Happy Birthday Dad!!

So this weekend we went to Texas because.... it was my dad's 60th birthday!

and we celebrated with a surprise party!

It was so fun, I'm so glad that I got to go home and be with my family this weekend.  It was kind of last minute that we were able to go, just a couple of weeks beforehand, and I was so excited each day leading up to our flight home.

All of that anxiety about possibly moving back to Texas was gone... it felt so. good. to be home.

I love getting to the airport borderline crazy early, so Joey and I went right after work for our evening flight. We always eat at Legal Seafood. I think it makes being there 2 hours early less painful for my more easygoing husband.

Then we were off! We got into Texas late on Friday, close to midnight. And it was great to wake up in my room.

We told my dad that we were going out to a nice dinner, just my sister - Laney, Joey, my mom and I. Then we proceeded to run around like crazy on Saturday to get everything together.

First stop - some delicious chicken nourishment at my favorite chicken establishment!

And then we got everything and set up the house.

Joey and Mr. Maul and Mr. Brown took my dad out for some drinks while we set up and everyone arrived.

And then he was surprised!

It was so fun - so many people came to celebrate my dad, because he's wonderful!

It was fiesta themed! Don't mind my spastic arm below.

John loves a good fiesta!

My dad and Mr. Kelly, one of the best sports of all time. I think he's one of the nicest people I know.

There were a ton of people, but I'm only showing family friends I've known forever, because I didn't ask everyone if I could use their pictures on my blog.

These two probably won't mind!

Doug and my mom.

Doug is so terrific. He was there early helping us set up and he was cleaning up all throughout the night. Once my parents went out of town and he stayed with us and made Elaine and I these delicious gourmet dinners when we were younger. His food is amazing, I don't know how he does it. Besides the fact he's otherwise totally amazing.

Some of my parents other great friends, the Gandalfos. I loved seeing them too! They're so wonderful.

This is one of my favorite people ever, Mrs. Brown, mom to one of the best people ever, Miss Emily Brown... who I miss a LOT! Love you Em!

Emily and I said all through high school, if our dads ever met, they would be best friends. And for some reason they didn't really meet and get to talk until our junior year, and well, we were right.

Mr. Brown, my dad, and Mr. Maul.

They sort of have a club not unlike the Three Muskateers, and always hang out together and talk about records and music and I'm not really sure... other manly things. They're really the most wonderful people.

Mr. Maul came over when my dad was taking our engagement pictures and held up all kinds of foil things to help us get good light. And well, there are so many times Mr. Brown has done something nice for me, I can't even begin to start. One time he drove me to like, Lancaster or something to a Circuit City because I insisted I wanted a small white TV with a built-in VCR that I could watch in our minivan on our drive to Connecticut.  And of course, he's so hysterical, that after spending time with Em and her fam my stomach would be sore from laughing so hard.

I love the Browns - I'm so glad they were able to be there.

The next morning my dad opened his presents early before Laner had to head back to DC.

It was such a wonderful weekend. After we dropped off Laney we made some blueberry muffins and then it was time for us to head back. Somehow I booked us on different flights on the way back to Boston, but since we got to the airport obscenely early I was able to get on Joey's flight. (See, not always so crazy.) And then we were back to our Northeast home.

It was so good to see you Mom and Dad! I miss you so much already and I love you tons.

And Happy Happy Happy Birthday Dad! I'm so lucky to be your daughter. I can't wait to see you again soon.

Monday!

OK, I'm weirdly excited for it to be Monday, but oh well, lets embrace it. This is partly because as I got out of the T this morning there was a man dressed up as a cup of salad passing out flyers for a new lunch place. I love salad!

So I can't wait to tell you all about my weekend and surprise trip to TEXAS, which was super awesome, but it will have to wait because I want to upload pictures, and I haven't yet because yesterday I passed out at about 5 pm after eating an unholy amount of chips and dip and didn't really wake up (except to try to pry my eyes open to watch Sister Wives for about 6 minutes before falling asleep again) until it was time to get ready for work this morning.

I love getting a lot of sleep.

So anyway, as you may have noticed, my posts lately have been really cyclical. They go from "I'm excited to be alive!" to "what if I get a flood of rejection letters and I look like an idiot," to "wah wah I have high school regrets" to "Happy Monday everyone!"  Well - maybe this is normal, but I'm doing my best to balance out and not be so reactive to everything around me. This is hard for me, because I'm drama queen, but I'm working on it. I focus a lot on things in the past that I regret or am embarassed about, and I view them out of context (like, I was 15, etc) and of course, I never remember the moments where I was terrific and honorable.

