today is a good day

although the weather is a bit dreary, today is a good day. as of 11:15 a.m. i am brace free. since, there has been a constant running the tongue over the teeth, huge smiles when i walk by a mirror, and the chopping and chewing of an ewwwy, gooey rice krispy treat. my orthodontist asked me what i was excited about eating when i got them off. i honestly couldn't think of anything. why? cause i've pretty much eaten everything i shouldn't. popcorn, caramel, ice chips. if it was on the list of don'ts, i did. then last night, i had a craving for rice krispy treats. i realized i hadn't had one in over 2 years.

after my appointment, i headed over to the grocery store bought a tray of sushi, a large bottled frappacino and a box of rice krispy treats. (i found out last week our grocery store started selling freshly made sushi.) weird combo, but it was oh so good.

and to top of the morning, i heard they're gonna build a target in boone.

this indeed has been a good day!

four, 4, IIII

weeks and braces will be a thing of the past. oh happy day!

a finished home improvement project:


i've had this memo board since high school (a long time ago) and decided it needed an upgrade to fit with it's new environment. i've got a few more things to finish up and you'll see the fruits of my labor.

aaron has decided the camera is better suited to take photos like this:

the aad should use photos like this in their ad campaigns. ewww! this is mild in comparison to some of the photos i've seen. makes you think twice about forgetting the sunscreen.

so i've been without a good camera for the past month. i may have to break down and get a new one. the camera phone can only do so much.

the tooth diaries

a power chain, an additional metal chain, new arch wires and another rubber band. <-- in case you were wondering what this means, i've included a visual representation.

an unflattering photo, i know. my orthodontist informed me i have less than 6 months left in these bad boys. i will have a definitive answer september 24. september 5 will be my 2 year anniversary. i can hardly believe i've been wearing them this long. i've come a long way, oh yes, a long, straight way.

left incisor is the devil tooth that received the root canal. it only took 20 minutes, i could hardly believe it myself. drilled a hole in the back, scrapped out the pulp and infection, sealed it temporarily up and i was out of there. been nursing it with vicodin and antibiotics since. heading back september 10 to have it permanently sealed and internally bleached. $700 for, perhaps, an hour of work. i'm definitely in the wrong business.

gettin to the root

tomorrow i'm heading to winston-salem to get a root canal. yes, the trauma my incisor suffered 15 years ago has finally caught up with me. when i got my braces tightened, big understatement, this last time it started to throb. my new orthodontist decided to add a power chain, an additional metal chain, new arch wires and another rubber band. i've got a mouth full of rubber and metal. the consequence...the death of tooth number 9. funny thing, i was worried i the orthodontist in boone wouldn't be able to treat me. apparently damon braces are fairly new and a lot of orthodontists don't use them yet. i lucked out cause the guy in boone travels and lectures on them. so now instead of heading to winston for ortho treatment, i'm heading for endo therapy.

got rubber?

i just got them tightened today and added a pesky rubber band. yes, i'm in pain and perhaps i'll have them off before we move. fingers crossed.