Reneging

I just reviewed the extensive list of post topics, and I am just going to let that be as a list of things that have happened. By now, I've talked to you all and you know how it all turned out.

We did have a trip to Montana in September, complete with a fantastic trip to Wapiti, Wyoming, which I love to say. Wapiti. WOPitti. I rode a horse, which was fun and completely freaky! I definitely have no desire to explore that further, which I suppose is good, as horsing around (har har) is pricey up here. Britt is my hero for falling off a horse and, literally, getting right back on. I would not have been able to do that.

I have decided that we need to be done with obligation trips, though. Montana is fun, but it's not much of a vacation any more - it's a series of visits that we "need" to do, that we don't really need to do. We talked of driving the motorcycles down next time; making the journey the destination. How fantastic would that be? With the in-laws traveling up here to see their granddaughter, we'll see them regularly. We shall see.

It has become my latest and most nerdy goal to erg one million meters. I think you must say it like Doctor Evil - one MILLION meters! I log them on the Concept2 website, and I'm about 450,000 meters in - it's a lifetime accumulation, and I guess I started charting it last winter or the winter before. But with World Masters Games in Australia next October, the desire for a dedicated effort this winter is very strong. Plus, at the end of the year party (which I missed), I won the award for the best 2K time (woman). Yeah! A nerd and a buff nerd at that!

Snap, Crackle, Pop

..goes the fire. Little did I know that spruce pops as it burns, and likes to freak The Loon and I out by throwing small bombs of flaming embers onto the hearth. My duty is to sit on the couch and make sure the fire doesn't set the living room on fire. Not a bad job, even if it does make me jump out of my skin every few minutes.

I was sick, sick, sick over Halloween weekend, but this past week I recovered. Amazing what a lot of sleep, vitamin C, and tea will do. Yesterday, Jim and I took the clap skates out to Potter Marsh and skated around in the cold and the wind. Very Nordic, I was laughing as I was tripping over the frozen cattails and falling on the lip of ice near a hole where someone had fallen in the weekend before.

New job..new responsibilities..not enough time in the day. I really like the new responsibility of the job, but the part I haven't gotten used to yet is how I'm not getting any billable work done. No doubt, I need to spend some after hours time on miscellania or on billable work, because the days are filled with the "urgent unimportant" interruption.

This post, if you haven't figured it out yet, is a random assimilation of topics. C'est la vie.

ERVA made me a most wonderful CD and I cannot get enough of it, especially a particular song called "coin operated boy." Very fun. I've been trying to take note of fun songs to add to a yet-to-be-made erging compilation. So far I have "toot toot beep beep" and "I need a lover who won't drive me crazy," which was pretty funny to explain to Jim why that was written on my calendar. Honestly, it's a song.

So, I promised a long list of blogging topics, didn't I? I should tackle them individually so the entire chore is not so daunting. I do love checking things off my list.

Quite neglected

..you are. My apologies! For the love of lists and the lack of time I'm feeling now, I thought I'd present a list of topics I'd like to post about (and hopefully will in the near future):
- my utterly fantastic and gorgeous new clutch, whose name is Bess (I didn't even make that up, that's the model name!);
- the joy I got out of receiving great birthday presents from The Roommate, all within the 2008 Birthday Budget, and how good it feels to have a birthday budget in general;
- (potential) work excitement;
- birthday weekend at the fox farm;
- general excitement regarding what is to be soon regarded as My Year of Culture: a membership to the Anch. Museum and season tickets (you-pick) to the Anch. Concert Association;
- All Things Loon Related;
- I'm sorry, did I mention the purse yet?
- Reading a book that my newly-93-year-old grandmother has enjoyed so much that she read twice (and which I could hardly get to the end of);
- Halibut fishing girls weekend!
- Taiko drumming
- The visit by the in laws;
- the anniversary;
- Luna's third birthday;
- Rowing on Trail Lake;
- Biking up Hatcher Pass;
- Head of the Kenai;
- MS 150 bike ride;
- observing Grandpa Bob's passing;
- energy audits;
- Montana, Omaha, North Carolina, San Fransisco, Italy, Deadhorse by motorcycle, Australia! (a.k.a. trips planned in the next 13 months)

I suppose that is all for now. Good pictures coming soon, and a fulfillment of a birthday resolution to blog more (here's at'cha, Captain Colossal)!

