We are the Music Makers

Tomorrow is my uncle's birthday. I don't know how old he would have been...in his 50's. My dad is 56 so I think he would have been 54. I was cleaning out the guest room closet when i found some pictures of my dad and uncle. that was about two hours ago and i can't stop crying. He died in april but it feels like yesterday. i miss him so much. i still find myself wanting to call t ask him a question or see how he's doing. matt told me to pull myself together. it's ok to be sad but don't let it control you. he's been too busy cleaning and packing up his office stuff to even really acknowledge me. i don't think he realizes how much i depended on uncle rick. i seem to have so many weird medical things that go wrong with me, uncle rick was always there to answer any question i would have and he never thought i was silly for asking. he helped me through the horrible ep study experience. i don't know what i'm going to do. i miss him. i feel like...i don't know how i feel. i just want to see him again. hear his laugh. hug him once more. but i can't. i miss you uncle rick.

I finished at 11:30am. I fell asleep last night reading. My husband came in the room around midnight and asked if I was done...realized I was still in my day clothes and had the book open in front of me.

All I can say is wow. I cried. I smiled. I am without words. Amazing book.

At exactly 1:33pm, Harry Potter #7 arrived on my doorstep. YES!!! Off to read!

My birthday was a couple weeks ago and I spent it at the beach with my sister and husband. Karen gave me a book that she thought I would enjoy. It's called Rome Sweet Home by Scott and Kimberly Hahn. It's a true story of Scott's journey from being Presbyterian to Catholic. He starts out majorly anti-Catholic. He goes so far to call the Pope the Antichrist the Church the whore of Babylon.

I'm a little over halfway through it (only 182 pages) and I am really enjoying it. It's interesting to see his perspective change and he goes through trying to prove the Catholics are wrong.

The anti-Catholic part of the book surprised me. Not that he was anti-Catholic...I know there are people out there who do not like Catholicism but I never realized the amount of hate that is behind some of it. The Church being wrong simply because it is the Church.

I can't wait to finish reading it. I may try to finish tonight before I go to bed. This is one book I'll definitely treasure for insight into some sides of the Protestant faith and this man's amazing journey to the Roman Catholic Church.

I'm assuming his wife Kimberly also converts but I haven't gotten to that part yet. But I bet her journey is gonna be pretty cool too.

Oh I can't wait! I got an email from Amazon saying Harry Potter is getting ready to be shipped. I'm so excited!!!!! Soon, I'll have a delightful, delicious day of reading something brand spanking new that I have been waiting for what seems like forever! I've been asked to go places this weekend and have turned them all down for the arrival of that book.

Soon it will be here...just a little bit longer....

In May I bought a brand new hp laptop. It came with a web cam. I couldn't figure out how to use it...finally got on with tech support and got it set up. yay! Now I just need to dl some IM software and find someone to talk with so I can use the darn thing.

The only other thing I think I need to figure out is the remote. I'm still shocked my laptop came with a remote control. I guess that means I'm getting old.

Well, it only took 6 years after graduating college but I finally got my professional teaching license! yay! I'm very excited.

In North Carolina, you graduate with an initial license. You then have to teach for three years, getting observed four times a year to get your professional license. Mine took a little longer for a few different reasons but I finally have it! I now only have to be observed once a year. That's why I'm most excited. I hate getting observed with a passion.

WOOHOO! Time to celebrate!

Last month I turned 29. As I get older, I find I'm not just resembling my dad, I'm actually turning in to him. My dad has always had...shall we say...an odd sense of humor. Growing up, my sisters and I called his jokes "Daddy Jokes" and even after not living with him for ten years now, I still hear people around me tell daddy jokes. Sometimes, I'll tell him one I heard that really reminded me of him but most of the time, I smile and happily think, "At least I didn't tell that joke!"

Today though, I heard my father's voice come out of my mouth. My in-laws came down and took Matt and I out to lunch. As we were leaving my father-in-law was holding the door open and I actually said, "are you trying to air condition the whole neighborhood?" ARG!!! My dad said that to us kids a million times growing up and now, I'm saying it! NOOO!!!

At least I'm not building a plane in my basement....yet....

Well, it was about a two hour appointment but I survived! Yay! The dentist fixed four of my teeth. He said one will eventually need a crown but I should be ok for a while. My mouth is quite sore right now and I took a nap this afternoon. I woke up to my husband handing me the phone. My dentist called me at home to see how I was doing. I thought that was very nice and kind of above and beyond what he had to do.

Next appt...July 20!

I know, I know...dentists aren't that bad. I've had dentists for friends. Taught children of dentists. I have even had a few dentists I have liked. But, for all of that, I still don't like going.

The last time I went, I sat there thinking about why. And the answer I came up, for me at least, is because the dentist's office offends all five of my senses. I have to sit down in a chair that, while they try to make comfortable, actually isn't once you sit there for an hour. And they always seem to have plastic covers on the arms or something that make you stick to it. Not to mention how it feels to have a needle full of Novocain jammed down into your jaw. Ow! So there's touch for you. I lay back and immediately have a bright light glaring in my face...there's sight. Nothing is worse than the sound of a drill. Some of the stuff they stick in your mouth tastes horrible...nothing like gagging when your mouth is full of sharp, pointy instruments. Finally, there's the smell. Something about the smell of a dentists office just sets me on edge. I've been in plenty of hospitals and doctors offices and they have their own smells but they don't affect me like a dentist office smell.

I went yesterday for a consult. I thought I chipped a tooth back in February and saw my dentist then. After being told I have 17! cavities* and needed 2, maybe 3, root canals and my bill would be $8,000 I left in tears. I saw a friend of mine who's a dentist who fixed me up a bit and now I'm seeing her brother. The consult was yesterday like I said. I'm going in at 10 this morning for my first big appt to fix my teeth. He's going after four of them. Another two will be fixed on the 20th. I'm hoping and praying he decides I don't need crowns. I got a credit account so I can afford most of this. Since I'm at the point where certain teeth are starting to hurt, I'm a bit worried. Guess we'll just have to wait and see though. I gotta leave in an hour. Guess I should start getting ready!

*About the cavities...I have a lot of prescriptions I take and have taken for years. One of the side effects on many of them is dry mouth. Now, in my mind, dry mouth is when your mouth is...well...dry. Nope...it can just mean a decrease in saliva. That was news to me. I thought my mouth was sticky all the time because I teach and talk all freaking day long. Nope...all these stupid drugs are working really hard together to give me dry mouth. The dentist said that low saliva means that bacteria can grow faster and cause more cavities. That boys and girls, is the reason why you should always see your dentist every six months. Even though I was brushing, I still got cavities. So everyone, if it's been more than six months, go make a dentist appt!!!