On the way

It’s in boys and girls, my splint is in my mouth.  It’s awkward as can be and my jaw is already hurting, but it’s a step!

Dh says it’s the most expensive mouth guard he’s ever seen.

Of course it’s not really a mouth guard, it just plays one on tv.  It’s acrylic so it’s not a protector at all.  It fits super tight across my teeth, makes me drool a little bit and forces my jaw muscles to forget where they’ve been trained to mash my teeth together and choose the better path on their own.

Mouth guard, puh!

Oh, and can I just say something?  I’ve been eye-balling my stats lately because they seemed to have jumped since I started posting about my jaw issues.  It seems that ‘mouth work’ is a popular topic search, but I highly doubt that when persons are searching for such terms that they are expecting to come across non-nekkidness here.

Can I just say something else?  Of course I can.  My blog my rules.  What the hell is the deal with huffing?  Why is it that the ‘Signing Time’ search term used to bring so many people here, but now it’s ‘huffing’?  Are you bloody serious?  Cheap highs are your gig, but huffing, people do you know how fast that will kill you?

There, I’m done my soap box crap.

I’ve been Pioneer’d

I always said I’d never get into being a reader of a blog for the sole purpose of it being popular.  I’ve not been Dooce’d, Zooted, nor have I ever been Bakerella’d.  Sure, I’ve glanced at the Cake Wrecks, the People O’ Walmart’s etc and even have Coal Creek and Naked Roof on my list.  But I haven’t been able to resist the Pioneer Woman.

She is everywhere isn’t she?  With her newly released book flying off shelves, I’ve definitely been reading about her a lot more.  I have many friends online that big-squishy-heart her and wish to be BFFs.  I resisted for so long, didn’t go to her site but once.

Until last week.  Oh yes my friends, I caved.  And is she freakin’ hilarious or what?!  I have to admit that I’m a bit confused about something though.  She’s not the only writer is she?  How does a working ranch, homeschooling, cooking, photography mom have the time to write so many things?

What got me into her site into the first place is her photography.  Oh boy I’d like to start taking some good photos of my kids.  Of course, thanks to digital photography you can take 100 photos and only 9 are really good and you delete the rest.  This is our beast.   Ain’t she pretty?  Delores, meet the blogosphere (ok 4 people) that read my blog.

So I read, and I read, and I read some more of her photography ‘lessons’ and I have to admit they rock.  She puts it across so the average shmuck *ahem* Joe, or Jody, can understand it so easy.  It’s like this: hey dumbass, if your picture is dark, it needs more light, if it’s too light, it needs less light, capisce?  It was really cool!  I haven’t gone so far as to put her on my RSS because I couldn’t possibly keep up, nor is she on my side bar there, but damn… I’ve been Pioneer’d.  TG for PW because I got some great pics of the hoodlums today.

They have pretty much destroyed any fluffy snow in the backyard with trampling, but who cares, they still have fun.  And yes, that is a broken level in my son’s hand, why do you ask?  We’ve had days of hoar’s frost so it was a nice touch to include.

Got to keep up with the big sister. A little overexposed, but dayum it was über bright out there.

I was hoping to get a good shot of his eye colour, but alas, they’ve eluded me again.  Just ignore the snot goobers under his nose (like his hat? it’s got frog eyes on the top, made by his mommy thankyouverymuch).

The easiest kid in the world to take a picture of.  She’s always smiling.  Again, ignore the smudge of felt pen on her face, we were working on our Chinese New Year stuff.

Always ready to flash that pretty smile, rosy-cheeked daughter of mine.

The frost on those trees is about 3 inches thick.

Okay, just one more.

Gut laughing little boy.  This is me struggling to do an indoor shot without a wide-angle lens to let in more light because like Ms. PW, I loathe what the flash does for a photo.

My next big purchase.

I’m afraid ya’ll are in trouble.  You’re going to start seeing a lot more photos me thinks.

Not much need for words

Go ahead, click on it, I’ll wait.  It’ll take you to a slightly larger version to get the full whammo… neat huh.  That was the view out our deck, in fact it was the view out the 3 decks we had in this place.  A beautiful time.

That is the Rocky Mountains my friend.

I’ll take a fixed jaw for $3000 Alex

Thank God for good coverage or I’d be in the poor house trying to get my jaw back in the right place.

No, that’s not the reason I haven’t been blogging.  I don’t really have a reason.  I think this has happened to me and every other bloggy person out there in January.  Tis the season, ya know?

I only have 9 more days and the splint will be mine!  And although I’m über excited about it, it seems to be taking a back burner excitement wise to the ski trip I’m heading on tomorrow.  I can’t wait to strap two sticks to my feet and hurl my overly large body screaming down a slippery slope.  I am so freakin’ crazy.  Truly, when a big girl slaps on the skis, look out kiddies.  Talk about beached whale … no wait, snow-drifted polar!

I don’t really mean to talk smack about myself.  I actually don’t really mean it I guess.  Of course I’m really overweight, but nobody has to watch out on the hill … I’m a good skier.

