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Oct. 26th, 2014 02:32 am| You Should Stay Home |
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 You don't like to get too spooky during this scary night. You're more of the festive type. |
I have to say, loud screamy sneezers annoy the hell out of me. Seriously, you can't control that at all? You really have to scream like that? It just seems like such a cry for attention.
And am I the only one who cannot stand Al Roker? Every time he starts his schticky schtick on Today I cannot lunge for the remote fast enough. They were talking about some story about lions and one of them said they'd heard that lions sleep 23 hours a day. Immediately Dumb Al starts singing "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" and then had to up the ante but dancing around the studio. Just ugh. I think it all started when I saw him on Letterman and he kept interrupting Dave with his own jokes and then laughing at them. Let him do his job, dude.
Okay, rant over. Easter was lovely. I had lunch with an OLD friend--haven't seen her in nearly 20 years. She and Cami, Ryan and I all did shows at the Susan together--Amy was a great dancer and did a tour but then settled in Manhattan and then Austin Texas. Apparently she's been back in Virginia for a few years but I had no idea. So happy to see her! After we finished we went over to Cami's museum and said hi to her as well, yay!
The choir director of St. Andrew's, my old parish, has been asking my Mom (who's on the vestry) if I could sing (with the choir, that is) when I come home for major holidays. So I did for Christmas and then I did it this weekend for Easter. Just two things to learn (or go over), a descant for the hymn Jesus Christ Has Risen Today and the Hallelujah Chorus, which we used to sing every Easter. I literally grew up singing that every Easter in that choir loft but I haven't sung it in performance for at least 30 years. It was a trip! That piece is so well-written, I really got into it and just wailed soprano-style. King of Kiiiiiiiiiiings! And Lord of Loooooooooooords! And Lord of Lords! It's really fantastic music and I had a great time with it. And Mom was saying such nice things, saying I really sounded great and soared on my high notes (noteworthy because my mother certainly is not free with her compliments! She's not super critical either, I'm just saying that she wouldn't say that unless she really thought that).
And am I the only one who cannot stand Al Roker? Every time he starts his schticky schtick on Today I cannot lunge for the remote fast enough. They were talking about some story about lions and one of them said they'd heard that lions sleep 23 hours a day. Immediately Dumb Al starts singing "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" and then had to up the ante but dancing around the studio. Just ugh. I think it all started when I saw him on Letterman and he kept interrupting Dave with his own jokes and then laughing at them. Let him do his job, dude.
Okay, rant over. Easter was lovely. I had lunch with an OLD friend--haven't seen her in nearly 20 years. She and Cami, Ryan and I all did shows at the Susan together--Amy was a great dancer and did a tour but then settled in Manhattan and then Austin Texas. Apparently she's been back in Virginia for a few years but I had no idea. So happy to see her! After we finished we went over to Cami's museum and said hi to her as well, yay!
The choir director of St. Andrew's, my old parish, has been asking my Mom (who's on the vestry) if I could sing (with the choir, that is) when I come home for major holidays. So I did for Christmas and then I did it this weekend for Easter. Just two things to learn (or go over), a descant for the hymn Jesus Christ Has Risen Today and the Hallelujah Chorus, which we used to sing every Easter. I literally grew up singing that every Easter in that choir loft but I haven't sung it in performance for at least 30 years. It was a trip! That piece is so well-written, I really got into it and just wailed soprano-style. King of Kiiiiiiiiiiings! And Lord of Loooooooooooords! And Lord of Lords! It's really fantastic music and I had a great time with it. And Mom was saying such nice things, saying I really sounded great and soared on my high notes (noteworthy because my mother certainly is not free with her compliments! She's not super critical either, I'm just saying that she wouldn't say that unless she really thought that).
St. Patrick's Day 2014
Mar. 18th, 2014 07:05 pmSo Tim had his annual St. Patrick's Day party overlooking the parade on Monday. When the sun was out the weather was bearable but when it went behind the clouds it was pretty miserable on the rooftop. Chuck was calling the auction and when that happened, he went to the indoor section of the bar which was then PACKED. Truly uncomfortable for a claustrophobe like me, I had to decide if I want to stay there or freeze outside. Eventually I chose the latter.
