I'm your huckleberry

">

I've already posted this on my myspace page, but thought I'd post it here for you non-myspacers.

So, most of you that know me, know of my love for movie lines. They are what's great about movies! And my brother and I have been quoting them as long as I can remember...not many people can keep up with us. Sad to say, but we could probably hold several coherent conversations just using movie quotes. Hey, it's my talent, and I'm proud. Just to preface you, though, I left off most of the cliche ones like "Frankly, Scarlett, I don't give a damn." and "Here's looking at you, kid." The ones listed below come from movies that I have seen hundreds of times, and I'm sure I will add more as I think of them. I left the movie titles off in case you want to play along, although, I'm sure that's the kind of game that only movie nerds like me play. So, in tribute to some of my favorites, here we go:

1. "Let's be from Vermont, and let's have an emerging maple syrup conglomerate."
2. "I got robbed by a sweet old lady on a motorized cart, and I didn't even see it comin'!"
3. "Yah, well, sometime's nothing can be a pretty cool hand."
4. "Sure the Almighty didn't send me to watch your back? I didn't like him anyway. He wasn't right in the head."
5. "Well, ain't it a small world? Spiritually speaking. Pete and Delmar just been saved and baptized. I guess I'm the only one who remains unaffiliated!"
6. "Whoa, we have to take a boat? Nobody said anything about taking any boats!" "Is there going to be a problem, sir?" "No, no problem. I'm just not that crazy about boats." "Geez, Caffey, you're in the Navy for crying out loud!" "Nobody likes her very much!" "Yes, sir!"
7. "So, when Andy Dufresne came to in 1949 and asked me to smuggle Rita Hayworth in, I told him…no problem."
8. "Show me the money! I love black people!"
9. "Keep it secret. Keep it safe."
10. "Tuesday night's plastic corrosion awareness meeting was, I think, a big success. And we want to thank Mr. Spell for putting that on for us. Thank you, Mr. Spell."
11. "But, for now, let me say – Without hope or agenda – Just because it's Christmas – And at Christmas, you tell the truth – To me, you are perfect – And my wasted heart will love you – Until you look like this"
12. "What kind of music do you usually have here?" "Oh, we got both kinds…Country and Western."
13. "Did they teach you that in the CIA!?! Did they teach you that!?! I've got one question for you, Jack…it's can you deal with that!?!
14. "I'm here to learn everyone! Not to make out with you! Go on with the chlorophyll."
15. "One more thing...I play, Coach stays. He goes, I go."
16. "Where's Elizabeth?" "She's safe, just like I promised. She's all set to marry Norrington, just like she promised. And you get to die for her, just like you promised. So, we're all men of our word really…except for Elizabeth, who is in fact, a woman."
17. "Erroneous! Erroneous on both counts!"
18. "Ok, what am I doing? I'm chasing this guy. Nope, he's chasing me!"
19. "Who elected you leader of this outfit?" "Well, Pete, I just figured it should be the one with the capacity for abstract thought."
20. "Toe-pick!"
21. "I've got the Holy Spirit…it's a good train…you should get on it."
22. "P. Sherman. 42 Wallaby Way. Sydney."
23. "We've got no food. We've got no jobs. Our pets heads are falling off!!"
24. "Do you like apples?" "Yeah." "Well, I got her number. How do you like them apples!?!"
25. "Asps…very dangerous. You go first."
26. "Luther said I could learn some things from you. I already know how to drink."
27. "The language is that of Mordor, which I will not utter here. In the common tongue, it reads 'One ring to rule them all. One ring to find them. One ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them."
28. "Is not going well! I have stolen a bread van, and am chasing Michael down Michigan Ave. This is what comes of telling the truth!"
29. "George, you are the most selfish man in the whole world. Now, that's just silly…have you met everyone in the world?"
30. "I am removing the superfluous buns!" "Now, why don't we just calm down, sir." "I'll tell you why 'WE' don't calm down, because you're not excited! It takes two people for a 'WE' to calm down, doesn't it!?!"
31. "No time to discuss this with the committee." "I am NOT a committee!"
32. "You know, Ike, maybe poker's just not your game. I know…let's have a spelling contest!"
33. "I value my neck a lot more than three thousand bucks, Chief. I'll find him for three, but I'll catch him and kill him for ten."
34. "I'd like to dedicate this to my grandpa, who showed me these moves." "Aawww, that's sweet. And where is your grandpa?" "In the trunk of our car."
35. "How'd you do it Frank? How did you cheat on the Bar Exam in Louisiana?"
36. "You know those coconut bombs…you don't have to worry. They work right well!"
37. "Pull the lever, Kronk." "Wrong leveerrr!" "Why do we even have that lever!?!"
38. "I'm here to try out my sea legs." "But you ain't got no legs, Lt. Dan."
39. "Does this suit make me look fat?" "No, your face does."
40. "Do you think next time you might be a little more suttle?" "What do you mean, Winston?" "What I mean, Willie, is your carrying a bag of fertilizer and a semi-conscious Gloria...you don't look like your average horticulturalist."





>

More dental drama...

I went to see my dentist yesterday to finish the root canal, prep the crown, and replace the cracked filling...see post on 12/11/07. After sitting in the chair for 2 hours with fists, drills, latex, and suctions all in my mouth, he says he can't complete the root canal because it's "calcified". Seriously?? Seriously!! Instead, I need to go see an endodontic specialist so that he can finish the root canal, because he has more experience in this area. Are you freaking kidding me?? I really know how my patients feel now...this process is exhausting and expensive.

