Teeth, Pants and "Free"dom
I am soon going to be 50. If I didn't know the exact date, it would certainly be evident when looking at the condition of my body! Today: dental and waist line revelations...but yet discover a new fighting spirit after returning home!
While I did not intend today to be particularly revealing of my age, it certainly was.
First, I recognized that all my 30 and even 31 inch waist pants no longer fit. I do not and have not had a 30 inch waist for a couple of years now. But that is not news to me. What was important was that I decided to chuck the ill-fitting pants and start looking for some 32 inchers now.
This doesn't mean that I don't want to trim down again...but that I am realistic it won't happen immediately and it was stupid to hang onto old, ill-fitting clothes. Hey, if I can ever get back to a 30 inch waist (and that will take some doing!) I can reward myself then by going on a new shopping expedition to get the smaller sized pants. In the meantime I concentrate on the here and now and reduce clutter.
The other thing that happened today was that I went to the dentist (in NW Portland) complaining of pain when eating cold cereal. Looks like I have one tooth with fractures and will need to be crowned (my third crown) and a tooth already crowned and root-canaled which appears to have a break in one of its roots. In addition, one of my wisdom teeth has a cavity.
So I am going to have multiple appointments in the first quarter of 2009 to deal with this:
1. The tooth with "root break" needs to be analyzed by an endodontist (tooth root specialist), so I will make that appointment.
2. The wisdom tooth cavity is for a tooth I do not use (its mate in the lower jaw was removed 15 years ago), so that is scheduled for extraction in late January. Having that removed will make it easier for me to clean what is left of its neighbor. This will be done first because it also makes the next task easier for the dentist or endodontist....
3. Slice off the top of the double-fractured tooth and crown it. Will do that about a month after the wisdom tooth extraction (so the tissue around the extraction site can heal).
4. Get my annual gum inspection and teeth cleaning (in early March).
5. Probably have to do something about that root break (sounds complicated but necessary if I am to hold onto that tooth). Of course, if I can hold off on that until later March, that would be better.
---
So I enter 2009 and my 50th orbit of the Sun with a body that is breaking down and falling apart as if on cue. Darned if I am going to let this happen without a fight. I will do what I need to do to keep my teeth going...and to try and get my body in shape.
After the dentist visit, I did get some new-to-me pants at the William Temple House Thrift Store in NW Portland. Turned out to be almost free! Conveniently ignoring the $6 spent on a parking garage spot and the gas expended vainly looking for a free parking spot in NW Portland around 23rd, I can say that my store purchases amounted to almost nothing!
Most of the shirts and pants I found were half-off (yellow tags). With the clothes, a travel bag that beatnikgoth found, three books that I found and a 50 cents magazine holder, the total came to $30. Then, because it was "Customer Appreciation Day" I fished out a folded yellow piece of paper out of a bowl that gave me 15 percent off...so now only $25.50. Then I gave the clerk a card that entitles me to $25 in purchases when $200 in purchases were recorded...and she recorded the last two spaces, so on my next visit I will get $25 for free.
So, I basically got everything for 50 cents!
Then, we went to Freddies (on the way home) to buy stuff for some projects. I bought paints, a saw, sandpaper, a sandpaper block and glue to repair and finish my wooden ball track. beatnikgoth bought things she felt would enhance our sorry bathroom. We also picked up supplies to make "Chex" party mix and several new and different varieties of canned cat foods for our increasingly finicky felines. All of that ran a total of $120.55 and we got it all for nothing!
Why? Because I used Freddies gift cards that I got as rewards for things I did at work.
So, all-in-all I returned home definitely older and more realistic...but not about ready to give up and, despite the echoes of physical setbacks, also encouraged by certain victories. May I enter 2009 with experience-driven savvy, one that takes advantage of my assets, works around the difficulties and brings me to new heights and experiences.
While I did not intend today to be particularly revealing of my age, it certainly was.
First, I recognized that all my 30 and even 31 inch waist pants no longer fit. I do not and have not had a 30 inch waist for a couple of years now. But that is not news to me. What was important was that I decided to chuck the ill-fitting pants and start looking for some 32 inchers now.
This doesn't mean that I don't want to trim down again...but that I am realistic it won't happen immediately and it was stupid to hang onto old, ill-fitting clothes. Hey, if I can ever get back to a 30 inch waist (and that will take some doing!) I can reward myself then by going on a new shopping expedition to get the smaller sized pants. In the meantime I concentrate on the here and now and reduce clutter.
The other thing that happened today was that I went to the dentist (in NW Portland) complaining of pain when eating cold cereal. Looks like I have one tooth with fractures and will need to be crowned (my third crown) and a tooth already crowned and root-canaled which appears to have a break in one of its roots. In addition, one of my wisdom teeth has a cavity.
So I am going to have multiple appointments in the first quarter of 2009 to deal with this:
1. The tooth with "root break" needs to be analyzed by an endodontist (tooth root specialist), so I will make that appointment.
2. The wisdom tooth cavity is for a tooth I do not use (its mate in the lower jaw was removed 15 years ago), so that is scheduled for extraction in late January. Having that removed will make it easier for me to clean what is left of its neighbor. This will be done first because it also makes the next task easier for the dentist or endodontist....
3. Slice off the top of the double-fractured tooth and crown it. Will do that about a month after the wisdom tooth extraction (so the tissue around the extraction site can heal).
4. Get my annual gum inspection and teeth cleaning (in early March).
5. Probably have to do something about that root break (sounds complicated but necessary if I am to hold onto that tooth). Of course, if I can hold off on that until later March, that would be better.
---
So I enter 2009 and my 50th orbit of the Sun with a body that is breaking down and falling apart as if on cue. Darned if I am going to let this happen without a fight. I will do what I need to do to keep my teeth going...and to try and get my body in shape.
After the dentist visit, I did get some new-to-me pants at the William Temple House Thrift Store in NW Portland. Turned out to be almost free! Conveniently ignoring the $6 spent on a parking garage spot and the gas expended vainly looking for a free parking spot in NW Portland around 23rd, I can say that my store purchases amounted to almost nothing!
Most of the shirts and pants I found were half-off (yellow tags). With the clothes, a travel bag that beatnikgoth found, three books that I found and a 50 cents magazine holder, the total came to $30. Then, because it was "Customer Appreciation Day" I fished out a folded yellow piece of paper out of a bowl that gave me 15 percent off...so now only $25.50. Then I gave the clerk a card that entitles me to $25 in purchases when $200 in purchases were recorded...and she recorded the last two spaces, so on my next visit I will get $25 for free.
So, I basically got everything for 50 cents!
Then, we went to Freddies (on the way home) to buy stuff for some projects. I bought paints, a saw, sandpaper, a sandpaper block and glue to repair and finish my wooden ball track. beatnikgoth bought things she felt would enhance our sorry bathroom. We also picked up supplies to make "Chex" party mix and several new and different varieties of canned cat foods for our increasingly finicky felines. All of that ran a total of $120.55 and we got it all for nothing!
Why? Because I used Freddies gift cards that I got as rewards for things I did at work.
So, all-in-all I returned home definitely older and more realistic...but not about ready to give up and, despite the echoes of physical setbacks, also encouraged by certain victories. May I enter 2009 with experience-driven savvy, one that takes advantage of my assets, works around the difficulties and brings me to new heights and experiences.