Right now I'm pretty insecure because of the uncertainty of my future, where we'll live, if I'll get into a program, will we settle down in our next place, and so on. This makes me bring up all of the insecurities I've had in the past and basically obsess over them. I want to enjoy today, and each new moment, but its so much easier said than done. I want to be the laid-back, easy going type, but well, lets get real. Still, I'm going to give myself a little bit more of a break... and try to see each moment as new.

Last night I got a rejection letter, (since we were out of town I didn't get it until we got back,) and it wasn't  the least bit horrifically devastating. I would go as far to say it wasn't that bad. That program and I weren't a good match... its very academically oriented with less clinical emphasis, but I applied to cover my bases. And well, I would have been happy to go there, but I won't be. And as evidence suggests, I probably won't lose sleep over it.

Alright then, hope everyone else is having a great beginning of the week!

And Thankful Thursday

so now that I have all of that out of the way, onto Thankful Thursday!

Today I'm thankful for ....

Arrid Extra Dry Antiperspirant Clear Gel in Morning Clean!

I love this deodorant. I got it a few weeks ago, and there was someone else in the deodorant aisle and we were both kind of embarrassed about it, and so I hurriedly picked this one. Then I got home and was sad that it was gel. But not for long, because its awesome! It's really effective but not so strong that it burns my underarms. I love love love it.

So today -  Thankful Thursday goes to you, Arrid!  Happy Thursday everyone!

Awkward Thursday

Sometimes I'm not sure where to draw the line between what to blog about, and what to keep private. Somethings are obvious, others less so. For example - do I want to have the kind of blog where I "put it all out there," or just highlights and some filtered lowlights? The blogs I enjoy reading are the former, because well, they're real, and I can relate. But at the same time, am I that brave? And if I do lay all of my crazy worries and fears and bad days out there, will I seem like a whiny baby who can't handle two good jobs and being on the precipice of financial stability, with a great partner in my life?  (you're probably like wait, that's not what you've been doing, you whiny baby?)
I guess maybe I'll try to be more real and honest on here - maybe it will be boring and complain-y and I'll stop, we'll see.
So what's on the agenda for today you ask? Is it another dose of residency application induced anxiety?  As a matter of fact, no... but anxiety nonetheless.
Right now I'm worried about what will happen if we move back to Texas. A lot of this has to do with the constant beating myself up about how I've acted in the past, particularly in high school. And how I felt like I never fit in. Why most of my memories are about high school right now, and not like, dental school, which was much more recent - and although stressful, was awesome because I made the best friends anyone could ask for, is beyond me. I think about what a jerk kid I was in high school, how I should have been nicer, and less like, well, a high school kid. I shouldn't have thought cheerleading was so important, I should have flossed. I don't know, I should have done a lot of things differently. I was really self-conscious, and I was always worried that I was different.  If we move back, even though I'm 10 years older, I still have a lot of the same hang-ups. Not the least of which is an uncomfortability with the Bible Belt. I'm not religious, although I do try to have some kind of spiritual pursuit. But nonetheless, that's a big part of my fear going back. In Massachusetts I feel like I fit in, some of the things that used to make me uncomfortable are a non-issue here. All of the women my age are doing similar things to what I'm doing. What if we move home and decide to have children? It wasn't even a week ago that I was contemplating the material benefits of not having children so that I could buy more things... so lets be serious, we're not there yet... but in the future.  Will they feel weird that they don't have a mom will be home with them? Will my kids be less secure because I work? Will I be able to do fun things with them and make them feel special and loved, or will I be too tired from work? Lets not even start with the can of worms in the "what if I'm too old by the time I'm ready to have kids" flavor. Right now I can barely make dinner. Last night my husband was walking around and said "what happened to our house?" in a quiet murmur to himself, because its so messy. Of course, I got super mad at him and guilted him into cleaning the kitchen just for mentioning the obvious outloud.   Then of course, what if someone from a Texas pediatric program somehow reads this and doesn't want me because not only am I obviously flawed, but I'm down on the Lone Star State? (Even though HELLO! One of those programs is one of my most hoped for ones. Please ask me for an interview.) Speaking of which...
on the upside, this anxiety is distracting me from my application anxiety, and I have the aforementioned two more applications I'm sending out during my lunch hour. I figure with this much effort some program somewhere will take me. And please, spare me the "think positive!"'s. That will earn you a positive kick in the ass.

