The parking meter

I got to use a parking meter on Friday! I had never used one before! I had to park near the courthouse for something for work. I drove around and around trying to find a place I could park without a parking meter, because I didn't have any change. I couldn't find a place, so I pulled into a spot and rummaged through the truck for any change I could find. I found a nickel and a dime. I thought it would only take quarters, but it turns out I earned myself 9 minutes of parking time with my 15 cents! Of course, I took much longer than 9 minutes, but I felt better knowing I contributed my part to the government....and didn't get caught when I shortchanged them.

Hooray for new experiences!

How do we recognize pain?

I consider myself a pretty transparent person. I'll be open about my faults, and most people know that I am not a neat, organized person and that I realize I will never be a perfect wife who makes beautiful casseroles. People know funny things about my cat, and if I've had a good conversation with you, you'll probably know what I'm struggling with at the moment, or what wonderful thing has happened. However, with all that transparency, would anyone ever guess I was an insecure person? Probably not. Or maybe the truly astute would realize that my verbosity about my life is a way to fill the void of silence.

The reality is that everyone hides things about his or her life. And maybe "hides" is not necessarily the right word. I think most people wish others knew the secret things about them; they just don't know how to express it, or they dream of a friend who will see them so clearly that all is understood without a word being spoken.

At the moment I am thinking about people who hide pain. So I suppose I'm thinking about everyone. We all push the pain we feel way down inside so no one knows about it. Sure, there are those who tell you every ailment that's befallen them, but that's not their real pain. The real pain might be loneliness, fear that their husband is cheating on them, or that life just feels like it's falling apart.

The world is painful, and everyone in it is in pain. Yet we've created an environment (a "Christian" environment, mind you) very hostile to pain, especially the pain of other people. To hold in pain means stress, sickness, and emotional suicide. To let it out means, sadly, much the same. How do we react when someone comes to us with a pain in their life? If not outwardly, inwardly we cringe.

"This is not what I need in my life right now! I don't want this complication of dealing with someone else's problems!"

Don't we think that? Admit it. You're selfish, and so am I, and we've made ourselves too busy to deal with our own problems, much less the problems of others. What a testimony to the love and sacrifice of Christ. Ugh. Sometimes I think of the depravity of man--of myself--and I want to puke.

So what should we do? It's true that "bearing one another's burdens" is a complicated issue. How do we know that people are in pain in the first place? Well, it's kind of like evangelizing; we dream of the day someone walks up to us and says, "You're different. How can I get what you have?", we explain the Roman Road (and remember all the verses) and that person accepts Christ on the spot. But that doesn't happen very often. And in the same way, people won't approach you about their pain. It must be proactive on your part. Truly listen to others with prayer and petition, that your heart could be open to hear their cries.

Realize that I haven't said, "Go out and get the dirt on all your friends." The point is not to be in the know, but to help someone fall on Christ. Be aware of your motives as you seek to help someone. Recognize also when God has laid a specific person on your heart. "Pray without ceasing" when walking the road of a comforter. After all, it's not you who is comforting, but Christ our Comfort ministering through you.

When you realize someone is in pain, how do you deal with it? Amazingly enough, all is not solved with a chicken casserole and apple pie (or more likely in my case, a sack of Taco Bell). Sometimes a meal is exactly what someone needs, and sometimes it isn't. There's not a hard and fast rule about how to deal with someone's pain. As a matter of fact, I'd be surprised if there were even two situations that could be dealt with in the same way. Every situation is different. But each can be approached the same way--with humility and grace. You have your own problems and mistakes, you won't be able to help others without the miracle of Christ working in you, and forgiveness is for everyone, not just for the ones with little sins.

One temptation is to pull out too quickly. Drop your casserole at the stoop and run. A note in the mail, a chat over coffee and then it's done. That's like taking a Tylenol for cancer. Healing is a process, and if you've been called by God to help a person through the healing process, then you're in it for the long haul. You are committed. When it gets tough is when you really know that it's not your strength that heals, but God's.

