Don't Wanna Be Lame Like That...

I haven't written anything on here for a really long time. This seems to be the general fate of any blog that I have....it's interesting for awhile, then I inevitably go and just live my life, and not bother writing any of it down here. To be honest, I think this is something we're all going to have to be okay with. Hahaha. I know I am.

Come hell or high water

Today I embark on my sixth March for Life in Washington, D.C. Each year is a little different, though the pictures always look the same...people of all ages, bundled in parkas, boots, scarves, hats...mittened hands hoisting signs in the air or bare fingers reciting the rosary. The sounds range from enthusiastic chanting to quiet praying to babies babbling or crying, to bagpipes and lutes playing. People from across the nation join me today. I join them. We pray and walk together to remember the children lost. To demand that their rights be recognized..to demand that the brothers and sisters of my human family be protected.

This is not a sentiment that lasts only one day. In every area, we strive to let the pro-life truths touch and change our lives. There is support for those who make the courageous decision to choose life for their child...and healing for those who have experienced abortion in the past.

Father in Heaven, you hear the cries of your little ones who are lost each day. Look with favor on us as we march today. Purify our hearts and enflame us with love that will change the world.

Gloria in Excelcis Deo!!

So far, my favorite part of today was overhearing Fr. Nick telling off music ministry after mass for not playing any Christmas songs. "The Christmas Season is short enough as it is!" he bellowed.

I love how you can never really tell if you should be scared for your life, or just laugh when he says something. Takes at least a class or two with him to adequately discern the most appropriate response.

Man...

So far today, I have...

Gotten out of bed at 7

Worked for 5 hours at the best job on campus

Been really gleeful

Felt sick

Skipped working out

Been almost hit in the parking lot (PAY ATTENTION PEOPLE!!!)

Gone grocery shopping

Found out my plans for contradancing tonight were cancelled due to weather

Not decided what to do with the rest of the evening

Talked to Murph

Been a little lonely

Read about battery-cage vs. cage-free eggs (http://www.humanemyth.org/cagefree.htm)

Looked up recipes for curried ANYTHING...mmmmm curry

Remembered that I need to clear up some business with Overstock.com

Decided to stop blogging and go do that.

Tooth Tales Continued

After the hygenist finished up came the part I was really looking forward to...meeting my new dentist. So far the fellow had been somewhat elusive, considering that the office is on the smaller side and there's really only so many places he could be. While in the waiting area I thought I had glimpsed him, but he had a mask over the bottom half of his face, so I didn't really get a good look. Anyway...it's important to like the person who puts his hands in your mouth for a living, so perhaps you can understand why I was anticipating making his acquaintance.

So finally he walks in. Wow. This guy is young. Like I'm sizing him up to be maybe 26 years old just out of dental school young. This instantly conjures up some unusual and conflicting feelings in me. Well, he's probably not out of his 20's. This introduces the awkward feeling of peerdom. I like to know my dentists have some years under their belt...not just for ease of the professional relationship, but also because that probably means they've been around the block a few times and know their shite. But, okay, whatever. Roll with it.

It seemed as though Mr. Young Dentist DDS was going to dispense mostly with formalities and get straight down to business. Hold yer horses. I made sure I properly shook his hand and had the opportunity to look him in the eye... little does he know just how much I'm already feeling him out. His small talk skills weren't bad. Small talk is the kind of thing that you don't realize is important until you meet someone who has no talent in that department at all. Then you miss it.

So I obligingly opened wide...and he prodded my molars with his little metal tools (ping, ping)...and I took the opportunity to observe that he had very beautiful brown eyes... then he and the hygenist reviewed my x-rays in an obnoxiously low tone, pointing at various teeth and nodding and saying things under their breath...

Verdict: I have two small cavities between two bottom molars. I should probably have them filled. Also, I should strongly consider having my wisdom teeth out. And floss.

So, my sister and I walked away from that appointment ("I loathe youthful dentists!") with sore gums, and I with sore gums and a sore ego. That checkup was a bit of a slap on the hand. So, I went out and bought an electric toothbrush (which I love btw, why didn't I make the change to one of these sooner?) and some floss picks, which I don't like, but which are supposed to help me get between those back few teeth more effectively. Yeah, as soon as that bag is through I'm not buying any more.

Adventures in Dental Hygiene

Let's make tonight a double feature, to make up a little lost time. (Tonight has turned into tomorrow, I see.) The evening's second entry, be the reader warned, is a rather personal journey into my own mouth. Please be advised that I spare no details. Read on or stop short accordingly.

Well, the padre scheduled me a dental checkup for this Christmas break, because what I actually wanted for Christmas was all my teeth, and not just my two front ones. Obligingly, my daddy booked me a gig with our new family dentist. One of the benefits of this situation is that the office is right in town (I live in a small town of about 6,000 people). Before, we had to drive 35 minutes to get up-to-speed on our pearly whites. No longer, my friends. Now I travel but a mere 5 minutes for the unparalleled pleasure of opening wide under the torture devices of a smiling hygenist.

My very favorite thing about dental hygenists is how nice they are. I don't think I've ever met one who wasn't just so sickeningly sweet. Think about it....have you? They just bubble and chatter while they sit there with their metal prongs and suction catheters in your mouth, and all you can do is grunt or "aaah haah" at their inane little stories...hoping all the while you don't squirt them with saliva or inadvertently gag on your spit...or some other equally charming thing. Usually while sitting there I think of witty interjections that might or might not have been appropriate to employ, had I the power of speech at that moment. This entertains me a fair bit...since really, the only thing you can do is stare up at the light above you, and look at all the little holes in the ceiling tiles. Intriguing.

So, it had been two years since I'd been to my last dentist, a really nice early 40's guy who was just starting a family and all excited about having his first kid. That was two years ago. Anyway, he was a pediatric dentist, or whatever they call them. Beside the point. Point actually being, I had some tartar apparently. Horrible! Tartar is something that old people get. And it's supposed to be really obvious, and nasty, and yellow. Right? Maybe not, because apparently I had some. Also, the hygenist told me, my wisdom teeth were not fully erupted, and my gums were showing some inflammation. She proceeded to take a metal tool to my teeth and vigorously scrape up and down along the gum line, all over my mouth. I was picturing in my mind gargantuan scrapes and gashes being ground into my enamel...that's what this felt like. Like someone taking a wire brush to the inside of your mouth. But apparently, this was just the ritual necessary to remove The Tartar. So be it. But for the record, I hate the taste of blood.

.....To be continued.

Ghost Town

A movie I absolutely love. My younger sister spotted it in a drugstore on DVD for $5. I did a little happy dance, snatched it up, and bought it. (Maybe not in that order). Ricky Gervais is just perfectly cast, and Téa Leoni likewise. I also love the Hindu coworker. Priceless. The movie is full of fun little bits of dry humor which are fabulous to quote in everyday life ("that's it, this must be heaven. I've died and gone to heaven - no can't be, you're here"). It pulls off the feat of being very funny and very touching, something i find less and less in films these days. One of my favorite moments is when Gwen delivers this line to the somber Dr. Pincus: "We just get the one life, you know. Just one. You can't live someone else's or think it's more important just because it's more dramatic. What happens matters. May be only to us, but it matters."