Kitchen inspiration

I was just reading Diana's blog over at Hormonal Imbalances, and she was talking about sticking to a grocery budget and planning meals for the week. I'm inspired, especially by her meal list for the week. Last night not only did I go to the grocery store for extra stuff that I forgot to get on Sunday, but I got extra extra stuff, including Twizzler Pull-and-Peels and chips that we ate until we weren't hungry for dinner, and I found my husband eating a twizzler for breakfast this morning. (Well, I would have too but I ran out of time and forgot to grab one on my way out. Those are GOOD.) To top it off, our dinner was a ready to cook fish number from the seafood counter, and it was pretty gross and we each took a bite and threw the rest away. Good thing we were full of Twizzlers and chips.
I just have a really hard time making dinner at the end of the day. I know its no excuse, but well, I don't have a better one. I need new recipes or something.
Well, in other news - I'm applying to two more programs, and I hope to get that stuff out by today and tomorrow. I don't really care if its crazy or not - I'm just doing it.
Alright then, have a great Wednesday everyone!

Relax

Is there anything more annoying than when you're really anxious, and someone who isn't in your position, and has never been, tells you to relax? Well, there probably is, but still. It just makes me annoyed, which adds to the overall feeling of anxiety.
But you know what calms me down? Cat videos like this one:




We all have our vices.

So I mentioned  that yesterday at the bridal shower I talked to someone about the application process for pediatric dental residency. It was really nice of her to answer my questions, and she's fun and normal, and went to a great program. That being said, it wakened the beast. The one that makes me want to check all of the student websites about who's hearing from which program, and it made me freak out that I'm not competitive and I won't get in anywhere. And thanks, friends and family, who love me and think its impossible that I won't get in somewhere, but trust me, its a possibility.
This morning I was in the shower trying to breathe in the good, breathe out the bad. I think I learned that in the one yoga class I attended in college. It sort of helped, albeit temporarily. On the T this morning I got so worked up I almost burst into tears. I mean, oh. my. god. Elizabeth, calm down. I told myself I have done the best I can do. I just don't know what's worse - the fear of rejection or actually being rejected.

Alright then, maybe I should stop this here, this post is taking a turn for the worse into crazytown... and well, that's a ride I should spare you all from. If you need me I'll probably be there for the rest of the day.

Weekend Tidbits

This weekend we continued our tradition of going to super nice restuarants straight from work, sitting at the bar, drinking, then ordering food almost as an afterthought. That's us, keeping it classy.

Photo credit

Friday we went to Craigie's on Main... you may remember that we tried to go there the weekend before, but it was too crowded. Well, as we are Gentiles, and this last Friday Yom Kippur began at sundown, we had no problem finding a seat this time.
I didn't take any pictures because well, it didn't take long for me to forget we'd brought the camera. Whoops. I swear, I don't really get that toasted on Friday evenings, its just I have one drink and get to talking, and I forget about the blog a little bit. This week our deep convo was:
Me: "If we don't have kids we could like, buy more stuff."
Joey: "Yes, that's true, but Elizabeth, children are our legacy. If we don't have kids, then when we die, that's it."
[I pause to consider how much I could consider my sister's future children as a continuation of my own genes.]
Me: "Yeah, OK."
So, I guess we will have children someday. And no, not just for our legacy, because I will actually like, love them and take care of them, etc.
ANYway, we ordered burgers, which you can only get on the bar menu, and they were awesome. They were also huge. This inevitably leads to me not being able to eat the whole thing, yet at the same time, eating more than I should. Then the waitress (or bartender, as of late,) comes to clear our plates and its like, "didn't you like it?!", and I'm like, "Oh it was delicious, I just can't eat so much." And she's like, "are you sure, you barely touched it." and I have to be defensive and like, "no I DID, it was HUGE." Then I throw in an extra "it was soooo gooood." So then I feel bad because I ate too much, but then I've insulted the waitstaff by not eating more. I mean really, I feel like saying "don't you see how big these things are? you serve them every five minutes." Half of the burger is probably enough for two people. Isn't eating half enough? Someday, I'm going to have a really good comeback to nip this annoying dialogue in the bud.
Saturday I did the laundry of course, and sort of half heartedly cleaned out house. I was cleaning our bathroom and forgot to shut the shower doors and maybe Leon drank some bathwater with Scrubbing Bubbles in it, but he seems alright. Then Saturday night we went to Tangierino in Charlestown.