Of course, there are complications. We look to God's Word to learn how to deal with the unrepentant brother, etc, etc. But sometimes I think we use that as an excuse to give up too quickly. In my current experience with weight training, I have to rate how hard I push myself with every set of weights I do. I know from how I rate myself that I think I work a lot harder than I do. I think, "Whoo, ten pounds! That was a killer!" and then I watch others push and push until they can't push any more.

I want to be like that. I want to have that drive as a Christian. I want to push and push until the day I die. I want to be spent of myself so that there's nothing left but Christ, my Fulfillment. I want to sacrifice until it hurts, because there is no other kind of sacrifice. And if that means doing things out of my comfort zone, or sticking with a friend way after it got tough, then that's what I want to do.

Pain is not a personal problem. The pain of a fellow Christian is a call to heal the wounded. The pain of a non-believer is a call to save the dying.

This is our call. Are we listening?

Happy Birthday Jon!

Happy birthday to my wonderful husband! I hope you have a wonderful day, and an even better year, filled with good things and great surprises. I love you!

Happy February!

Well, I don't have much to say, but I thought it's been awhile since I posted, so here's a new post.

I've been sickeningly busy for work. I have two big projects going on. One is my own project, and one is my boss's. Needless to say, my project needs to be ready by Friday, and it hasn't been touched in almost two weeks. So that'll be a fun Thursday night getting that ready. I thought I finished the all-nighters when I graduated!

I've been to several fun places lately, all because of my wonderful husband. We went swing dancing with some people from church, and then Jon was able to get me tickets to Broadway on Ice at the Bass Hall. Then last night, Jon took me bowling! Our combined score was...well, together we didn't break 200, but we came close. It turns out I've forgotten everything I learned in bowling class.

Target has had its swimsuit racks out for at least two weeks, probably longer. I saw them a couple weeks ago. At first I thought they were still leftovers from last summer. I thought, "Great! I bet now is the time I could find a $2 swimsuit!" But no, I was appalled to find out that these were the new season of swimsuits. Are you kidding?? It's January!! I mean, we've all just managed to add the proper amount of winter padding around our waists, and we don't need to be reminded of bikini season, thank you!

Speaking of (winter padding, not bikini season), Jon and I have been working really hard to eat better and work out. I've really enjoyed working out with Jon; it's given us some time together that we haven't had before. And it's fun, in a my-legs-feel-like-Jello-my-arms-are-limp-noodles kind of way. I don't think I'll ever have a six-pack, but I'll settle for movie-star arms. You know, the really nice muscley toned arms that every movie star has. That would be nice.

Eating better has turned out to be an ordeal. What a lot of pots and pans! And for every meal! There need to be disposable pots like there are paper plates. No washing required. Just dump in the trash and open up a new one. Okay, so the world doesn't need more disposable items, but still, it would be handy.

In regards to world matters, I want to encourage you all to buy bikes and get really used to riding them, for when the world runs out of oil and scientists are stuck with their shoulders shrugged when it turns out they haven't come up with a replacement fuel source in time. I wonder if it could really happen. I mean, we all secretly don't think it could, otherwise we would start being more energy efficient. But then again, scientists were supposed to get us flying cars by year 2000, and that was a huge disappointment. At one point the Government gave tax cuts (or tax advantages or something) to people who bought hybrids, but the amount decreased every year so that it doesn't really matter any more. They should keep something like that going until enough people have bought hybrids.

I think hybrids are pretty cool. That was my car of choice when we were looking for cars. A Honda Civic hybrid. Turns out it was about $20K more than my Hyundai. It was a tough choice, but I picked the Hyundai, and now we already own it. Once hybrids are only $6,000, then I'll get one, I guess. What I think is funny are the SUV and truck hybrids. It's like you're trying to get the best of both worlds, and not really getting either. Sure, it's an SUV, but the pick-up-and-go stinks. And sure, it's a hybrid, but it still only gets 15 miles to the gallon. The idea is just a little too good to be true.