It’s going to be a blast.  My husband has somehow convinced my parents to go with us and rented a condo on the hill.  My mom will watch the short guy while we all go skiing.  That way I can feel like I’m the man of the house and come home for lunch and supper to some home cooking and someone else takes care of my kid!  It’ll be awesomeness!

My dad is convinced he’s going to ski with his granddaughters too.  A 50+ man with a nasty heart condition, a horribly bad back/neck and bad knees is going to try to keep up with a 9 & 10 year old… uh yeah, my next post get ready to post some sympathy my friends because I can’t imagine the dumbass living through it.  Then again, staying in a ski-in/ski-out place tends to have the benefit for him to be able to skip out and rest between runs in comfort – of course that comfort may be interrupted by a 2 y/o, but he’s a very cute 2 y/o.

This week will go by much too fast, but at least I’ll have had a good time.

Jaw popped as it fell to the ground

I’ve mentioned before my jaw issues and my ortho agrees with me.  Well, considering he is rolling in the dough it doesn’t surprise me that he’d agree with me for an appliance that will cost in total (including all pre-appointment stuff) about $3100.

My jaw is the first that needs to be fixed, and thankfully it doesn’t need surgery … yet.  He was certain that the appliance (he called it a splint) would help move my jaw back to where it’s supposed to be in about 3 to 6 months.  Then when he and I feel the jaw is where it is supposed to be, we’ll look at the teeth alignment.

I have ortho-arthritis beginning in my left jaw and he was highly surprised that it doesn’t give me more pain than it does.  My left side isn’t often painful, but my right side is.  The left joint knobby thingy (that’s my technical term, not his) is about ¾ the size of the right size because of how my muscles have moved my jaw to make my teeth align right.  It has worn it down already quite a bit.  He’s starting with this appliance to realign my jaw.  However, as it aligns, I can be sure that my teeth will be a problem.  It is a bit worse off than I thought.

He had me put my teeth together in the right way and it just wouldn’t go.  The teeth don’t align properly when my jaw is right.

So, it’s a big wallop of an amount, and a lot of work and appointments, but to have no jaw pain will be wonderful.  He said the clicking is not likely to ever subside because of the permanent damage to the joint itself (wearing down to that size).  I was a little shell-shocked and thought I heard the telltale click of my left jaw when my mouth slammed open.  The appliance itself is $2750, but a nice $2517.50 if I pay it up front (which we will do).  That doesn’t include today’s fee of $150, and Monday’s fee of $495.

It’s a little surprising how quick it will be too.  Monday is the day for all the measurements basically.  Molds of my teeth, measurements of my mouth, jaw and head, etc.  And then on the 9th I get the appliance fitted.  I have to wear it as much as possible and I mean as much as possible (dh of course instantly devolved into the gutter ).  Minimum of 15 hours a day, but ideally it’d be in my mouth the entire time but for eating and brushing.  While installed it won’t allow my jaw to automatically slide to the left to align my teeth because they won’t need to align, kwim?

Meh, doesn’t matter, makes sense to me.  Oh and this is likely to only be the beginning.  The way my teeth are now, I’d need a bit of work to get them aligned properly.  I don’t even want to think of that cost just yet.  We are undoubtedly blessed with unbeatable health coverage and this will all be covered.

1 event down, now just skiing in 10 days and Mexico in 1 month and 4 days.

My own Olympic perspective

I stood in a rude crowd of a few hundred to watch a flame ball pass by me for only a second.

Freak it was the coolest thing I’d seen in a long time.  Seriously people.  In my lifetime, I’m not likely to see the Olympic torch more than once, but to have it pass right by is amazing to experience.

Did I mention I hate watching sport?  Yeah, I was thrilled to see this pass by me today yet I don’t watch sports.

I don’t know, maybe it’s the Canadianism I’m into with homeschooling (that’s my own term btw), but I am seriously trying to figure out how I’m going to watch the Olympics without a tv.  I don’t get it either.  Oh sure, we have a tv, but we don’t get any channels anymore.  Not even crappy CBC is on so am I doomed to miss the entire thing?  Me thinks the opening ceremonies are going to be spent at my parents on the big screen.

It’s so quiet

I love these moments.  I’m at home while dh has the older 2 out ice fishing and the shorter guy in the house is sleeping soundly.  I’ve been able to make 6 phone calls without someone screaming in my ear for attention!  The things us moms look forward to.

I’ve been busy rereading books.  Dh thinks I’m nuts.  He reads a book … okay, let me change that … if he reads a book, he reads it once and only once.  Same with movies, if he sees it, it’s rare that he watches it again, unless it’s Seagal or Jackie Chan movies (ok, I’ll admit I’m a fan of both, so what?).

Me? I have a few books that I read over and over.  All of them a series of some sort.  Well, technically the hobbit isn’t part of a series, but it does roll into the LOTR, which is technically a series, although publishers have chosen to bind all 3 books into 1.  Then there’s Harry Potter, Clan of the Cave Bears (Earth’s Children series), Narnia, Left Behind and Twilight.