As always it took me awhile to leave the apartment--between showering and posting on Facebook about how much I loved Dublin when I was there and then daydreaming on Facebook about planning an equestrian tour to Ireland, I didn't leave the apartment until 1:00. Took the 6 to 59th and was able to cross Fifth Avenue to the other side fairly easily--the weather had one benefit! As I made my way from 59th down to 55th (where the Peninsula is), I saw a group of protestors holding signs about the anti-gay policies. I caught the eye of one of them and gave them a "right on!" gesture. The guy asked if I wanted to hold one, I said sure but I said I couldn't do it for long, I had to go to a party. We chatted for a bit, and then two younger people, in their 20s, stopped by and chatted as well. They also approved. When I left I took a rainbow sticker and wore it on my Irish sweater.
Had a bad experience when I first got there. I got some coffee and moved out onto the rooftop (it was still sunny at that point). I started chatting with someone new and then an older guy (late 50s or 60s) came over and was awkwardly trying to take off the round green plastic derby I was wearing and exchange it for a green plastic boater hat. I was saying to him actually I prefer the derby and he jammed the derby on top of the other hat and gave it back to me. (This was all very friendly, nothing creepy or anything.) I looked up and noticed--the guy had little flecks of blood all over his lips. And his hands. I guess he had some kind of tooth problem. I tell you, it was all I could do not to vomit on the spot. I have an extraordinarily high gag reflex, one that has only gotten worse as I've gotten older. I've been known to vomit when I change the cat box. I had to drop my eyes so I didn't see his face which of course seems rude and I tried to excuse myself so I could run to the bathroom--I was that nauseated. But I couldn't even make it indoors--I had to stop by the trash and just GAG, over and over. I literally willed myself not to throw up on in front of everybody. Oh God, it was awful. I felt kind of sick for the rest of the afternoon--in fact even Tuesday I didn't feel that great.
Other than that, it was great! :) I sang Danny Boy and How Are Things in Glocca Morra? And I made sure Dermot, the singer, got himself plenty of tea and hot things for his voice. He is so nice.
After I left work I met Tim and a bunch of his friends downtown at Arte, an Italian restaurant where we used to go a lot. Tim knows the owner. We had a big table and sitting on my left were two girls, one Russian and one Ukrainian. I greeted the Russian girl по-русски and eventually struck up a conversation with the Ukrainian, who was sitting right next to me. I must say she did not impress me at first--I could overhear some of her conversation with the other girl and there seemed to be a ton of drama going on, hushed tense conversations and getting up and leaving a lot and making a show of not ordering anything. A little later we were talking about plays and shows (she says she's a singer, went to La Guardia High and said she knew Shakespeare). She asked me what my favorite Shakespeare play was--I said jeez, do I have to narrow it down to just one? I told her my favorite comedy was probably Midsummer and my favorite tragedy was the Scottish play. She had never heard the term so I explained to her that saying the name M****** out loud was bad luck and so people call it Macker, the Scottish play, etc. This is where she really irritated me. she hadn't heard of it--fine--but then she refused to believe it. She gave me this extremely skeptical look like--prove it. Raised eyebrows, pursed mouth, the works. And shook her head. Look little girl, you weren't even born here or in an English-speaking country. Whereas I not only studied English literature, but I grew up HEARING this constantly from my classically-trained grandmother! My first Shakespeare play was when I was 9 years old! And this is my career. What the hell? I wish you could've seen the *look* on her face, I wanted to slap her, hard. Instead I did the WASPy thing and politely turned away and just avoided conversation with her. SO RUDE.