Love,
B's Knees

Bike rides in springtime

Spring has finally sprung here - it always feels as though it will never come, and then one day I find myself wondering when all the green leaves unfolded. I rode my bike to work this morning, saw a moose, and could smell these incredible white lilac trees that are planted along the bike trails. The kind of ride that makes me wonder why I don't do this every day - but then I think about my errands, and remember why I ride the motorcycle or even the station wagon.

The motorcycle has been good, very good. I rode Jim's 650 cc the other day, and although it runs a little rougher than my 225, the extra weight of the cycle felt much better on corners and going 45 mph. I noticed yesterday, as I was riding the 225, that I was suddenly more confident taking corners. Thanks, 650!

It's a crazy week for me, but things should calm down next week. My rowing club is having our annual fundraiser on Sunday, and I've become the committee chair. I really need to delegate more next year. The good news is that everything seems to be on track to raise $18,000. We will likely spend about $6,000 putting it on, so that's a pretty tidy net. We'll see. Things always happen at the last minute (like my sister in law pulling her participation yesterday - the race is Sunday), and there are several days of last minute left before the Big Day.

And yes, I know I've been lagging in posts - I was lecturing myself this morning as I rode through the lilac air...

Passing time...

Well, since I'm not getting anything productive done right now, I thought I might work on one of my to-do list tasks. I like how "to-do" is close to "ta-da" and sometimes if I read it quickly, my brain reads the latter and has a little jump of excitement. Perhaps if I finished all the tasks on my to-do list I could exclaim Ta Da! and be done with it. Not the case right now. I have been making to-do lists daily for about a week. The only difference seems to be the date I assign to the top of the list – yes, still the same list. No, didn't get any of these tasks finished up yesterday. It's not much, just small things that take personal time that I don't want to give, but at this point it's becoming more of a to-do that these items are hanging out on the list than it is to just buckle down and do them.

Of course, several of the tasks have to do with rifling through files and checking up on insurance claims and settling some money accounts, which on one hand is a great task because it would be a really good and important one to finish, but on the other hand is a lousy task because it will involve a lot of confusion and calling around and pointing out the insurance company that one claim was for me and the other claim, that they're saying is "suspected duplicate," is actually for the same service on the same day, but for my dependent spouse (eye exam). If they actually read the fax cover page that accompanied the claim, then they'd know that and could stop fielding my calls! I've only called once. It was great, they said they'd take care of it right away, and apologized for the mistake and the delay. The next day I saw it was in pending status, and the day following was denied for "possible duplicate." Right. This will be more fun to call them the second time.

Rowing season is right around the corner, and I've been attempting to spend a few minutes thinking about what I want to get out of the season. The fees aren't cheap, and I'm on super budget, so the first conversation I have to have with myself is whether or not participating in rowing is really worth it. I've decided it is. Even when rowing in a crappy boat with a bunch of people who don't know what they're doing and end up jerking you all over the place, there are always a few moments of good glide on the water that feel great. Not to mention, a good boat with synchronized teammates is ecstatic feeling. I've been erging all winter, and pulled a 2,000 m time last weekend that I'm quite pleased with, so I may as well indulge myself. I just have to be careful not to complain about club politics to Jim so much, I think it wears on him.

So I'm not going to any Outside regattas this year, and I'm missing one of the two in-state regattas for the MS bike ride, so my racing opportunities are obviously quite limited. I'm hoping that if I'm a good sport, then I'll get to practice in racing boats even if I'm not racing, instead of being boated in more of a misfit ship. I've been talking with some friends about arranging a 4 to row once a week so we can have some guaranteed good water time.

Tomorrow morning I'm doing round two of the hydrostatic body fat test. It's strange to think it's been 6 months since the first one! This time I have all the rules about not eating and drinking, and have a good mind to adhere to them. Suppose I'll be posting the results for all of you tomorrow; be sure to tune in for the next update.

