When I moved to Laurel last summer, it was with great regret that I left behind my glorious Weber gas grill. No more grilled steaks, chicken, pork chops, baby back ribs, hamburgers, hotdogs, grilled zucchini… Sigh…What would I eat everyday? You see, since 1999, when I purchased my first Weber grill for my ex-husband’s birthday (and subsequently left that behind when I left him…) I became a grilling fool, and a really proficient one, to boot.
When I moved to Maryland in 2001, it was a necessity that I get another Weber gas grill. My longing for all things grilled was sated with an upgraded model of the previous one, and for two years, I was happy.
The happiness would be short lived, as last summer I discovered my new abode could not contain the marvelous ness that is simply known as Weber. So, since September, I struggled to find ways to feed myself without aid of Weber. (I am one of the dedicated souls that will grill in the snow — all weather, really) In an attempt to recapture the spirit of indoor grilling, I bought a George Foreman Grill, and used it a whopping 2 times. It smugly sits atop my refrigerator, sure in its knowledge that it does not have to work any longer in this household. Nothing against old George’s product, but, if you’ve had the real McCoy, an electric imitator just won’t cut it, no matter how pretty its packaged.
Imagine my delight, while in Richmond last weekend, in one of those old fangled Hardware stores (Pleasants Hardware Store), where customer service is KING (halleluiah!) a
Good News–I made it through the first two weeks of my treatment, and this morning I switched the aligners I had been wearing for a new set. Two weeks is a long time ago, and I forgot just how tight fitting the aligners are for the first few days. By the time I got home from work, my teeth were already sensitive, so I had oatmeal for dinner. Yeah, I know, what a grade A whimp, but suddenly it all came rushing back to me — how sensitive my teeth were two weeks ago, and how uncomfortable eating a yummy steak was at the time. So this weekend, it will be soft foods for me. The upshot, though is that I’m 2 weeks closer to that perfect smile!
I’m happy to report that things have nicely settled down, and nothing hurts, or is even slightly uncomfortable any longer. Whoohoo! I do have to remember to take the aligners out when I eat, though. 🙂
It’s Friday, it’s glorious out and I am wearing sandals! It has been a long couple of weeks wearing those dag-blasted warming appliances!
Free at last – my piggies are free at last! Lets hope this warming trend continues to the fullest! I wanna see 80° weather, sunny, blue skies and leaves on the trees! Time for the whiter shade of pale legs to come out from under the layers of winter apparel and carouse with the sun in khaki shorts.
Its been a long, cold, dreary winter – and now daylight savings time is almost here… just 9 days away! Who could ask for anything more?
by Carollynn on 22 March 2004 I was so excited to get my Invisalign that I failed to ask any real probing
questions beforehand about comfort, pain or wearability. I bought their marketing
– hook, line and sinker – this was going to be a breeze, straightening my teeth,
right? What they don’t tell you up front is that there is an adjustment phase
to this whole process for both your mouth and your mind. See it here There will be times
in the beginning, when the aligners will drive you crazy, and you can’t close
your mouth like you used to because there is extra plastic between both sets
of jaws which inhibits full molar bite down. Here are some of the things that
I encountered during my first full weekend with the aligners, with varying degrees
of frustration and intrusion:
- You must always wash your hands before handling the aligners.
- Lips stick to plastic aligners over teeth. I am constantly applying lip balm.
- You can really only drink water while wearing these babies, otherwise, you
have to take ‘em off while drinking coffee, tea, soda or anything that
is non-water (because they will stain and/or pit the surface, rendering them
visible to the naked eye, and thus removing the “invisible” from
Invisalign name,) wash them out, brush your teeth after drinking said beverage
or eating said food and put them back in your mouth. - Your tongue is going to become more sensitive on its already sensitive underside
due to it roaming over the foreign objects that have been introduced to your
mouth. Expect the underside to be a little ripped up from going over and over
the plastic edges. I imagine this will go away over time, but right now my
tongue is raw. Who ever heard of developing calluses on your tongue? - Tooth soreness. This was documented in the pamphlet I received – but I don’t
think you can ever really be prepared for what it feels like. No it’s not
earth shattering pain, but eating a steak is not advised during the first
few days of treatment or whenever a new aligner has been introduced. - Teeth sucking – undignified habit, but I find that I am doing something similar
to my upper jaw aligners – it’s kind of fun, but seems to promote further
chapped lips syndrome. - The whole “me” centric sort of thing. I seem to be worrying about whether
where I eat has a decent bathroom, paper towels, etc so I can perform the
whole removal and reinsertion routine in total hygienic methodology. - I have a slight sore throat. It’s much better today (Monday) than it
was on Friday. Not quite sure where it came from, or if it’s even a
side effect of the first few days or what. But it is annoying, on top of all
of the other things that go along with this. - Sometimes, you just want to rip the aligners out of your mouth because they
are driving you right up the wall, but then you rationalize that you are spending
boatloads of MoneyBolt money to straighten your teeth and you feel guilty for even feeling
that way, and then the urge to rip ’em out of your mouth seizes you
again – but you are 50 miles from a bathroom (public or not) and so leave
them in. I finally discovered that taking them out for 5-10 minutes when this
happens, which is usually about once a day – between the hours of 5 and 8
pm seems to work wonders on my mental state, if not physical state.
Usually, I’m so freaked that I have taken them out, that the temporary
relief is enough and I can put them back in and be fine for the rest of the
night. Also, too is the sure knowledge, that they must come out when I eat,
so at least 3 times a day, I will have a respite for the aligner hell I have
subjugated by self to…
Really, it isn’t horrible, just annoying and things that I will adjust to over
time (sooner than later I hope!) No more front tooth split here I come… This
is all worth it, right?
Today, I went to my orthodontist’s to pick up and install my first set of Invisalign “aligners”. This is something I have been waiting for over a year, and today, the day finally came. I know I’ve been driving a certain co-worker crazy with my count down to “braces” day. In a previous post, I mentioned that the split between my front teeth has bothered me almost since my “adult teeth” came in. The good news is that today I started the process to correct that unsightly gap and it really doesn’t seem too difficult or uncomfortable.
The bad news is that I misunderstood my doctor when were discussing the length of treatment – I thought it was only going to take a total of 6 months! My lower jaw should be completed in the expected 6-month timeframe. (Whoo Hoo! I’m on on schedule!) Alas, my upper jaw, went from my delusional 6 month treatment to a 12 month treatment to now, the Invisalign decree of 16 months of treatment due to some last minute changes to my plan before my impressions were sent in. (Oy!) While my treatment is going to take a little more than a year for my upper jaw, the cost does not change (yay!) and most people will not be able to see anything going on, as this is an almost invisible process.
So for now, I’m thankful for no more purple goo in my mouth… and I got my braces, I got my braces… (I’m doing a happy dance if you haven’t guessed.) Now all I have to do is figure out how to take these goofy things off my teeth so I can go have lunch…
Sigh… the things we do to look good.
