Hello dear readers.
I thought I'd update on the apartment saga. We were told we could live above Porter's but then the plumbing had a lot of problems and it looked like they had given up on it. They got the plumbing all fixed so it didn't leak everywhere, and we were told, again, that we could live over there. So I went over last weekend and cleaned the kitchen. Nobody had lived in the apartment for ... 5 or 6 years. I found Ramen in the cabinet that expired in 2003. Everything had a nice coating of dust and there was some pretty ugly contact paper that I ripped out. I'd rather have painted drawer bottoms than ugly contact paper, but maybe that's just me. I washed everything down with bleach so I knew it was clean. There is a TON of storage over there. I don't know what we're going to do with all the cabinets. As of now ALL of our food fits in one cabinet. We don't buy very much. Maybe with the cheaper rent we'll be able to afford filling our cabinets!
So I cleaned up the kitchen which has two flour bins, as mom calls them. I don't know what we're going to put in them. Anyways, so there's a window above the kitchen sink, which I love, because it reminds me of home and makes doing the dishes a little less boring, even if it only looks out over the Porter's roof. We don't have a refrigerator, and we could take one from any of the other apartments, as long as it works. We will probably do that for a little while, but we're thinking about buying ourselves an inexpensive fridge anyway - since we're not even sure that any of the other fridges work (and most of them are pretty nasty-looking anyway). Other than that, we have a range, which is dirty inside, but works. We've wiped down all of the woodwork to remove 6 years worth of dust - which was actually not as bad as you might think. We are so excited to move - even if we do have to leave our ward and live up there by ourselves. There is so much space and storage and it's so much cheaper that it's completely worth it.
So yesterday Chad had the day off and I only had one class (2 of my classes - ensemble classes - have had their concerts and so are no longer meeting) so we went over there and cleaned some more. He tried to fix the bathroom while I washed things. The bathroom sink was running even though the knob was turned all the way off, the cold water knob was busted off in the shower, the piping under the bathroom sink was leaking and the toilet had brown water stains all over it from not being used. I told him that if we moved over there, he had to clean and fix up the bathroom. So we took about 4 or 5 trips to a local hardware store. I convinced Chad to go to the "local guys" because they were more likely to have guys there who knew what they were talking about, as opposed to the new Ace Hardware by WalMart that hires college kids who don't know anything. He went in there looking for the magnetic stud finders that are like $2 or whatever, and the kid was like "Yeah, I don't even know what that is."
So anyways, we went over to Mickelson's where we met a fairly old Mr. Fix-It who reminded me a lot of Dad. He knew pretty much everything about everything. He was able to look at the parts we brought in and listen to our problems and tell us how to successfully fix them. Chad didn't like being talked to like he didn't know anything, but Mr. Fix-It was right, so he listened. We ended up buying a new faucet because the parts Mr. Fix-It told us we needed to replace to fix the running sink water were nowhere to be found inside the cheap old faucet they had surely bought from walmart for 5 bucks. So we bought a new faucet, a new pipe for underneath the sink, a new toilet seat, a new screen for the kitchen sink, and new knobs for the bathtub. And Chad has successfully installed everything but the cold water knob for the bathtub. It's a long story, but he has to make something to replace the stem that's broken off, and then glue the nob to it so we can turn on the water. It's not the most professional solution, but we don't want to pay to have all of that plumbing replaced, and we can't exactly ask the Porter's to do it since they're kind of doing us a really big favor by letting us live there.
Other than the cold water in the bathtub, and Chad having to fix the linoleum in the bathroom, we are ready to move in! Chad is excited that he won't have to open the bedroom door and stand in the doorway to have enough room to bowl on the Wii. That WILL be an excitement. The extra room also means that we can move out of our storage unit and stop paying for that. Yay! And we got a parking permit to park overnight in the Porter's lot so we don't have to park a block away by the movie theaters. We were excited about that too. And there are at least 8 windows in the new apartment. EIGHT! We only have 2 right now! And we can have people over it we want, and not have to sit elbow to elbow just to fit everyone in the door.
Anyways, we're excited. I wish we had taken some before pictures, but we didn't. We'll post some "after" pictures soon.
Us
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Saturday, March 21, 2009
My Wisdom Tooth Tale
Hello all!
Well, it has been over a week since I got my wisdom teeth taken out, so I suppose it's about time for a post.
Last Thursday I went and picked up my prescriptions from WalMart - painkillers, sedatives, and anti-nausea pills. I took one sedative before bed so I could sleep, and I slept great! Got up, took six ibuprofen and another sedative at 11:00 (an hour before my appointment) put on some clothes I didn't want to worry about getting anything on, and headed off to the dentist.
