Bionic teeth

Today marks yet another milestone in my life. After 9 years and 3-4 different "stages" of progress, my teeth are now functional and look really nice. on March 6, 1998, I was in a car accident that led to 9 years of dealing with teeth issues. I cant yet claim them to be over, but they seem to be getting done. In '01 I started to have trouble with my top front teeth. They were changed to implants, finished in June of '02. Then, in June of '06 I had all that metal and porcelain removed and started with what would be a very long journey to have my gums and my teeth restored to a much nicer look. Its been a long, expensive road. My mouth is now worth about $176,000. Its a good thing I invested as much as I did, rather than just go shopping. We struggled with the loan as it is....but its all good. I already tested out the new chompers tonight with BLTs. They were yummy, and much easier to eat when you can bite down into them. Anyway, Im happy to have teeth that work!

I have to push the pram a lot.....

Sunday was a beautiful day. We woke up early to take care of a cat before going to the early service at Church. From there, we stopped at the Farmer's Market in Woodbury. I felt awesome buying locally grown produce from the farmers and saved some money doing so. the melon was perfect, the tomatoes...YUMO! Im super excited to have a farmers market so close.

We headed off to see the 2:00 performance of SPAMALOT. "A new musical Lovingly ripped off from the motion picture 'Monty Python and the Hoy Grail'" If you are looking for a performance that follows the movie pretty accurately, this is not the show. They took liberties in several places. But it was good. One of the things that impressed me the most, was the budget. Im used to seeing high school productions, or community theater at most. (Ok, Ive seen a few productions at the Guthrie, but still...) This show had singing, dancing, costumes, lights, scenery that changed and an orchestra. Overall, I really enjoyed it. There were a few snags along the way, but it all worked out in the end.

A decade ago....

It's hard to believe, but Chester turns 10 today. He's officially a "tween," at least if he were a kid. But, since he is a dog, he would be pretty close to a 60 year old man. To celebrate, he got a green bean. He did get extra attention this evening. We totally indulged his needy, "pet me" face.

On the topic of milestones, we are now less than a week away from me getting bionic teeth. Not that my teeth arent already bionic, but after next Monday, I should have permanent, bionic teeth again. What does that mean? Well, it means I can eat pizza with out a fork again. It means I can eat subway or any other sandwich I'd like to eat. It means I don't always have to try to find a way to get small pieces of food, or hope for a way to break/cut it. It means when we go to the dome, I can eat my own Dome Dog with out my husband needing to cut in into pieces like I'm 2. Basically, It means my life gets a little nicer. In my opinion, the best part of that is I wont need to be seeing my dentist every other week. Not only that, I don't have to worry about my front teeth bridge popping off and when I'm going to make a trip to their office to get them fixed.

:)

Ode to the Minute Clinic

It doesnt happen that often, me calling in sick to work. But Thats what happened on friday. I left work early on Thursday and came home and slept. By the time I woke up at 9pm, I was miserable. I called in for Friday. I slept on and off Thurs night. Friday I did the same. I slept some, was awake for watching Judge shows, slept some more, more TV, etc. I had the typical flu/cold stuff, fever off and on, cough, sneezing, sore throat. Saturday I was feeling a bit better. But then Saturday night hit. The most uninterrupted sleep I got was about 2 hours. My throat was so sore and there was nothing that was making it better. At about 8am I got up and decided to check out if there was someplace I could be seen on a Sunday. I wasnt excited about an emergency room visit, and copay for a sore throat. I remembered a friend saying something about a Minute Clinic at CVS in Woodbury.

So I went online...google "Minute clinic" and it brings up their homepage. There is this little box where you type in your zip code and it will bring up the local clinics. What do you know, the CVS location is open at 10 on Sundays. So we went. Someone got there right before I did, so I had to wait about 10 minutes. Then Linda called me in. In my whispery, raspy voice i told her my symptoms. She decided to do a strep test.

