The Tooth Fairy Owes Me

I have mouth issues.  I had braces put on during my 8th grade year in an effort to avoid jaw surgery to correct my mouth issues.

It didn’t work.

I had my first jaw surgery the summer before my Senior year of high school. They broke, reset and wired the top and bottom of both sides of my mouth (think all four corners). I was wired shut for 5 weeks and 6 days.

Less than 6 months after the jaw surgery I had a tooth extracted.  I had a bum tooth who didn’t play well with the others.  The extraction required me to have tooth implant put in.

But I didn’t have any jaw bone where the tooth used to be.

They cored a piece of bone from my hip to graft into my jaw. I couldn’t walk for days. It took the bone about 4 months to fuse in my jaw at which point they placed the dental implant.  The surgery was a success and I’ve lived happily ever after for about 12 years.

Last March, I went into the dentist for a routine cleaning.  They noticed a problem with one of my teeth.  In fact, it was the tooth directly next to the implant.  They decided the best course of action was to extract that tooth and fit me with an implant.

But I didn’t have any jaw bone where the tooth used to be.

They proceeded to give me a bone graft.  But this time, I wasn’t lucky enough to have the bone cored from my hip.  Again.  This time, the source was cadaver bone.

I taste dead people.

Anywho, after waiting 4 months during the fusion process, I found out that the first bone graft didn’t take.  But they didn’t realize it until the had already DRILLED INTO IT to fit me with the implant.  So they took the implant OUT and gave me another bone graft. That one was cadaver bone, too.

I then waited another 4 months to find out that the second bone graft wasn’t successful either.  So they referred me to an oral surgeon.

Today, I am scheduled for another bone graft.  The bone source this time will be me, though!  But it won’t be from my hip.  It’ll be from my jaw.  They are taking a sliver of bone from the right side of my jaw to put into a tooth socket on the left side.

It should make eating kind of fun for the next couple of days, don’t you think?

Each of these procedures has taken me (and Dave) out of commission for 2 or 3 days.  Plus the antibiotics after each procedure (probiotic yogurt is my friend). Plus the lack of solid food for several days after (it’s a good thing I like oatmeal).

I’m really hoping this one takes.  I’m not sure how much more my poor jaw can stand!

Just to be on the safe side, though, we’ve started saving for my dentures.

Happy 101

A few weeks ago, Heather, Lisa, and Kirsten all gave me a little award. Thank you, thank you!

And, dude.  Cupcakes.  Yum.

So, here are the instructions:

1. Copy the image and display it on your blog.
2. List 10 things that make you happy.
3. Try to do at least one of them today.
4. Pass on the award to 10 bloggers who brighten your day.

What makes ME happy?

1. My collar bone.  It was the first thing I noticed when I started losing weight.  It had been a while since I’d seen it and it’s a nice reminder.
2. Walks in the woods.  Alone. With a camera.
3. Playing Sorry after dinner with the family.
4. A good run. This one is fleeting, but there are times when I actually feel GOOD when I’m done running. Instead of, you know, like I’m going to die.
5. Listening to music and dancing around the house and having the kids come and dance with me. They have taken to yelling “Dance Break!” in the middle of whatever we’re doing and we all stop and just dance.
6. Drowning in a good book. (Note to self: Go buy Breaking Dawn)
7. 72 degree weather with a slight breeze so that we can talk a walk after dinner and watch the sun hit the kids hair so that I can see the red in the hair and then write about it in run on sentences.
8. Sitting by a water fall or brook or other running water type things. Then I stop and just listen.
9. Butterfinger Blizzards.  Oh my goodness, I still mourn the fact that we don’t live to a closer, more convenient Dairy Queen like we did in Ohio.
10. Dave. I love him. He’s my best friend and I still think about how my life would be different if he ended up taking that OTHER job 10 years ago and we never would’ve met.

Now I’m supposed to nominate 10 people, but not having to choose 10 people also makes me happy, so I’m not gonna.  : )

You know I love you all!

If you play along, leave a link in your comment and I’ll come visit.

You Capture – Faces

Originally, I was going to do a collage of Emma faces.  Seriously, that girl has some faces.  She is one of the most animated little kids I’ve ever seen.  Her library of facial expressions is endless.

Instead, I decided to put the focus on Jacob.  This wonderful little boy is growing up so fast.  He understands the world around him a little bit more every day and his maturity is growing by leaps and bounds. He’s equal parts silly and serious.

This morning at breakfast, he told me two interesting and wonderful things:

1. He wants to work at IHOP as the Sit People Down Person.  I told him that was the hostess, or in his case the host.  He said that he didn’t want to be a host on a game show, though.  He wants to be a host at IHOP.
2. He puts aside money every week for a donations.  He can choose to donate it to wherever he wants.  This morning, he told me he wants to donate it to Haiti.  He asked me if $1.85 was enough to send and I told him it was the perfect amount.

On top of all that, this boy knows how to rock an eye patch…

You Capture is hosted by Beth at I Should Be Folding Laundry.

Your Questions, Answered!