She must've gotten the idea because when she next broached conversation with me, she was much more friendly. We ended up having a decent conversation although she was still quite prickly. Eg., anytime I expanded on a term or a concept (at one point I used the term riffing, which is when instead of hitting a note and staying on it, you improvise a run on the note. It's a pop term, Xtina Aguilera and Mariah Carey are known for it), she immediately cut me off "I know what that means." O-kay. I will say, when she found out how old I was she went bananas, absolutely flipping out over how young I looked. "Oh my GOD, I cannottt beleev it! You ahr so byewteefool!" (My awkward rendering of a slight Ukrainian accent, exaggerated for humor.) On and on!
As always it took me awhile to leave the apartment--between showering and posting on Facebook about how much I loved Dublin when I was there and then daydreaming on Facebook about planning an equestrian tour to Ireland, I didn't leave the apartment until 1:00. Took the 6 to 59th and was able to cross Fifth Avenue to the other side fairly easily--the weather had one benefit! As I made my way from 59th down to 55th (where the Peninsula is), I saw a group of protestors holding signs about the anti-gay policies. I caught the eye of one of them and gave them a "right on!" gesture. The guy asked if I wanted to hold one, I said sure but I said I couldn't do it for long, I had to go to a party. We chatted for a bit, and then two younger people, in their 20s, stopped by and chatted as well. They also approved. When I left I took a rainbow sticker and wore it on my Irish sweater.
Had a bad experience when I first got there. I got some coffee and moved out onto the rooftop (it was still sunny at that point). I started chatting with someone new and then an older guy (late 50s or 60s) came over and was awkwardly trying to take off the round green plastic derby I was wearing and exchange it for a green plastic boater hat. I was saying to him actually I prefer the derby and he jammed the derby on top of the other hat and gave it back to me. (This was all very friendly, nothing creepy or anything.) I looked up and noticed--the guy had little flecks of blood all over his lips. And his hands. I guess he had some kind of tooth problem. I tell you, it was all I could do not to vomit on the spot. I have an extraordinarily high gag reflex, one that has only gotten worse as I've gotten older. I've been known to vomit when I change the cat box. I had to drop my eyes so I didn't see his face which of course seems rude and I tried to excuse myself so I could run to the bathroom--I was that nauseated. But I couldn't even make it indoors--I had to stop by the trash and just GAG, over and over. I literally willed myself not to throw up on in front of everybody. Oh God, it was awful. I felt kind of sick for the rest of the afternoon--in fact even Tuesday I didn't feel that great.
Other than that, it was great! :) I sang Danny Boy and How Are Things in Glocca Morra? And I made sure Dermot, the singer, got himself plenty of tea and hot things for his voice. He is so nice.
After I left work I met Tim and a bunch of his friends downtown at Arte, an Italian restaurant where we used to go a lot. Tim knows the owner. We had a big table and sitting on my left were two girls, one Russian and one Ukrainian. I greeted the Russian girl по-русски and eventually struck up a conversation with the Ukrainian, who was sitting right next to me. I must say she did not impress me at first--I could overhear some of her conversation with the other girl and there seemed to be a ton of drama going on, hushed tense conversations and getting up and leaving a lot and making a show of not ordering anything. A little later we were talking about plays and shows (she says she's a singer, went to La Guardia High and said she knew Shakespeare). She asked me what my favorite Shakespeare play was--I said jeez, do I have to narrow it down to just one? I told her my favorite comedy was probably Midsummer and my favorite tragedy was the Scottish play. She had never heard the term so I explained to her that saying the name M****** out loud was bad luck and so people call it Macker, the Scottish play, etc. This is where she really irritated me. she hadn't heard of it--fine--but then she refused to believe it. She gave me this extremely skeptical look like--prove it. Raised eyebrows, pursed mouth, the works. And shook her head. Look little girl, you weren't even born here or in an English-speaking country. Whereas I not only studied English literature, but I grew up HEARING this constantly from my classically-trained grandmother! My first Shakespeare play was when I was 9 years old! And this is my career. What the hell? I wish you could've seen the *look* on her face, I wanted to slap her, hard. Instead I did the WASPy thing and politely turned away and just avoided conversation with her. SO RUDE.