Its been a few years since Ive had strep...but I had it many times as a kid. I had forgotten how fun it is to be gagged by the swab as they collect their sample. I also remember it was later in my youth that they had the "5 minute test." which i was told has a 2% false negative rate. The test was negative. Good that i havent infected people with strep, bad that my throat will get no relief from a prescription. Linda told me the usual stuff: gargle with salt water, drink plenty of fluids, OTC drugs to help with symptoms....i dont think she told me to get sleep, but i intended to do that. So, for just my typical co-pay i was seen on a sunday, for a sore throat. during all of this, my husband mentioned that Walgreens will be getting something like a minute clinic. What a great idea. Its nice to have the option for something routine to be seen someplace other than the ER. Thank God for whoever thought up the idea and for the nice people that work there!

Blogging...the "international language"

add Poland and the Philippines to the list of countries that have been graced by my blog...

Dom. Republic, UK, Mexico, France....I'm totally global!

Celebrate good times, COME ON!

At the start of the Relay for Life day (Friday) I had every intention of soaking up the day and blogging about the event. I'm going to blog about the day, but much to my surprise, my thoughts are more about my dad than the event as a whole. Ive always known my dad as a good man. He's always been the type of dad that not only told, but demonstrated "doing the right things." Upon learning that my husband was going to be the Relay for Life kick-off speaking, I called my parents to invite them, knowing they wouldn't want to miss it. My parents did the typical "what can we bring, do you still need stuff"....that kind of thing. My dad helped me raise money from his family..."hey, give me $10, you too, i need ten bucks...its for relay for life." Friday came and I was busy fluttering around making sure that I had everything done, talked to the people that needed talking and made sure my position as luminaria chair was completed. During this time, mom and dad hung out, reserving the best spot to watch Nick's speech. Both really liked it. The survivors lap was next...what a great thing to see 14 people in purple shirts walk the track united as survivors as the small but noisy group cheered them on. the next lap is the survivors with caregivers lap. Now, I didn't know Nick during his cancer treatments, let alone care for him, but I do take care of him now...so I walked with him. So...this is where I get a little teary eyed. at about 1/4 way around the track, my parents were standing, waiting to cheer us on. For anyone that knows my dad, he doesn't make decisions if he doesn't have to. He is very much a phelegmatic whose love language is acts of service. There was a lady walking without any family or caregiver. My dad didn't hesitate or look back, or even say to my mom that he was going to walk with her. He jumped on that track, took her by the arm and walked with her the rest of the way around the track. After the lap, he was choked up and rather upset that her family wasn't there to walk with her. "I just don't get why her family wouldn't be here for her..." My dad has a lot of things that are important to him, but i would rate the top three as family, golf and work...not always in that order. Since his mother passed away in 11/05, Ive seen the effort to show his family how important we are. It truly did pull at his heart to see this woman that has survived cancer walk without someone there to show they were proud of her.

Nick, surrounded by the other survivors


Dad continued to impress me as he walked the track for 2 hours....even though he wasn't part of a team. He also helped set up and light luminaria. Maybe next year he will want to be on a team.

So, aside from the impact of my dad, the entire event was pretty neat! I was the top fund raiser with $940. Nick and I surpassed our goal and raised $1,020. Team Rx was the first team to sign up and also raised the most funds with $2500. Not to brag, but, ok I will... Nick and I had more funds than 3 whole teams raised. Total amount raised by Cottage Grove RFL: $15,000. The event coordinator thought there were about 550 luminaria total, I had 80. That was a lot to set up. I did something right though, as by midnight many of the candles had gone out, bags fell over or burned. I only lost 2.

my section of luminaria still lit up.

Overall, it was a good event that was much better than I feared it might be. Nick and I have talked about how we want to be involved next year. It should be fun!

Today, July 15, is the first anniversary of our marriage. We are celebrating by hanging out and not doing much. Its been great! The current temp (at 3pm) is 79 degrees. Its a far cry from the 101 degrees it was at wedding time (3:00) last year.

Mexico??

We can add Mexico to the list of countries that my blog has been viewed in. AND, I've been googled! If only these visitors would make their presence known.....