When I got there, the dentist wasn't in yet. The assistant asked me if I was feeling woozy. Uhm. Nope - pretty wide-eyed and bushy-tailed. She says "yeah, you're way too alert." The dentist gets there and takes my bottle of sedatives. He crushed up 2 and gave them to me in lukewarm water to drink. (eew) They brought me back and set me up, closed the blinds, turned off the lights and tried to get me to fall asleep. I got pretty close but anytime I felt like I was falling asleep the heart rate monitor would beep because it was going under 50, and it would wake me up. They came in and gave me another half of a pill in water to drink. I asked if I could listen to my iPod if it would help me fall asleep, so they went and got it from Chad in the waiting room. I laid there for a bit and then they came in and put a numbing gel on my gums, then they shot me full of novacaine. I think it was 4 or 6 shots. Then the dentist said something like "Okay, now that we've woken you up, try to relax."
The next thing I remember they were back in the room. They hooked me up to the nitrous oxide which I remember smelled like candy - which the assistant told me was the covering they put on it so it smelled good. Mmmm. The dentist tapped me 3 times on the chin and said "This is just to see how much you remember after the procedure." Then they went to work. I was awake for the whole thing, and lucky for me, I also remember all of it. I closed my eyes a lot, but not because I was asleep, but because I didn't want to see the reflection of my mouth in the light and the dentist's protective glasses. Just as they started, a song on my iPod came on "Dare you to run..." which I laughed at considering the situation. They let me keep my iPod on during the surgery, and I was happy for that. Anytime I could hear the creaking of teeth being pulled out of my face, I just turned it up louder and squeezed my eyes shut tighter. I remember they worked for a while before I realized they had two out. I held up my fingers for two, to which the dentist replied "Yes, we've got two out." I closed my eyes a little longer until they got out the other two. I didn't feel any pain, but just the fact that they were in my mouth pulling my teeth was emotionally exhausting. They got done and put in some stitches (the dissolvable kind) - I remember the fishing-line-like thread tickling my face as he worked with the other end in my mouth. (Gross!) So we got all done, but I never got to rinse my mouth or anything, so I felt gross. I asked to see a mirror and they gave me one, and I had blood crusted on my lips and smeared across my teeth and tongue. It was disgusting. And if I wasn't on so many sedatives, I probably would have passed out. The dentist asked me what he had done before we started, and I tapped my chin three times. Yup, I remembered. I couldn't really talk because of all the novacaine that made my mouth feel like it was swollen to the size of a beach ball, even though it wasn't.
The dentist says to me "Okay, you're ready to go. Try not to look in the next room on the way down the hallway - we have some little kids over there - one of them it's their first time to the dentist and we don't want to scare them." He might as well have said "Okay freakshow, don't scare the kids. Hide your ugly face." So they escort me down the short hallway, and apparently I was leaking blood and drool down my face, but I couldn't feel it because of the novacaine. EEEEEW. Chad walked me out to the car and now I just had to heal. The hard part was over. Yay!
Now, the next 48 hours are pretty hazy in my memory, because the sedatives decided to kick in. In talking to Chad in the last couple of days, I realize that I don't remember anything about the ride home, the walk to the apartment, or really anything else up until about Sunday morning. From what he's told me, I kept leaning my head forward and getting blood on myself, the carseat, and the carpet in the hallway of our apartment building. He kept telling me to sit up/stand up, but I would keep slouching forward. He got me home and settled on the couch, which is where I stayed for the next two days. He left that night to go film a play at the school, but I have no recollection of that. Apparently I sent him a text message asking if the alarm on my phone that was going off was telling me to take more pain meds. I also sent text messages to Erin and Mollie, which I had no recollection of. I slept for most of Saturday. I remember calling mom around noon...? and then sleeping again. As I got better, I remember asking Chad about Friday. He told me that I had been texting Erin and Mollie and I had to go look at the "sent messages" on my phone to see what we had talked about. He told me it was about Bryce's birthday presents, which I didn't remember until I looked at the picture Erin sent me. It is a good thing that nobody came to visit me during that time, because who knows what we would've talked about! and I wouldn't even remember it! ... At least I don't think anyone came to visit me. I guess I don't really know.
