But will I be able to chew it?

My Emily emailed me about this hotdog, which I think goes beyond even fair food in its glory. I'm looking forward to tomorrow, in a way, but I'm also thinking my fair food experience may be tempered by the state of my mouth. And whether the painkiller works or not.

Pinky and I discovered last night that we had appointments with the same endodontist at the same time. That calls for breakfast! So we met up at Whole Paycheck for a little catching up before we submitted to torture. At least I did. I didn't hear any screams from the other room, or anything.

Pinky, stop reading NOW!
















OK, so for the rest of you--

"I think you'll be pleasantly surprised."
"OK, good, because I am very nervous about the pain."

All alone I have cried silent tears full of pride
In a world made of steel, made of stone

Shot #1--eh, just like any other numbing shot.
Shot #2--Oooooh. I didn't know my tongue had a funny bone.
Shot #3--ok, not so bad.

So noone told you life was gonna be this way
You're job's a joke you're broke, your love life's DOA

Drill....Drill...Drill....

OOOOOhhhhhhhhhhnnnnnnnnAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

"We'll take care of you. Hang on. We'll fix that."

First I noticed the tears streaming out the sides of my eyes. That scared me, because it really, really hurt.

"Sometimes when there's a lot of inflammation, the anesthetic doesn't take well. We'll take care of you." (Pat pat on the shoulder pat pat)

Then the sobs started, and I was drawn to concentrating on how my belly was contracting involuntarily. When you're lying back with your mouth screwed open and a dental dam impeding your nose, there's no place for the snot to go but down your throat. And you can't swallow very well, either. It felt like I was choking.

"The ears seem to have been designed for catching tears, don't they, Stew?"

Mindfulness comes in handy in situations like this. I focused on a spot above my head and just felt my breathing.

"Will it hurt a lot in the next few days?"

"What did I prescribe you before? Lodine? Let me give you something stronger. Don't take these at the same time."

I made her give me a metric shit-ton of dental dams for my contraceptive teaching kit. I figured that's the least they could do for the $925 I had to pay for them to make me cry.

Drive By

Oh hai. I might say something a bit later on today if I can swing it.

But for now, I just wanted to share a moment today when I laughed out loud.

I went to pay the damn speeding ticket, since I can't go to court tomorrow because of my root canal. If I don't go to court, I get a freaking warrant out for my arrest, unless I can somehow file a continuance.

Wait. This entry is not going like I wanted it to. Ramble Ramble. Back up.

STARTING OVER

"DA Line" stands for District Attorney's Line.

NOT "Da line for Da Bearsssss"

Which is how I read it.

Green

Thursday I'll be heading over to the NC State Fair to staff the Sustainable Agriculture booth for Slow Food Triangle. I'm not really that much of a fan of tabling (as we call it in the non-profit world), but hey, it's something I know how to do. I allowed myself to get roped into a 10-hour shift. Ouch.

But I'll get into and park for free at the fair.

I'm a little conflicted (ok, VERY little) about the fact that one of the reasons I go to the fair is for fair food. How much of it will be local? I'm guessing not all that much.

A couple of years (and 40 lbs) ago, when I was being super-conscious of my figure I ate roast corn, an apple and some grilled shrimp. Those shrimp were local. Maybe I can find that seafood booth again. I don't NEED funnel cakes, but I do need to eat.

(Not-so secretly I'm hoping that many cute men will come by and ogle my green Sustainable Agriculture shirt. That I get to give back and have someone else wear. (Eeesh)


********************

Changing subjects a bit...

At some point you have to wonder what the point of insurance is if they won't pay for normal services, like the root canal I'll be getting on Wednesday.

Apparently as a new hire I'm not eligible for a long list of "major" dental work for a year. So, too bad if your tooth goes more than wonky, right?

Curiouser and Curiouser

I wonder if I've been changed in the night? Let me think. Was I the same when I got up this morning? I almost think I can remember feeling a little different. But if I'm not the same, the next question is 'Who in the world am I?' Ah, that's the great puzzle!

