The last of it

Well! I took myself to Flint yesterday for my own appointment at the dental school, and had my teeth (and mouth) probed, probed, probed some more, scraped, probed, slathered with gel for the exposed root, and then probed and finally ultra-blasted by an intense sonic waterpik. Apparently that is the latest fad in dental hygienics.

It's like a Splash Mountain waterride result for your face - only with a shrill screaching at times.

A dog whistle for the dental patient, if you will.

My teeth are clean (dental clean) for the first time in about two years. Before this, my last cleaning took place after an 8 year dental hiatus. Aside from the ominous uttering of the words "suspicious spot" three times during the exam (by a dentist, after the hygienist student), I had remarkbly good teeth and gums. Oh, and those 'suspicious spots' are going to have to remain so for a while longer I'm afraid. Ah well.

The boys had been ferried to the same place, each in turn, over the last couple of weeks; and so now our dental obligations have been fulfilled and my fears allayed for a little while. I seem to be the only one of us with possible cavities to tend to, or at least spots to have looked at by a dentist who can/will do the dirty deeds if necessary.

Perhaps after another job - another paying job.

Those trips to the dental school in Flint make for a long day. Up around 6:15AM to get ready and out the door for a long drive north (about 35 to 40 minutes) and then to the office/school. Paperwork to fill out and the appt to pay for, before a 20 minute wait (or there abouts) until you are shepherded into the lab where the day will progress.

Being a school, there is a lot of paperwork for the students to fill out all throughout the exam. They have you floss and brush to show them how you do it, then they perform the same tasks (in your mouth) with you watching them (using a handheld mirror). BPs and heart rates are taken and measured, with double-checking by their instructors (so, lots of waiting in between each piece of the exam), and then a break for lunch.

After lunch, you return to the room and continue with the note taking and graphing of your mouth; existing dental work, notations on where plaque resides, a precursor poking to locate and other problem spots or interesting things (such as how your teeth line up - or not - when you bite, or whether you have an overbite and how severe, etc.), and then they are OK'd to proceed with cleaning (which is also checked and signed off on).

By 2:50PM I was ready to go home, and I did just that; but first I stopped in at the lovely little quilt shop north of Davison to procure a little more yardage for the binding of the pink and brown quilt. Wheeee!

Today is garbage day, so the bags are due to make it to the curb very soon. Looking out the window I see that it snowed at some point last night after the sun set, and now it looks a little foggy. The weather goofs were saying to expect freezing rain with our snow, but I didn't hear the usual noises I can associate with rain, so I wonder if we dodged the bullet in our area - again.

Although, upon further inspection of the cars in the drive, it could very well have happened - that rain thing, I mean. Windows look completely glazed over, so there may very well be a crust of ice either above or below the new blanket of snow. Guess I will find out soon enough.

Today, I am back on a regular me-like schedule. That is to say, nothing much planned beyond job searching, more cleaning and sewing. I lost a lot of time yesterday not quilting, and I really want to get the pink and brown quilt sandwiched and pin basted by the end of this weekend. By the time I returned home yesterday afternoon all I wanted to do was take a nap! Agh! So, check in another time to see where the day takes me.

If I manage to make up for lost time and finish the top, I will post a photo on the quilting blog site. Have a great day.