Where did the idea of solar powered cars go? Remember reading about those in school? That was the wave of the future, let me tell you. Sleek cars that looked kind of like a big playing card with four tiny wheels and huge solar panels on top. That's the way to go!

Now that we have a bird feeder, and about three types of birds (doves, sparrows and finches), our yard has become a regular playground of noisy birds. I don't mind, really. It's nice (and odd) because there used to be no living thing in our yard. Now there's constant traffic of birds, and the black and white cat that spends his day sleeping in the corner by the back fence. I'm looking forward to Spring when I can plant some flowers.

Well, I guess that's it. It turns out I had a little to say about a lot of different subjects. I hope everyone is enjoying the first day of February. Happy birth month, Jon and Teresa! And just think, after February is March, and we can leave this weird winter behind and head to spring!

For now, I have to get back to my projects....

New Bloggers!

We have some more bloggers on the scene!

I'd like to introduce my sister-in-law, Karen, the bold and the beautiful, and her blog, Prophecies.

Next is my brother-in-law, David, the young and the restless (sorry, needed a soap name, and you are younger than me, which I can't say about most people), who has evidently had a blog for awhile and I never knew. His blog is called Ramblings.

I've put the links to these under the "Links" heading in the sidebar.

I've been tagged?

So a few days ago, my future sis-in-law, Karen V., tagged me. I had no idea what that meant. Then I read her blog, and she had something about tagging, and answering a lot of questions, and then had my name at the bottom as someone tagged! So...not knowing exactly what I'm doing, I'm just going to copy and paste Karen's questions with my own answers and hope that's what I'm supposed to do. Is there a book on these blogging rules?

FOUR JOBS I'VE HAD:

1. Trinity Valley Pools & Spas -- never sure what I did!
2. Texas Collection Library at Baylor University -- library assistant
3. Texas Life Insurance Company -- part-time graphic designer
4. Texas Life Insurance Company -- full-time graphic designer extraordinaire (really, it's on my business card)

FOUR MOVIES I COULD WATCH OVER AND OVER AGAIN:
1. You've Got Mail
2. Shop Around the Corner
3. Return to Me
4. Princess Bride

FOUR BOOKS I COULD READ OVER AND OVER AGAIN:
1. Chronicles of Narnia (re-reading those now)
2. Bible (haha! Sunday School Answer!)
3. Pat of Silver Bush
4. The Indespensable Calvin & Hobbes :)

FOUR PLACES I HAVE LIVED
1. Orange, TX
2. Palestine, TX
3. Waco, TX
4. Fort Worth, TX (Texas girl, through and through!...and I need a longer list)

FOUR TV SHOWS I WATCH
1. CSI: Miami
2. The Biggest Loser
3. American Idol
4. House

FOUR PLACES I HAVE BEEN ON VACATION
1. Mount Nebo, Arakansas!
2. Colorado
3. The Bahamas
4. Ireland (again, I need a longer list)

FOUR WEBSITES I VISIT DAILY
1. gmail.com
2. bodyforlife.com
3. google.com (always need to look something up!)
4. everyone's blogs

FOUR OF MY FAVORITE FOODS
1. chips and salsa, the absolute greatest
2. cheese enchiladas
3. ice cream (vanilla, with all the fixin's!)
4. roast, evidently the only healthy thing I like

FOUR PLACES I WOULD LIKE TO BE RIGHT NOW
1. in bed
2. under a blanket on the couch reading
3. on a warm beach
4. with Jon, but not in his classes

FOUR BLOGGERS I AM TAGGING
1. Teresa - Harvesting Tulips
2. Cliff - Cliff's Blog, where he narfels the garflak
3. Margie - Margie's Blog
4. Leanna - Leanna's Little Spot of Cyberspace...because she needs to blog!!

