As a kid, my dentist’s office played music. Elevator music. You know, Old people music. Soft rock. Stuff like the BeeGees, and Journey. “Don’t stop believing” makes me think of fluoride. Why did they play that stuff, and who liked it anyway?

This week while sitting in the chair for the root canal, I was trying to stay calm so I listened to the music.

Chumbawumba, Smashmouth, The Fray, Coldplay.

I liked every song.

Elevator music. In the dentist’s office. And I liked it.
Please excuse me while I go tell the whippersnappers to get off my lawn.

Top Five Things Worse Than a Root Canal

Having four impacted wisdom teeth removed while you’re awake.
Full-mouth ex-rays and plaster molds for braces.
Needing six different dentist appointments to finally conclude that Yes you do need a root canal.
Having those six dentists appointments spread out over six months while the pain gets worse.
Hearing a lifetime of things touted as more or less fun than a root canal.

The phrase “Worse than a Root Canal” has a bad wrap. The Endontist thought it was because I hadn’t been fully numbed before the previous procedures. Really. It smelled bad, it took a long time but there really are worse things.

How about the phrase “About as fun as a Root Canal.”

Top five things that are “about as fun as a Root Canal.”

Lip Threading. I cried, seriously. IWill NEVER do that again.
Being an astheticians eyebrow-waxing-practice dummy. Years later, the skin on my eyelid still has not grown back.
Paying sixteen dollars for city parking while getting a root canal.
Blogging about Root Canals.

This is my baby. This is my adventerous little man. I wanted a cuddly baby, but that’s not who God gave me. He’s eight months old and he’s already racing away. He’s a racecar, he stops to grab my leg ever few minutes, but he doesn’t want to be picked up. Just checking tire pressure and jumping back into the the excitment of the race.

That Guy I Married laughs and sings The Bear Went Over The Mountain when I pick the baby up. I pick him up, he climbs up my shoulder until I have to hold him to keep him from launching to the floor. Then he climbs back to my lower arms and leans for me to put him down. He stands on the floor, and then reaches up to try to climb me again.

Rinse and repeat.
I guess that’s how I know that I’m the one he needs.

The bear went over the mountain to see what he could see,
but the other side of the mountain was all that he could see,
so the bear went over the mountain to see what he could see,
but the other side of the mountain was all that he could see.

The Duck climed over the Mama to see what he could see…
Happy Love Thursday

nervous for nothing
insert witty blogpost here
anxiety stinks

I want to be that person who is put-together and friendly enough to remember to casually invite people over when the opportunity comes up. I want to be that person who can see the opportunities.

I want to honor the people who keep me sane throughout the week, they don’t know it, but I need them. I want the courage to call and check up on people without burying myself in Facebook.

Eloquence. I used to have it. I used to have a Right-Brain that wandered and kept me centered at the same time.

The things that I see, that are beautiful. I want to stop long enough to notice, and stop long enough to write them down. I want to be able to find that voice that I’ve lost. That voice inside me silently recognizes the things that should be shared, but I can’t hear it.

Memory. I want to remember the feel of the baby wrapped up in the sling. The way he laughs when I swing side-to-side with him. The scent of real baby’s breath.

I can feel myself slipping in and out of mental organization. I’m losing my glasses, and losing my train of thought. The dishes aren’t getting done. Nothing is. Not nothing, just bottles and diapers, nothing else.

Escape. Part of me knows that television is not an adequate escape, or friend, or comfort. But I just need a break. Just a break, just a day, just an hour, just a minute. Please, just a minute.

I got a phone call last week, from my favorite sweet little boy young man. He’s working now, and was offered Knott’s Berry Farm tickets through work.

He thought of me (is your monitor glowing extra bright from the beam on my face?). He had offered two tickets to me and That Guy, but he agreed to go with us when I admitted that I’d rather hang out with him than take his tickets.

It was a lazy day. We walked around, we sat on a bench, we ate lunch. We talked, we didn’t talk. We took turns playing with the baby. There were moments of quiet, where his absent sisters would usually be gabbing.

He told me all about work, about the lifestyle he’s chosen for himself his first year out of high school. It’s so nice to get to know the man that he’s become.

Even if I miss that sweet little boy.

It’s been hard to adjust to living in the city, partially because I’m not trying as hard as I could. It’s frustrating when the only people I recognize on a daily basis are the homeless people. I’ve heard other transplanted mothers say that they only recognize cashiers and store owners, so I guess I’m not that different.

Friday night I realized that I hadn’t left the house since Wednesday afternoon. I ditched the sleeping boys and hopped on the bus to buy some yarn at the prominade.

On the way home, I sat down on the bus bench and was greeted by a smiling man with an eye patch. I’m working on being more social, so I said hello back and we began to chat.

He asked how I was doing, and I admitted my usual response: sleepy. He said he was going home to fall asleep in front of some Law & Order reruns. We have that much in common.

Two minutes. Within two minutes, he told me that he had just gotten out of prison, he was there for twenty-three years. After that, he took off his eye-patch and asked me if it was still swolen (yes), and then proceeded to peel back his eyelids for me to see the damage. Ack.

He then pulled out a matchbook and asked me to dial a number to see if it was working. The number was busy, and then his bus arrived.

“Good Night young lady!”
Good night, indeed.

After his bus left, I saw the woman with the high-heels and the wheel chair again.

A year ago, I was pregnant, living in a new town, starting up a new blog, and trying to keep from being lonely.

I had time, and two free hands, so I had rededicated myself to learning how to cook. How did that go?

Well.

I’ve learned to make chicken casserole with cornbread. I’ve learned to keep frozen veggies, canned soup and chicken in the house to make casserole anytime.

I’ve stopped using the make-and-take dinner service, it was wonderful, but it had become an expensive habbit.

I’ve mastered the pork pot roast, three ways.

I no longer screw up mashed potatoes. Yay!

I’m still looking for excuses to use the dutch oven. I made a pot of chili for an easter picnic. I almost didn’t get to try the chili, it disappeared so fast. Chili is an expensive dish though.

Mandajuice’s seared cauliflower recipe has made me fall in love with cauliflower. I can eat a whole head by myself.

The baby eats the single-ingredient babyfoods that I make for him. He won’t eat the combos I make for him though. I’m not sure if it’s the ingredients or the texture. Anyone know how to cook an egg and serve it to a baby?

Sixteen Things I can’t do without this summer.

1. A haircut. It’s been 3 months, HELP!

2. A nap. Preferably daily.

3. A babysitter. He’s cute, you can bring him back when he’s loud or he smells bad! Any takers?

4. Flip flops.

5. Dog park – for the days when it’s too hot to walk the dog.

6. Snow cones. I wait all year!

7. The camera. Seriously, where did this baby go? I can’t find him anywhere? I’m going to need to get the camera out every day this summer too.

8. Antidepressants. Seriously, if you’re depressed, go get some.

9. Baby Jail, I mean the playpen.

10. Cabinet Locks. It’s just that season in life now.

11. A day at the beach, it’s just not summer without.

12. A day with my best friend.

13. A day with my girlies.

14. A date. Late summer evenings when the sun is going down, and it’s still warm outside.

15. Raspberry Lime bubble water.

16. Chat’s on the phone.