She must've gotten the idea because when she next broached conversation with me, she was much more friendly. We ended up having a decent conversation although she was still quite prickly. Eg., anytime I expanded on a term or a concept (at one point I used the term riffing, which is when instead of hitting a note and staying on it, you improvise a run on the note. It's a pop term, Xtina Aguilera and Mariah Carey are known for it), she immediately cut me off "I know what that means." O-kay. I will say, when she found out how old I was she went bananas, absolutely flipping out over how young I looked. "Oh my GOD, I cannottt beleev it! You ahr so byewteefool!" (My awkward rendering of a slight Ukrainian accent, exaggerated for humor.) On and on!
(no subject)
Mar. 10th, 2014 11:04 amI miss London. How can you miss a place you've visited (really visited--I've been in and out of it before on flights) only once? Well when I went there in '09 I said it felt like coming home. I need to start planning another visit except that I have to go to Oslo first! My brother and his family are posted there--they moved last summer and will be there for three years. I have never been to any part of Scandinavia and we have Scandinavia ancestry so I'm excited. The Norwegians always seem so happy. Plus the land of Ibsen must have a great theater scene.
The Mardi Gras party went *very* well this year--we had quite a decent turnout, including a bunch of people who said things like "I've been hearing about this party for years, I have to come." It's definitely a handicap having a party on a Tuesday but after all it's Mardi Gras, not Samedi Gras :) I made a new item, a Cajun dip that FLEW off the shelves, as it were. I'd had the idea that I could make a Cajun version of a nine-layer dip--I could make it ahead of time and put it in the refrigerator (a lot of the stuff I make for the party has to be made then and there, like the red beans and rice). Mom went online and found a recipe for a hot Cajun dip you could make in the slow cooker. It's trayf as all hell, with shrimp and bacon and all sorts of things. I made it during the day on Tuesday (I realized I'd never cooked bacon before--I was going to go online to see how to do it, then I realized "maybe the directions are on the package" and they were! So now I know how to cook bacon :) As I was making it I had a feeling it would be a hit so I doubled the recipe--excellent idea! I barely got any at all, it was a such a hit. Next year I'll triple the recipe.
Had a lot of soccer teammates there--Zach and Lindsay's BF won the babies and posed adorably with them. LOT of former roommates there, including Lori, Anya and Mickey! (Missing just one HINT HINT ;) Mickey brought Kim, his new wife--she is a total sweetheart and was raving about "what a good idea this is for a party!" Hopefully they will be able to come next year. Lori was so cute and protective--I'd barely had anything to eat or drink so she made a plate for me.
Peter came and seemed to have a good time. Griffin was kind of...hostile about him. He was *really* drunk by the end of the night and drunkenly told me he thought Peter was sleazy or something. Ah, Griffin, ever the soul of tact! He always gets grumpy around any guy who has better game than he does. Peter is a little...forward but that's what I love about him :) He was talking to me and Lori and someone else about his daughters and how beautiful they were and he said "they look like these two" (meaning Lori and me)--isn't that sweet! He does give the nicest compliments. It was a little funny, I was agreeing with him about how beautiful they are (his daughters really are lovely, with huge Amanda-Seyfried eyes) and somehow the subject of his ex-wife came up. He said something to me about her, clearly soliciting my agreement and I said "I barely remember her, we met only once at the Annie Get Your Gun opening night party at Tavern on the Green." Peter, you really need to keep the women in your life straight! Anyway, he was proud of me for nabbing this beautiful apartment.
The party ended kind of early, around 12:30 (some years it goes to 2 or later). This was fine by me, as I was exhausted by that time. Jonny (Anya's roommate and a friend of mine), his BF and Anya left last. The apartment is still bedecked with balloons and garland, I am waiting to take them down until my friend Katie comes over. She didn't come to the party because she was feeling depressed that night so I want her to come visit for a mini-Mardi Gras (I still have hurricane mix left over). I was exhausted pretty much all of last week--after our soccer game Saturday morning I came back and took a FOUR HOUR nap. Sunday I slept most of the day. I actually feel okay today--fully rested for once. It's a Lenten miracle!