Anyways, the first time I was up for a significant amount of time was Sunday morning. We didn't go to church, and I was camped out on the couch. I had to ask Chad what day it was and what had happened in the time that I was asleep. I asked him things that we had had whole conversations about. Let me tell you - it is sooo weird to be told by someone else things that you did or said that you can't remember. I was finally assertive enough to notice that there were blood stains on my pillow and shirt. EEEEW. Chad came over and sat next to me and says "Whoa!" "What?" "You smell!" Why thank you dearest husband. Just what I wanted to hear. But, I'm sure he was justified. I was sleeping on a drool/blood stained pillow, in a drool/blood stained shirt, and hadn't showered or brushed my teeth for two days. He motivated me to get up and take a shower, and I felt 300% better after that. I tried to brush my teeth because my mouth truly did feel disgusting. I could smell my breath and it was bad. My back molars felt sticky and gunky and gross. It took a couple of days to get my mouth feeling back to normal. EEW. I slept in my bed Sunday night, and felt good enough to go to school the next day. I never really felt any pain, and my cheeks hardly swelled up at all. People at school couldn't even tell.
Let me warn you though - if you tell people you got your wisdom teeth out, you might as well be wearing a sign that says "Please! Tell me your wisdom tooth horror stories!" It really IS like that Brian Regan sketch. It is a good thing I got four taken out because at least I can hold my own. If I had only gotten one out, people would've been like "Yeah, so?" Anyways, I don't think I ever got to tell my wisdom tooth tale because it always went like this:
"What's with the rice pack?"
"Oh - I got my wisdom teeth taken out on Friday."
"OHMYGOSH! When I got mine out it was SO gross and I threw up in the car on the way home and I ate pudding for three days straight and I had this huge scar from the IV and my face swelled up to the size of a beach ball and - "
"And your head did too? Oh sorry - you weren't done. Keep going, please!"
Everyone wants to tell you how bad they had it. And honestly, I was thinking - besides remembering the whole surgery, it really wasn't that bad. I guess my teeth were all broken through my gums so the top two came out just like any other extraction. Easy peasy. The bottom were a little more involved. But my mouth didn't really hurt at all as long as I was on my pain medication which was hydrocodone/acetaminophen, which wikipedia tells me is Vicadin. (Not Percoset as we had thought) But I was perfectly functional even on the pain meds and only missed one day of class on Friday when I had them taken out. On Monday, I was down to ibuprofen and eating Mac & Cheese. The worst part of having my teeth taken out was being hungry. My mouth didn't hurt, but I didn't know how careful I had to be about getting food into the holes left by my teeth (EEEEEW!) so I was trying to eat soups and oatmeal and things like that. By Wednesday, I just wanted a cheeseburger! Pudding and yogurt just don't fill ya up. Thursday night we finally gave in and went to McDonald's where I managed half a cheeseburger. Best cheeseburger ever. I called the dentist yesterday, a week after my surgery, and asked how concerned I have to be about getting food in the holes. The assistant said to just keep rinsing out my mouth with warm salt water, and I should be fine. I also asked about playing the clarinet. I haven't been able to play, so I've been going to my daily 2 hour rehearsals and just sitting there following along in my music. That gets old VERY quickly. I had a concert on Thursday night that Brother Holman covered for me. It was Chamber Winds, so I was only in one piece - so it wasn't too bad. So anyways, the dentist assistant said that if my mouth was feeling good, then I could go ahead and try it. I don't think I have ever been more excited to play my clarinet. I could only play in a certain range at a certain volume for a limited amount of time, but I still got to play! Yay!
So, maybe I'm wrong, but I seem to be healing really quickly. I love my immune system. I'm telling you - it's because we ate dirt as babies! It's the kids whose mom's have sheltered them from every dust particle their entire lives who are allergic to everything and constantly sick.
You know I'm right. Thanks, mom, for letting me eat dirt!
Anywho. In answer to Mollie's comment on my last post - I have been telling Chad, I'm going to put my teeth under my pillow and wait for the tooth fairy to bring me $900 to pay off the cost of having to get them removed.
(P.S. - VeggieTales changed their theme song!!! (Saturday morning cartoons, ya know.) SO disappointing.)
So - to sum up in pictures.
Before
After
(I look gross - Apparently I authorized Chad to take this picture soon after we got home and while under the influence of the sedatives.)
Monday. Don't worry - I didn't gain a whole lot of weight (in fact, I lost weight cuz I couldn't eat anything!) That's the swelling. (I look pretty much back to normal now - maybe I should post a newer picture)
And my teeth! The dentist gave them to me. It's a good thing too, cuz it sounds like they'll come in handy.
And that my friends, is THE END. (I don't know how to get rid of the big space between the last two pictures.)