So now...if I understand blogging etiquette correctly, I am to "tag" each of these people on their blogs, right? Well, if I'm not supposed to, oh, well. Who needs etiquette? :)

Day o' Fun at the Zoo

This past Saturday, Jon and I took a trip to good ol' Waco. It was the first trip back for Jon since we moved (which has been eight months now, can you believe it?), and we spent the day hanging out with our best friends, Cliff and Teresa. We have really missed them since we moved. It's a rare blessing to have such good friends, and that we all get along so well (at least most of the time)!


Anyway, so we went to the zoo to see the new Brazos section of the place, plus it was 5 bucks and a great day (although a bit chilly) to be outside. We got there in time to say hi to my brother and sis-in-law, who were just finishing up at the zoo. They let us know that the otter, ocelot, and owls were a must-see, and we moved on from there.

Here are some photos:

Here are the gibbons. They're very far away, but you can see on the right one gibbon hangin' out on the rope. He was pretty cool, and had an amazing ab workout going on.


An R.O.U.S.


A little birdie.


Here's a big pelican in a flap about something.



The great crocodile




The meerkat and his two poses. The poor guy is right next to the lions. That's gotta be a little unnerving. You can tell it's starting to wear on him.



And us! Wouldn't be a zoo trip without a look at God's really odd creatures!

Every time we go to the zoo, there's usually at least one funny animal thing that we will take away with us. This time it was the tiger. Evidently it was feeding time, and the food was a little late. The lions were making their hunger known by pacing in front of the door where the food comes out. The tiger, on the other hand, was above such displays, and sat where he was and...meowed is the best word to describe it, but it sounded more like a cow mooing. Anyway, there was someone in the crowd who could exactly imitate the tiger mooing (mewing?), and it was really funny to listen to the two "talk." I caught it on video:



Ladies and gentlemen, Cliff Lusk, the one who talks with tigers!

All in all, we had a really great time. Thanks, Cliff and Teresa, for letting us crash your Saturday on short notice!

I love Fridays

I love Fridays. I love the end of the week. Yet I'm always at a loss on Fridays. I usually have been in Waco the day before, which is always a busy day. So Friday I don't want to be too incredibly productive. As a matter of fact I don't want to be productive at all. And then when I have something to do or plan for the weekend, I really don't want to think about work! So today, with only ongoing projects on my plate, and a trip to see Cliff & Teresa tomorrow, I'm not feeling overly productive. Plus, I got to thinking about vacations today, and where we could go, and then about my friend's wedding, and what her dress looks like, and...well, and now I'm blogging. So I'm feeling a little guilty, but obviously not guilty enough to quit blogging and get back to work. :) The reason I don't feel that guilty is that I worked all day on Monday, which was supposed to be a holiday. So I figure maybe this morning I could take my holiday. :)

In the meantime, at work I'm going to be starting work on the external website! I'm excited about it, because at the moment I'm too embarassed of our web site to tell anyone to go there. And there's nothing really there, for that matter. So I'm going to work on it--make it look like it belongs in the 20th century, streamline the navigation, and maybe add some useful tools on there. I'm excited about it, and it really needs to be done, but I know I'll have to jump through a lot of hoops to get it all approved. It's dumb how no one looks at the web site--hardly even knows it exists--until I want to make a change to it. Then suddenly it's a really big deal and everyone has to have their opinion heard about the matter. So I've got a meeting set up for a couple of weeks from now in which I plan to "unveil" the new website. I've already got it started on my own server (is that the right word? It's on my website, whatever I mean), so I'll have it up on the web for everyone to see, and I can "wow" everyone with the amazing-ness of the new site, so there will be no discussion and they'll just let me do whatever I want to do with it--plus give me a bonus for my genius.

:)

Hey, I can dream!

But I guess two weeks isn't really that far away, so maybe I better do something today. There are only so many times I can check other people's blogs (come on, people, you gotta post more often!).

