No Needles, Please!

I had a dental appointment today. I hate dental appointments. Of course I'm probably part of the general population who would rather spend an afternoon pulling stubborn weeds from parched earth in scorching 120-degree weather than sit in a chair with their mouth open wide as some stranger pokes and prods about inside. But unfortunately I was not presented with a choice, except the choice to have a filling or wait several months and pay 10x more for a crown once my tooth had rotted to the core. Needless to say, with my job going to half-time in 2 months, I opted for the cheaper filling.

I had already rescheduled once and knew I couldn't put it off any longer. When I reached the office, right on time, I was shown to the plastic blue automated lounge chair, a fuschia purple paper bib was clipped around my neck, and I sat and waited. And waited. And waited some more. They were a little backed-up that day. (Remind me not to make my next appointment on a Friday afternoon!)

I have a strange way of coping with dental appointments. I try to sleep as little as I can the night before so I will be really tired when I come. Then I can lie in that chair in a semi-comatose state and not be alert and aware of every single thing that's happening (and now she is scraping away at the root. . .). I had managed to get very little sleep all week long, so the 30 minutes I waited were a welcome time to almost doze as I listened to a dental assistant explain a rather complicated method of taking care of one's teeth to the patient next door.

Finally my dentist turned up. She is a very sweet Indian doctor who is always reassuring me. Being as petrified of anything to do with drills and crowns and fillings as I am, I rely on my added bonus of looking about 10 years younger than I really am, and try to look as scared as I can, so that everyone will have pity on me. At this office, everyone is very sympathetic, so while the procedures aren't pleasant, at least the people are.

The worst part about fillings and crowns is the numbing needle. I'm not exactly sure why it is necessary to do at least 2 injections (and often 3 or 4), but I suppose the dentist needs to numb all the necessary places. The second worst part is when they drill near a nerve. This was going to be a routine filling, though, so I didn't anticipate any painful drilling. Just that needle, though, was enough to make me nervous. I could handle the scraping, the drilling, the filling, and keeping my mouth open for 2 hours straight. What I couldn't handle was that needle.

First, my dentist poked around inside my mouth, probably to determine which tooth needed attention and to evaluate how she should proceed. Not only did she have a face mask over her mouth, she also had a plastic face guard (like the kind welders wear, only this one was see-through plastic), so when she mumbled something to me, I looked up hopefully and nodded in agreement. I had absolutely no idea what she had just said.

As she walked away, the thought suddenly hit me, "I think she said we won't need to do any numbing!" I was hesitantly excited but unsure whether I had interpreted her mumblings correctly. I didn't need to wait much longer to find out, for a minute or two later, she reappeared, I opened my mouth wide, the dental assistant sat on the other side of my head and held the suction tube in my mouth, and she began to drill away. No needles. No numbing. No pain.

In about 7 minutes the procedure was over. It was the most painless filling I had ever had.

Did your mother ever tell you, "Don't worry about it now, worry about it when it's over! It might not be half as bad as you think it will be."? Mine told me that, repeatedly, as I grew up. It was a lesson I needed to re-learn again today as the anticipation of the needle kept me from enjoying my day and being grateful that I have a dentist who works to save my teeth instead of wasting my money. Worry about unnecessary things kept me from being grateful that I have found a place to go where I feel comfortable and that I have the money to pay so that my teeth can be preserved as long as possible.

Isn't it neat to see how God works things out in our lives? I'm a firm believer that He works in even the little things and today was just one example of how He takes care of us and gives us little surprises, even when we forget to step back and recognize them. Unselfish love.

3 Minutes Can Save You Two Dollars!

On our way to the airport this morning, we came upon the bridge toll. My sister and I were scanning the signs to see how much the toll was, when we noticed that it changed, depending on the time. From 4 am to 10 am it was $6 and after 10 am it changed to $4 per car. We looked up at the huge digital clock displayed across the toll booths. 9:58 am.