Photo Credit

Joey somehow used his supernatural parallel parking abilities to get our car into a spot right in front too. Again, none of our own pictures, I know, lame.

Photo Credit

Its very cozy and romantic on the inside, so that was a bonus. The food was pretty good too. Joey had a lamb dish that I think had the word Sultan in it - fancy! And I had the vegetable couscous. I always love a good vegetable medley.  I sort of expected some belly dancing, especially since I saw the dancer walking around... but she didn't dance. Maybe she did after we left. And well, also, not to be a Debbie Downer, but there was a picture of a woman wearing a burka over our table, like, not the fun belly dancing veil, and well, I suppose I just find that depressing... yeah- that does sound Debbie Downer-ish.  Well, I'll go ahead and maintain it isn't my fault some countries haven't made it into the new millenium. Anyway, it was fun and romantic. And it was good to go to Charlestown... we never go over there. And, I can't wait to see the movie.

Sunday Joey watched the Cowboy game and I went to a bridal shower for our friend, and Joey's former co-resident, Helen. It was good to meet her friends, one of whom is a pediatric dentist and really nice. She answered some of my questions about the application process. Then I as luck would have it I won a game - that you don't even really have to "play." A timer went off as Helen opened my gift and I won a fall scented candle! I was so happy, and also thankful to Crate and Barrel for using all that tape on the box. I'm definitely repeating that game in the future if I throw another shower. Then we got parting cupcakes and candy. All in all a good time.

I hope you all had a great weekend too, and good Mondays to all.

Monster

I think we have a monster under our bed:

Ohhh my cat is so cute. Anyway - this week was a really good one at work so far, especially at my community health center. Everyone came to work, albeit some more readily/on-time than others, but we weren't as short-staffed as usual, making the days much more smooth. So I don't have much to say - other than I want to post when things are good at work too. Goooo work! Well, I guess Becky and I did see a man urinating in our parking lot today before joining his other transient friend for some more swigs of booze in back street. Well, what can I say... keeps things interesting.
Today I was driving back from Dorchester and I saw a little boy running from the bus to his mom while trying to keep his big backpack on. It was so precious. I have to say, part of me got a little sad because I thought about how dangerous that neighborhood is, and I can't help but wonder how he'll grow up and what will happen to him. He was probably only 5 or 6, who knows, hopefully they'll move. Most of the violent crimes there are committed by male teenagers... like 15-16 year olds. Alright, I'll save further elaboration about that for another day.
I guess I should make dinner then so we don't have dinner at 10pm like we did on Monday when I insisted we have twice baked potatoes baked in the actual oven.  I wish I could say that will never happen again but I tend to make the same mistakes over and over.
Goodnight all - hope your Wednesday was great too!

Tuesday's Teeth: How to Manage a Knockout

Warning - bloody picture below.



So today I want to talk about how to manage an avulsed permanent tooth.  Obviously kids lose baby teeth all the time, and if those are avulsed, or knocked out, its not likely that we'll reimplant them. Doing so can cause the primary tooth to fuse with the bone, or ankylose, and cause problems for the eruption of the permanent tooth. .
Children most often will have an avulsed tooth at home or at school, and its usually a front tooth on the upper jaw, aka a maxillary anterior tooth. These teeth tend to erupt in an anterior direction towards the lips, and this splayed eruption pattern predisposes these teeth to avulsion. If this ever happens with your child, time is critical, and if you can manage a few of the primary steps at home immediately after the accident then it will considerably help with the outcome.

 Photo Credit

So first things first - find the tooth. If the tooth is dirty, rinse it under cold water. Do not scrub the root. You do not want to cause any further damage to the periodontal ligament, or PDL, which is the ligament that adheres the tooth to the bone. There will be PDL cells on the root, and you do not want them to be removed by vigorous cleaning.

