My oldest child needs braces. Poor guy, he inherited not only my good looks, but my crooked, crooked teeth. Granted, now my teeth are not crooked. But it took four longs years of braces to fix that. And now, he's facing life with braces and he is none too happy about it.
Knowing how long I had mine, and the palate expander, and other various contaptions (luckily, I never had head gear), I knew his braces prognosis was not going to be particularly pretty. And, it wasn't. To the tune of over $5,000.00 not pretty.
As luck would have it, our dental plan has no orthodontic insurance. Great.
Oh, and have I mentioned the oral surgery he needs?
Yes, he needs to have several teeth extracted, one tooth chained to gently yet forcefully "guide" it to it's rightful, natural position in his mouth. Sounds lovely, doesn't it. And last but not least, he may or may not have a bone cyst in the back part of his lower jaw. Could it get any better?
Supposedly insurance covers the oral surgery. We'll see. Dubious would be a good adjective for my thoughts about that.
The only upside to oral surgery is he would be under for the procedure. I wonder if they'd be willing to put me under too, just a little? It might dull the physical and financial pain I am going to have to endure.
My son does not understand that by getting braces put on, I am really doing him a favor. Even if it costs me a small fortune. He keeps trying to do ME a favor and tell me he doesn't need braces. But that really wouldn't be doing him a favor.
Someday he will thank me. Someday he will understand that I am willingly inflicting pain on him for the next (possibly) four years because I love him and want the best for him. Someday he will appreciate how his dad and I willingly inflicted (serious) pain on our finances to give him a beautiful smile.
And now I am going to start saving for when my last child, who also is a carbon copy of me, needs braces. Cause I know she will.
Lucky me.
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Monday, September 19, 2011
It's Like Waiting For That Boy To Call
You know, back in the dating days, when you went out with a boy that you really like, that you think is perfect, that you think you could easily fall in love with? Yeah, that boy that ends the date with "I had a really good time. I'll call you," and you wait and wait and wait for him to call?
You don't expect, but secretly hope, that he will call the next day. Isn't that, like, dating protocol? To wait at least one day before calling, so as to not look too anxious. So if date night was Friday night, you think maybe Sunday he will call. But then Sunday comes and the hours tortuously tick away without the phone ringing. Okay, maybe he is really busy with church, or something.
Monday will definitely be the day he calls. Because then he won't seem too anxious and he can make plans for the next weekend. Plans with you, that is. Instead of going to the library to study, like you need to, you go home and wait by the phone (this is back in my college days, when we didn't have cell phones.) Or, you keep checking your messages, emails and facebook page to see if there is any sort of anything you can remotely consider him contacting you. Nope. Nothing.
Tuesday is going to be the day. You just know it. And it's the perfect day to call for a date on Friday. You spend another day staring at your phone, checking any sort of messaging, waiting for his. The refresh button on your computer is started to wear out.
Wednesday you are just mad. What is his problem? If he said he was going to call, why hasn't he called? How dare he promise to do that and then not. Or, if he really didn't like you, and had a really bad time, and really didn't want to call you, then why did he say he had a good time and would call? Maybe he should have ended it with a handshake and a thanks!
Thursday, well, maybe, just maybe, he left your phone number in his jeans pocket and washed them? Maybe his phone got stolen? Maybe his computer crashed? Maybe his car crashed with him in it and he's too injured to get to a phone to call you and ask you out? There has to be a darn good excuse why he hasn't called you. And yet, with all the excuses, still no call.
By Friday, you just hate him. You are spitting nails and saying his name laced with venom. Fine! If that's how it's going to be then you can move on. You didn't like him that much anyway. Besides, he chewed his pasta weird. You'll show him that you don't care. (But still, secretly you wonder, why hasn't he called?)
Saturday is the day that your phone battery dies because you checked it so many times yesterday and you fell asleep staring at it, willing for it to ring, wishing for telepathy. Since the weekend is practically over, you plug in the phone, trudge to the grocery store, eat a bag of oreo's and watch some really crappy made-for-tv movie about some heartbroken girl trying to move on some personal tragedy. You could relate, since you were currently living in the middle of your own personal dating tragedy. You check your phone one last time before going to bed at 11:30 pm, and there it is, one missed called.
And of course, it's him. And of course, he called when you were home, watching the pathetic movie stuffing your face with shortening laced cookies. And of course, it's too late to call him now. Bummer.