So, for the third time in 2 weeks, I will be having a root canal on the same tooth tomorrow morning. After that, I head back to my regular, apparently non-specialized dentist to complete the crown. Then, I go back to my orthodontist to have him put my lower brackets and wire back on those teeth. Sheesh, this is never-ending. I'm such a regular that I have my own "laughing gas" mask in my purse to take with me to these appointments...that stuff really is good times!! :)

The Best Dog in the WHOOOOOOLE World.......

The little black-and-white one. Parents can't play favorites, but dog owners can.....

Even with braces, don't ignore tooth pain!!!

This past Wednesday and Thursday was by far the most painful 48 hours of my life, physically speaking. To the moms reading this...I have not given birth yet, and yes I realize that labor pains will trump this. But for now, trust me.

It actually started Wednesday at work. I started having this radiating pain all along my lower right teeth and jaw that was coming on about every couple of hours. By lunch time, I also began to have an ear ache on the right side. To be honest the whole "radiating pain" thing is not really that new for me. With braces, I have pain a lot of the time. So, I just ignore it and it goes away...right? Not so much. I went home early that day, thinking I just have an ear infection. I need sleep, and I'll be better in the morning.

While at home, the episodes began to increase in frequency and in duration. It was like I was having contractions!! To the moms...again, I realize that I haven't had "actual" contractions :), but OMG!!! I would be writhing in pain for about 10 -15 minutes, to the point that I would be crying, and then I would have no symptoms at all for 10-15 minutes. Andrew and I tried everything we could think of to help with pain. We called our moms too...no relief. So, I went to bed praying and hoping to sleep through the pain. Again, not so much. My routine that night consited of pacing around the living room and sipping on warm water for about 10-12 minutes, lay down on the couch for 1-2 minutes of relief, then repeat. I think I slept a total of one hour.

At 7:30 am on thurs, I made appointments with my dentist and my PCP...still not knowing if it was an ear infection making my teeth hurt or a tooth infection making my ear hurt. Well, the dentist was first. They take an x-ray of my lower right jaw, where I already have a crown. He comes back 10 minutes later..."Good news and bad news. The good news is, I know what the problem is. The bad news...you need a root canal because you have an abcessed tooth". Hey, at this point a root canal was good news to me b/c that would take away my excruciating pain. So, he says that I need to clear up the infection first before we can do the procedure. Gives me a script for antibiotics and vicodin for the pain. Root canal is scheduled in 10 days. Finally, some relief...I have never taken Vicodin, but everybody loves that stuff, and that will surely take away my pain.

Yeah, not so much!! I took 2 Vicodin...and NOTHING!!! Seriously?? Seriously!! I mean what is everybody's fascination with this stuff? 200mg of Ibuprofen worked better than the "miracle drug". So, by late Thurs afternoon, the pain was no longer coming in contraction-form, but pretty much constant. I called Andrew crying. "Please call the dentist, and ask him to call me in something else. Vicodin isn't working." The dentist had a different suggestion..."Come in right now (4:45 pm), and I'm going to do an emergency root canal on you".

I drive back to my dentist's office. Now here's the fun part...so why does the dentist want patients to take antibiotics 10 days before procedures? So that anesthesia will work. Too much infection, and it won't work. Any guesses on what's coming?? Not only did I have a root canal (the most-feared dental procedure), but I had a root canal with little to no anesthesia. Good times!!! It was quite an ordeal. I had a nurse on either side of me holding my hand while the dentist drilled. Andrew had met me up there. He was great! He stayed down at my feet, rubbing my legs. So, for about 20 minutes, I experienced dental work w/out the proper numbing effect. Now, let me just say, the pain during the actual procedure was nothing compared to the pain prior to. And after it was all over, I felt almost immediately better.

Now, fast forward to today. Still no pain. I'm faithfully taking my antibiotics still (sorry, Leah :)). I'm going to my orthodontist on Thurs to have him take off my bottom brackets and wire so that I can have my dentist finish the root canal, replace my crown with a new crown, and repair a cracked porcelain filling on my back tooth on Monday. Good grief...I'll be happy when this is all over.

The saddest part? On Wednesday morning, I was informed at work about my Christmas bonus this year...Yay, we can use it to get an I-phone!! But, back to the moral of the story...not so much!! Instead, it will be used to pay for an emergency root canal, crown, and cracked porcelain filling.

And that, my friends, is my story of the year!!

Random Musing:

I kinda just discovered that I am a BIG fan of stews. My parents never really fed my sister and I stews when we were growing up. Probably because their parents never really made them for them when they were growing up, so I'm kind of just discovering them. The value of a good stew cannot be underestimated. I mean, it warms you up on a cold day, can make you feel better when you are sick (note: MUST be of the chicken family of stews), its easy to eat if you've just had extensive dental work done and are left sensitive (ask Liz about her exciting day), its difficult to overeat on, and finally they are easy on the pocketbook. They are also very easy to make-- so much so that even a poor cook can make a successful stew. Just use whatever you have laying around. A little of this and a dab ot that to give it a little kick! Perfect. If you ever feel like you've screwed up and made it too rich or spicy, just add more water to dilute it down, and now you have even MORE stew! Wow, you just can't lose with this stuff! I see myself eating alot more stew in the years to come. If we ever have lots of kids (over 6 kids), I'll probably invest in an old world cast-iron cauldron for stewmaking. You can make a LOT of stew in those things. I'd probably use a wooden paddle to stir it. It would be great!