Well, it has been over a week since I got my wisdom teeth taken out, so I suppose it's about time for a post.
Last Thursday I went and picked up my prescriptions from WalMart - painkillers, sedatives, and anti-nausea pills. I took one sedative before bed so I could sleep, and I slept great! Got up, took six ibuprofen and another sedative at 11:00 (an hour before my appointment) put on some clothes I didn't want to worry about getting anything on, and headed off to the dentist.
When I got there, the dentist wasn't in yet. The assistant asked me if I was feeling woozy. Uhm. Nope - pretty wide-eyed and bushy-tailed. She says "yeah, you're way too alert." The dentist gets there and takes my bottle of sedatives. He crushed up 2 and gave them to me in lukewarm water to drink. (eew) They brought me back and set me up, closed the blinds, turned off the lights and tried to get me to fall asleep. I got pretty close but anytime I felt like I was falling asleep the heart rate monitor would beep because it was going under 50, and it would wake me up. They came in and gave me another half of a pill in water to drink. I asked if I could listen to my iPod if it would help me fall asleep, so they went and got it from Chad in the waiting room. I laid there for a bit and then they came in and put a numbing gel on my gums, then they shot me full of novacaine. I think it was 4 or 6 shots. Then the dentist said something like "Okay, now that we've woken you up, try to relax."
The next thing I remember they were back in the room. They hooked me up to the nitrous oxide which I remember smelled like candy - which the assistant told me was the covering they put on it so it smelled good. Mmmm. The dentist tapped me 3 times on the chin and said "This is just to see how much you remember after the procedure." Then they went to work. I was awake for the whole thing, and lucky for me, I also remember all of it. I closed my eyes a lot, but not because I was asleep, but because I didn't want to see the reflection of my mouth in the light and the dentist's protective glasses. Just as they started, a song on my iPod came on "Dare you to run..." which I laughed at considering the situation. They let me keep my iPod on during the surgery, and I was happy for that. Anytime I could hear the creaking of teeth being pulled out of my face, I just turned it up louder and squeezed my eyes shut tighter. I remember they worked for a while before I realized they had two out. I held up my fingers for two, to which the dentist replied "Yes, we've got two out." I closed my eyes a little longer until they got out the other two. I didn't feel any pain, but just the fact that they were in my mouth pulling my teeth was emotionally exhausting. They got done and put in some stitches (the dissolvable kind) - I remember the fishing-line-like thread tickling my face as he worked with the other end in my mouth. (Gross!) So we got all done, but I never got to rinse my mouth or anything, so I felt gross. I asked to see a mirror and they gave me one, and I had blood crusted on my lips and smeared across my teeth and tongue. It was disgusting. And if I wasn't on so many sedatives, I probably would have passed out. The dentist asked me what he had done before we started, and I tapped my chin three times. Yup, I remembered. I couldn't really talk because of all the novacaine that made my mouth feel like it was swollen to the size of a beach ball, even though it wasn't.
The dentist says to me "Okay, you're ready to go. Try not to look in the next room on the way down the hallway - we have some little kids over there - one of them it's their first time to the dentist and we don't want to scare them." He might as well have said "Okay freakshow, don't scare the kids. Hide your ugly face." So they escort me down the short hallway, and apparently I was leaking blood and drool down my face, but I couldn't feel it because of the novacaine. EEEEEW. Chad walked me out to the car and now I just had to heal. The hard part was over. Yay!
Now, the next 48 hours are pretty hazy in my memory, because the sedatives decided to kick in. In talking to Chad in the last couple of days, I realize that I don't remember anything about the ride home, the walk to the apartment, or really anything else up until about Sunday morning. From what he's told me, I kept leaning my head forward and getting blood on myself, the carseat, and the carpet in the hallway of our apartment building. He kept telling me to sit up/stand up, but I would keep slouching forward. He got me home and settled on the couch, which is where I stayed for the next two days. He left that night to go film a play at the school, but I have no recollection of that. Apparently I sent him a text message asking if the alarm on my phone that was going off was telling me to take more pain meds. I also sent text messages to Erin and Mollie, which I had no recollection of. I slept for most of Saturday. I remember calling mom around noon...? and then sleeping again. As I got better, I remember asking Chad about Friday. He told me that I had been texting Erin and Mollie and I had to go look at the "sent messages" on my phone to see what we had talked about. He told me it was about Bryce's birthday presents, which I didn't remember until I looked at the picture Erin sent me. It is a good thing that nobody came to visit me during that time, because who knows what we would've talked about! and I wouldn't even remember it! ... At least I don't think anyone came to visit me. I guess I don't really know.
