Weeks into 2008: 2. Visits to the dentist: 2.

Even through all of the agony of having the wisdom teeth out, I was so glad that my whole tooth saga was just going to finally be OVER. And it was, until Tuesday morning. After I brushed my teeth, I felt a rough spot on one of my front teeth. Coincidentally enough, it was the one that had been patched and bonded a few years ago. Apparently it can just become un-bonded. I probably swallowed the piece. But I went back today, for another round of novacaine and hanging out with my dentist.

Not much else going on here this week. Greg and I are both on a diet, and we joined Weight Watchers (online) yesterday. We're currently hungry, and obsessing about points. Being hungry makes some of us grumpier than others. :)

January: Week 1

I started this challenge to finish one layout per day in January over at Big Picture Scrapbooking. I've managed to keep up so far! Here are my projects from the first week...

Jan 1. "Grace" "I love this photo of my mom and I, taken at the boat house in Burlington. 10/07"


Jan 2. "The Look" "I've been accused (mostly by my dad) of giving "the look." I don't see it, but there are too many pictures like this for me to argue anymore. I think this one translates as 'I love you for putting up with me.'"


Jan 3. "Remember" "My dad took this picture of us, walking back from Thayer's Beach on Lake Champlain. I remember how good it felt to be out in the crisp, fall air, how nice it was to have our families together, and how happy I was holding your hand. 10/07"


Jan 4. "Happy Birthday" "We celebrated your birthday about a week early this year, while we were staying with your parents and mine were visiting. I'll bet you can't remember the last time you got to celebrate with family in Vermont. I was glad that I didn't have to perform "happy birthday" solo this year, even with Dusty and Lefty as my backup singers."


Jan 5. "October in Salem"


Jan 6. "Be Glad" "Glad we found each other. Glad we make such a good team. Glad you're so good at these arm-length photos."


Jan 7. "Amsterdam" "A very colorful city. March 2007"

Hi mom!

I added comments to the projects in the last post (Jan 7, below), for those of you who complained that you couldn't read my writing. :)

2007 Projects

A quick post tonight -- just some things I finished over Christmas vacation.

This first one is from when Greg, his dad, my dad, and I went for a walk late in the afternoon to the shore of Lake Champlain, while we were visiting in October. "Autumn on the Beach." "on the shore of Lake Champlain at Thayer's Beach October 2007"

This one is a testament to how nice it is to have someone to watch your luggage when you're in an airport and have to go to the bathroom. "I love traveling with you." "I love knowing who I'm going to be sitting next to. I love having someone to help with my luggage. I love that you keep me calm when the stress gets to me. I love having someone to watch my bags when I have to go to the bathroom. I love that we see new places together. I love that you flew to Europe to meet me. I love traveling with you!"

Another one from our trip in October, when we stopped at Ben & Jerry's. "Peace, love, and ice cream." "Ben & Jerry's" "10/07" "Waterbury, VT"

This one is partly digital -- it's from class I took over the summer, and hadn't had a chance to finish yet. "We" On the right, it says, "love to travel together" "miss the snow" "make each other laugh" "truly love each other." In the circle, it says, "2 1/2 years of marriage, 2 masters degrees, 2 cats, and 1 house later, and we're still totally in love."

This is my button tree. I finished it after Christmas (but before New Year's!), despite having started it in early December. Note to self - glue takes a long time to set and dry. And you end up having to hold everything in place with pins anyhow until the glue dries. Things were just moving around, as it's not really a flat surface.

A long overdue update

So, things are a little closer to being back to normal again. I was so relieved that my teeth have finally stopped bleeding. It was just getting more and more demoralizing, and more and more painful to keep replacing those bandages. My mouth was just so dry, and my lipped were terribly chapped. My teeth still hurt a bit -- I think they're all moving around a little to readjust. I'm still subsisting on oatmeal, soup, and chocolate pudding, but I have been able to eat a few Ritz crackers, if I am willing to endure a little pain. I'm hoping to have some spaghetti and meatballs for dinner tonight. I'm sticking to ibuprofen for the pain for now. I've got the stronger stuff, but the fainting spell really bothered me, and I don't want to have to take it again unless I really, really have to.

We got a movie from Netflix on Friday and watched it that afternoon -- Wordplay. It's a documentary about Will Shortz, the NY Times Crossword Puzzle, and the annual Crossword Puzzle championship, and it was really, really good. I was totally surprised to see what Will Shortz looked like (I listen to him every Sunday morning at 8:40 ... if I'm up), and to see appearances by Bill Clinton, the Indigo Girls, and Jon Stewart. I highly recommend it.

