I'll Be Back

So I haven't abandoned blogging - I promise!  We're Husband is putting in new floors, which means everything is in chaos and disorder and most of our furniture is being stored in the guest bedroom. Along with our computer.

So it's cut into my blogging time.

But I am so super excited about the floors!  I cannot tell you how long I have been waiting for this - 4 years, 5 months, and 16 days.  Okay, so I guess I can tell you.

All joking aside, our house is nearly a 100 years old and our floors are original.  So while they are real wood and are pretty - they are also very thin and worn out.  I'm scared another few years and we'll be falling through the floors. Not good. Not good at all.

So new floors it is! 

Brace Face

So since I've gotten braces I've been asked the same series of questions.  To save everyone time, here's a quick guide to tell you everything you wanted to know (and some you probably didn't):


1. No, getting them on didn't hurt. Although I was shocked that they were able to get my mouth stretched open so wide.  It wasn't uncomfortable, just odd realizing my mouth was almost as wide as my hips.

2. No, the braces don't hurt.  At least not me.  The orthodontist office told me I would probably have some light pain for two days after but I didn't experience any pain at all.  Everything feels fine. The only discomfort I had was from the unbent wire that was sticking out and scraping me - and that isn't suppose to happen.

3. Yes, they feel funny.  I feel like I have something stuck on my teeth - oh wait, I do.

4. Yes, I really did need them.  I know to you my teeth looked fine and I'm glad that you haven't been looking at me all this time thinking about how jacked up my teeth were...but that doesn't mean I didn't need them.

5. No, I can't eat that anymore. Nothing sticky, nothing too crunchy. And no popcorn. That one was a little painful.

6. Yes, I know I look really young  younger.  I'm okay with that. Really.  I don't mind getting teased that I look 12 - I'm going to embrace it and have fun with it. Why not? I may even start wearing pigtails and bobby socks.

7. Yes, they were expensive.  More expensive than I thought they would be. And more expensive then for children. Orthodontist charge more for adult patients. 

8. I don't know if it's weird to kiss. To actually grown-up kiss. I haven't done that yet. The only kisses I've had since braces have been quick pecks on the lips. But I'll be sure to keep you posted.

Bad and Badder

I'm in week three of my training and I missed my run yesterday.  I don't have a real good excuse...I just didn't get it in.  Making it up tonight.

It's going to mess things up a little though since I'm suppose to run on Thursdays too.  And I'm technically suppose to rest between runs.  But they're my short runs, 30 minutes, so I think I can do back to back and be fine...and Sunday, my long run, is not that long - it's only 2.5 miles.  And since I ran FIVE MILES (yep, still pumped) last Sunday I think I can handle that one okay.

I messed up on my diet drinks too.  It kills me to have to confess that but accountability and honesty go hand in hand so you get the ugly truth.  I actually have messed up more than once.  BIG sad face for me.  I couldn't even last a whole week! 

Although I will say the first one was not really my fault, really.  My hubby ordered one  for me and I rationalized that I didn't want to waste it.  And then I rationalized that it was just one and what would one hurt?

See, see how that works? It's very obviously called lack of willpower.

And then again today I cheated.  I have no rationalization for that except to say I am stressed to the max.  Really, just very, very stressed.  And it's good that I don't get stressed too often because I do not handle it well. 

So after my visit to the orthodontist (to bend a wire that I'm pretty sure should have been bent when they put them on but obviously wasn't since it's been scraping the inside of my mouth since Monday but I just thought it was normal getting used to braces pain and thought I could tough it out until today when my mouth was so raw it hurt to smile and I smile a lot so that was kinda a problem) I caved to the temptation of Sonic happy hour.

I'm going to get back up on and hop on the wagon tomorrow and try it again.  If I can avoid Sonic from now until forever I may have better luck...

Brace Yourself

Take a long, hard look at this picture. Really get a good look at it because I won't be smiling like that for a very, very long time.

Some things have changed and that smile has been replaced by this...

Yes those are red bands...BOOMER!

This is my new "35 going on 12" look.  Sexy, right? 

It's a little ridiculous looking...well, really very ridiculous looking but it will fix my teeth so I'm willing to deal with the temporary ridiculousness. 

Over the last several years my two front teeth have shifted and have moved at an inward slant - it's just got progressively worse as I've gotten older.  It's really obvious in this photo:

So I decided to take the plunge and get them fixed. I know they weren't horrible and it seems a little vain.  Maybe it is...My husband was not keen on the idea.  Actually, he wasn't keen on spending the money.  The idea he had no problems with. 

His initial response was that I was 35, married, and who cared what my teeth looked like?  Although I'm sure he wouldn't try to use this logic if I decided to blow up to 400 pounds... 

But my philosophy is, and always has been, to make the most of life. If something makes you happy - do it!  If something bothers you - fix it!  I don't want to be 60 wishing I had fixed my teeth..what kind of life is that?

