Miserable Dentist Appointment

I have to get my wisdom teeth out next Tuesday and I am REALLY not looking forward to it. First of all, I hate the dentist (REALLY hate the dentist... its like irrational phobia except not bc it is rational to not like DRILLS going into your teeth), and second of all I am terrified of getting put under! I had to meet with the oral surgeon 2 days ago for a consultation and it was disastrous. This is how the experience went:

I arrived at the office with my mom (she insisted on coming with me) and the words "ORAL AND MAXILLARY SURGEON" on the front door almost made me pass out, but I decided to muster the courage and walk inside. I had to fill out some papers but I was so nervous that I couldn't remember anything so mom had to take control. There I sat for the next HALF AN HOUR waiting in misery when a nurse finally came in and took me into a room. She told me to sit in this giant leather chair and she started messing around with the computer directly in front of me. Confused, I was wondering if the doctor was going to talk to me through a webcam or something. Finally, she told me I had to watch an informational video about what the surgery entails and then said the dentist/surgeon would be in when I was finished watching. Being a good sport about this, I began to watch the video. The video was full of bad actors and seriously ugly people talking about how great it was to get their teeth out. THEN a dentist started talking about the actual surgery and demonstrated cutting the gums, pulling some teeth, cracking the teeth, extracting more teeth.. you get the idea. I almost threw up. Then they started talking about side effects which are too disgusting to write here. Finally, they talked about the anesthesia and its side effects which include DEATH. I started to feel queasy and shaky and it felt like the room was closing in on me. I couldn't look at the computer anymore so I turned my head away and was shielding my eyes when the dentist came in. It was very embarrassing... The only bright side was that he looks just like Mr. Rogers which makes me warm and fuzzy feeling inside.

This is how the rest of the scenario went:

Dentist: So, you wanna get your wisdom teeth out!
Me: That would be a false statement. I was forced here against my will! But I hear you are a great surgeon!
Dentist: Oh I'm not great, I just charge a lot.
Me: Jokes about dentistry aren't funny.
Dentist (putting x-rays of my actual teeth on a white illuminated screen. Might I note here that seeing x-rays, particularly of teeth, evoke a sense of nausea and fear in me): Well then, if you look here, your teeth will be easy to get out, especially the top ones!
Me (trying not to cry or puke): Wow how great...
Dentist: See here is what we'll have to do on the bottom, we'll cut into the gum and then cut your teeth into 4 pieces (drawing +'s through the teeth on the x-ray") and then we'll ---
Me: I don't want to know what you'll do, just do it
Dentist: Ok then, as for the anesthesia we will insert a needle into your --
Me: NO SERIOUSLY I DON'T WANT TO KNOW
Dentist: Well I need to tell you the side effects. You may get dry socke---
Me: I REALLY don't want to know. Can't you just give me a paper so my mother can read it in case anything happens to me?
Dentist: Well, miss, by law I must tell you the side effects
*and so he tells me and I sit cringing and then he starts to tell me that if he accidentally hits my nerve my lip and cheek will go numb... for the REST OF MY LIFE. And then it happened. I tried so hard to be good the whole time but a little tear rolled down my face and then another and I couldn't stop and I said "Well if we are done here, I guess I'll be seeing you next Tuesday!" and I got up, walked out, couldn't find the right direction so I had to go find him and ask how to get out and I was still crying and then I went to find my mom, took the car keys and sat in the car while she took care of the payments. (Thank goodness she's paying for it because I would NEVER get them out if I had to pay for it, because I don't even WANT them out!)

It was mortifying.

The end.

DIET

So, on Saturday morning, I was getting ready to go to the Celtic Festival with my family and I decided to wear my very favorite shorts. They are denim, I think they are called Bermuda shorts (they go almost to my knee) and lo-and-behold, I couldn't get them on my legs! In fact, I couldn't even pull them past the middle of my thigh. I ran into mom's bathroom and said "how dare you DRY my favorite shorts!" and of course she said that she did not dry them. Hmm I thought, this is peculiar. It wasn't a big deal, I decided to wear something else so I pulled out a jeans skirt... same problem! I tried my yellow plaid shorts, my white capris, my khaki shorts, my white shorts... it kept happening over and over again. Finally I didn't know what to do when I remembered this enormous pair of capris laying in a storage bag under my bed. Mom bought them for me years ago and they were about 2 sizes too big so I never wore them. I found them and put them on and the top WOULD BARELY CLOSE (they were however, quite baggy in the legs). So I wore my fatgirl capris. The next day I had to wear a dress that I never wear because I think it looks like a muumuu.