Anyways, the first time I was up for a significant amount of time was Sunday morning. We didn't go to church, and I was camped out on the couch. I had to ask Chad what day it was and what had happened in the time that I was asleep. I asked him things that we had had whole conversations about. Let me tell you - it is sooo weird to be told by someone else things that you did or said that you can't remember. I was finally assertive enough to notice that there were blood stains on my pillow and shirt. EEEEW. Chad came over and sat next to me and says "Whoa!" "What?" "You smell!" Why thank you dearest husband. Just what I wanted to hear. But, I'm sure he was justified. I was sleeping on a drool/blood stained pillow, in a drool/blood stained shirt, and hadn't showered or brushed my teeth for two days. He motivated me to get up and take a shower, and I felt 300% better after that. I tried to brush my teeth because my mouth truly did feel disgusting. I could smell my breath and it was bad. My back molars felt sticky and gunky and gross. It took a couple of days to get my mouth feeling back to normal. EEW. I slept in my bed Sunday night, and felt good enough to go to school the next day. I never really felt any pain, and my cheeks hardly swelled up at all. People at school couldn't even tell.
Let me warn you though - if you tell people you got your wisdom teeth out, you might as well be wearing a sign that says "Please! Tell me your wisdom tooth horror stories!" It really IS like that Brian Regan sketch. It is a good thing I got four taken out because at least I can hold my own. If I had only gotten one out, people would've been like "Yeah, so?" Anyways, I don't think I ever got to tell my wisdom tooth tale because it always went like this:
"What's with the rice pack?"
"Oh - I got my wisdom teeth taken out on Friday."
"OHMYGOSH! When I got mine out it was SO gross and I threw up in the car on the way home and I ate pudding for three days straight and I had this huge scar from the IV and my face swelled up to the size of a beach ball and - "
"And your head did too? Oh sorry - you weren't done. Keep going, please!"
Everyone wants to tell you how bad they had it. And honestly, I was thinking - besides remembering the whole surgery, it really wasn't that bad. I guess my teeth were all broken through my gums so the top two came out just like any other extraction. Easy peasy. The bottom were a little more involved. But my mouth didn't really hurt at all as long as I was on my pain medication which was hydrocodone/acetaminophen, which wikipedia tells me is Vicadin. (Not Percoset as we had thought) But I was perfectly functional even on the pain meds and only missed one day of class on Friday when I had them taken out. On Monday, I was down to ibuprofen and eating Mac & Cheese. The worst part of having my teeth taken out was being hungry. My mouth didn't hurt, but I didn't know how careful I had to be about getting food into the holes left by my teeth (EEEEEW!) so I was trying to eat soups and oatmeal and things like that. By Wednesday, I just wanted a cheeseburger! Pudding and yogurt just don't fill ya up. Thursday night we finally gave in and went to McDonald's where I managed half a cheeseburger. Best cheeseburger ever. I called the dentist yesterday, a week after my surgery, and asked how concerned I have to be about getting food in the holes. The assistant said to just keep rinsing out my mouth with warm salt water, and I should be fine. I also asked about playing the clarinet. I haven't been able to play, so I've been going to my daily 2 hour rehearsals and just sitting there following along in my music. That gets old VERY quickly. I had a concert on Thursday night that Brother Holman covered for me. It was Chamber Winds, so I was only in one piece - so it wasn't too bad. So anyways, the dentist assistant said that if my mouth was feeling good, then I could go ahead and try it. I don't think I have ever been more excited to play my clarinet. I could only play in a certain range at a certain volume for a limited amount of time, but I still got to play! Yay!
So, maybe I'm wrong, but I seem to be healing really quickly. I love my immune system. I'm telling you - it's because we ate dirt as babies! It's the kids whose mom's have sheltered them from every dust particle their entire lives who are allergic to everything and constantly sick.
You know I'm right. Thanks, mom, for letting me eat dirt!
Anywho. In answer to Mollie's comment on my last post - I have been telling Chad, I'm going to put my teeth under my pillow and wait for the tooth fairy to bring me $900 to pay off the cost of having to get them removed.
(P.S. - VeggieTales changed their theme song!!! (Saturday morning cartoons, ya know.) SO disappointing.)
So - to sum up in pictures.
Before
After
(I look gross - Apparently I authorized Chad to take this picture soon after we got home and while under the influence of the sedatives.)