So...back to the grindstone. No more slacking for the day. I'll be good, I promise. :)

Photo Fun

Well, as mentioned in Teresa's blog, Teresa and I had a blast last weekend. We did lots of fun stuff, and one of them was taking pictures around Waco...well, mostly at the Suspension Bridge over the Brazos river. I've had web problems trying to get my pictures up, but I've finally done it, and you can see them here.

Thanks Teresa for a great weekend!

Friday's Progress

Well, I know my last blog was about Friday, but I haven't taken many pictures of him (memory card full, no batteries, and other high-tech difficulties) so I thought I should catch up. Then when I did, I realized how much he'd grown! So here's a few pictures to give you an idea of what's happened since the end of August.


Here is Aug 22nd:



And Sept 7th:



Sept 28th:



And Jan 4th:



Isn't that crazy?

Our baby's growing up!

Friday lost his first tooth today! Our little baby is becoming a little boy!

We are so proud!!

To my Husband

I am so thankful for my husband of three years (minus two days, at the moment). Jon is the greatest thing that happened to me since chips & salsa, and so much better!

If you know us, you'll know how opposite we are. I'm the brainy one, and Jon's the scatterbrained one. :) Well, okay, so maybe that's not exactly true. Without Jon, I wouldn't have someone to tell me where my purse is, and my phone (which mysteriously found its way out of my purse). He also makes sure I don't give into every hairbrained idea I have, yet he lets me be creative. He tolerates the cosmetics on the counter, paintbrushes by the sink, work stuff on the table, and shoes...well, everywhere. :) He asks me for all my receipts, which I stuff everywhere except my pockets or the checkbook (where they're really supposed to go). He reminds me of commitments I've made and dates I forgot to write on the calendar (I mean, really, what good is a day planner for a person who can't remember it to write it down??).

Jon likes to have things very planned out, and he'd prefer staying at home with his own free time over most things, yet he surprises me with an extra effort on getting the house cleaned, a special night out, or a fun time running errands together.

I, on the other hand, like rushing from one thing to the next. I like being busy on Saturdays. I enjoy working and running errands, as long as I'm doing it with Jon. I like making big plans, and coming up with ideas that sometimes scare Jon and make him want to hide the checkbook. I don't worry about money nearly as much as Jon does, and it helps both of us to see the other side.

Jon and I often laugh about our first 6 mos. to a year that we were married, and how much we butted heads on everything! Marriage was a huge adjustment for both of us, mostly because we were so different.

We've come to understand each other and how we think much better now. But even if we get more like each other each year, I don't think anyone will ever think we're just alike. But I think I like it better this way. It's more interesting.

On the other hand, we have in common the things that really matter. I'm so thankful that I have a husband who reaches out to others and wants to be involved in ministry wherever he is. And I'm glad I get to be a part of that ministry. I'm excited by the calling that God has given us, and we have our whole lives together to see that calling fulfilled.

Happy Anniversary Jon! I love you!

Signs you're still a child at heart

1. You wave to cows in trailers as you pass them on the road.
2. You tell dogs (that you don't even know) hello.
3. You spend a quarter at the store to get a humongo super ball out of the toy machine, and then bounce it all the way out to your car in the parking lot.
4. You ask for map colors for Christmas.
5. You still wake up early Christmas day.
6. You quote Veggie Tales without realizing it.
7. You could stay in the children's book section for hours at Barnes and Noble.

Feel free to add to the list. I know some of you are still children at heart, too! Don't forget to read the previous post from this morning!

New bloggers!

I wanted to welcome Margie into the blogging world! If you stop by her site, don't forget to play with her pet penguin, Petunia! I'm adding her to my list of links, as well as Karen V., my soon-to-be sister-in-law. Karen's been blogging for a little while, so she's not exactly new to the blogging world, but we just figured out that we both blog. :) The Ode to her Peacoat is a must-read.