Glancing to the right, I suddenly noticed a line of cars parked on the shoulder. "Pull over!" I yelled. Our car swerved onto the shoulder, then we slowly backed up to reach the front of the line. Other commuters, also with a couple of minutes to spare, had decided to save a couple of dollars and hang out here until the clock turned 10. We turned on our emergency lights and waited.

Two minutes later, the shoulder began to clear rapidly as cars joined the constant rush to the city. We merged as well, smiled at the toll booth cashier, and handed him $4. Pretty neat!

Fava Beans & Other Blessings

I am super exhausted. But I'm happy. Today has been long but rewarding. Asides from a slightly irritating fruit fly buzzing around in front of my monitor, I am content with life at this moment (don't ask me on Monday morning how I'm feeling!). I'm also grateful that this week flew by and I have two more full days left in my weekend! Here's a few of my fun blessings from today:

1. I have air conditioning. In sky-rocketing weather, I am grateful to have a/c at home and a/c in my car. I can't imagine having to rely on a fan to keep me cool!
2. My apartment is clean and tidy (more or less). I'm excited because I spent two evenings laboriously sorting through all my clothes and storing all the winter clothes and ones that don't fit. Now my closet is much neater and it is easier to keep the rest of my tiny apartment tidy.
3. We went out to eat at a Chinese restaurant with good friends. I loved the crispy eggplant and deep fried sesame tofu. I think I could live on Chinese food and be perfectly content. Not exactly sure that egg-flower soup was vegetarian, even though they assured us it was, but it was still delicious. And I had two wontons with sweet-and-sour sauce!
4. I found a red top for $5 at Walmart that perfectly matches a brown skirt with red flowers that my mom found for me in the free-room.
5. I had a lovely evening chatting with my mom and sister while I ate my supper at 10 pm. Leftover ful medames (Egyptian fava beans) with lemon juice and olive oil, scooped up with whole wheat pita bread. Yummmmm! I just hope my stomach doesn't rebel and that I can sleep well tonight!

An Award

It works!

1. Sum up your blogging philosophy in 5 words. Emotion, laughter, genuine, creative, wordy!

2. Pass this award on to 5 others. Unfortunately I have very few followers, so I shall just thank LaVonne for her award.

On The Days When You Don't Feel Like It, Thank God

I love reading articles on Yahoo!, so here's a fun link about why diets fail. http://health.yahoo.net/experts/joybauernutrition/4-reasons-diets-fail

Sprinkles of Blessings:

• The airconditioning works in my office again
• I bought a really cool flashlight at Walmart that is so bright, it's almost like a spotlight!
• Someone bought the fridge that I bought and changed my mind about, yesterday
• I cooked ful medames (Egyptian beans) for the first time today and it worked!
• I have blueberries, grape tomatoes, and sweet baby grapes to enjoy
• My best friend inspired me to make strawberry fruit sauce and it tastes absolutely delicious over granola for breakfast!
• I had time to do laundry :)

STOP SPAM

Do not post any unsolicited spam comments on this article or on this blog. Don't waste my time or yours.

Soraya M.

I just finished watching "The Stoning of Soraya M" on Netflix. This film is rated R for a reason, it gets quite graphic at one point when the actual stoning takes place, so I would recommend you fast-forward it if you need to. The film is one that I will add to my shortlist of films that bring social awareness of real-life issues and atrocities that are facing minorities today.

"The Stoning of Soraya M" is based on a true story. While I will not go into much detail here, I will say that the main plot involves a woman who is accused falsely of adultery because her husband wants to marry a young girl. The woman is pronounced guilty and then stoned. The film takes place in Iran in the 1980s.

Watching something like this made me both very sad and very angry. I see, over and over again, how certain cultures oppress women and treat them as worthless. I see how Satan uses people to ruin the lives of innocent women and children, then stands back and laughs. I see how terrified the woman caught in adultery must have been, and how relieved she must have been when Jesus said He did not condemn her and no stones were thrown.

As ever, I feel helpless. How can we, who live in such an affluent and influential country, make a tangible difference? I don't know.