Monday. Don't worry - I didn't gain a whole lot of weight (in fact, I lost weight cuz I couldn't eat anything!) That's the swelling. (I look pretty much back to normal now - maybe I should post a newer picture)And my teeth! The dentist gave them to me. It's a good thing too, cuz it sounds like they'll come in handy.
And that my friends, is THE END. (I don't know how to get rid of the big space between the last two pictures.)
Friday, March 13, 2009
A Tale of Two Wisdom Teeth
(okay, okay, four)
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.
About a week ago, my bottom right wisdom tooth started hurting really bad. All of my wisdom teeth have hurt at little intervals as they broke through my gums, but this didn't go away, and in fact, only got worse. I started taking Ibuprofen Sunday night just so I could sleep, and have been on it ever since. Now - a problem in the mouth causes another problem. Being a music major requires a ridiculous amount of playing the clarinet, which requires the firming of the muscles in the mouth and cheeks. Hence a lot of pain for me since my tooth started hurting. So I haven't really been able to play for the last week - I can play for short passages at short intervals, but not a long time straight. Not really very helpful, but enough to get me through ensemble rehearsals.
So, being desperate, and needing to get fixed so I can play again, I called up some dentists and set up a consultation appointment. That was yesterday morning. They looked at my teeth and said they should be easy extractions because they've all broken through already. The top two are just like regular extractions, and the bottom two will require just a little bit more work. Anywho. So I have to get all of my wisdom teeth taken out. The question was - when? It getting close to the end of the semester, that means it's concert season. I have four concerts and a jury between now and the end of the semester, April 10. So should I wait until the semester ends? As Brother Holman pointed out - well you can't play anyway! So we decided that the sooner I could get it done and get recovered, the better, with hopes that I could still play in the final concert. I will still be able to go to rehearsal between now and then, I just won't be able to play.
So I asked the doctor - when could you get me in if we want to do it "as soon as possible"? He thinks - "Well, I have a seminar tomorrow, but I'll probably be bored anyway, so I can leave early. ... Tomorrow at noon?"
So - in about 15 minutes I will show up at the dentist's office to have all four of my wisdom teeth taken out. Ugh. Signing off for the last time with all 32 of my teeth. Next time you hear from me I will only have 28.
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.
About a week ago, my bottom right wisdom tooth started hurting really bad. All of my wisdom teeth have hurt at little intervals as they broke through my gums, but this didn't go away, and in fact, only got worse. I started taking Ibuprofen Sunday night just so I could sleep, and have been on it ever since. Now - a problem in the mouth causes another problem. Being a music major requires a ridiculous amount of playing the clarinet, which requires the firming of the muscles in the mouth and cheeks. Hence a lot of pain for me since my tooth started hurting. So I haven't really been able to play for the last week - I can play for short passages at short intervals, but not a long time straight. Not really very helpful, but enough to get me through ensemble rehearsals.
So, being desperate, and needing to get fixed so I can play again, I called up some dentists and set up a consultation appointment. That was yesterday morning. They looked at my teeth and said they should be easy extractions because they've all broken through already. The top two are just like regular extractions, and the bottom two will require just a little bit more work. Anywho. So I have to get all of my wisdom teeth taken out. The question was - when? It getting close to the end of the semester, that means it's concert season. I have four concerts and a jury between now and the end of the semester, April 10. So should I wait until the semester ends? As Brother Holman pointed out - well you can't play anyway! So we decided that the sooner I could get it done and get recovered, the better, with hopes that I could still play in the final concert. I will still be able to go to rehearsal between now and then, I just won't be able to play.
So I asked the doctor - when could you get me in if we want to do it "as soon as possible"? He thinks - "Well, I have a seminar tomorrow, but I'll probably be bored anyway, so I can leave early. ... Tomorrow at noon?"
So - in about 15 minutes I will show up at the dentist's office to have all four of my wisdom teeth taken out. Ugh. Signing off for the last time with all 32 of my teeth. Next time you hear from me I will only have 28.
Tuesday, March 03, 2009
A Horse, of Course!
Hello all my readers.
I have found myself with some free time and a laptop. Unfortunately I am stuck on campus and can't do much of anything. So I decided to update my blog.
