Late October (bonus: no mention of the election)

Many apologies for the lack of blog posts recently. You know how I hate to keep my reader waiting.

My stad visited last week. He flew in from DC and we had a great time. I was eager to show him around town (he hadn't been here before) so I dragged him all over the place: a hockey game, a stadium tour, and an improv festival. Oh, and Red Robin. He was a good sport about the flurry of activity, and even agreed to carve a pumpkin for Halloween. He's flown back home now, but he's got lots of bruises to remind him of the trip. Every time I turned around, Gretchen and Grover were wrestling IN his lap as they fought for a spot.  My stad's visit was the most exciting thing to happen to my dogs in eons.

Let's see . . . what else is new? I had some Weight Watchers momentum going for a couple of weeks and then I lost it. I tried teaming up with another member so that we could encourage each other, but it hasn't worked out as well as I'd hoped. Maybe neither of us is really ready. I am still trying to count points as much as I can. I only made it to the gym once last week, so that's not good. On Halloween, I went to yoga in the dark.  They handed out glow bracelets and necklaces and played Halloween music. It was a lot of fun. I should make it a point always to do yoga in the dark - I felt a lot less self-conscious than I usually do.

Speaking of feeling self-conscious . . . I have a crown in my mouth and it recently decided that we should part ways. I could feel it coming loose and quickly shoved it back into place because I did not want to behold whatever sort of horror might be under that thing. I have to tell you a quick back-story.  I have been using the same dentist for many years now. I have had no complaints. However, he seems to have turned into a ghost. When the kid and I had our six-month cleanings over a year ago, I wanted to talk to the dentist about one of A's teeth. This particular tooth is attached directly to the bone. The term is ankylosis, I believe. Anyway, her orthodontist wanted us to look into having this tooth pulled, so I wanted to ask the dentist about it. At that cleaning appointment, he wasn't in. I just thought, "Okay, no biggie. I'll wait until our next appointment in six months and ask again." Six months later we were back. No dentist. By now, I was pretty annoyed. I mean, I don't begrudge the man a vacation, but geez. The dental hygienist looked at the calendar for our next appointments (I usually try to get simultaneous appointments for me and my daughter). She noted that the dentist would be out the week before our next appointment but that he should be in the office when we are there.

After going home and thinking about it some more, I posed the question on Facebook: is it common for a dentist not to examine one's teeth for over a year? I was assured that this is not common practice. So, I'm not sure if my dentist is inching towards retirement or why he is constantly AWOL, but I decided to choose a new dentist. I chose a new practice with several dentists so that, in theory, if "our" dentist is out, another one is there in case I have a question. I have invested a lot of money in my child's teeth and I just want to make sure that nothing happens on my watch. So, I contacted the old dental clinic and advised them that I was leaving and that I would need to transfer our records.

Shortly thereafter, my crown decided to head for greener pastures. Well, shit. I didn't yet have things set up with the new clinic and didn't really want to go back to the old one ("Yeah, I know I kinda just said that I need to break up with you, but could you have a look-see anyway?") I scrambled to get xrays and such sent to the new clinic and filled out the mountain of paperwork they sent me. I was able to get an appointment for the following week. I have to say, I really like the new dentist. I dug him right away. "Hi, I'm Pat," he said. He extended his hand and then crushed my fingers into dust. I got good news from Dr. Pat: the cement had just come loose and all he needed to do was sandblast the crown (to remove old cement) and then glue that mofo right back in my mouth.  All is well. 

On the #choirmom front, A's show choir season is just about over.  She has a big concert next week and then she's done (until next year), I assume. Meanwhile, rehearsals for the touring choir will start increasing as the December concert approaches. My mom is flying in for that. A's next focus will be on the big musical at school.  Auditions are coming up in a couple of weeks.  She's really excited but nervous. I told her that she may not get a big part, but this will be a good learning experience for her.

The musical is Aladdin. Of the bajillion Disney DVDs I bought for her when she was a toddler, I swear to you that Aladdin is the only one we don't have. So, I quickly ordered a copy from ebay and handed it over to the kid for study. She has to sing two songs and run through a bunch of lines. I assume I'll have "A Whole New World" stuck in my head for the next few days (or months if she does get a part).  If she doesn't get a part, she will do stage crew.

I think that's all I have to share at the moment.

Over, sideways, and under, on a magic carpet ride . . . .