Getting Ready

I was talking on the phone this afternoon to Mom and got completely excited about the New York trip! I'm leaving tomorrow night, which means tonight becomes a frenzy of procrastination: one more episode of SATC, clean the house, do the laundry, pack the clothes...that's the plan, anyway. Currently, I've done the first task and am sitting with my mug of Red Zinger and listening to the best of JJ Cale. Life is good.
I'm approaching this trip with a new idea, a new mindset. It's personal, it's likely boring to all others, but it's pretty exciting to me. I'm going to track my food and ww points this week, even knowing I'll go over my dailies. I'm going to stick to my quite limited budget, and essentially try not to buy anything. It sounds ridiculous; more to the point, it begs the "WHY?!" question. But I am going to New York to look and be on a tour, not to buy things. And what would I buy? I've so far identified my two mine zones as the museum gift shops and the bar. Figure I'll make a list of things from the gift shop (and then turn it over to Jim around my birthday), and make Alex buy all my drinks. Fair warning. So, I have a food and money budget. I'm quite excited.

In other news..cleaned the office today: a clear sign of procrastination. I've been working a lot lately; last week we had the feds in town to give legal advice on a big project I've been working on (for the last 4 years), so there was a field trip and lots of meeting coordination and good discussion going on, not to mention staying a bit later and checking email and generally following up on the rest of work. I'm officially finished with my year as chair of the national committee of my company's employee recognition program, which is good. A year is the right amount of time for that. And the presidents of the company (we have two) and the CEO and the head of HR all signed a very nice letter thanking me for all my hard work and finesse - yes, I think they used that word, I'll check tomorrow - getting the committee through it's first major budget increase in 14 years. Original signatures and everything. I have honestly never seen these signatures in pen, they're always scanned and printed. It was presented to me at our annual awards ceremony (which I mc'd, in a flaming red evening dress, pictures to come when I get them), and I was totally surprised. The letter was matted and framed, so now it's on the wall of my office. I wouldn't have matted and framed it, but there you have it.
Anyhow, I cleaned the office - divided the enormous African violet, repotted some other plants that badly needed it, wiped down all the desk surfaces and computer with germ killer wipes. I have this wood goose mobile, the kind with a string that you pull to make the wings flap, that used to hang in my family's cabin when I was growing up, hanging over my desk. Because of the way I engineered the hanging apparatus, it's been facing the corner for about 2 years - until today, when I finally got up there and moved that paper clip in the acoustic tile and now my goose is looking out at the office. A little bit of feng shui that actually made a huge difference!
I felt I was allowed a little procrastination, since I worked 9 hours on Sunday and 5 or so on Saturday, trying to make up for this Thursday and Friday when I will be in NYC. Those days were so productive, it almost - almost - made me want to trade out a weekend day for a weekday on a regular basis.
So, that's enough rambling for now. I promise I'll post a picture of the red dress (on loan from a colleague) when I get some, and I'll post NYC pics when I return. Not taking the laptop and pretty darned excited about that!

Week 5 of Braces

I'm sorry I haven't been better about posting my mouth updates. Today I went to the DDS to have some wires clipped that had come loose, as well as have the rubber bands in the front brackets changed for new bands that aren't curry-colored. Here is how things looked when I returned:Now, I don't know why my mouth looks enormous, and why my lips look like sausages, but I'm grateful to Jim for taking the picture all the same. I love how you can really see the difference between the coffee-and-curry-colored rubber bands on the bottom teeth and my new clear bands on the top. Of course my teeth still look crooked, but it's progress from this:Not to mention - my front teeth on top? The ones I see disappearing in photographs? Look how much of an arch they're coming into:(remember, we're looking at the top teeth, not the still-very-crooked bottom teeth). My DDS was completely enthusiastic with how fast things were moving. I wish I had a copy of his pictures; one is from inside my mouth looking up at the top front teeth - they are very, very crooked in that shot. The teeth actually angle into the mouth, instead of angling out as they are supposed to (and as they will!).
This is, I believe, the first week when I can really, definitely, see progress. Hooray!

