Pearly Whites Drama

My annual visit to the dentist to have my teeth cleaned Wednesday turned into a major ordeal. Let me preface the rest of this post by saying that I hate the dentist. I hate that they always tell me I don't floss enough, I hate that they make me hold my mouth open for so long, and I hate that I get a different hygienist every time I go. That aside, I know it is important to have my teeth cleaned, so I go every 6-months to have it done.

Prior to moving to Bloomington, I have always had a simple visit to the dentist to have my teeth cleaned. However, since moving to Bloomington a little over three years ago, it has been nothing but trouble. I experienced my first cavity ever two years ago! It was a horrible experience getting it filled with me balling in the dental chair. Then, they kept telling me the grooves in my teeth are very deep and I was getting a lot of decay. So, I had sealants put on last May. Well, when I went in to get my teeth cleaned this week, it turns out part of my sealant on tooth 30 had fallen out. Super.

It had to be fixed - they could already see a little decay (no cavity thankfully) and needed to get out the other part of the sealant to re-do everything on that one tooth. So, my options from the dentist were:

1. Receive Novocaine shot to fix one tooth. This would mean I would have to endure the shot and be numb for 5-6 hours.
2. Let her drill out the spot without any drugs, which she assured would be done very quickly and that some people don't even feel any pain.

So, knowing I had to go back to work and deal with meetings and conference calls, I chose option 2. I couldn't have a half-numb mouth all day. Boy, was that a bad idea!! She drilled and I jumped out of the chair at least once. It was the most painful thing ever. She kept hitting the nerve and apologizing. She also said that it appears I have sensitive teeth based on how I react to them poking in my mouth. Really?!? (I wanted to say check my chart lady and see that I use Sensodyne and the reason I didn't even feel the problem with the sealant is that hot and cold is always painful on my teeth, but I have learned to live with it. Also, this is the driving force behind why I don't have a problem with room temperature pop.) Anyway, I made it through and they fixed my sealant. Of course, I wasn't charged for the repair since it should have lasted longer than 4 months. Gee, thanks.

You are what you eat...

I wish I had my camera at work. I would definitely have to snap a picture of the garbage can under my desk. Our garbage is emptied on Tuesday and Friday nights. This week, you can tell the kind of week it's been by looking at what is in my garbage! Lots of candy wrappers - mini candy bars, tootsie rolls, caramels, banana laffy taffy, etc. Yikes. I do spot one apple core down at the very bottom...

The Great Outdoors

Well, the yard is complete! We'll at least the parts visable to those going by. The mulch is all in, the flowers are planted, the hanging baskets are up, the garden is in, and we finally have fruit on our three fruit trees (apples and pears). Todd has been nurturing them for about three years -they are his pride and joy, so he is extremely pleased to say the least. Now we have to start on the backyard. We desparately need a new deck and some landscaping. Although, Lucy is quick to ruin most of the landscaping we have attempted. So, I'm not sure what we will do about that. Thankfully, the privacy fence hides the distaster that is the backyard from the rest of our yard!

Gas Price Differentials

What is the deal with gas prices in Indiana? We continue to be above the national average price for a gallon of gas. I am confused as to why this is. I mean, it is not like we live in a major metropolitan area. Now, I don't know how all the state taxes work for gas, but last Friday we left after work to go and visit family in Iowa. We got gas here for $3.95/gallon before leaving town. When we arrived in Clinton, Iowa 5.5 hours later, gas was $3.58. Now, approx $0.40/gallon difference is a lot of more!!. What the heck!?! I just don't get it. Todd chalks it up to regional pricing, but aren't Indiana and Iowa both considered Midwestern states? The only thing that provides any logic is that there is more corn grown in Iowa. They have more ethanol plants and many stations carry E-85 or gas with a higher ethanol content. Since we, the tax payers, are currently subsidizing the cost of ethanol, maybe this is driving the price down in that location? If so, can we get some of that here!?!

Long time, no post...

Well, it's been awhile. Too long, that's for sure. All I can say is that I am tired! We don't have anything fun to post about for the last few weeks. They have been pretty much been filled with work for both of us. I have had long days at work this week (10+ hour days) and then come home to work on the course I am teaching. Todd has also been working late and going in early. We are both looking forward to the end of the semester (May 5th can't get here fast enough)!

We didn't end up going to visit family for Easter. We weren't looking forward to the drive and Iowa/Northern Illinois ended up getting a freak snowstorm on Friday before Easter. That pretty much made our decision for us. It was chilly here, but we didn't want to drive into a snowstorm. It was the first time in several years we didn't spend the holiday with family. I was sad to miss the kids hunting for eggs. But, the good news is that we were not without celebrations in Ellettsville, Indiana! Our neighbors Lana and Tristan had us over for Easter dinner. To say that Lana outdid herself is an understatement. She made an 18-lb turkey for four people plus, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, cranberries, spinach salad with homemade dressing, and stuffing cups. It was amazing. All I had to do was bring the dessert. It was so so good! She sent us home with leftovers, which we turned that into turkey potpie and potato pancakes.

A Short Rant

If I say much more, I'll probably say too much. So, my short rant is this: Be a good pet parent and neighborhood steward by picking up your dog's (or other domesticated animal's) poo from the sidewalk. Those that enjoy using public sidewalks to exercise, don't enjoy cleaning poo from the bottom of their shoes.

(Last night I spent 30 mins cleaning up dog poo piles from our backyard without stepping in anything, only to go for a quick 30 min run around the neighborhood and come home with the bottom of my shoes caked in poo. Just ask Todd how mad I was about that!)