We didn't do much to celebrate the New Year. We're still working on cleaning out the place a bit. We thought Greg burned up the shredder the other day, as it just stopped working. But it appears to be back from the dead for now. We took a couple of old scanners to Staples to be recycled, and I sent Greg to Goodwill with a bunch of clothes that were too small.

We were still awake to welcome in 2008, partly because of all the fireworks outside (which, strangely reached a peak around 11:30). Greg opened a bottle of champagne that we had bought last year. But Greg got really, really sick right after Christmas last year and we never opened it. We had some nice mimosas on New Year's Day to polish it off. Mimosas and cornmeal pancakes. :)

I tried a couple of new recipes on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day that turned out pretty well. On the 31st, I made Chunky Two Bean and Beef Chili, which I think was the first time I've had chili that wasn't made with ground beef. (Henceforth this chili will be known as Fancy Chili.) I was intrigued by the addition of cinnamon, though I couldn't taste it in the end. I don't like spicy food, so I only used maybe 1/2 t of ground red pepper, and I went light on the ancho chili powder. (Actually, I never found ancho chili powder -- I found McCormick's Hot Chili Powder or Mexican Style Chili powder or something like that right next to the regular chili powder.) I had also never used chili beans, so I went with a "mild" version of those, too. The chili was a little thin, but that's my only complaint.

I made this Beef Stew recipe on New Year's day, in the crock pot. This was a little bit soup-y, too, but really really good. We had more beef in three days (we had spaghetti and meatballs on Sunday) that we normally do in a month. :)

In cute cat news, Lefty has taken to burrowing under blankets, sometimes while we're under them. Other times she burrows and hides behind pillows. And sometimes we just cover her with a blanket once she curls up. Greg took this picture of her recently.

We have a couple of residual styrofoam peanuts from when we were packing up Christmas packages. Dusty loves to play with them, and most of them have been broken down into smaller pieces now. With the static, they'll stick to Dusty, and we've watched her chase herself around in circles after a piece on her side. (This cat still chases her own tail sometimes.) If she can't see them, though, they don't usually bother her, so it's really funny when she gets a piece stuck on her nose (this cat also seems to always have something stuck to her nose...). We call it "doing her Lefty impression," because one of Lefty's identifying features is that half of her nose is white. (It was also funny when Lefty had a tiny piece stuck on top of one of her front paws sometime - we joked that she had gotten engaged without telling us.)

So that's what's been up. I'm planning on getting to some 2007 highlights, and some 2008 resolutions in the next week or so. Oh, and an update on all of my scrapbooking!

A little better.

Doing a little better. The bleeding has slowed to almost a stop. The only real pain is when I put the gauze back in, because it puts pressure on the wounds. I'm leaving the gauze out for a while, because it also hurts my cheeks to be so stretched.

I finally went out of the house today. We just got back from recycling a couple of scanners, and a trip to Target. I needed a new calendar for work, and I had seen that Target had pre-paid Shutterfly products (calendars, albums, mugs, etc) on clearance last weekend (and I LOVE Shutterfly). I doubted they would have any left, but I did find one! We also got more chicken noodle soup for me. Oh, and we scored a good deal on Christmas cards for next year.

So, I've been eating soup, oatmeal, and chocolate pudding. In fact, I have become quite the connoisseur (had to use spell check for that one) of chocolate pudding, and I think I could tell them apart in a blind taste test. I am quite partial to the Jello brand right now.

I feel like there was a bunch I was planning on blogging about, as I never really got to do a "highlights of 2007" or new year's resolutions or anything. Maybe later.

Ugh.

My teeth are still bleeding, even though that should have stopped by now. We were up nearly every hour last night trying to change out the bandages. The doctor recommended using tea bags this morning, and it has helped a bit. But having stuff that far back in my mouth (the tea bags or the gauze) keeps triggering my gag reflex.

I have a little less wisdom now.

I had my wisdom teeth pulled this morning. I was really, really, dreading it. One of the things I was dreading was the needle for the IV -- I was completely knocked out for the process, luckily-- because I occasionally have a tendency to pass out when thinking about needles or blood. But that part wasn't too bad; plus, I was already lying down.