On another note, my book club is reading Bridge of Sighs and discussing it this Friday; I'm 2/3 of the way through and wanting to skip work to stay home and read it...so it's off to bed and book for me!

Long time no update

Here I go, complaining about people not updating their blogs, and I haven't posted in a week. For shame!
I've been just fine, in case anyone was worried (didn't think so). Faith taught me how to use my sewing machine last week, which sent me on a mission to turn our "library" (junk room) into a craft room. I must say, it's looking about a thousand times better than it was. I have some furniture moving to do (both in and out) and some bookcase problems to solve, but those will have to wait until I get back from Mexico.
Okay, I'm teasing. We're only going to Mexico for a day, as a side trip from Tucson. I'm leading a meeting in Tucson Thursday afternoon and all day Friday, and staying the weekend. For once in the history of my invovlement with this program (this will be my sixth meeting in three years), Jim is able to come with me. We're planning a day trip into Nogales, seeing as my spiffy new electronic passport did, indeed, arrive in time for travel. I'm excited to see some sunshine, since last week it was in the teens-below-zero and today it was 42 degrees above zero, which in either case is just sad, sad, sad for February.
The Ramblins. Anyhow, I'm leading this meeting, which means I have to create a day and a half of power point presentation, and rehearse running 12 hours of meeting, and figure out what I'm going to wear that won't show the huge pit-stains I'm sure to get, and not let the ten cups of coffee I had this morning get to me....and so posting has seemed a bit elusive.
I did bathe the dog on Sunday. She is so soft and smells so good, and knows it, it's really fun. She's being very cuddly. Tonight I made a fire for us (me and The Loon) and some pork chops (for me and The Jim) and worked on my power point while listening to Symphony No. 2 by - I think - Dvorak on the radio, and thought, again, how good my life is. Hopefully I can remember that tomorrow after eleven cups of coffee.
For now, it's off to bed.

Quick Post

Isn't it funny how different two days can be? Yesterday I just was doowwnn in the duuummmps. Started off with coming downstairs in the morning to pee and poo on the carpet (thanks, Luna!). Then Luna decided not to obey by her typical breakfast routine (we make her wait to bum-rush her food bowl until we say OK), so I had to reprimand her again and take her food away. Came to work and there was a huge fire regarding this meeting that I'm in charge of that is next week. There are 53 attendees from across the country, and there was panic that some thought the meeting was the following week. It's all fine, but it took several phone calls and heart attacks to determine this.

I babysat my little niece yesterday afternoon, although I was so riled up from my anxious morning that I'm afraid I was to restless. She just wanted to be held, and I wanted to actually do something - read a book, play with the plastic ball, anything - but hey, she's only 4 months old, so her primary pleasures are eating, sleeping, peeing, and being held. She did all of these things. The experience did not make me want to have children (didn't turn me off, just didn't turn on the baby emotion).

Blah blah blah, enough of Monday. Jim made me a delicious dinner and gave me hugs and was very nice to me all evening, as he ususally is. I was able to wake up this morning with a more positive outlook, and feeling much more relaxed. It feels as though yesterday was much more than a day away.

So this afternoon I'm off to the "Forum on the Environment" where my company is hosting a booth. We're all dressed up in our little company vests, looking very uniform and corporate (and quite sharp, I must admit). TOnight it is a going-away party for my brother-in-law's cousin, who is moving to Sequim. Say hi to Barbara, would ya?

The Initiation

I suppose it was a matter of time before I fell prey to the blogging games people play: tagging. I think I actually clapped my hands and exclaimed excitedly when I saw that Renee had tagged me. Here goes:

Since I've been largely a blog observer, I can only surmise how this works. Fortunately, the rules are fairly simple:

1) Link to the person who tagged you.
2) Post the rules on your blog.
3) Share six non-important things/habits/quirks about yourself.
4) Tag at least three people at the end of your post and link to their blogs.
5) Let each person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.
6) Let the fun begin!