Photo Credit

Second, reimplant the tooth. I realize this might be scary, and you might not be sure which way the tooth should face. Hopefully your child's adjacent tooth will be erupted and not damaged, and can serve as a guide. If it is a maxillary anterior tooth, there will be a concave side and convex side, the concave side should face the tongue/palate, and the convex side should face the lips. The above picture is a side view, the left side is the tongue/palate side, and the right side is the lip side. Hold the tooth by the crown only, not the root. Do your best to reimplant the tooth, because if this is done immediately, the prognosis for the tooth is much more favorable. Have your child bite gently to hold the tooth in place.

If you're unable to reimplant the tooth, store it in either milk, or something called Hank's Balanced Salt Solution, or HBSS. I realize you probably don't have this at home, but you can purchase something like this:

You can click here to read more about the product.

Ideally, the tooth should be reimplanted within the first 15 minutes. If the tooth is out of the mouth for 60 minutes it is unlikely that reimplanting the tooth will be successful.

Third - get to a dentist ASAP. He or she will evaluate the tooth, reimplant if necessary, and likely place a splint to hold the tooth in place.

Photo Credit

The dentist may elect to do root canal therapy on the tooth at this visit as well. The trauma sustained to the tooth makes in unlikely for the tooth be remain viable, and root canal therapy will prevent necrosis and/or infection of the nerve and blood supply inside of the tooth. Your dentist will follow your child and determine how long the splint should be worn, and when root canal therapy should be initiated.

I should point out that this same protocol is followed for adults, so if you're playing softball with someone and this happens, or you get into a bar room brawl, follow the same steps.

Happy Tuesday everyone!

Daily Gifts

Yesterday after my first patient I came back to my desk to find presents... you know, just for no reason.

TOTALLY made my day.

On the left you'll see some socks with teeth on them from my bomb dig codentist Mara, on the right, a reusable Au Bon Pain coffee mug so that I can get coffee for a dollar, from our hygienest, Kathy.

Thank you girlfriends!

Oh wait, you want a close up of the socks? Here!

See how some teeth have cavities, so they're sad? HA! Love them. That was the best Monday I've had since I can remember. AND Leon made Monday's Pets On Furniture. I would hi-five myself but then it would just be me clapping.

In other news - Happy Birthday to another one of my good friends - Carolina!

Happy Birthday Carolina!

I hope that you have a great day and the sun is shining in Seattle!

Land sakes alive!

HE MADE IT! My Leon is famous!

http://www.desiretoinspire.net/

Scroll down to "Monday's Pets on Furniture."
I couldn't be prouder.

Divine Providence

We had such a fun weekend. On Friday Joey came to pick me up at work - and we went to Cuchi Cuchi. I'm usually reluctant to go there because well, the past two times we've gone we've been pseudo kicked out for staying too long. Initially we tried to go to Craigie's on Main, and after we saw we'd have to wait to sit at the bar, we bounced out and went to Cuchi Cuchi by default. Well, apparently, we just need to sit at the bar, and our previous problems are solved. The bartender made Joey a special drink, and I had some cocktails from the menu. These things are amazing. Usually I'm half in the bag after the first one, which only encourages me to order more.  Then before I knew it I was lip synching to songs I didn't know and it was time to get the check.

Photo credit

 Afterwards we decided to get ice cream at JP Licks, our favorite... and I felt like, so cool that we went out and did multiple things... then I looked at my watch, and it was 8:47 pm. Most people weren't even out on the town yet... people were probably still taking their pre-going out naps, or whatever it is they do to stay out so late. Oh well, we were in bed by 10, which I mean please, is a blessing as far as I'm concerned.

Saturday I picked up Joey from work and we decided to go to Providence for dinner. We wanted to take a long(ish) drive in our new ride, and I'm trying to be spontaneous, so I brought a bag of clothes for Joey and proposed the idea. This is the kind of thing where I would look at Joey as if he was nuts if he asked if I wanted to go to Providence after a long week, then a long Saturday of working, but Joey is always down for a good time and something new, and so we went.

We had dinner at the Old Canteen. I loved it... the waitstaff was really nice, you don't always get that in Boston (see above.) The inside has not been redecorated since the late 50's, which I also loved.

Here we are - don't mind that I look uptight. I always want our picture taken, then when the waitress takes it I get self-conscious.

 Sunday we had a fun day of window shopping on Newbury. Joey tried on coats at Barbour, his favorite Newbury St. pasttime, and I sat in their comfortable chairs. Delightful! Then we managed to declutter our house a little bit, which is a small miracle.  Having our new car means we want to take it everywhere, which leads to fun weekends. Now that's a good purchase, I say!

and last but not least - Happy Birthday to my dear friend Toni!