As many of you know, I started my horse class last week. The first day they assigned us horses, somewhat of a blind date, you might say. (Not unlike Mollie's upcoming Sister Appreciation Night) I met Oliver - my horse. I liked him, but I'm not so sure that he liked me. The whole time I was brushing him he was scraping his foot against the ground and throwing his head back towards me. I went around the to the other side of him to brush the other side and he swiftly sidestepped to squish me between the fence and his butt. Well, I guess it was the side of his butt. But still. The girl that teaches the class kept telling me to just push him back, but a horse is significantly stronger than I am. Especially when I'm pinned against a fence. I got out of that encounter without anyone noticing, and I was happy for that. Anyways, Oliver was big, and somewhat passive aggressive and our first date didn't go quite as we had planned. The next class I got reassigned to a horse named Goldie Haun. Now, I know it's spelled "Hawn", but apparently the people who labeled her pen don't. Maybe they do. Maybe they didn't want to name her after that famous actress lest people get confused. So anyways. Goldie Haun.
Now, as far as I have determined, Goldie Haun is the horse equivalent of my grandmother. She is old and stubborn and won't do what you tell her to. We have to play a "game" with our horses called "porcupine" which involves poking the horse in different pressure points and applying pressure until they do the desired action. For example, first you gesture what you want them to do - if they don't do it then you touch them, if they still don't do it, you "apply more pressure". Skin, muscle, bone. This "game" feels a whole like pushing the horse around. But apparently this is how they learn. So I'm told.
Goldie Haun requires a lot of pushing. And to get her to step sideways you're supposed to apply pressure to her back hip. So I push - and finally I hear this popping sound and she takes a step. I'm pretty sure her hip cracks when she steps like that. Probably why she doesn't want to do it that well. So, as near as I can tell, I got reassigned from the horse bachelor to the horse geriatric.
And I'm not joking! Yesterday we did a game where we got on our horses bare-back and rode them around while a partner directed them around the arena. The teacher kids look around and say "You can tie Goldie Haun up over there, we're not going to use her for this."
So that is the extent of my horse class. We go, "catch" the horse (bridle them and bring them in from their pens), bring them in, brush them, and clean out their feet. Then we take them to the arena and do different things with them. I think we're supposed to ride (with a saddle) next week. Mostly I accomplish annoying my horse and smelling like horse poop by the time I get home. My shoes never come in the apartment - we leave them in the hall. But it is really fun - and I'm glad I get to do it. Last week I stepped in so much manure that it seeped into my shoes and soaked my socks and stained them a lovely green color. But it's okay because now I can wear them for Saint Patrick's Day. I was so worried I wouldn't have anything green and then someone would have to pinch me.
Well, that's about it. Things in Rexburg aren't going quite as well as we would like. We didn't get the apartment I had previously posted about - there's no hot water. They said they'd call a plumber but we haven't heard anything yet and that was probably a week and a half ago. But we did negotiate a bigger apartment in the building we're in now. We're excited for that. We've found out that our current apartment really is the smallest size in the whole building. No surprise that we were lucky enough to get it.
I am still trying to figure out what to do this summer - try to rack up 14 credits for scholarship, or pay for part time. After reading the next paragraph, you'll probably think that I should definitely go for the scholarship - and you're probably right. It's the finding 14 credits that'll be stressful.
In other (unfortunate) news - Porter's has been hit by the economic downturn, finally. They ordered the same amount of products as they did last year (when the economy was not nearly as bad) and are surprised and angry that they aren't making as much money off it as they did last year. Really? Cuz I'm pretty sure anyone in the country could've told them that ordering just as much and expecting to sell it all in this economy was a pretty dumb idea. So they've started laying people off. Two people have already been laid off and other people's hours are being cut. Chad lost two hours from his regular 40, and one girl went from 40 to 24 hours a week. She threatened to quit and that actually worked! They said they'd tried to get her more hours. So anyways, they (the owners/managers) haven't talked openly about it. They just call people into their offices and tell them they no longer have a job. When rumors went around about the girl who went from 40 to 24 hours a week, they told Chad that she had asked for three days off this week. Which apparently is a lie. Great. So the owner wife has been at the store all day today yelling at people and throwing things (Chad says she really throws things if she doesn't like where or how it's displayed - that's gotta be GREAT for business!) and telling them all how much they suck at their jobs. Chad says they keep telling him they won't lay him off - but isn't that how these things go? "Oh no - it definitely won't be you!" ... "Sorry Chad, we're going to have to let you go." So now we're kind of worried and scared that he'll lose his job, won't be able to find another one, and we'll be in trouble.
And with that lovely thought, I guess I'll be done posting for now. I guess all we do now is pray that he doesn't get "laid off". *sigh*
I have found myself with some free time and a laptop. Unfortunately I am stuck on campus and can't do much of anything. So I decided to update my blog.