1) Done. Hah!
2) Done again. I'm a go-getter!
3) Six non-important things about myself. Well, isn't it all important? In the grand scheme? How about just six random things about myself:
1. I just ate refried beans with cheese on top for dinner, and it was the best thing I've eaten in 5 days.
2. I can sing along to the opening sequence of "Bridget Jones' Diary" as well as do the gestures and air guitar.
3. I loooooooove striped socks.
4. My college friends, although smart, interesting, engaging, and caring, are generally terrible about keeping in touch.
5. I bought a Greek cookbook for someone who is half Greek. Cliche? or cool?
6. Yes, yes, you were waiting for it: I love All Things Bulldog.

4) Hmm, let's see. Apparently not being prompt about keeping in touch extends beyond the college pals, because there are five blogs I can think of right now that aren't updated often enough to justify tagging. So, at the risk of these fine people thinking I'm cheesy, I'll tag The Greek, The New Parents, and this very interesting, smart blog that I am completely addicted to. And for good measure, here's one for Sunday's Workout Partner.

Five Hundred More Days to Go?

Day one with braces wasn't bad. That night for dinner, I ate soup that had noodles and meatballs. It was canned soup, so the meatballs and noodles were pretty soft, and it went well. I also ate a bunch of banana cream pudding. By a bunch, I mean a whole box. I think that's four servings, but who cares? It was fantastic.

So, flossing - wow. I mean, WOW. It took me 30 minutes to brush my teeth and floss that first night. I have to thread the floss behind the arch wire (the horizontal wire that goes across the front of my teeth and is mounted to the brackets by tiny rubber bands) and floss the tooth, then pull the floss out, go to the next tooth, and re-thread. Not so bad in the front, but when you're trying to hold your mouth open, lips back, and thread floss behind a wire on your last molar, it's a little tricky. I definitely want to be doing this, too, since bad oral hygiene with braces will leave marks on my teeth.

So, I woke up on day two and was thrilled that I had been able to sleep well. The only problem was that I couldn't chew. Not at all. My bite surfaces are so tender that I had to mash my scrambled eggs to the roof of my mouth with my tongue before I could swallow. And then, when I brushed and flossed, a disgusting amount of egg came out of my mouth.

I've spent the last four days eating yogurt, applesauce, and pureed soup (butternut squash, tomato, carrot, creamed corn, etc). Last night I spent a few hours completely lusting after the smorgasbord of sushi and sashimi that was spread at Trinity's birthday party. I did manage to have a few bites of white king sashimi, but it was a bit of a waste on me. I made major damage to the pot of miso soup, though!

Conclusion: so far, so good. I've been getting great positive reinforcement from everyone, and no one has decided I'm such a dork that they can't be my friend anymore (juvenile but very real fear).

Oh, and it's -10 degrees outside. Braces make my mouth very, very cold when I'm breathing with my mouth open!

Luna at Play

I know, the Bulldog may be best suited for Rest. I stayed up late last night to see the Bulldog segment on PBS' Nova that featured the Bulldog, and somehow they seemed to imply that the Bulldog is a whimsy dog, instead of a "working" dog. I beg to differ - I think that the job of a Bulldog is to inspire laughter, smiling, and goofiness, which we all need more of in our lives. And Bulldogs are very, very good at performing this work.

Here are examples of The Loon at Play (aka Work):

I Did It! Sourdough Bread

I've always admired good bread. When I was in Norway, my next door neighbor (from Denmark) had this amazing rye bread that took two days to make. It was so dense and delicious, it was a meal in every slice. I learned how to bake plain wheat bread when I was there, and was quite satisfied with the small, almost-unrisen loaves I would produce. They didn't have a lot of flavor, but American bread generally doesn't, so I didn't feel that I was missing out on too much. Plus, I was baking! This was incredible!

When we bought this house, we had a great housewarming/engagement party. Many, many folks from various spheres of our lives came to celebrate with us, and a neighbor and coworker of mine was one of them. He gave us a sourdough starter that was from an old Homer family. I think the starter originated something like 80 years prior! I thought it was a fantastic gift and promptly stuck it in the fridge, forgot about it, and tossed it two months later when I discovered the layer of blue mold on the surface (come to find out, I could have scraped the mold off and fed the starter and it would have been fine). I've long regretted my neglect of that starter, and been too embarrassed of my neglect to 'fess up and ask for more.