Toni is on the far right.

I miss you a lot lady friend! I'm thinking of you today and I hope your birthday is great. Lots and lots of love.

Twitter

I refuse to be too old and dumb to know how to use twitter, but at the same time, I don't know how to use twitter.
Why are there # signs? What exactly am I supposed to be tweeting? Is it just like fb status updates? Then some people, like the kardashians, for example, tweeting pictures all the time. Am I supposed to do that?
And is asking all these questions indicative that I'm too old and dumb to use twitter?
What is with all of the shorthand? Will younger generations know how to spell?
I don't know, I need a glass of wine.
OK, got one.
I used to love fb, but my status updates seemed to indicate that I hate my job... whereas now I just post on my blog where I think (/hope) it puts everything into a more comprehensive context, because I love my jobs. This is just so. much. internet. Is it too much? 
I think the twitter thing might be better if I had an iphone, because it seems like something you do on the go, am I wrong?

Alrighty then. Joey and I are watching the Cowboys vs Redskins. I should probably try to follow it so that I have something to talk to my patients about. Except they'll want to talk about the Patriots. Dang it.

Just a thank-you

I wanted to write a September 11th post but I couldn't do it. I don't know why... maybe because I don't think I can put into words how much I appreciate the police officers and fire fighters who sacrificed their lives, running into those buildings to save people when they knew they might not come out. I can't imagine that kind of courage. Let alone the soldiers that are overseas right now fighting for a cause they believe in.
I'll spare you what I was doing on Sept. 11, 2001... but I will say that it was the beginning of one of the lowest points in my life. At the same time, I don't think that I really deserve to have that as a low point, compared to so many families who were affected by the loss of loved ones in the planes, towers, or as first responders. Everything seemed to be coming undone and it was as if the world was off of its axis. It was awful.
I think it makes us feel a unique one-ness as Americans, experiencing that kind of tragedy... knowing that those firefighters and police officers didn't know those people in the towers, but ran in to help them because of their sense of duty, just like it could have been me up there, and the firemen or cops around the street the same ones who rushed in to the WTC that day.  Of course, these men risk their lives all the time for people like me... but I guess what I'm trying to say is how much I appreciate it.  So I would like to throw that out there into the universe.  I have infinite amounts of respect for people that will do their best to keep me and my loved ones safe, thank-you.

Thankful Thursday

Old picture, but oh well, that was a fun day.

Today I'm thankful for:

1. Joey

2. Selling our car

3. That my parents answer the phone each of the five times I excitedly call them each night, like for example, when I think Joey is downstairs selling our car

4. Underground garage parking

5. My grandma for knowing the answers to our legal questions as we called her immediately after selling our car to make sure we didn't do anything illegal, even though it was probably too late anyway (we're all clear)

6. Fall is here and I can wear my boots! (and you are correct if you noticed this was a separate post until I just realized I could consolidate..)

I really love these boots, and when I got them last year it was already January... which means wet and rainy and will ruin your boots. I can't wait to wear them all over the place. YES! (fist pump.)

