Another exciting week in the Smith household! And by "exciting" I don't always mean "fun." First thing I had to do this week involved drama and pain. And therefore, excitement!
Growing up, Baby Boomers would often rejoice at dental checkup time when their kids got cavity free reports. Now I would like to do a study on the resulting phenomena I'm picking up on: all these Gen X and Yers and Millennials have been going to the dentist for years without fear because all that happens when you go is you get your teeth cleaned and you leave. I like that little brushy thing that cleans your teeth; it makes your mouth feel good and clean and I like having my teeth scraped because they're all nice and shiny when you leave. *ding!* I never understood why people would say they hated the dentist or the dentist was the scariest doctor visit for them to make because gosh... the dentist just cleans your teeth, right? I did have my wisdom teeth removed but they knocked my lights out for that one - I don't remember a THING besides, "now you're going to feel a little shot as I insert the IV and you'll fall asleee....zzzzzzz" until I woke up wisdom-teeth-less (and I gotta say, that's the way it should be done). I got my first cavity at the age of 30 and all they had to do to fill it was a itty bitty bit of whizz whizz with the drill, patched it up and I was on my merry little way. All of this to say: I propose a research project on the theory of dentist-wuss quotient of individuals born in the era of post-fluoridated water. My friend Jenny is the bravest person I know and she said she cried like a baby when she had to get a shot in the mouth last month. I know I'm not alone in this...
A couple of years ago I suspected I cracked a tooth. I went to the dentist and was told to change my toothpaste. Didn't help. I was sent to an endodontist who said I was grinding my teeth at night and to wear a night guard. Nope. At my last cleaning, the dentist said he finally could see a small crack and that a crown might help fix the problem, but first they were going to try to do an itty bitty filling and see if that helped. It didn't. So I scheduled a crown to be put on and went to the dentist the other day. I knew what was going to happen, so upon arrival I calmly went to tell the technician that I was nervous about the procedure that day and promptly burst into tears. When the dentist came in and made a sudden move by my face I jumped a mile and shrieked at him (I think that made him mad). He took more x-rays and determined that I did need a crown. My heart began to rise when I heard that, but he quickly squelched any notion of leaving the office shot-free and told me he'd save me some bucks by trying a heavy-hitting filling instead.
Um. So I got my first shot in the mouth. It didn't hurt but I was so scared that I shook so bad I was afraid I would have to call someone to come and pick me up. After they were through I was so relieved I was done I shot out the door like nobody's business. I had taken the rest of the afternoon off knowing I couldn't face the office after such a trauma but didn't have plans for the rest of the day. Going home and making a fire to relax by seemed like a good idea, so I headed to Mama and Daddy's to load up on some firewood.
Did I mention I got a shot in my mouth? Well, after a few rotten attempts to communicate I felt my teeth bite my tongue so I decided I would not open my mouth until after the numbness wore off. Hence here you have Mama and slack-jawed me:
loading up firewood
me with carhartts and camo over my work clothes not saying a word
As I mentioned, I refused to talk until after I could feel my face again and visited with Mama via post-it note for about an hour. It was like caveman texting. We had a nice visit and I went home before it began snowing.
And that's another thing! It has been so super cold lately and has snowed off an on for weeks now. WHERE AM I? Although I have said we've been due a good snow season (have not had one since I moved home seven years ago) I wasn't prepared for THIS. All this unexpected time off leaves me twiddling my thumbs, and thumb-twiddling is something I am not akin to doing. Fortunately, Jenny Mowrer gave me the greatest book ever for Christmas: Martha Stewart's Encyclopedia of Sewing Crafts.
Boo-yah. I picked the book up the other (snowy when I was supposed to run 14 miles) morning and this caught my eye:
cute felt purses with adorable accents
And a mere few hours later we have:
my take on cute felt purses with adorable accents. these are gifts so i'm not going to say who they are for BUT JUST SO YOU KNOW the front pocket on each is just big enough to fit an iPhone. jus'sayin. my cute little owl gives a hoot and don't pollute! he recycles too - all this felt was from leftover stockings i've made for people.
This morning I knew we would wake up to more snow, so I wasn't expecting to go into work very first thing this morning. I've had a terrible cough and was sleeping out on the couch so as not to disturb Mr. Smith with my nightly hacking (MAMA, I have a prescription now I DO!) I heard him get up, look out and hail in the report of: "Snow. No gym. Go back to sleep." So I did. When we got back up to get ready in time for work I learned UT was opening three hours late, at 11. So I went back to sleep. Then got up and exercised, did chores... blah blah... going about life... when... GASP. THE UNIVERSITY CLOSED??!! The University NEVER CLOSES. Well. My parents told me that it never closed when I started as an undergrad and would like to point out that I was out for snow every year until I graduated (that and I still do not regret having double pierced ears SO THERE).
I haven't had a snow day since leaving UT as an undergrad! That's more than a decade! Well. I did have snow days when we lived in Sarasota but we didn't call them "snow" days we called them "hurricane" days and the accompanying weather phenomena was decidedly different. I swear - I hadn't thought they'd close the school but when they did it was like I was nine years old again. Mr. Smith and I decided to roll with that sentiment and we:
bundled up and went to friends' houses to go play!!!!
We went over to Amanda and John's for the morning to have fun in the snow. I seriously can't remember the last time I've been in snow like this! I kept commenting on how pretty everything looked... well. Until we made our way to Broadway and it was all dirty slush. It was a fun, pretty walk over to the Johnson/Womacs otherwise!
First things first, the boys got in a snow fight.
testosterone in action
Then they turned on me!
boys will be boys
tommy coming in for the kill
Then we all went sledding!
up the hill! although gravity was in our favor, our makeshift sled was not and the sledding experiment was somewhat of a bust. fun times trying though!
We rallied, went back to the house where Amanda made us all nice lunch and we had more fun visiting over mugs of hot tea!
cute snow covered birdies on their porch
Lastly - just because none of us had to work doesn't mean everyone was off for a snow day. We stopped by the Flower Pot on our walk home to visit Gina. She was hard at work making flower arrangements because as she so accurately put it: "People still get sick and die on snow days." Tru dat, Gina...
she makes working on snow days look good
My favorite part of her arrangement?
flower jesus
All right! I'm off to the upstairs to enjoy the last of my snow day! There's more snow coming tonight, and I suspect I won't have to go in to work first thing in the morning, but I will eventually. Enjoyed having an unexpected day off tremendously though! Thanks, UT!
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