Catching Up

I haven't really made time to catch up around here. There are a few things I could have written about so as to not fall behind, but I wasn't really feeling it enough to take time out of my day. Because of this, you get a pretty significant Instagram photodump with recaps.

My Thursday was spent cleaning the house and hiding the miscellaneous Christmas boxes that haven't been put away yet in the guest bedroom and shutting the door. I was still waiting on my new rail garland to arrive, so it had to be accessible. The rest of the crap I stowed in there is all the decor for the Ping Pong in a Winter Wonderland Party this weekend! (If you're reading this and know me personally, you're invited.) Really, though, I was cleaning the house in preparation of having our buddies Jarrod and Kaitlyn over for dinner. Jamie made a casserole, which wasn't fancy, but I was feeling fancy, so I set the table all fancy-like.

I also took time to admire my table and my beer's ugly sweater. I've seen these on some other blogs and really loved them, so I was really excited when I found them at Target for only three bucks. I grabbed one for me and one for Jamie.

Friday night was a friend's company party that we were invited to. It involved taking a so-ridiculous-it's-cool limo to dinner which was followed by drinks and dancing at a small club down the street. Jamie and I didn't get home until 3:30am, which we promptly recognized was something that we are too old for, but that didn't mean that we didn't have a lot of fun!

Saturday was tricky. We got up around 9:30, which was way too early to be getting up after that crazy Friday night, but I think we may have been too hungover to sleep in. My goal was to get up and eat something, then take a nap before we were to leave for our next adventure, but it didn't really work out that way. Luckily, I was able to push through and I didn't feel too bad for the rest of the day.

So on Saturday we went to another soccer game, but not just any soccer game, the MLS Cup! We didn't have sideline seats this time. In fact, we were way up in the second level, but the seats weren't bad. We could see everything in the game pretty clearly. And what's fun about the second level bleachers? Rumble seats. 'Member in high school when you stomped the bleachers to get revved up? It's like that, but times ten.

This keeps happening to us.

 Luckily, before we headed to our seats, I was able to sneak a peek at Alexi Lalas before he shaved his significant ginger mo at the half.

I'm not going to get into the game too much, but after a slow first half in which Houston was ahead by one, Galaxy redeemed themselves in the second half giving us a great show and winning 3-1. After the win, we found our friends Victor and Julie (with their two friends), who had passes to some post game party that offered free food and drinks. The problem was that there were six of us, but only had four passes. With some strategery and confidence, we figured it out. The four of them went in, then Julie came back out with two of their passes for us to put on. When we walked in, the lady wanted to scan them, but Jamie said, "Oh, we've already been scanned." And she was all "Okay, have a good time!". It was pretty much way too easy.

Since we didn't park at the stadium, Jamie and I had to leave a little early to catch the shuttle back to our car. Being that it was only 5:30, we decided to head off to Fullerton to visit our buddy Brandon at his new place of employment, HopScotch. We knew this place was going to be cool, but I think it exceeded our expectations. I was driving, so I only had a couple craft beers, both of which were ones I hadn't had before. Being the somewhat connoisseur that he is, Jamie opted for scotch and bourbon. Does the name make sense now? HopScotch? Get it? Anyway...

Brandon, I stole your photo because it's better than mine.

HopScotch also offers their version of a Bloody Mary, the Porky Mary! We had to try one. Pork fat infused bourbon, tomato juice with beef consomme and a glass rimmed with their house pork rub. Ho-Lee-Crap. While being not even close to healthy, it was the best Bloody Mary I've ever had. It's hearty! It doesn't have the tang of a normal Bloody Mary and the meat flavors aren't overwhelming, but they really balance it out and make it really well rounded. It was fantastic.

Jamie and I will have to make a point to visit again when we haven't already eaten. We saw so many dishes that came out of the kitchen that smelled so delicious. I just wish this place was a little closer to us! We'd be in there all the time.

So that was pretty much my weekend. Sunday was a Sunday Funday for Jamie, who spent most of the day at Selma's with our friend Jeff. I was only able to stop in before my afternoon commitment, then come back later afterwards. They had definitely had a good afternoon by the time I returned.

Sunday night, I crashed, and crashed pretty hard. It felt so good to sleep off the weekend.

Did I mention that I saw Colin Hanks at the soccer game?