The Mardi Gras party went *very* well this year--we had quite a decent turnout, including a bunch of people who said things like "I've been hearing about this party for years, I have to come." It's definitely a handicap having a party on a Tuesday but after all it's Mardi Gras, not Samedi Gras :) I made a new item, a Cajun dip that FLEW off the shelves, as it were. I'd had the idea that I could make a Cajun version of a nine-layer dip--I could make it ahead of time and put it in the refrigerator (a lot of the stuff I make for the party has to be made then and there, like the red beans and rice). Mom went online and found a recipe for a hot Cajun dip you could make in the slow cooker. It's trayf as all hell, with shrimp and bacon and all sorts of things. I made it during the day on Tuesday (I realized I'd never cooked bacon before--I was going to go online to see how to do it, then I realized "maybe the directions are on the package" and they were! So now I know how to cook bacon :) As I was making it I had a feeling it would be a hit so I doubled the recipe--excellent idea! I barely got any at all, it was a such a hit. Next year I'll triple the recipe.
Had a lot of soccer teammates there--Zach and Lindsay's BF won the babies and posed adorably with them. LOT of former roommates there, including Lori, Anya and Mickey! (Missing just one HINT HINT ;) Mickey brought Kim, his new wife--she is a total sweetheart and was raving about "what a good idea this is for a party!" Hopefully they will be able to come next year. Lori was so cute and protective--I'd barely had anything to eat or drink so she made a plate for me.
Peter came and seemed to have a good time. Griffin was kind of...hostile about him. He was *really* drunk by the end of the night and drunkenly told me he thought Peter was sleazy or something. Ah, Griffin, ever the soul of tact! He always gets grumpy around any guy who has better game than he does. Peter is a little...forward but that's what I love about him :) He was talking to me and Lori and someone else about his daughters and how beautiful they were and he said "they look like these two" (meaning Lori and me)--isn't that sweet! He does give the nicest compliments. It was a little funny, I was agreeing with him about how beautiful they are (his daughters really are lovely, with huge Amanda-Seyfried eyes) and somehow the subject of his ex-wife came up. He said something to me about her, clearly soliciting my agreement and I said "I barely remember her, we met only once at the Annie Get Your Gun opening night party at Tavern on the Green." Peter, you really need to keep the women in your life straight! Anyway, he was proud of me for nabbing this beautiful apartment.
The party ended kind of early, around 12:30 (some years it goes to 2 or later). This was fine by me, as I was exhausted by that time. Jonny (Anya's roommate and a friend of mine), his BF and Anya left last. The apartment is still bedecked with balloons and garland, I am waiting to take them down until my friend Katie comes over. She didn't come to the party because she was feeling depressed that night so I want her to come visit for a mini-Mardi Gras (I still have hurricane mix left over). I was exhausted pretty much all of last week--after our soccer game Saturday morning I came back and took a FOUR HOUR nap. Sunday I slept most of the day. I actually feel okay today--fully rested for once. It's a Lenten miracle!
Thanksgiving, Etc.
Dec. 5th, 2013 10:54 amThanksgiving went super well--the bus ride there wasn't bad at all, even with the storm. It rained but didn't delay us at all--I actually was able to catch an *earlier* connecting bus. Plus my step-mother's brother was supposed to join us with his daughters and they couldn't make it, due to the storm. I'm sorry to say that I silently yippeed. The uncle is kind of annoying--one of those guys who never reached his potential and is full of "if I'd stayed in college, I would've been a Rhodes Scholar" types. I remember calling Dad's place when I was in college and they weren't there but the uncle was and he was just SO TIRESOME. He wouldn't say whether they were there or not, kept playing these dumb games like "why do you want them?" and "what do you mean by that?" Plus he ran my Dad's restaurant into the ground. It's possible he's grown up since then but frankly I didn't want to risk my warm family Thanksgiving finding out!