So is it the best investment we've ever made?  No, probably not. But there are just some things you can't quantify....like the value of being proud of your smile.

I've been fortunate that I've never required extensive dental work.  In fact, I got my first adult cavity filled last year.  That's it - that's the only thing (besides cleanings) that I have ever had done.  Until today. 

I had no idea my mouth could be stretched in such ways. 

Really, it was gruesome...here's a little taste for those that can stomach it...

And as if having to sit around like that was not painful enough, my orthodontist did a profile assessment.  He had to mark "Recessed"  "Average" "Prominent" on a series of items pertaining to my profile. He marked all of them "Average".  Except my nose.  So it's officially, medically documented that I have a big nose.  Of course, I didn't need a doctor to tell me that.

And then to add insult to injury, the technician gave me a t-shirt when I was all done.  She gave me a large and when I asked her for a medium, she repeated my question and when I confirmed she told me they were 100% cotton and would shrink.  Hummm, wonder what she was trying to say? 

Don't think for a minute that I'm not going to be wearing that shirt on my very next appointment.



"The" shirt. I'm certain I know what size I wear.

  

FIVE

Completed my 5 mile run!  I am SO pumped!  I have to admit it got really tough around the 4 mile mark but I pushed through and made it!  Yay for me!  Although technically, it really isn't a 5 mile run, since I walk some of that too.  I don't care though, I'm still celebrating!

I made a discovery this weekend when I saw myself in some video from last month...I definitely have some body image issues.  Typically women with these type of issues are very tiny but they see themselves as big when they look in the mirror.  They have a distorted view of what they look like.

I also have a distorted view of what I look like but my issue is a bit different - in fact, it is the exact opposite.  The person I see in the mirror is actually better looking than in real life...so basically, I think I'm sexier than I really am.  Until I see video and then I have to face reality. 

And oh, what a painful reality it is...

Have You Ever?

I spent all day yesterday with a sick kid.  M woke up in the early morning with a migraine headache and it was downhill from there.  She got sick in the early afternoon and it continued throughout the day.  She was totally miserable and there wasn't anything I could really do to help.  My job amounted to giving her some Tylenol, rubbing her temples, and trying to make her comfortable. 

Oh, and emptying the puke bowl. 

I could live my whole life without ever having to do that again.

There are other things I could live without too...not that I don't want to do any of them, it's just that if I've gone 35 years and haven't done them yet I could probably go another 35 without feeling like I missed out on anything.  So here are some things I have never done:

1. Eaten at White Castle. Or In And Out. 
2. Drank a cup of coffee.
3. Gotten a hot stone massage.
4. Milked a cow.  Okay, this one I totally want to do someday I just haven't ever had the opportunity.
5. Gotten a facial.
6. Owned a brick home.  Although this is my favorite style, our homes have all been sided or rocked.
7. Watched an episode of Jersey Shore.
8. Posted anything on You Tube.
9. Shot a gun.  
10. Been inside a barn.
11.Shopped at Abercrombie.
12. Broken a bone.
13.Seen the Twilight series.
14. Been arrested.  Although in my height of debauchery and wildness I probably deserved to be.
15. Had a king size bed.
16. Eaten Nutella.

Busy Bee

Super busy day today.  Inservice in the morning, ran back to the office for a few minutes and then off to the dentist for a cleaning.  I was a couple months overdue.  Not from my lack of planning - I actually schedule every 6 months, just like I'm suppose to.  But the day of my last appointment they called and cancelled because the dental hygienist was out sick.  And the soonest they could reschedule was now. 

Apparently a few  months makes a huge difference because my teeth/gums were sore for the rest of the afternoon.  And cleanings aren't usually painful to me.  She did say she was trying to be extra thorough but man, my gums looked butchered.  Definitely a lesson for me to get in a better habit about flossing - which is something I totally don't do.  Even though I know I need to. 

Then I ran back to the office just in time to take a few students on a campus visit.  It was a small one - not on our calendar but by special request.  It was nice - these are great students and I'm excited because they really take their academics seriously.  Way more seriously than I ever did.

So I wasn't in my office more than an hour today but I really needed it.  I've been tied to my computer all week and have barely had any interaction - I needed some people time!

Good things were happening while I was out though - we got some new computers for our tutoring/study lab.  We are now officially a tutoring/study/computer lab.  We don't have a lot - 6 student computers - but it's better than the single one that our students have been fighting over.  So yeah for getting our lab set up and done!

It's just amazing because everything that I have envisioned for our program so far has come to fruition.  It's so exciting to see it all come together.  And I have so many ideas and things I want to do. Now I just need to find a way to get a secretary and another staff person and I think we will be set! In the meantime, we'll just continue to work like mad to try to make it all happen...

Completed my short run - 30 minutes of treadmill time. Sunday is 5 miles and I'm starting to get nervous.  Trying not to psych myself out but man, it seems like such a long way...but I can do it.  Right?  Right!  I think.

Now I gotta make a run of a different kind - off to Walmart I go!