Sometimes there's a perfectly good reason for his silence, like his mom was in the hospital and he was out of town, or his grandma died, or his phone really was stolen, or he really washed your number in his laundry. Whatever the reason, you are so excited to hear from him. And so what if he eats his pasta a little weird?
Or you never hear from him and need to get over it or get another man, whichever one comes easily or quickest.
My whole point to this (yes, there is a point to this) is waiting for that guy to call is like waiting for my book to be accepted for publication. When you send in a manuscript, the general rule is that you will hear in 8-12 weeks. I heard at 12 weeks that they had received my manuscript. So that was good news. Next it was going to be evaluated. That's another 4-6 months. After that you will either hear a "no thank you" or you won't hear anything until after it goes to the deciding committee (the final YES or NO). All in all, it takes a little more time than I realized. But if the outcome is a YES then theoretically I should be happy to wait for however long it takes. But instant gratification is apparantly not in the business of book publishing.
So I wait.
I'm sure I'll hear any day now. Maybe they're all on vacation? Maybe they all got food poisoning after a catered company meeting? Maybe the flu hit Utah early this year? Maybe all their computers crashed, wiping out everything . . .
You don't expect, but secretly hope, that he will call the next day. Isn't that, like, dating protocol? To wait at least one day before calling, so as to not look too anxious. So if date night was Friday night, you think maybe Sunday he will call. But then Sunday comes and the hours tortuously tick away without the phone ringing. Okay, maybe he is really busy with church, or something.
Monday will definitely be the day he calls. Because then he won't seem too anxious and he can make plans for the next weekend. Plans with you, that is. Instead of going to the library to study, like you need to, you go home and wait by the phone (this is back in my college days, when we didn't have cell phones.) Or, you keep checking your messages, emails and facebook page to see if there is any sort of anything you can remotely consider him contacting you. Nope. Nothing.
Tuesday is going to be the day. You just know it. And it's the perfect day to call for a date on Friday. You spend another day staring at your phone, checking any sort of messaging, waiting for his. The refresh button on your computer is started to wear out.
Wednesday you are just mad. What is his problem? If he said he was going to call, why hasn't he called? How dare he promise to do that and then not. Or, if he really didn't like you, and had a really bad time, and really didn't want to call you, then why did he say he had a good time and would call? Maybe he should have ended it with a handshake and a thanks!
Thursday, well, maybe, just maybe, he left your phone number in his jeans pocket and washed them? Maybe his phone got stolen? Maybe his computer crashed? Maybe his car crashed with him in it and he's too injured to get to a phone to call you and ask you out? There has to be a darn good excuse why he hasn't called you. And yet, with all the excuses, still no call.
By Friday, you just hate him. You are spitting nails and saying his name laced with venom. Fine! If that's how it's going to be then you can move on. You didn't like him that much anyway. Besides, he chewed his pasta weird. You'll show him that you don't care. (But still, secretly you wonder, why hasn't he called?)
Saturday is the day that your phone battery dies because you checked it so many times yesterday and you fell asleep staring at it, willing for it to ring, wishing for telepathy. Since the weekend is practically over, you plug in the phone, trudge to the grocery store, eat a bag of oreo's and watch some really crappy made-for-tv movie about some heartbroken girl trying to move on some personal tragedy. You could relate, since you were currently living in the middle of your own personal dating tragedy. You check your phone one last time before going to bed at 11:30 pm, and there it is, one missed called.
And of course, it's him. And of course, he called when you were home, watching the pathetic movie stuffing your face with shortening laced cookies. And of course, it's too late to call him now. Bummer.
Sometimes there's a perfectly good reason for his silence, like his mom was in the hospital and he was out of town, or his grandma died, or his phone really was stolen, or he really washed your number in his laundry. Whatever the reason, you are so excited to hear from him. And so what if he eats his pasta a little weird?
Or you never hear from him and need to get over it or get another man, whichever one comes easily or quickest.
My whole point to this (yes, there is a point to this) is waiting for that guy to call is like waiting for my book to be accepted for publication. When you send in a manuscript, the general rule is that you will hear in 8-12 weeks. I heard at 12 weeks that they had received my manuscript. So that was good news. Next it was going to be evaluated. That's another 4-6 months. After that you will either hear a "no thank you" or you won't hear anything until after it goes to the deciding committee (the final YES or NO). All in all, it takes a little more time than I realized. But if the outcome is a YES then theoretically I should be happy to wait for however long it takes. But instant gratification is apparantly not in the business of book publishing.