Mystery Photo and other news

It's time for a game of Mystery Photo! I've taken a close-up shot of something around the house, and you get to guess what it is! Put your guesses in the comments, and then go to Teresa's blog to find out the answer! ONLY go to her page once you've guessed! No fair cheating!


In other news, I think we're going to pay off our car tomorrow! I say "I think" because we were supposed to last week, but somebody forgot to take the checkbook to Waco. ...Okay, it was me... It will be nice to finally own my little car! We've had it a little over a year now, I guess. What's really fun is changing my car from a debt to an asset in Quicken. I like to play with Quicken. I don't know what everything means, but I do know that when we paid off the truck it really made our financial situation look a whole lot better. Quicken tells you that the assets you have are just like money. So despite almost $10,000 in school debt, we might actually be in the black after tomorrow! It's amazing!

Next we tackle the rest of our (my) student loans. It'll be so nice to have those taken care of!

So one of my life goals is to get a song composed. I have had a song in my head for several years, probably pre-college and maybe even before that, that--throughout the years--I've grown quite attached to. It sounds really great in my head--lots of strings, a good balance of high and low, lots of layers, but sadly not many French Horns (I've got to find a way to fit them in). Anyway, I decided that since no composer was coming to my door to create a great work out of my song, I should at least try to do it myself. My only tool is Garage Band.

I'd like to mention that not many symphonies are composed in a garage, and therefore Garage Band is probably not the best tool for the task. When I try to find an oboe, all I find is jazz-playing trumpets. French Horns are nonexistent. I'd also like to mention that I have no idea what I'm doing in Garage Band. I had almost decided to post what I do have of the song so far, but decided not to do it. Instead, I'll just hope that a great composer happens upon my blog and is inspired to do great things with the song in my head. :) Either that or maybe I'll post it later. After all, a great idea isn't great unless it's shared.

On the other hand, it is a life goal, not a by-the-time-I'm-25 goal. So maybe I won't worry so much about it, and just wait for that composer to come along.

Announcement: The answer to Teresa's mystery photo is...the top of a computer monitor!

It's finally cold enough

We finally turned on our heater for the first time last night. It was odd not to have to walk around the house in a hat and coat, and to sleep with less than three blankets on the bed. Perhaps we should have turned it on sooner. And yet, now that it's on, I've noticed that it rarely turns off! It's like we've finally let it do it's thing, and it's getting back at us for waiting so long by running as much as possible! I may have to turn it back a notch and put on an extra layer. Right now it's nice and toasty in our house. I heard it was 30 degrees outside and couldn't believe it! And I heard it might snow tomorrow!! What an exciting time to live. :)

Life's Little Pleasures

Want to know a great thing to do? Stick your socks onto the end of your blow dryer, one at a time. Turn the dryer on Low for a few seconds to warm your socks up before putting them on. It's warm goodness for your feet. :)

Christmas already??

KLTY started playing their Christmas music yesterday. And I'm not just talking about a smattering a Christmas mixed in with the rest. I mean 100% Christmas music. And on a day where the high reached well above what is respectable for mid-November.

We're supposed to have a cold front move in today, and it may get as low as 32 degrees tonight, but still a high of 60 tomorrow. I'm happy with that, though. It will be good fall weather.

Friday's about to have his rite of passage from boyhood to neuter-hood. That's right. This coming Monday he will go under the knife and come away a lesser kitty. We've decided not to have him declawed. So far his claws haven't been a problem; he only uses his powers for good, not for evil. I suppose if they ever get to be a problem, then we'll reconsider. The problem for now seems to be his sharp little kitten teeth. We need to get some caps for those things or something!

Today I saw Friday jump up to the windowsill by himself for the first time. He's been using his scratching post to climb up there, but I decided it was time for him to figure out that he can jump two feet up to the window by himself, so I moved the scratching post. And he did it! He likes to watch what goes on out the window by our table. Of course, that window faces a very blank yard housed by a very blank fence. But it keeps him occupied, evidently. I would think the front window would be more interesting because there are cars driving by and people walking, but he seems scared of it in the same way he's scared of the door. Maybe it's too close to what he used to have living outside. I think I'd like to put a bird feeder outside Friday's window so he'll have something more interesting to watch.