So, I was saved when another friend offered me some of his homemade sourdough starter. I think he even did the "float-a-piece-of-toast" method to collect wild yeast. In any case, it was "new" starter, and I gladly accepted it. I diligently fed it every week, even if we never made anything from it. When we did cook with it, it was pancakes and waffles. We even toted it to Prince William Sound last summer for a sourdough pancake cook-off on the last morning of our week trip, along with another cohort's starter. His were sour. Mine were delicious. His had dried blueberries. We gorged ourselves that last, rainy morning, and I was so proud that I had sourdough starter that I cared enough for to bring it on this trip.

So, I know I'm obsessing about the starter. Something about the care and the history of it really appeals to me. It's like being gourmet without seriously trying, and I do love that.

Anyhow, it's not as though I've stopped buying bread from the store while I've had this starter. In fact, I haven't made sourdough bread once in my life. In college, when I returned from Norway, I tried to recreate my whole-wheat bread baking process using the toaster oven in my dorm room, and you might imagine the not-so-exciting results. I've been thinking about sourdough bread lately, though, and even had a fantasy that I would make tiny loaves to give to friends for Christmas with some homemade spread or something. Never happened. I got as far as reading the FOURTEEN PAGES of bread baking instructions in the Joy of Cooking and became completely overwhelmed. Just the basic sourdough bread recipe needed 36 hours! Plus, how does a novice bread baker know how flexible one can be with timing, rising temperatures, and the lot? What if I had to go to work, and so couldn't let the dough rise for 2 to 4 hours, but instead had to leave it for 6? Or eight? Would all be lost?

The other day I decided to go for it. I had made a triple batch of starter and suddenly had more starter begging to be used than I knew what to do with. Short of making enough pancakes to feed my office, I knew my option was to try bread. The 36 hour recipe called for two cups of starter, and I had three and one-half. So, one cup went back in the fridge:

(This is the stone crock I keep the starter in. The starter instructions are adamant about not putting the starter in contact with metal.)

I used two cups of starter and set out to follow the instructions for Joy of Cooking's White Sourdough Bread (which, by the way, references not only two instructional sections of the "bread" chapter, but also two different recipies). I decided that perhaps I wouldn't end up with the most incredible bread on earth because I didn't have the timing to follow the instructions to the letter, but it would be pretty close - and as long as pretty close was synonymous with edible, I'd be satisfied.

After an internet search to try and discern the difference between bread flour and all purpose flour, I embarked on this adventure. That was night before last. And tonight, the result:

Check out that crust! Check out that lovely doneness! The two pieces were two loaves that merged into one, much like a delicious dinner roll. And WOW does it taste good! It actually had a real crust! The inside is spongy and dense but full of air - and, best of all, it actually tastes like sourdough. I think we're on to something here, folks!

Two last things:
1. Is there really anything better than warm bread with butter?
2. Bread flour apparently has more gluten, and so results in a better rise and crust. Everything I read and have now experienced indicates you can use all-purpose flour instead of bread flour, but not the other way around.

Resolutions

Here it is, 2008. Amazing. The only real New Year Resolution I made was:

Take Luna for more walks.

Aside from that, I do have goals for the new year. Things I'd like to accomplish. Tasks I'd like to check off the list. This list includes, in no particular order:

Go to the library. Both the Roommate and I have been discussing using that darned library card, and Brother turned Roommate onto graphic novels, which are apparently pricey and easily obtainable through the library.

Get rugs for the house. At a minimum, a living room rug and a back hall runner. Roommate and I just went to a local shop that claims they're closing the store and that rugs are 60 to 80 percent off; well, the 8x10 rugs were still $3600. Not in the cards, or the budget, at this point. So I imagine we'll get a Costco or Fred Meyer lovely and wait on the investment rug.

Redo the downstairs bathroom. This includes caulking around the tub, getting a real shower curtain, getting a new light, replacing the vanity/mirror/towel bar/toilet paper bar/all wood and fake brass accessories, and painting the walls. Potentially replacing the floor, but that's really the least of my concerns with the bathroom. My hope is that I could do this for less than $1,500, but I haven't really checked into it for reality.