So I wait.
I'm sure I'll hear any day now. Maybe they're all on vacation? Maybe they all got food poisoning after a catered company meeting? Maybe the flu hit Utah early this year? Maybe all their computers crashed, wiping out everything . . .
Saturday, September 10, 2011
My loose interpretation of "Schedule"
I have a cute little sign that says, "Welcome to my loose interpretation of clean." I find it hilarious, because that is my attitude toward housework. My husband, who prefers to have the house a little cleaner than my "loose interpretation", does not find the sign so funny. In fact, I think he secretly tries to hide it when I'm not around. But, with that said, I want to clarify that I am not a total slacker living in complete filth. The dishes get done, the laundry gets washed, the floors get vacuumed, I'm just not obsessed with getting it done. (In fact, as I write, I'm in my bedroom blogging instead of being out in the living room spearheading the Saturday morning clean up! :) )
I am the same way about being scheduled. I am not one of those people that have their whole day scheduled. I have some friends that are that scheduled. And bless their hearts, because I could not keep up their pace. It stresses me out just hearing about their busy schedule. My schedule revolves around my kids going to school. I'm glad that it has started and it gives us just enough structure to our days. But this year, the school district mixed things up by changing the school starting times and it has completely screwed me up and after two weeks of school, I have yet to adjust to this new schedule.
Last year, Emmett went to middle school from 8 am-2:30 pm. He was picked up by our carpool in the morning, so getting him off to school mainly consisted of making sure he did not walk out the front door with a milk mustache.
The girls went to elementary school from 9 am - 3:30 pm. So I had time to shower in the morning before I took them to school. Because I actually had to get out of my car and be seen, getting ready for the day usually needed to get done. Since I always have a bad case of bed head, it sort of made showering a priority. I wasn't anxious to share my bed head with the whole school.
But now the school district has mixed up the schedule. The girls need to be to school by 7:50 and Emmett needs to be to school by 9:00. So now, I have to be ready to get the girls out the door by 7:30 to get them to school and Eve to the Kindergarten yard. Then I feel the need to stay with Eve until the bell rings, because she just seems so young and little to just leave in the school yard (even though there are other kids there). Then I get home, and have a half hour before Emmett needs to go to school. I'm driving the morning part of the carpool instead of the afternoon, so when I get home from dropping kids off at 9:00, I have until 10:30 before I need to go pick Eve up from school.
This has completely screwed me up. So even though I am not a tighly-scheduled person, my loose interpretation of a schedule like the one I had last year has been completely messed up by the school schedules.
But enough whining and complaining. At least the kids are back in school and the long, hot summer is over, right?
I am the same way about being scheduled. I am not one of those people that have their whole day scheduled. I have some friends that are that scheduled. And bless their hearts, because I could not keep up their pace. It stresses me out just hearing about their busy schedule. My schedule revolves around my kids going to school. I'm glad that it has started and it gives us just enough structure to our days. But this year, the school district mixed things up by changing the school starting times and it has completely screwed me up and after two weeks of school, I have yet to adjust to this new schedule.
Last year, Emmett went to middle school from 8 am-2:30 pm. He was picked up by our carpool in the morning, so getting him off to school mainly consisted of making sure he did not walk out the front door with a milk mustache.
The girls went to elementary school from 9 am - 3:30 pm. So I had time to shower in the morning before I took them to school. Because I actually had to get out of my car and be seen, getting ready for the day usually needed to get done. Since I always have a bad case of bed head, it sort of made showering a priority. I wasn't anxious to share my bed head with the whole school.
But now the school district has mixed up the schedule. The girls need to be to school by 7:50 and Emmett needs to be to school by 9:00. So now, I have to be ready to get the girls out the door by 7:30 to get them to school and Eve to the Kindergarten yard. Then I feel the need to stay with Eve until the bell rings, because she just seems so young and little to just leave in the school yard (even though there are other kids there). Then I get home, and have a half hour before Emmett needs to go to school. I'm driving the morning part of the carpool instead of the afternoon, so when I get home from dropping kids off at 9:00, I have until 10:30 before I need to go pick Eve up from school.
This has completely screwed me up. So even though I am not a tighly-scheduled person, my loose interpretation of a schedule like the one I had last year has been completely messed up by the school schedules.
But enough whining and complaining. At least the kids are back in school and the long, hot summer is over, right?
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