Something Friday has started doing lately is sitting on my lap while I'm working. But not like a normal lap kitty. No...he has his back paws on my lap and his front paws on the desk/table so he can watch what's happening on the computer screen. Occassionally he gets excited and lunges for the cursor or something, but normally he just watches. What a silly kitty. :)

That's all for today. Was just going to mention the Christmas music but I got chatty. :)

Carrots...or are they???

Want to hear something funny? Today Jon and I spoke at our church's Senior Adults Thanksgiving luncheon, and then we helped serve the lunch. I was spooning up green bean casserole in a line of volunteers. I look at the lady next to me and see what she's serving and say, "I've never seen such big carrots!" She turns to look at me and says, "That's because they're sweet potatoes!" :) Haha! The sweet potatoes were sliced the way carrots are sliced (thin discs), so they looked like slices of big fat carrots to me! :)

The Dentist

I haven't been to the dentist since I had my wisdom teeth out. I even did the follow-up check-up over the phone! So when I got a job, I was hopeful that I would have dental benefits. Well, I did...if I paid for it. So now I pay lots of money every paycheck (well, the price of dinner out) so that I don't have to pay lots of money at the dentist (the price of a small car, it seems).

I went to my first appointment in three years this past Monday. I was very excited about it. After three years, my teeth just felt like they needed cleaned. So I make it to the office (after a couple of turnarounds and a call to the dentist to found out where the heck they were located) and fill out all the papers. I get seated in the comfy dentist chair and look expectantly at the dental hygienist, who was there to make the grime of 3 years go away. She grabs a tool, says, "Open wide," and proceeds to scrape on every surface of every tooth.

And suddenly I remember that I hate going to the dentist.

I hate many things about going to the dentist, but probably the thing I hate the most is the little suction thing they put in your mouth to get rid of the water they just sprayed in there. Every time I close down on that thing it inevitably finds my tongue or the side of my cheek to attach itself to. My whole mouth feels like it's being irrevocably pulled and pushed to get as much as it can into the tiny opening of the sucker. Then I open my mouth (after what seems like a battle with a black hole) and the hygienist keeps sucking the rest of the water out. Even then, there's still water left in my mouth! (The sucker seems only interested in human flesh, not anything liquid.) So I wait for the hygienist to turn around and I quickly shut my mouth and swallow. I wish she would have just let me do that in the first place.

I also had to use fluoride this time at the dentist. I remember hating fluoride, and I also thought I remember not having to have it after I turned 18. However, this hygienist was going to make sure I had it. Twice. I had to swish that horrible stuff in my mouth two times. By the beginning of the first swish, my tongue felt like it was on fire. By the end of the second, it felt like little ants had stung it all over. I didn't complain, because I thought that was what I was supposed to be experiencing. The fluoride was eradicating gingivitis, halitosis, and world hunger all in one. That's gotta be painful. However, later the dentist had me look in my mouth, and I saw my tongue, which looked like it had been stung by an army of ants! As far as I'm concerned, I now proclaim myself allergic to fluoride and I won't ever use it again.

All in all, I only had one cavity, and a small one at that. Which was good, because I had a horrible fear that my teeth were about to crumble away from the lack of attention they've received from a dentist these past 3 years. And I walked away not having to pay a dime, which was, in a way, worth it.

I do have to go back in a couple of weeks to get the cavity filled, and that happens to be the day Jon goes to have his first dentist appointment since he had his wisdom teeth out. After that we can enjoy our clean and healthy teeth together over a large Lemonberry slush at Sonic. After all, my teeth have been used to their sugar coating for 3 years. I would hate for them to be without for too long!