So anyway it was just me and the parents--much as I missed my brothers, as anyone from a large family will tell you, one-on-one time with the parents is precious! Very nice and cozy. The parents live in an old farmhouse in rural New Hampshire--the house backs up to a forest and there's a little pond right on the property. They've done a ton of remodeling on it, including adding solar panels so now the whole homestead is powered with solar energy and heated with the numerous woodburning stoves we have. I was warm enough in my little room although I had a hard time sleeping. I went jogging three times--it's like something out of a Hallmark Christmas movie, or Currier and Ives, along that road. Highland Lake on one side of the road, sweeping fields with bundles of hay back up to the forest on the other, dotted with these old New Hampshire farmhouses. Very, very pretty. I just love it there and probably should visit a lot more! It's just such a pain to get to without a car...
One thing that made it so nice was that Daddy didn't go off about political matters. I am by far the furthest left in our little nuclear unit--my brothers are moderate to conservative, Liz is kind of a grab bag, and Dad is to the right of Attila the Hun (except that he's pro-choice and pro-gay rights. But RABIDLY anti-Obama, very pro-guns, etc.). I was kind of dreading any political talk--but Dad was great, only made one anti-Obama remark in passing. I should give him more credit, he definitely does not try to shove his views down our throats. (He's always held his tongue about the rift he and his brothers have with their sisters--he has talked about it very little and certainly hasn't tried to sway US (his children) against his sisters.)
So earlier this week I had--hold on to your seats here, kids, shocking news--MORE effing tooth trouble. I noticed Tuesday night that the crown toward the front of my mouth (in other words, this tooth, and this one--the same tooth that was crapped up by my crappy, expensive, ripoff former dentist) was loose. I PANICKED--I literally went cold at my computer. Called my dentist by it was after hours and they didn't have voicemail so I emailed them, begging for any time they could take me the next day. Was really, really freaked out Tuesday evening--I was just DREADING what might happen. Another dental operation that would cost me a ton of money, after how hard I've been trying to *save* money the past few months. Then I forced myself to calm down and think rationally. You don't KNOW that will happen, and maybe it'll just be a little thing that needs correction. I was talking to God about it, actually--I was able to calm down a bit although was still super stressed Tuesday night. I was also annoyed because I wanted to go to mass the next day (there's an Episcopal church some 20 blocks away on 5th Avenue, Church of the Heavenly Rest, that I've started attending--I really like them).
The dentist's office called me promptly at 9 the next morning and told me they could fit me in at 11. Dr. Kim looked at it and it *was* just a little thing--the glue had dissolved or something, so he just pulled it out, cleaned it up and reglued it. I was literally shaking during this and he told me "don't worry, it all looks as good as it could, it's not a big deal." The best part? This cost less than $5!!! When the receptionist told me that, I said deadpan "that's outrageous, I won't pay it." And pretty much danced out of there. And made it to church! My new dentist is the BEST and I am totally going to go onto Yelp and talk him up. I used to be so terrified of the dentist--and not because I was afraid of the pain, but the MONEY. My old dentists sucked and used me as an ATM--the worst was that they KNEW how worried I was about the money. That fucking hygienist, pushing those stupid EXPENSIVE ($100/pop) Arestin shots on me--you're a fucking HYGIENIST, why are you pushing an anti-biotic onto me (the weird thing about it was she'd say "it's up to you" and I'd flatly tell her I couldn't afford it, she would REALLY lean on me and double-down the pressure), you're not a doctor! While I'm on Yelp promoting Dr. Kim, I should put a few words in about the Levingarts (old dentist). Anyway, all is well now. Smile is preserved, as well as bank account :)
I'm having one of my days-long headaches, kept at bay by abusing my economy-sized bottle of Advil. God bless drugs. These headaches aren't the really bad ones I get sometimes* they just LAST. I chug ibuprofen, they go away for a few hours, then they're right back. I also massage the back of my head and around my ears a lot, which helps a little.
*About once or so every 3 years I will get absolutely TERRIBLE headaches, as bad as migraines, the kind where I literally cannot move or get up the pain is so bad. They last about 20 minutes and then taper off after that (so, not true migraines).