That's it for now. Oh yeah, get braces. Do well at work. Be healthy. Exercise regularly. Cook at home more. Save money. And on and on and on and on...

Stay Tuned...

Yes, I've been a bit obsessed with the braces thing lately. I keep feeling my teeth and wondering if I'm incredibly self-absorbed and vain, or if this is a good, self-rewarding and beneficial thing to do that I've been thinking about for a long time. The big testimony is that every single adult I've spoken with who has had braces says DO IT! It's amazing! You'll be so glad you did!

No one more than the woman who started ArchWired. Yes, I've read her entire journey blog. And I hope hope hope I don't have to get 4 teeth pulled and wear braces for three years!

But I did decide to go with DDS1, who(m?) I liked better than DDS2. My next appointment, where they'll make casts of my teeth, is January 8. So, stay tuned.

Hard Core Metal

I'm embarking on a new adventure - braces! For the tooths, not the legs. I had a consultation this morning with an orthodontist that I really liked (actually, I had two consultations, one with a DDS that I liked, one with a DDS that I did not like). The cost is do-able, insurance will cover $2K of it (wow), and I'm looking at an 18 month committment. Sounds reasonable to me! The only glitch I see right now is that DDS1 said there was no need to pull teeth; DDS2 said we'd need to pull up to 4 teeth. Hello, how many teeth do I have in my mouth total???? 32???? Pull out 12.5% of my teeth?!?!?! But aside from the obvious discomfort of having bones pulled out of ones head, my main concern is just the discrepancy in diagnoses. Was DDS1 telling me what he thought I wanted to hear, and in fact my teeth will go crooked again later because we didn't pull teeth? Is DDS2 eager for blood and gore? Would DDS2's job be easier if we pulled teeth? I just want good care - ok, I want great care. I want a beautiful office with friendly staff and a doctor I like who has good bedside manner. I want to understand what is going on and I don't want false hopes.
So I emailed the technician at DDS1 and reported the findings of DDS2. I asked that DDS1 revisit my file with this in mind and let me know if he sees anything he didn't catch the first time. And I tried to frame it in the context that I need to calculate how much money to put in my flex spending account for 2008 - obviously, pulling teeth isn't going to be free.
I have to submit my final allocations Monday, so hopefully I'll get a reply soon. Figure I'll call in 2 days if I don't get a message back. Here's hoping that DDS1 is just so much more progressive with orthodontia than DDS2 and can achieve long-lasting results without pulling teeth!

Home Sick

Ugh, what a way to spend a four day weekend: sick. On Wednesday morning I woke up with a slightly sore throat, but it went away quickly. Thursday morning, however, I woke up feeling as though the back of my throat were raw and bloody. The part of the throat that you feel when you swallow, that's what hurt. Friday the coughing started in. Here it is Sunday, I'm feeling marginally better, although I have to wonder how much of that is due to the diet of cold and mucus pills I've been eating every 4 hours. And the real kicker is that I have (had?) work to do this weekend, work that's due tomorrow, that I won't be ready to turn in. Grrr....

Swimming

I'm on week one of The Fitness Routine. I figured that I could stick to a regular fitness routine for the last months of 2007 and then evaluate what is needed for the new year. So Monday and Wednesday I'm at the erg room, and Tuesday and Thursday mornings I'm at the pool. My intention is to do pilates on Tuesday and Thursday evenings as well, but with family in town that has proven too much a glitch in the evening schedule.

Swimming Tuesday morning was a huge chore. I don't think I'd been in a pool since May. I don't think there's anything quite like swimming to make one feel like a heavy barge. But today was much better; I swam a 500-yard piece without stopping. It is important for me to remember that when I first began swimming, that was fairly impossible. I remember not being able to swim 50 yards without stopping at the end of the lane. So, progress is relative.

I'm also on a bit of a buckle-down period at work (as evidenced by the fact that I am blogging at work). I've been tasked with a writing assingment for a fast-tracked EIS, and this is really my chance to respond well to the pressure. So, that said, I'm signing off.

Oh, one more thing: it's been snowing and it's absolutely beautiful outside. I will take some pictures soon, I promise.