Not that I didn't have a passing out spell, though. After we got home, I took a dose of the pain medicine. I got up a few hours later to try to eat some soup. I was sitting at the table, and all of a sudden, I felt nauseous, and then my vision started closing in, and my ears started plugging. I made my way to the couch, and the cold sweat began. I never actually passed out, but it was pretty close. And I slept most of the rest of the afternoon. So, no more strong pain meds until I'm ready for bed.

The pain was pretty bad earlier, but I've switched to ibuprofen for the time being, and it's bearable.

Both of the cats seemed curious as to why I was laying on the couch all day. Lefty finally got up and slept on my legs for a good couple of hours. They're so sweet.

We got a new car!

... for a few days while Greg's is in the shop. But isn't she pretty? It's been fun driving it around for the past few days. It's a bit more sluggish than Greg's Passat at lower speeds. But it shifts incredibly smoothly -- I'm impressed. I'd almost consider an automatic transmission if it shifted this smoothly. Of course it will be a while until I'm in the market for a new car.

ps - sorry to lead you on, Beth. Blogger's not cooperating tonight.

2007 Christmas Ornaments

I just wanted a record of what we got this year.

The stars, wreath, and cat ornaments are from Target. The silver picture frame is also from Target, on clearance today. The tree top star and the burgundy stars are from IKEA. The stained glass are from my mom. The Hershey's Kiss is from when we went to Chocolate World at Thanksgiving with Greg's aunt and uncle.

A summary of ... not much

It has been so nice to just be hanging out around the house lately. We haven't gotten a whole lot done -- not nearly all we had planned. But we've gotten some things done, and we've finally had a chance to sleep and relax.

I can't even recall what we've been up to lately. I'm racking my brain. I went to work for a half day on Friday, and then came home and worked on cleaning out my file cabinet. Greg and I each have two drawers, but we're trying to combine down to one cabinet (so 1 drawer each). I think what I've got now will fit in one drawer, but I'm ready to shred some more. I thought the shredder was going to burn up on Friday.

On Saturday, I did a little bit of shopping. I had found some Bath and Body Works gift cards from LAST Christmas in my car a few weeks ago (I had given up on finding them), so I went and shopped The Sale. My favorite find was some lemon lip moisturizer. I love their antibacterial soaps, but we've been trying to back off on the antibacterial stuff lately -- you know, do our part to reduce antibiotic resistance. ;) I found a few bottles to try, but we haven't found anything to replace the antibacterial stuff yet. I got some of the Method Christmas ones (from Target), and like those. (And, just realized on Friday that they say, "Never tested on reindeer." on them.)

I think we went to dinner and then Target on Saturday. We picked up a new LCD TV for the bonus room, as the one that we had in there squealed, and now that we're both spending more time in there, we decided it was time for an upgrade. We got the last one they had on sale. Actually, it looked like it had been opened and returned, so we were a bit skeptical, but it seems to be working fine.

Greg has been doing a ton of clean up work out in the garage this week. We've still got all of the cabinets (well, the ones that didn't have to be destroyed) from the kitchen remodel over the summer, so he's been arranging and hanging those, and filling them up.

Sunday was a bit of blur, partly because we slept until noon! I can't remember the last time I slept so late. (I paid for it last night; I couldn't fall asleep. I'm sure it's coming again tonight, too.) I know that I eventually went to the grocery store. And I made a huge pot of spaghetti sauce and meatballs. But the rest of the day was a bit of a blur.

Actually, today's largely a blur, too. We were going to go see a movie, but there wasn't anything we really wanted to see. We thought it would be good to get out of the house, though, (and a good idea for me to take a shower), so we went out for lunch and then another Target run. We finally found some LED Christmas lights on clearance (which is now at 75%. Sure makes 50% off look like a rip off, huh? ;) ), and a few other things on Christmas clearance.

I made a big pot of chili for dinner, and now we're just hanging out. No real plans for New Year's Eve. I'd like to do some more cleaning up before going back to work on Wednesday. And some more napping.

ps - Yes, we figured out how to block the calls on my cell phone, but it still lights up and lists the calls as "missed calls" (thus draining the battery with reminders). It's better than it ringing at midnight, but not as good as turning the thing off all together. I'm not real attached to that particular number, so, if it means a cheaper phone in a couple of weeks, I probably will change the number.

Venting

I went into work today, so nothing exciting to report from here. Just a couple of rants...

