- I thought all they had to do was a simple fix because my crown seemed to have come loose- I sat there totally stunned and in shock, and the dental hygienist says to me "I can't believe you're not crying. If it were me, I'd be crying."

Gee, thanks. I feel so much better.

Truthfully I was actually debating between crying and throwing up.

the nightmare before Christmas

The two older kids had a routine dentist appointment early this morning. Just a cleaning and check-up. No big deal. I called John on his cell phone two hours after their scheduled appointment time- "Where are you?"

"Still at the dentist's."

"WHY?"

Our dentist is pretty good on the wait time. I have barely enough time to sign in before they call us back. 2 kids, 2 check-ups, it should have been an hour tops.

Apparently BOTH the kids were having teeth issues where their grown up teeth were coming in, but the baby teeth were stuck, and therefore refusing to come out, and if they didn't the grown up teeth would come in sideways, so Madison had to have one extraction, and Nick had to have TWO. Yikes.

The worst part (for me anyway) was that the other day Madison was showing me where the new tooth was poking through her gums, but the baby tooth still wasn't loose at all. She was worried they would have to pull the baby tooth, but I was so sure that they wouldn't I teased her and I started telling her horror stories of having teeth pulled (not like I know about that or anything). "And you are totally awake, and you can hear it being ripped right out of your mouth." She was almost in tears. I did tell her I was just kidding.

I felt totally rotten. Especially as I was thinking about how tomorrow is Nick's birthday, and the next day is Christmas, and what if he can't even eat his own birthday cake, etc. etc. Hopefully the next time I'm tempted to freak out my kids before dentist/doctor/etc., I'll think twice.

They are both doing well, and a little ibuprofen later are totally fine. The new teeth were so far in we don't even have to worry about dry sockets or infections or anything. John bought them ice-cream and donuts, and as they are my kids that form of self medication seems to do wonders for them as well.

On a side note, I had my dentist appointment last week, and miracle of miracles- no cavities. I had great teeth growing up- one or two cavities my whole life and no braces or anything, but after these little leeches I call babies sucked all the calcium out of my teeth when I was pregnant with them going to the dentist was pretty scary. I think the worst was 13 cavities with 2 root canals.