Just another day at the office

So as you may remember, I work in two offices... one of which has tried my already tried and tired patience until just about the last drop has been squeezed out of my impatient little head. Now most of the time I walk around angry and frustrated while I'm at work.
Today for example, I came to work a little early so that I could catch up on paperwork. No need to do that it seems, as the parking lot is still gated and locked shut. I wait for 15 minutes for the custodian to open it up. No problem really, I sort of expected this. Not mad yet.
I come in, its 15 minutes before the start of the first appointment. We have no one at the front desk to check in the patients. She doesn't come until almost 10 minutes into the first appointment time. My first patient is checked in at 9:10 am, for a 30 minute appointment. This means 1/3 of the appointment time was hypothetically spent in the receptionist's car as she makes her way to work. This is not unusual, but I do find this frustrating. And so it begins. My patient does not speak English, which again, is typical, and does not make me angry. I do have to go looking around the office for my assistant who is sitting in the lab, fanning herself, and the frustration increases just a titch. When I tell her we have a patient, she snaps, "I'm feeling faint so you're just going to have to give me a second with the fan." A second assistant hurriedly plugs in the fan. I offer to get her water. She says she wants her own water from the fridge. I bring it, she tells me its the wrong one, but she'll drink it anyway. And so here we have it. I haven't even started the day and I'm already ready to walk out the door.
I find another assistant to translate for me, and finish the appointment by myself.
Why not insist she come in and help, and by help I mean, do her job? Well my friends, because believe it or not, it isn't worth it. This particular assistant loves a good fight, and its only 9:30 in the morning by this point. I leave the room for her to clean, and she comes in and explains that she has anxiety related to childcare. Oh yeah, that makes sense. I guess if ever we get anxious about something we should anticipate a complete inability to perform our jobs. Good thing no one else has any problems, this place would have to totally shut down.
I know I need to be patient, but I don't need to be a doormat. I'm getting tired of trying to lead by example, and I'm not their boss so I can't really do anything about their behavior. Nevermind the million other reasons this is really annoying, like being in school for 100 years and how I might as well get paid in pennies to be at this clinic.
So... why do I work here? It used to be that I really loved the community and I felt like I was doing something of value. Well, I've since learned that the services ain't any less valuable at my other office because hard-working people pay for them. And now... I don't know. I still like the community, but I'm burning out. One of my coworkers here is the best, and our director is so amazing. Plus he gave me a job right out of my residency when no one else wanted to hire me. The rest of the dentists were trained elsewhere and its difficult for me to communicate with them and be on the same page regarding patient care... and the day to day seems to be getting harder and harder. Guess we'll have to see if it gets better in the next few months. I hope so.

Watch Out Wednesday

Leon's favorite game is a combination of being chased all over the apartment, then running behind this chair and leaping at you when you slowing look over the side. He won't jump until he sees your eyes... which is hard to appreciate with the camera. He's so cute.
Happy Wednesday!

And Sold!

To the man from New Hampshire with a flat bed trailer!

That's right... my husband successfully sold our car in just under 24h. I mean, who could say no to this face?

Oh navy blue Audi, I will miss you.  As a hand-me-up from my very glamorous cousin Sarah, I was so excited to hear that you would be our car in Boston. I think I squealed at the prospect of driving such a fancy car. An AUDI! That's German engineering!

 We had our ups and downs, as you're a manual transmission, (or should I say jolts and stalls, ha!) and it took me a long, long time to commit to driving you. I'll never forget when I had to go to a job interview in Worcester all by myself, and drive alone for the first time... then on the way back I missed the exit for the Mass Pike and thought taking Rte 9 back to Boston would be the same. Super not the same. We stalled at every single red light on the way back to Boston... I would approach every intersection and chant "stay green, stay green, stay green." and try not to tear up as the light changed... everyone honked at me, there was some yelling (and I may or may not have stuck my middle through the sunroof a few times, sorry Grandma,) but after that, I had it. And now our new car is a manual transmission... I'm a changed woman!

I will miss you little car. Enjoy your new home.

And now, the Audi through photo memories:

Our first winter in Boston 2008.

Scrub a Dubbing Spring 2010...

doing the interior ourselves.

Marblehead Staycation Spring 2010.

OK maybe we don't have that many pictures of fun memories with the car... but I'll remember them anyway. Goodnight little car, and good-bye.

Laborde Day Weekend

We decided that from now on, Labor Day Weekend shall be known as Laborde Day Weekend, at least at our house.

Anywho... supposedly we were supposed to be hit by Hurricane Earl... so Joey and I did what any conscientious people would do when deciding whether or not to go out to a bar to meet friends, and that is predict the hurricane's pattern based upon the swirl pattern on our cat. This is easy. First you just get the cat:

Then look at the swirl pattern on his fur as you stretch him out. By this method we were able to surmise that we would just get a little bit of rain, and that's it... so off we went.

What's that? Oh, of course it was accurate.

So then I got to see my friends Caitlin and Brianna for a drink...

And hang out with my own Joey. Sometimes we end up talking to each other a lot because we're shy, and think that other people feel like they have to talk to us. Well, maybe that's mostly me. I'm lucky I have a built-in friend in my life.

Then for the rest of the weekend we relaxed...

And got our old car ready to sell/Joey did all of the research and important parts. But it was MY suggestion to take pictures in front of the park so that it would look maximally classy. See, I contribute.  Anyone want to buy a car?

It was a great weekend... I guess I'm ready to go back to work now. No Tuesday's Teeth today on account of the holiday. I hope everyone else had a great weekend too.