Projects are a-brewin’

Busy with finals right now, but more will come later including my first time gardening (what’s this with me and becoming all domestical-like?) and my goals for that as well as putting into life one of the TED talks I saw recently (just because I can). So stay tuned!

New year, new theme

2009 holds a lot of promise. There are trips and bridesmaidsing in a wedding and more trips and hopefully money.

Rant: I hate this cold weather, I swear to god if this summer isn’t so scalding hot that I have to peel my own skin off to cool off I’m going to have to lose it, and that’s never pretty. So I am being reasonable right now WeatherGods, but if you guys don’t seriously get your shit together I might have to go up there and kick someone’s ass!

You know what I love?

Come home after a weekend away and finding the fridge door open and no cold in the fridge at all. SIGH.

You Learn Something New Every Day

I didn’t get any sleep last night. Plagued by dreams relating to the not-so-distant past. Not-so-pleasant dreams but not something you could qualify as a nightmare, so here’s a new word for you guys. It was a lifemare. I’d rather have had a nightmare.  *sigh*

Priority

On the bus this morning. I get on and it’s almost empty, notably one woman is sitting in a priority sitting area. I pick the comfiest spot. Someone with a stroller is getting on at the next stop. I move, I was in the priority seating, let them have their choice of which one is easier to get in to. Next stop, an elderly and clearly overweight lady barely hauls herself onto a priority seat. Next stop, a feeble granma gets help lifting her walker onto the bus, the elderly and overweight lady looks at the other girl sitting in priority seating. She doesn’t budge. I guess her slim figure and obviously non-disabled frame is too assed to bother. The old lady gets herself off the seat and offers it to the walker-lady, obviously a great deal of effort (and looks like maybe pain as well) is involved.  She stands before getting off a couple of stops later. The woman is still lounging in the priority seat. What a piss off. It’s called priority seating for a reason bitch.

Be My Friend

I have so many things I want to talk about. But I don’t want to talk about them. So here’s this instead.

Breathe Me by Sia

Help, I have done it again
I have been here many times before
Hurt myself again today
And, the worst part is there’s no-one else to blame

Be my friend
Hold me, wrap me up
Unfold me
I am small
I’m needy
Warm me up
And breathe me

Ouch I have lost myself again
Lost myself and I am nowhere to be found,
Yeah I think that I might break
I’ve lost myself again and I feel unsafe

Be my friend
Hold me, wrap me up
Unfold me
I am small
I’m needy
Warm me up
And breathe me

Be my friend
Hold me, wrap me up
Unfold me
I am small
I’m needy
Warm me up
And breathe me

Grab Some Pliers

My blog isn’t the most popular in the world, coming in just under dooce or worldwidewatercooler (some of my personal favs) at an average of under 10 views a day for the past month (I know! What an explosion in hits!). Part of the reason for this is that I don’t actually take it seriously enough to commit to posting something interesting on a semi-regular basis. The other part of the reason being that when I do commit to writing something it usually turns out to be uninteresting.

On the other hand, because I’m vain I’ve been checking my blog stats on a near daily basis and amongst the “braces” and “rpe” searches the one interesting search term that people have used to get to my blog has been “how to remove your braces yourself”. On a blog of 10 hits a day at least one person gets to it by trying to pry away their braces!! I don’t know about you but I find that kind of mind boggling.

Having experienced the urge myself I can definitely see how such a thought might arise, however, considering the fact that you could seriously injure yourself doing this (thus requiring even more painful dental and possibly facial reconstruction) I would strongly advise against it. Braces is a tough and painful experience to go through but it gets easier over time.

My first month was hell on a popsicle stick with some depression and massive pain.
My second month was hell on a popsicle stick with some massive pain.
My third month was hell with some massive pain.
My fourth month was pretty painful.
My fifth month was bearable.
My sixth month was ok.
Do you see the receding suckyness trend here?

Nonetheless, getting through that first month (a thanks to goes out to The Parents and the He for the massive and invaluable support) was an experience. So here are some tips and tricks to help you get through it without resorting to desperate measures such as pliers:

-THINK before you decide on braces. It’s a major commitment of time money and emotional/moral distress. My dentist gave me a vague report of what he was going to do(without getting into the details about the PAIN) after taking the initial molds, which very clearly stated the estimated time to treatment. If you are expecting to go on any extended vacation (like I did on my two month stint to europe) then expect that vacation time to be added to your time. Basically any time that you’re not available to go to the dentist every two weeks extends that treatment. On the safe side also patch on another couple of months for good measure. This is the amount of time you’ll have braces. After that you get a retainer for a year. Keep that in mind.