Two Things

1. I finally got a hold of someone at the radiologist! I go in Monday morning for my hysterosalpingogram. (It doesn't flow, I'm telling you.) I'm not really looking forward to the procedure, but I'm looking forward to saying "Yo wassup, fallopes?". Should someone be driving me? I thought I read that somewhere. I didn't have that in mind while scheduling my appointment for 9:30 on a Monday. Hmm.

2. I'm working on the alternate ending to My Invisalign Story. The talent and the crew had a disagreement with how things should go down and basically threw a coup against the producer and director.

If you can't figure out that metaphor, my permanent retainer and my teeth were in disagreement causing a tooth to fall out of line two days after my retainer was installed. The night before my appointment to have the movement checked out, the retainer was all "Screw you guys!" and popped out.

So because my bottom teeth fell out of line, they had to order me a stronger version of my last Invisalign tray. While I waited for that to come in, I had to wear my second to last tray at night to keep them in line and get them ready again for my last tray since they had backtracked so much that my last tray wouldn't fit! So now, I have my new bottom tray and have to wear it all the time for a few weeks to get my teeth back in line and then, I guess, they'll put in a different retainer. What the eff, man?

3. (I lied. So sue me! (Remember that phrase?)) I crushed glass with my bare hand last night. Very fragile glass in light bulb form.


I can't get this bulb to unscrew! 
"Turn it!"
I am!
"To the left."
Duh. I AM. *Hulk smash*

It left two cuts on my hand that sting like a mother every time I open my hand. It is a minor annoyance.

See? SEE? PS I love chocolate MilkBites.

Dorothy Mantooth is a Saint: My Invisalign Story

My teeth had never been straight, and I never wanted them to be straight. There was nothing about my crooked and crowded teeth that hindered me. By the time I was a teenager, I developed a huge middle finger that I wagged at the social norm by way of thrift store old man pants and baggy boys cargo shorts.

And to think, I didn't understand why there was a rumor that I was a lesbian.

Suffice it to say, I just wasn't interested in making my teeth look like everyone else's teeth. I was never self conscious about them and I still don't even think that they were that bad. I had to be convinced to straighten them and "aesthetically pleasing" wasn't the selling point.

A couple years ago, after Jamie and I finally had dental insurance, I went in for a cleaning. It had been a long time since I'd had any real dental treatment, so I was ready for about a thousand fillings. Surprisingly, I had no cavities. Spectacular! Then I was told I had periodontitis and needed regular root planing and scaling. Yikes.

I began going in for my deep cleanings every 3 months. After a few appointments, my hygienist asked me if I had considered orthodontics as my teeth would be much easier to clean and keep clean if they weren't crowded. I was given a quote for Invisalign, took it home to share with Jamie, and we sat on it for a few months. The following April, which was last year, we decided to go for it. I went in to get molds taken of my teeth to be sent in to Invisalign. I was able to start my treatment the following June.

Wearing those trays were a pain in the ass, and initially, the teeth. I'd wear each set for two weeks, and in the beginning, each set hurt like hell! Toward the end, my teeth were used to the movement, so the soreness wasn't nearly as bad, but could still be bad enough to give me a headache.

It was so gross and annoying to have to take them out for each meal, that I thought I'd lose weight by not snacking! This was true in the beginning since after every meal I'd brush and floss, so it wasn't worth the work to snack. Eventually, I was less strict on the post food brush and floss, and I was back to eating normally, and just flossing after most meals.

The flossing became, obviously, a good habit and has helped in my periodontal treatment. The taking out of trays in social situations, however, was a terrible habit. I want to apologize to anyone who may have repeatedly witnessed this gross habit. I also want to tell them that it's all over! And I'll have to find another gross habit to show them. Jokes!

The almost-before and the after!

So, I'm done! The top picture is from after I already started and the teeth had begun to move, but only minimally. The bottom is from yesterday, the day I finished Invisalign and had my permanent retainer put in behind my bottom teeth.

As you can see, they're not super-perfect-straight, and I'm happy with that. There are many people who use Invisalign and will keep wearing refinement trays until every tooth is perfectly in line, but I'm not interested in dealing with these trays any longer than I have to. I never wanted Chic-let teeth, and these teeth are straight enough to be effective in my dental health, be aesthetically pleasing, and still feel like mine.