Thoughts on Becoming Toothless!

You might have heard at some point that I am now getting one bottom left tooth pulled instead of two on the top and bottom on my right side. Nice! Kind of.

After the call I felt relief about not losing 2 teeth, because A) that sucks for obvious painful reasons, and B) I imagine it'd be hard to hide 2 missing teeth so near the front of my mouth. I guess there's always a chance that something could go wrong and I might have to get more taken out, but I'm gonna stay positive. I'm sweating even after just writing that. Hopefully I'll be lucky and this will be it.

Unfortunately today I am feeling that creepy overwhelming sadness about losing a tooth. I remember last time, 2 years ago, I was really sick from an infection, and getting my tooth taken out was the cheapest and (I thought) easiest way to get better. I didn't have dental insurance and I already knew how much a root canal sucked, so it felt like my best option.

I had just come back from vacation in Rhode Island, which I was mostly able to enjoy by not thinking about the events taking place immediately after I got home. That day, which I believe was a Wednesday, I went to work and spent the entire day in the back room crying! Literally weeping over the thought of not having that tooth anymore later. Even now when I talk about it it makes me cry! It's certainly one of the strangest feelings in the world. I think teeth are gross and weird, and there I was crying over one.

The aftermath of that fairly traumatizing experience was me laying in my bed taking pain killers for like 2 days. I remember at one point I was finally allowed to rinse my mouth, and I decided to peek at the stitches. I thought to myself, that's not so bad, and then passed out while trying to run to my bed. I woke up IN my closet and called my dad's cell phone even though he was in the house with me. I think it's fair for me to be a little nervous about this happening again.


So I'm starting to feel a little worried and sad, even though life goes on. Plus, unlike the last tooth, there won't just be a freaky empty space there--they're doing this to make some room for my soon-to-be straight teeth. Ha. Soon, but not soon enough.

Plus it bothers me, though there's nothing they can do, that I will still have a big empty space on the right side. I guess the issue with my bottom teeth is they're too far over to the right already, so making use of that space would make me look weird.

AGHH I don't know how to feel about any of this. The fact that I know in 2~ weeks I will be binge watching Gilmore Girls while bleeding out of my mouth for several hours, half dead from eating only ice cream all day, is kind of horrifying. I feel like most terrible things happen so unexpectedly; it's weird planning out an entire day that will be spent with me feeling like shit!

However, that is nothing compared to what my sister Sherri did a few years ago. I drove her to the dentist one afternoon, just in case she didn't feel well after, so she could get one of her wisdom teeth pulled. I went on my phone for like 20 minutes and she came walking out, having been awake for that whole ordeal (which I don't really recommend, even though I did and will probably do the same again).

Anyway, I brought her to CVS to get her pain meds, she took one, and then laid around the house. Earlier that week my siblings and I discussed seeing the new Evil Dead movie, even though the trailer gave at least 2 of us horrible anxiety. Sherri wasn't sure if she should, but in the end decided it would be fun for us all to see it together. I remember watching through my fingers, because I hated horror movies back then, and looking over at her to see her LAUGHING at the carnage happening in front of her. Holy shit.

So while I can't say I'll be watching anyone chop their own limbs off, I know deep down I'll be fine. Especially because everyone keeps telling me it's different, since this tooth is smaller and not...sickly.

That's all I have for now. I'm sure when that day comes I will be weeping all day at work, but I'll let you know.

Recommended Listening:
It - Rich Aucoin

And just for fun recommended watching: Dirty 30 for the lolz and Blair Witch if you enjoy watching movies with your eyes shut for most of it!

Bullied at Work!

This was another one of those weeks where I was wondering what I could possibly write about. Everything is normal/not exciting with my Invisalign, and honestly all I have done in the last seven days is work and sleep and stress about what I'm being for Halloween.
But then today as I was helping my mom pack up boxes to ship out, she made fun of me for asking a(n admittedly dumb) question.

Unbelievable! Here I am helping her and all I'm getting in return is mockery. It made me think, gee, most people don't work with their parents. Maybe this week's blog post is my chance to clue you all in on what it's really like to work with your mother. 

"Mom. Mom. Look. Mom. LOOK."

Most days, we use our morning and afternoon breaks to go for walks outside to get some fresh air and occasionally see wild turkeys. Sounds pretty nice, right?
Wrong.
A few months ago, on the first warm day we'd had since winter started, we decided to start our outdoor walking tradition again. My mom found a giant stick on the ground near the door. Instead of leaving it, and me, in peace, she decided it would be a good idea to pick it up and chase me across a field with it.

Run for your lives!

That of course, is nothing in comparison to the time she taped all of my office supplies together and left mean notes on my computer when I switched departments.

Even yesterday, while she helped me bubble wrap a bunch of stuff we had to ship out, I had to endure her relentless bullying. I taught her how to wrap it like it was a present, so the corners could be folded over easily and it could fit into a box without any problems.
In a baby-like voice she repeated back to me, "wrap it like a present!" because she couldn't do it right. I snapped this photo as evidence of her teasing:

wrap it like a present!

To be fair, she deals with me occasionally being a bully to her as well. Like the time I threw a cucumber slice at her instead of in the garbage.

Or the time I accidentally took a photo of her falling down and kept it forever.

And posted it on the internet

In all realness though, working with my mom is pretty awesome. Sure, there are days when I am super stressed and immediately snap at her because I'm technically allowed~ to. And yes, it is risky talking to her about anything embarrassing, because there is always the chance that she will mention it to one of our shared coworkers. But in the end, working with her is incredibly fun! I'll never forget the time she got a computer case that looked like something out of an action movie and she suggested posing for a photo.