Transformers! More than meets the eye

So, in case some of you hadn't noticed, it was really hot this weekend. Our air conditioner has been broken for the past week. On Sunday and Monday, no big deal, but on Tuesday when we turned it on and 6 hours later it was hotter in the house than outside, I realized quickly there was a problem. On Sunday it didnt seem to cool the house, so I turned it off and thought it just couldnt keep up. That, sadly, is not the case. So we had Nick's parents staying here, with out AC. It was too bad, but then Saturday rolled in. Saturday was hot. Both of us worked was nice because we both work in buildings with AC. After an evening with Nicks family, the house was 90 degrees at 10:30pm. It was gross. So we went back to my in-laws and slept in their basement.

The cool escape of a basement. It reminds me of my childhood when we had one little window unit that started out in my parents bedroom and then graduated to the living room. At some point in time we got central air. I dont remember exactly when that was....but we had it. My high school days I do remember the house being kept a cool 65 degrees in the summer. A wonderful way to sleep!

So after a blissful basement slumber we went to early church, hung out with Nick's parents and read the sunday paper. We had lunch, watched some random cable tv, then headed off to see Transformers. Not only was this an excuse to go someplace air conditioned, but it gave us the excuse to see a movie we wanted to see.

I really liked the movie. It was a leap for me to see Bumble Bee as a Camaro. back in the day, I did have the Bumble bee. Mind you, I only knew there were two teams, one bad, one good. the Autobots were good the Decepticons were bad. there was a Megatron and someone else big....and most of them were cars or some other kind of automobile. I do remember the boombox guy, Soundwave. I played with him and his transforming cassette tape Rumble or Frenzy. (i dont know which we had).

So, back to the movie.... I liked the movie. I liked the robot fighting action, I liked, for the most part, the amount of plot that was developed. I wasnt left thinking, who was that again? My only complaint is that when the robots started fighting, it was hard to tell who each part belonged to.

Tomorrow the AC guy comes to see what can be done. I also have a dental appointment to do what should be my second to last step. It should be the last thing i need to do before getting permanent teeth again. In just 3 short weeks I should be able to eat sandwiches again. I will be able to bit into pizza. NO more silverware for me! It will be all hands and biting teeth. WOOHOO!

Here comes the bride...

On Saturday, Nick saw his little sister marry a great guy. That means all 4 kids are married off now. It brought to a close a week of family, stress, planning details, schedules and a bit more stress. The ceremony was lovely. The reception was great. Seeing family and meeting some I've never met was fun. Several of Nick's family came up from Nebraska. It was the first time I had met his paternal grandma, his aunt and uncle and a few cousins. I also got to meet an uncle and family from his mom's side. It was a lot of fun talking to them and getting to know them. I did however feel very short. Nick comes from a family of tall people. Me, not so much. below is just one of many pictures that illustrates this:this is Nicholas, me and cousin David (I just met him this weekend...he is in the Airforce)

Dancing with my wonderful husband to "our song." Steph had the DJ play all the songs of her brothers throughout the night. It was really cool.

Micah's job was to walk down the aisle, assisted by Uncle Nathan, and look cute. She did both very well, though the latter seemed easier for her.
And, of course, the bride and groom. Corey and Stephanie just hours before the big moment.

For any of you that know the Schutz family, you know we are a picture taking group. From Friday-Sunday, there were 1009 pictures taken. Yup, thats a lot of memories.

Today, July 4th the big plans have pretty much been to clean up the house and just relax for a while. So far we have done both. Rollie is about 30 minutes out from the cities. We will be picking him from the airport. He will be staying with us for a few days. Tomorrow Sue will join us. Saturday until sometime next week they hope to get in some good Micah time. We plan to grill steaks and hang out tonight. Tomorrow its off to the German restaurant in Hudson. This is the same place we discovered for my birthday. We took Nathan and April (my in-laws) there on Sunday. They really liked it so we figured we will keep taking people there.

Its just 9 days until the Relay for Life. We are about $200 short of our goal. If you would like to donate, its not too late!

"Happy Birthday America!"