A few weeks ago, I put a call out for questions. I’ve been in a bit of a bloggy slump and I thought you guys could help me get my creative juices flowing…

My friend and neighbor, Tina who doesn’t have a blog but could totally write VOLUMES about her kids, asked: What do you want to be when you grow up?

Well, that’s easy.  YOU! Don’t I steal all your best ideas and didn’t we talk about stuff of yours that I would get after you die?  You didn’t know you had a Single White Female living across the street from you, did you?

Brooke asked: What’s your favorite Starbucks drink?  Disney ride? What’s your favorite number?

My favorite Starbucks drink is a Tall Skinny Hazelnut Latte.  But I’m starting to see the virtues of caramel flavoring.  Yummo.  My favorite ride at Disney had to be Toy Story Mania.  Lame, I know, but I just had so much fun smokin’ Emma during the arcade shoot out.

Is that wrong that I’m glad I beat my 4 year old?

And my favorite number is 42.  Naturally.

The Lovely Lisa asked: When was the last time you wore a bikini?  Ever?  Never?  Besides Disney, where else would you like to vacation?

Well, Lisa. I guess I would need a clarification on your use of the term “bikini”.  I prefer two piece separates because my top and bottom halves are not the same size. So in that sense, I wear a bikini every time I go to the pool.  Which is not that often.

But I have never and will never wear any two piece suit that reveals any actual skin.  I’m quite modest actually, and still wear shorts and a t-shirt to cover myself whenever I’m not actually IN the pool.

As far as vacationing, oh my word.  Where WOULDN’T I like to travel?  I would love to go anywhere and everywhere.  Except maybe the Middle East.  I might have a problem with the Middle East.  But I’m pretty much up for anything.  As long as the hotel I’m staying in has running water and a private bath, that is.  And room service would be a bonus.

Tiffany asked Where are you from originally, and how did you end up in DC?

I was born and raised in Columbus, Ohio.  For all the time I was there, I never lived more than 15 minutes from the house I grew up in.  I was actually still in that house when Dave and I started dating (I rented it from my folks, but Dave’s memory is slightly different.  He says I still lived with my parents because my Dad came to the door for our first date.  I was 23 years old.).

Anyway, the one and only reason we moved out to Maryland 15 months ago was for Dave’s job.  He was given an opportunity that we could not pass up.  While I miss my family, we are really, REALLY happy here and don’t regret the move at all.

That was fun!  I really enjoy answering questions like that…it’s the little stuff that people would like to know but it’s too long for a Twitter update and too short for a whole post!  Everyone wins!

The Mouse’s House

Soooo, Walt Disney World!  I don’t even know where to begin!  There’s so much to tell and oh my goodness the pictures.  700+ pictures that I deleted down to about 300+ pictures which I edited and saved and printed and e-mailed and Facebooked.

Now it’s time to blog, yo.

First off, let me just say that my kids are amazing.  We closed down every park we went to.  Emma never used a stroller…her little legs were so tired by the end of the week but she walked her little heart out, everywhere we went.  Sure, there were mini meltdowns…somtimes even from the kids! But overall, everyone was very well behaved and we had an amazing time.

We were all over The Magic Kingdom on the first day.  We seriously had to have walked back and forth through that park at least 20 times.  It’s amazing though that we didn’t even cover HALF of the stuff there was to do.  Emma was all about the carousel and It’s a Small World.  She was also fairly disappointed about how short the roller coaster rides were.  That lady is a daredevil!

Jacob on the other hand looked a little green around the gills after the 30 second Goofy “roller coaster”. He insisted, though, that he wanted to try the bigger rides.  His exclamation after Big Thunder Mountain Railroad? “I almost peed my pants, but I DIDN’T!” Can’t ask for a better endorsement than that!

We did the Haunted Mansion (Dave’s pick) and Country Bear Jamboree (my pick). While Dave still  loves The Haunted Mansion, The Country Bear Jamboree just doesn’t hold the same luster as it did when I was 8.  Oh well, the kids seemed to like it!

Next up was Epcot.  I was really looking forward to it.  It ended up being our worst day.  I guess you can’t force a little culture and World Showcase on kids that only want to do STUFF.  I was happy to slow the pace down.  They were not.  Which led to several melt downs.

There were some good points during Epcot, though.  We got to meet up briefly with our neighbors who were in Epcot on the same day we were.  And we got to ride Soarin’.  That was truly a fantastic experience and as close as I’ll ever get to hang gliding.  It was breath taking and freeing and amazing.

Hollywood Studios gave Magic Kingdom in my opinion.  We ALL had a blast that day.  There wasn’t any one thing that made it awesome, it was just an all around great day.  The highlight, though, was definitely my death defying daughter.

O.K. Maybe not death defying, but certainly brave as crap.  She rode The Tower of Terror.  I wasn’t entirely sure they should have let a 4 year old on a ride called The Tower of Terror, but she wanted to do it.  But it’s really hard to explain “Well, honey.  Are you sure you want to?  It’s a 13 STORY DROP with only a LAP BELT to hold you in!”