1. How many times would you call someone and get a voicemail that you don't recognize, or have someone answer the phone and tell you that you have the wrong number before you STOP CALLING? Honestly, I get more wrong number calls on my cell phone right now than I do right numbers. And this one guy keeps calling. Sometimes 3 times a night. Sometimes at midnight. Over the last month or two, I've come to recognize his number. Greg answers sometimes, I answer sometimes, voicemail answers sometimes. And other times I just see the missed calls on my phone. I'm running out of patience. Be warned: I may be changing my cell phone number in a few weeks. (The girl at Costco said that was the cheapest way to get a new phone anyway.) Or, maybe I'll just post his phone number on my blog, and we can all call at all hours. Repeatedly. Unless someone has better advice.

2. We went to dinner at this Thai restaurant downtown that we used to go to all the time. It had been a while since we'd been there, but sure enough, the waiter that INSISTS on speaking in the first person plural was there. He's been there forever, and he's a good waiter. But every time he says, "Have we decided what we want for dinner?" or "Is there anything else we want?" or "Can I get us the check?" I have to fight a giggle. Dude, until you're ready to split the check 3 ways, lay off the cute stuff.

Thanks for listening.

More Christmas

Merry Christmas from our front door!

Since we spent Thanksgiving with my family in New Jersey this year, I didn't get quite my fill of Thanksgiving leftovers, which are my absolute favorite. So, I decided we'd have a turkey for Christmas, since we stayed at home. And stuffing, corn casserole, cranberry sauce, etc. So I've cooked a bunch on Christmas Eve, and then we cooked some more on Christmas. After we had all of this planned, though, some friends who live in our neighborhood called on Christmas Eve and invited us to Christmas lunch at their house. Well, lunch turned into a "I-can't-eat-anymore-or-I'll-burst" kind of lunch, and by the time we got home, neither of us were very hungry for anything at all. So, after all of the cooking and baking, we just put it all in the fridge, and hung around the house. We had a bowl of cereal around 9 or 10, but that was about it. Pictured are Brie and Egg Strata (for breakfast), Zinfandel Spiced Cranberry Sauce (which I am positive came from Cooking Light; not sure why I can't find it on their website), the corn casserole (corn + creamed corn + sour cream + corn meal; this was a new one and I haven't tried it yet), the pretzel rollos (put rollo on pretzel. put in oven. press on m&m. easy as pie! well, not the pie where you make your own crust. it's easier than that.), and Lemon Cream Cheese bars (a recipe from Greg's family). We also had Fennel and Oat Stuffing that Greg made after I declared myself sick of looking at food. On, and we made turkey. :)

So, are they still leftovers if we didn't eat them the first time?

On Christmas Eve, we mostly just had a quiet day, with cooking and then a last minute Starbucks run. We stayed in for the night and watched "Shakespeare in Love" which we've had from Netflix for, easily, 4 months. And we ordered pizza. It was a great Christmas Eve. :) We watched the movie up in the bonus room over the garage, which I have slowly but surely been cleaning out, down to the point where we can both hang out together in there now, which is just so great. We've got a futon in there, and all of my scrapbooking stuff, plus the tv. Even if Greg just brings the laptop in, we can hang out together but separately.

Speaking of the laptop (my 5 or 6 year old s l o w Mac), we went to CompUSA this morning, as they are closing all of their stores. They had one new Macbook left (not a Pro, just a regular Macbook with the slighly faster processor), but it was only 5% off. With buying all of the new flooring for downstairs in the very near future, we decided it probably wasn't worth it right now. Plus, SC has sales tax "holidays" a couple of times throughout the year, and zero sales tax is the same as a 5% (or is it 6) discount.

Christmas itself was pretty quiet here. We decided back in the spring that our trip to England and Scotland back in March was going to be our birthday/Christmas/anniversary presents for the year. I'll have to say, it was totally worth it. We got a couple of small things for each other (most that we had explicitly asked each other for, or had outright picked out together), and opened the gifts from family. We were so thankful for all that we received, and all that we got to do this year. (And the cats were thankful for the bags and wrapping paper. I know the photos a little blurry, but I love the picture of the tail and face sticking out of the bag.)

My favorite little surprise was this little chopstick holder, since I am chopstick challenged. :) I will let you know how it works. Heck, I just found out they have a whole website dedicated to the things.

Off to try some turkey leftovers with chopsticks...

Merry Christmas! v3

A friend shared this with us today, and I thought I'd pass it along.