I have to get back into sewing. I think I'm going to start tomorrow with a new project. I'm not sure what to do first, other than procure the fabric and notions.

Begin at the beginning and go on till you come to the end: then stop.

Easy enough, right? I dug through my fabric stash and found something that will work perfectly. And even though the project isn't exactly tough, I can't seem to visualize exactly how I want it.

I think I should understand that better, if I had it written down: but I can't quite follow it as you say it.

As is usual for me and my inability to concentrate much past the "Oooh! An APRON!!" stage, I'm planning on not trying to use a pattern. They scare me.

Read the directions and directly you will be directed in the right direction.

People have told me that it's really not that hard.

It would be so nice if something made sense for a change.

No...the directions are too complicated. I have the same problem with crochet patterns.

Let me see: four times five is twelve, and four times six is thirteen, and four times seven is -- oh dear! I shall never get to twenty at that rate!

I am not ready to deal with that mess. It's just an apron. A waistband, a pleated square for the bottom, a non-pleated square for the top, and some frilly touches--right?

Fan her head! She'll be feverish after so much thinking.

The things I sew rarely turn out as I want to them to. But I resist the damn PATTERN!

I have an excellent idea, LETS CHANGE THE SUBJECT.

Friday afternoon

Before I head over to my girl's house to watch some baseball and hopefully not wheeze, I have one small announcement.

This blog comes up on the first page of results when you google stew.

Only four of the entries on that page are about the food. A couple are bloggy sites that have the word stew tacked on the end of the topic they're about. One's a comment on a blog from a guy named Stew.

One is wack-job Ranty McRanterson Freakazoid.

Had anyone heard of that last guy before? My LORD. I can't make head nor tails of it, and I don't want to spend too much time on his site. My take is that he's some kind of conspiracy theorist? Dude.

FANCY!

My time working our big fundraiser today has been pleasantly schmoozeful. There were several local "celebrities" in attendance, including the weather man (to whom I said "I feel like I've seen you before...?"), a very tall anchorwoman, a pro football player, and many, many socialites.

Since I'm nowhere near to running with that crowd, I didn't know any of them. I played along though. I'm a development director's best friend when it comes to the meet and greet. I also had the benefit of being in charge of the organization's camera, which made it easy to go up to people and make sure they were having fun.

I met a woman who is married to a friend's sister's ex-husband. (Follow that Nemoid?)

I saw a women I'd worked with before who encouraged me to apply for state funding from her office.

And I had a cute guy ask for my card. My coworkers were kind of jealous. See why?




p.s. Liberal cropping to minimize the appearance of my double chin left this photo slightly unbalanced. :-)

No good, very bad day

SO!

In addition to my tooth woes, which continue, I also had the honor of having my power cut off yesterday. No, that's not embarassing at ALL!

I've been having problems with the power company for about the last 6 months, since the transition from Evil Roommate. First they both didn't send me a bill AND wouldn't allow me to log in to my account. I tried several times without success, and as I am wont to do, didn't follow up. Until the phone call. The phone call threatening loss of service. I paid over the phone, and while on there managed to regain access to my account. I promptly forgot about it because...Problem solved, in theory.

The deeper problem, though, is my seeming inability to remember important things like paying this bill. Rent? No prob. Gas bill? No prob? Phone? No prob. Internet? No prob.

Water? Prob, occasionally, because it's city water and they bill at odd times--every other month. You can pay online, but you can't set up autopay.

Electricity? Obviously a problem, because I embarassed myself when my roommate called to ask why we didn't have power. I slept without airconditioning or a fan on. I got dressed and showered by candlelight. I went to bed pre-9:00 p.m.

Y'all...in my defense, they have NOT BILLED ME.

I eventually figured out the second problem is that they've been sending bills to a defunct email address for the last 6 months. It's NO wonder I've not paid! I need, need, need a reminder. And getting a bill is the reminder I need. No paper bill, no e-bill, no phone, no knock on my door. Nothing.

Just...BOOM. No power.

I know part of this is my own fault. But damnit, work with me.