So away we went.  And away we dropped. And bounced. And dropped again. And bounced. And dropped again.  A total of 4 or 5 drops when it was all said and done.  But the Wonder Emma never cried, screamed, or passed it.  Admittedly, it wasn’t her favorite. But I know adults (ahem, my sister) who passed on their chances to go on that ride.

My mom and dad drove down from Ohio and joined us for the last two days of parks.  They were able to come with us to Animal Kingdom and a 2nd day in Magic Kingdom. The kids loved having them there, definitely. And they were gracious enough to watch the kids one night so that Dave and I could get out to Downtown Disney.  Thank you, Mom and Dad!

There is so, so much more that happened. But this post is already 10 times longer than I usually write. I think I’ll just keep those memories tucked away for another day.

I think the fact that Jake was talking about our NEXT trip to Disney as a good indication that THIS trip was a success!

You Capture – Colors

After we got back from vacay, I checked what the You Capture challenge was this week. I was excited to find out it was Colors, because this little bird popped right into my head.

This is a Golden Pheasant that we saw at Animal Kingdom. We even saw it last Thursday which means I didn’t have to cheat for the challenge, LOL!

You Capture is hosted by Beth at I Should Be Folding Laundry.

An opportunity to give

My brother, Erik, had the opportunity to travel to Laos in Southeast Asia last October. While he was there, he had the good fortune to meet Manophet Mouidouangdy, an amazing man whose English Development Class is helping Laotians get a glimpse of a better life.

As a young man, Manophet learned to speak English on his own, picking it up from his workplace. He then used that knowledge to work as a UN translator and as a tour guide. When the tourist office needed more English speakers, Manophet began teaching English to his young son, then a friend of his son’s, then another.

By 2001, he was running his English Development Class. To date, 235 students have participated in the class, and 65 have gone on to win scholarships to study abroad, returning home with priceless skills and education. His students come from families living on about a dollar per day. Most struggle to come up with the $65 per year tuition.

Manophet runs and pays for the entire operation mostly by himself.  He relies on gifts from others to help make his dream a reality.   An American family actually bought him a minivan so he can go get his kids and bring them to class.  The class is also a soccer team.  He has them speak only English during practice as a learning tool. He uses the minivan to take them to soccer tournaments. Their team recently finished third nationally.

When Erik had the privilege of visiting Manophet’s classroom, he was greeted with a room full of smiling faces, beaming with enthusiasm and eagerness to learn about the world outside their province. Maps of the world, all donations, were tacked to the walls. The room became incredibly loud with questions and chatter despite the quiet and shy tone of the individual kids.

They asked questions about where he was from, and about his family, his job, and the divide between rich and poor. The short time he spent in that classroom was an incredibly moving experience, reinforcing that cliche that we all share more in common as human beings than whatever differences might divide us.

When Erik left, he asked Manophet what he could use for the class. Besides paper and pencils and the usual day-to-day supplies, he asked for a copy machine. Currently he finds English lessons online and then makes copies for all of his kids. Having a copier in the classroom would save him a great deal of time and money.

So, I ask you…can you help?  Do you have a few dollars to spare to help this one man’s crusade to teach English to students in Laos?

A copier would cost $1800 and my brother has raised about $600 dollars putting him a 1/3 of the way there.  If you are at all interested in donating, please leave me a comment and I will e-mail you the specifics on how to donate.

This is a picture of Manophet’s classroom.  That’s my brother in the background, standing by the steps.

Leavin’ on a jet plane

It seems like we have been planning this vacation FOREVER and it’s finally here.

Today, we leave for Walt Disney World.  It’ll be Emma’s first plane trip and Jake’s first that he’ll actually remember. We bought our weight in chewing gum so hopefully take-offs and landings will go smoothly.

And for the first time EVER on any land vacation, we are not bringing a laptop.  Which means we will be totally out of touch for a full week.

I’m hoping the twitching will stop soon.

If you do need us, you can find us here…

Have a great week, everyone!  We’ll catch you on the flip side!

Vote for me!

Hey all!  I totally forgot to post this, but voting is now open on the Write From Karen Winter 2010 Photo Contest!

If you love me at all, you’ll go vote for me Would you mind going to vote for me?  I’d sure appreciate it! Just click on the logo or the link above. Here’s a refresher on my entry…

Starting our day

Jacob is not one to snuggle. Pretty much if he’s sick or really, really tired…those are the only times he likes to snuggle up on the couch under a blanket.

But there is one time of day when he lays down with me.

Inadvertently, I’d set the time on Jacob’s clock to be a couple minutes faster than the time on my clock. So there’s a little bit of a lag between the time when his alarm goes off at 7:15 and my snooze goes off for the 3rd time on my clock.

It’s only 5 minutes, but it’s quickly becoming one of my favorite parts of the day.  He comes into my room and I throw back the covers for him. He climbs into bed with me (Dave is long gone by then) and we both fall right back to sleep.

Soon enough, the alarm goes off and we have to start our day.  For those 5 minutes, I have my baby back.  There’s no fighting, no whining…just being together.