I swear we get work done

Plus, she is always willing to share her lunch when I forget to bring one. And answer the millions of dumb questions I ask her on a daily basis. She even let me steal her blanket for the days when the AC is just too cold. What would I do without her?

As much as we constantly tease each other I have to say I am so happy to get to work with her. Sometimes we don't talk much during the day because we're both busy with whatever, but at the end of the day it's always nice to have my favorite coworker around!

This got cheesy real quick, so I think I'm going to end it here. Hopefully you got some laughs out of our antics; I certainly do every day.

Until next week!

Recommended Listening: Bright Side - Johnny Stimson

Stop Apologizing!

Somehow my first two weeks with Invisalign are already up. I have no idea if I've done it correctly; I put my 2nd trays on about 5 minutes ago, and they aren't fitting onto one of my back teeth very well. I'm trying not to freak out, especially considering I try to take the 22 hours a day rule very seriously. By the time this goes up I will soon be calling my orthodontist to make sure. Yikes! 

They do feel really tight; I had already forgotten how much tighter they could get since my first trays started to feel loose a couple days ago. Since writing that sentence 10 minutes ago I have googled whether this is normal and haven't found anything too helpful. AGH. I can't wait to knowwwwwwww.

Anyway, that is not really what this week's post is about.

Fall is coming! Colorful leaves, zero humidity, spooky ghosts, my bday, and wearing ALL the cardigans, fuck yeah! So many people agree that it's basically the best time of year, along with Christmas of course.

But with fall comes the millions of Facebook posts about the season. "Hoodies. Bonfires. Other things that aren't actually exclusive to one season."

Does no one else have bad hair days year-round?

But above all, I see one thing in particular.

Endless apologies for loving fall so much! What?!

Sure, I guess it did start with a bunch of whiny 16 year old boys complaining that girls loved pumpkin spice too much to date them or whatever. But now it's just this weird thing that happens a lot.

Literally every day since September 1st I have seen some sort of Facebook post saying something like, "I'm sorry but I just love pumpkin spice!! It's delicious!" Almost as if to say, "I'm no basic bitch; it's just a good flavor! I'm not like those other girls who also think it's a good flavor! Ugg boots, bleh!"

Embrace your love for this amazing season! You don't have to feel bad about it. We all suffered through hot days with high humidity and sunburns; we deserve some crunchy leaves and cute sweaters, damn it!

It's okay to like the thing that everyone else likes. The Starbucks employee doesn't go home to their family and talk about how you ordered a pumpkin spice latte this morning. No one actually minds if you love all things Fall. Wrap yourself up in some dead leaves and drink 100 lattes; I'm telling you it's alright!

I'm guilty of this behavior too, even if it's not in direct relation to fall. I feel bad for loving Pretty Little Liars as much as I do! Well, not bad, but I definitely grimace along with whoever has to hear me talking about it.

thx prettylittleliars.com! I actually laughed when i googled this

Enough is enough! Sure, I do love quite a few garbage TV shows, but in the end, who cares what people think about it? Same goes with pretty much everything in life. Stop letting those Facebook haters who don't know you in real life keep you from loving what you love. 

Fuck you, Batman!

That's all I really have for you. I can't say I'll be purchasing any pumpkin spice lattes any time soon, but only because I think pumpkin tastes like shit. Get outside on that chilly morning and drink your damn latte.

Recommended Listening: Heavy Metal Lover - Lady Gaga

First Week of Wearing Invisalign

Disclaimer: Invisalign doesn't pay me for my suffering.

Happy Wednesday! Having a 3 day weekend was about the best thing I could've asked for this week, because since last Tuesday, my life has been a little rough.

It mostly continues to be normal, aside from the stress of car repairs and insurance claims, plus now I brush my teeth way more frequently. The first day or two were definitely the worst, and not even really because it hurt or anything. Honestly, my teeth always hurt with these things!

It was really difficult to take the trays off for about 4 days. I spent a lot of time crying at my reflection as I tried to move them around my million attachments. It was rough. Things like that tend to freak me out a little so it was quite a process to learn how to remove them more easily. Even now it's not super easy, but I at least have some sort of system for taking them off in 30 seconds or less.

Having to brush my teeth immediately after every meal was difficult to adjust to as well. At home it's not really a big deal, but trying to clean my teeth and trays and fit them back in secretly in the work bathroom before lunch is over has been hard.

I MEAN, everything about this has been hard! Still, a week in I already feel somewhat used to them. I still drool a lot in my sleep since my teeth are encased in plastic and often have to fight the urge to try and spit them out like gum, but everything else is starting to feel normal. I wonder if anyone else has felt that weird need to spit them out though? Sometimes when I'm about to take a shower or go to sleep I think about how tired my mouth is and how much of a relief it would be to not have anything in it, pretty much like when you have been chewing the same piece of gum for over an hour.

I also managed to break off 2 attachments in the first 48 hours, but those have since been reattached. I actually broke the case I put my trays in too, when I dropped it on the disgusting bathroom floor at work. That was really great!

I'm still happy with my decision to do this, even though an email to myself from last week with a rough draft of this post was literally nothing but complaints. And it's true, taking your trays off over your attachments does feel like you're pulling your own teeth out, but I swear it goes away. I can't say I'm cool with not eating anything but soft foods yet but I will definitely get there.

As time goes on I am sure this will be my new normal. Even now after I put the trays back on after eating I feel more...secure? I don't actually know; it just feels like they're supposed to be on my teeth now.

Hopefully I will soon be able to stop complaining. HAHA. That will never happen.

Until next week,

Recommended Listening: The entire Suicide Squad soundtrack. I'M ONLY A LITTLE ASHAMED FOR LOVING THAT MOVIE.