As many of you know, I started my horse class last week. The first day they assigned us horses, somewhat of a blind date, you might say. (Not unlike Mollie's upcoming Sister Appreciation Night) I met Oliver - my horse. I liked him, but I'm not so sure that he liked me. The whole time I was brushing him he was scraping his foot against the ground and throwing his head back towards me. I went around the to the other side of him to brush the other side and he swiftly sidestepped to squish me between the fence and his butt. Well, I guess it was the side of his butt. But still. The girl that teaches the class kept telling me to just push him back, but a horse is significantly stronger than I am. Especially when I'm pinned against a fence. I got out of that encounter without anyone noticing, and I was happy for that. Anyways, Oliver was big, and somewhat passive aggressive and our first date didn't go quite as we had planned. The next class I got reassigned to a horse named Goldie Haun. Now, I know it's spelled "Hawn", but apparently the people who labeled her pen don't. Maybe they do. Maybe they didn't want to name her after that famous actress lest people get confused. So anyways. Goldie Haun.
Now, as far as I have determined, Goldie Haun is the horse equivalent of my grandmother. She is old and stubborn and won't do what you tell her to. We have to play a "game" with our horses called "porcupine" which involves poking the horse in different pressure points and applying pressure until they do the desired action. For example, first you gesture what you want them to do - if they don't do it then you touch them, if they still don't do it, you "apply more pressure". Skin, muscle, bone. This "game" feels a whole like pushing the horse around. But apparently this is how they learn. So I'm told.
Goldie Haun requires a lot of pushing. And to get her to step sideways you're supposed to apply pressure to her back hip. So I push - and finally I hear this popping sound and she takes a step. I'm pretty sure her hip cracks when she steps like that. Probably why she doesn't want to do it that well. So, as near as I can tell, I got reassigned from the horse bachelor to the horse geriatric.
And I'm not joking! Yesterday we did a game where we got on our horses bare-back and rode them around while a partner directed them around the arena. The teacher kids look around and say "You can tie Goldie Haun up over there, we're not going to use her for this."
So that is the extent of my horse class. We go, "catch" the horse (bridle them and bring them in from their pens), bring them in, brush them, and clean out their feet. Then we take them to the arena and do different things with them. I think we're supposed to ride (with a saddle) next week. Mostly I accomplish annoying my horse and smelling like horse poop by the time I get home. My shoes never come in the apartment - we leave them in the hall. But it is really fun - and I'm glad I get to do it. Last week I stepped in so much manure that it seeped into my shoes and soaked my socks and stained them a lovely green color. But it's okay because now I can wear them for Saint Patrick's Day. I was so worried I wouldn't have anything green and then someone would have to pinch me.
Well, that's about it. Things in Rexburg aren't going quite as well as we would like. We didn't get the apartment I had previously posted about - there's no hot water. They said they'd call a plumber but we haven't heard anything yet and that was probably a week and a half ago. But we did negotiate a bigger apartment in the building we're in now. We're excited for that. We've found out that our current apartment really is the smallest size in the whole building. No surprise that we were lucky enough to get it.
I am still trying to figure out what to do this summer - try to rack up 14 credits for scholarship, or pay for part time. After reading the next paragraph, you'll probably think that I should definitely go for the scholarship - and you're probably right. It's the finding 14 credits that'll be stressful.
In other (unfortunate) news - Porter's has been hit by the economic downturn, finally. They ordered the same amount of products as they did last year (when the economy was not nearly as bad) and are surprised and angry that they aren't making as much money off it as they did last year. Really? Cuz I'm pretty sure anyone in the country could've told them that ordering just as much and expecting to sell it all in this economy was a pretty dumb idea. So they've started laying people off. Two people have already been laid off and other people's hours are being cut. Chad lost two hours from his regular 40, and one girl went from 40 to 24 hours a week. She threatened to quit and that actually worked! They said they'd tried to get her more hours. So anyways, they (the owners/managers) haven't talked openly about it. They just call people into their offices and tell them they no longer have a job. When rumors went around about the girl who went from 40 to 24 hours a week, they told Chad that she had asked for three days off this week. Which apparently is a lie. Great. So the owner wife has been at the store all day today yelling at people and throwing things (Chad says she really throws things if she doesn't like where or how it's displayed - that's gotta be GREAT for business!) and telling them all how much they suck at their jobs. Chad says they keep telling him they won't lay him off - but isn't that how these things go? "Oh no - it definitely won't be you!" ... "Sorry Chad, we're going to have to let you go." So now we're kind of worried and scared that he'll lose his job, won't be able to find another one, and we'll be in trouble.
And with that lovely thought, I guess I'll be done posting for now. I guess all we do now is pray that he doesn't get "laid off". *sigh*
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