I used to own a huge assortment of books.  My bookshelf was teeming with once-read books from the light and fluffy to the downright dull (hello Grapes of Wrath).  I purged my shelf last fall and kept only those which I love to read, or are hard to find.  I’m a library junky so why wouldn’t I put the darn card to full use?

Hmmm… think it’s time for the Stand next.  I don’t own it, and it’s not a series, but it’s a classic good-against-evil book where good kicks ass.  I’m going to go sit and enjoy the quietness of my house.

TGIFF

Oh boy yeah.  I bet you can guess what that extra ‘f’ stands for in my title.

-I’m not deleting my entire blog.  It only took a couple of days to figure that out, but there it is.  I will eventually go through it and delete the more personal stories that I feel I went too far with.  You know the kinds, but I better not say anything or I’ll just have to delete this one too.

-I found a kindred soul today.  I’m the kind of person that hates to clean. Okay, I don’t really know anyone that truly likes it, but I avoid it at all times, barely keep things legal if you know what I mean.  I shouldn’t say that.  My house isn’t horrible, but it’s incredibly lived-in.  I met this lady last summer, and her wonderful family.  She has one husband (like I had to announce the number? ~roll eyes~), 2 daughters and 5 sons.  Oh yes my friend, she is loaded with kidlets!! Their youngest is the sweetest little babe I’ve ever met and just clung to dh the entire time we chatted.  We just had such good conversations.

But, as with any rushed exit due to weather issues, no numbers were exchanged or even last names.  So I figured it was a one-time deal.  Fast forward a few months and I got word that the family had befallen a bit of a rough time with the job market and we just happen to know they love venison, and we have lots of that, so we found a way to connect.  We’re both homeschooling families so I was able to connect through our facilitator.  A deer was butchered for them and she came to pick it up today.  We spent at least 45 minutes just chatting away.  Knowing she had an appointment, I couldn’t invite her in for tea, but we chatted anyway.

Anyways, she and I both agree that cleaning is highly overrated.  I’m sorry Flylady, I truly am, there are those of us that don’t really care if our sinks are shiny.  Sure, it’d be nice, but it sure isn’t a priority.  I’ve had the same cobweb hanging in my front entry for months now and have no real plans to remove said cobweb.  If I get to it, I will, but it’s no rush for me.  It’s ‘meh’, whatever.  She is the same!  I’m sure my clean friends (as opposed to the dirty ones?!) are balking at the idea of our very friendship at this moment.

When I asked her if her family could come over for supper or brunch or something, she said, “All of us?!”  As if we could just leave some at home!LOL!  I figure if we did brunch, we would send the hooligans outside to run off steam until the food’s done and then shoo them back out after.  Here’s hoping for good weather.

- I’ve had a busy week of keeping up with my Gramma.  Oh don’t go thinking I’m running after her, but just keeping up with her, making sure she’s all good an dandy.  I’ve definitely figured out why people have kids young.  It’s so you don’t have to take care of your babies while you are taking care of your parents.  I don’t have to take care of my Gramma, just keep an eye out for her, help her when it’s needed and visit.  Sheesh, I make it sound like a job, but it’s not.  It’s just I have to do it moreso when my mom is gone to Mexico and it puts a strain on me.  I know she knows that, and I don’t resent it, I just like to bitch about it.

- There is a scant 6 more days until I’m seated in the orthodontic office with hopefully a fix for the jaw pain.  Of course shifting it over so it’s pretty would be a bonus, but to actually have no pain, popping or cracking would be utter bliss.  It’ll mean I’ll have to have my jaw broken and realigned and possibly braces, but hey, I’ll have no pain!

- 17 days until our big ski trip.  We’re going to a beautiful hill, staying on the hill mind you, and skiing for 4 days.  4 days!  I’m working on working out and getting my stamina up there.  Last year I attempted to snowboard and was happy to hand that sucker back in at the end of the day.  I was so exhausted.  This year, I’m skipping the board and reverting back to my two-plankerness.  I’m completely okay with it.  My parents are coming and my dad is even going to ski a bit – hopefully his knees or back don’t give him too much grief.  My mom will watch Elijah while we ski and we can ski right to the back door of the condo and eat lunch with them.  I’m not even remotely close to starting a list, but I’ll get there soon enough.

- 41 days until we leave for San José!  There seems to be a trend here.  I can’t believe it’s almost here.  My parents are down there right now, scoping out some new beaches and of course on vacation themselves.  They’ll go back when we do and it’ll be so much fun.  It’s such a different idea to go to a condo rather than a resort.  I feel more like a visitor to another country instead of just doing the same old shit I do at home, but with a beach and ocean like it is at a resort.

- Wii I’m tired.  Played the Wii for a bit this afternoon and got all sweaty.  I’m done typing now just so I can go and play Mario Gal#xy.  Sayonara!