- Plan for it. Don’t go on a modeling photoshoot the day you get braces. If your confidence was anything like mine you’ll feel ugly. I couldn’t look at myself in the mirror for about the first six months. At least not with my mouth in a smile.  Don’t plan to have a jaw breaker contest with your friends the day you get braces. Don’t plan on eating chewy stuff. You get the idea.

- Make sure your friends know. If you just show up with braces to a party you will be the talk of the party. This may or may not be pleasant and result in encouragement. When I told my friends a lot of them were against it and said I was doing myself a huge disfavour. I did it anyways. The friends I didn’t tell ended up staring at my mouth whenever I talked for the first month. Expect this.

- Stock up on some boost. For the first week you will be living off this. I tried many different meal-in-a-bottle type deals, especially during my first month. Most of them were disgustingly chalky. This one was bearable. Another thing you could do to keep your energy without having to chew is make a power shake. Regular smoothies are good but they don’t provide you with a lot of energy that will keep you going through the day, their energy is more along the lines of oh-my-god-we-do-this-NOW kind of deal. The way to make your shake last through the day is to add protein powder. Take some soy milk (because it doesn’t curdle when you add fruit), a frozen banana, some honey and any other fruit or jam you want to add, and get some protein powder from those bodybuilding stores. Blend. Aside from being good for you the protein powder also provides a nice bonding agent for the shake making it extra smooth.

- Get some pain killers. Tylenol and I were goood buddies for the first few months. I am overly sensitive to pain so my doctor was kind enough to prescribe the extra-special type. Fortunately I didn’t have to use it (too often).  DO NOT get oragel. This is what my dentist recommended, but since this a topical analgesic and your pain is inside your jawbone I didn’t really find it hit the spot. What it did do on the other hand was make my tongue to numb so that I would rip it up on the braces instead.

- Carry a knife with you. For the fruit and veggie lovers, you won’t be able to bite into anything including fruit for the first couple of months. Having a knife makes your life SO much easier. Feel like an apple? Sure thing, let me just get my blade out!

And finally….

-Think of the beautiful smile you’re going to have when it’s all done, and the awesome food you’re going to be able to rip those shiny teeth into! Hang in there! I feel your pain but don’t worry, it’ll get better. Setting a goal like this makes you feel better when you’re completely devastated (or starving). It also reminds you of why you’re doing all this in the first place.

Good luck!

A Starvation Situation

As some (most?) of you know, I have been going through a bit of a situation lately. This has left me with zero appetite.

Over the last two months I had gained a bit of weight , thus putting me into the muffin-top category (ugh, I know) due to frequent healthy and hearty home cooked meals and very little exercise. I do not like being a muffin top, I also don’t like going to the gym/running/walking/swimming/etc alone.

This situation of mine has seemed to reverse my appetite into the extreme opposite. Although my brain and stomach realize that to function like a semi-normal human being I need food, my appetite is non existent. The amount of food I have eaten over the last two weeks is roughly equal to the amount of food I would usually eat in two days a month ago. Let me give you a little example:
Yesterday I had two spoonfuls of soup for dinner.Today I had two bites of some (admittedly) delicious salmon that my dad cooked for me, and for lunch had a single bite of a walnut cookie.  Not exactly the healthiest way to live and feel good about yourself. Although this has significantly helped the muffin-topedness I constantly feel like my stomach is empty and although I get hungry, as soon as I try to take action to alleviate this condition I end up staring at the plateful of food and feeling no desire to eat with a slight tinge of repulsion at the food(whatever it may be). I force down two of three bites, thus temporarily alleviating the hunger pains and leave until the hunger becomes unbearable again.

I realize that this is not healthy. I force myself to eat something, and only get about two of three bites in.

So to initiate some commentary on this blog: What do you do when you’re feeling down and it’s affecting your eating? How do you make yourself like food again?

Whining

I feel really shitty:( This month has sucked on an un-imaginable level.

Brace Yourself – Part 6 – The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly

The Good

-You’ll have straight teeth in the end.

The Bad

-It’ll hurt a lot.

The Ugly

-Having straight teeth for life is a lifelong commitment. Something my dentist didn’t tell me until the very end and then was all “oh you didn’t know?” was that AFTER however many years you have braces on, you get a retainer that you have to wear for a year for your teeth to set. That’s 24/7. More metal in the mouth. After the year you get a retainer for the night that you have to wear nightly for the rest of your life. At least that’s what my dentist says. People apparently go through growthspurts all their life, and each growthspurt affects the jaw somehow, and teeth move.

If I could decide again, would I do it again?

-Yes. Despite the pain, my bite is better now, and honestly I look at it as a charachter building experience.