So guess what?! Ladies and gentlemen, I am on a diet! AND I'm working out -- shocking, I know. I bought a jump rope last night and man, is that a workout! So please, don't buy me cookies. Or cake. Or olives. Or cheese. NO JUNK FOOD. I am eating only vegetables and fruit for snacks, Slimfast for breakfast, Slimfast + sandwich for lunch and then Mom's dinner. And only water to drink. And IF I go to a bar, NO BEER.

This is short, but I just thought about this. I spend all day babysitting a baby, and then at night I head over to my great-grandma's to help her get ready for bed. I go from spending time with someone at the very beginning of their life to someone who is at the end. It is just interesting to me and makes me realize how fleeting life is.

old fashioned things

I have always loved history, and as a young girl I was obsessed with all things old-fashioned. Yesterday, while I was babysitting, I came across an episode of The Little House on the Prairie and it reminded me of being a little kid and of all the things I used to like, so I thought I would document some of these things here!




Image from the Piqua Heritage Festival, which is held on Labor Day weekend... easily my favorite weekend of the year as a child!! Going to the festival feels like stepping back in time!




My family has an old desk like this that I used to play old-fashioned schoolhouse. I made my sister sit in that front chair with no desk haha




On most days, you could find me wearing a bonnet like this!













Some of my favorite books about "olden days," as I liked to call them.






I had a boy and girl rabbit dolls like this and I was convinced that they were old fashioned and that Laura and Mary would have had dolls like this!

Books I have read since the start of my 101 list and the dates I finished reading them

1. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (7/6/09)
2. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (7/11/09)
3. Window to the World (7/14/09)
4. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (7/16/09)
5. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (7/18/09)
6. The Undomestic Goddess (7/19/09)
7. Kiss the Girls (7/20/09) -- serious insomnia last night!!!
8. The Memory Book
9. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (7/27)
10. Undiscovered Gyrl by Allison Burnett

WAL*MART

I have a love-hate relationship with Walmart. Actually just hate. But one would think that I love it. Or maybe I do love it. But I hate that I love it. Who knows? It's complicated.

A few years ago, a Walmart was constructed in my hometown. As expected, it caused a lot of local stores and shops to close down, including the filling station where my family has gotten our gas for as long as I can remember. The residents of Piqua used to have to drive to Troy, or maybe Sidney or even Greenville to get to a Walmart, but now there is one just across town. Of course this elated the hillbillies of Piqua (which is sadly a majority of of the population, I have come to think). Conversations heard around town:

"Wow Betty-Lou, that's a super cute shirt, where did you get it?" "Why, Melba, I done bought this at the WALmart! It ain't even cost me much, it was only $3.98!"

"Hey ladies! There's a sale on undies at the Walmart!"


To the hilljacks, Walmart is not only a noun, but a verb and adjective as well. For example: "Hey what are you doing later?" "Oh, you know, goin' Walmartin'" or "This here is a Walmarty bargain, and I didn't even buy it there! I got it at the consignment store!"

As much as I hate Walmart, when it comes down to it, there is nowhere else in this town to buy half of the things I need, and I'm certainly not going to spend the gas money to drive down to Dayton to buy what I want. Plus, where else can you buy makeup, books, socks, swimsuits (not that I would wear a Walmart swimsuit), groceries, gloves, medicine, auto supplies, toys, even fish, all at the same store?

I think that there is some type of Harry Potter-esque magical spell cast around Walmart, because if I am anywhere even near the vicinity, it pulls me in. If I am on that side of town (which, mind you, is only about 5 minutes away from the other side of town), I think to myself "Gee, I should stop by Walmart, I'm sure I need something!" When I do go there for one specific item, I can never just buy one thing. I will inevitably see something else that I want and it will be too new and shiny to resist. It is impossible for me to leave the store without spending at least $10.

The people who work there aren't even nice, so it is definitely not the hospitality that drags me in! One day I thought I would buy my sister a hamster for her birthday, so I asked the woman working in the pet aisle if they had hamsters and she barked at me "NO! This ain't a pet store, lady!" Then last summer, it was late at night and I was looking for something in particular, I can't remember what it was and I asked for assistance and the guy replies "Ma'am I obviously work in the dairy section, so I can't help you." You know, now that I think about it, my friend used to work at the Walmart in her hometown and she told me stories about how the workers all gathered together everyday to sing the happy little Walmart song (w-a-l squiggly m-a-r-t! who's Walmart? OURS!) I have never heard them sing that at MY Walmart...

I suppose the point is that Walmart is evil, and should not have been built in my town, because it is slowly draining me of all my money.

Aunt Lo

This photo is just too much!!! It needed to be documented, so here it is. It is my aunt in high school, and really... it speaks for itself.