So anyway it was just me and the parents--much as I missed my brothers, as anyone from a large family will tell you, one-on-one time with the parents is precious! Very nice and cozy. The parents live in an old farmhouse in rural New Hampshire--the house backs up to a forest and there's a little pond right on the property. They've done a ton of remodeling on it, including adding solar panels so now the whole homestead is powered with solar energy and heated with the numerous woodburning stoves we have. I was warm enough in my little room although I had a hard time sleeping. I went jogging three times--it's like something out of a Hallmark Christmas movie, or Currier and Ives, along that road. Highland Lake on one side of the road, sweeping fields with bundles of hay back up to the forest on the other, dotted with these old New Hampshire farmhouses. Very, very pretty. I just love it there and probably should visit a lot more! It's just such a pain to get to without a car...
One thing that made it so nice was that Daddy didn't go off about political matters. I am by far the furthest left in our little nuclear unit--my brothers are moderate to conservative, Liz is kind of a grab bag, and Dad is to the right of Attila the Hun (except that he's pro-choice and pro-gay rights. But RABIDLY anti-Obama, very pro-guns, etc.). I was kind of dreading any political talk--but Dad was great, only made one anti-Obama remark in passing. I should give him more credit, he definitely does not try to shove his views down our throats. (He's always held his tongue about the rift he and his brothers have with their sisters--he has talked about it very little and certainly hasn't tried to sway US (his children) against his sisters.)
So earlier this week I had--hold on to your seats here, kids, shocking news--MORE effing tooth trouble. I noticed Tuesday night that the crown toward the front of my mouth (in other words, this tooth, and this one--the same tooth that was crapped up by my crappy, expensive, ripoff former dentist) was loose. I PANICKED--I literally went cold at my computer. Called my dentist by it was after hours and they didn't have voicemail so I emailed them, begging for any time they could take me the next day. Was really, really freaked out Tuesday evening--I was just DREADING what might happen. Another dental operation that would cost me a ton of money, after how hard I've been trying to *save* money the past few months. Then I forced myself to calm down and think rationally. You don't KNOW that will happen, and maybe it'll just be a little thing that needs correction. I was talking to God about it, actually--I was able to calm down a bit although was still super stressed Tuesday night. I was also annoyed because I wanted to go to mass the next day (there's an Episcopal church some 20 blocks away on 5th Avenue, Church of the Heavenly Rest, that I've started attending--I really like them).
The dentist's office called me promptly at 9 the next morning and told me they could fit me in at 11. Dr. Kim looked at it and it *was* just a little thing--the glue had dissolved or something, so he just pulled it out, cleaned it up and reglued it. I was literally shaking during this and he told me "don't worry, it all looks as good as it could, it's not a big deal." The best part? This cost less than $5!!! When the receptionist told me that, I said deadpan "that's outrageous, I won't pay it." And pretty much danced out of there. And made it to church! My new dentist is the BEST and I am totally going to go onto Yelp and talk him up. I used to be so terrified of the dentist--and not because I was afraid of the pain, but the MONEY. My old dentists sucked and used me as an ATM--the worst was that they KNEW how worried I was about the money. That fucking hygienist, pushing those stupid EXPENSIVE ($100/pop) Arestin shots on me--you're a fucking HYGIENIST, why are you pushing an anti-biotic onto me (the weird thing about it was she'd say "it's up to you" and I'd flatly tell her I couldn't afford it, she would REALLY lean on me and double-down the pressure), you're not a doctor! While I'm on Yelp promoting Dr. Kim, I should put a few words in about the Levingarts (old dentist). Anyway, all is well now. Smile is preserved, as well as bank account :)
I'm having one of my days-long headaches, kept at bay by abusing my economy-sized bottle of Advil. God bless drugs. These headaches aren't the really bad ones I get sometimes* they just LAST. I chug ibuprofen, they go away for a few hours, then they're right back. I also massage the back of my head and around my ears a lot, which helps a little.
*About once or so every 3 years I will get absolutely TERRIBLE headaches, as bad as migraines, the kind where I literally cannot move or get up the pain is so bad. They last about 20 minutes and then taper off after that (so, not true migraines).
