On Top of the World

After my first trip to the orthodontist, I had the x-rays done and went back to get his opinion. He presented two options - an orthodontic-only approach, which would involve having a tooth extracted and then braces put on the upper and lower teeth, or an option involving surgery to lengthen the jaw, with no extraction required.

I initially thought that the surgery option might be a shorter treatment time and was considering it, but he said I may lose sensation in my lips after surgery, and the loss could be long-term or even permanent, and that idea worried me a bit. He said that if I were considering the surgical approach that I should talk to an oral surgeon to find out all the pros and cons. He said to go and think about the options and that if I wanted to go ahead with either approach, to let him know.

I procrastinated over it for a few weeks, then decided to see the orthodontist that the guy at work is seeing, to get another opinion. I thought it was the same guy that one of M’s relatives had been to when she’d had her orthodontic work done, but I found out later that it wasn’t. So I made an appointment to see him, and I wasn’t particularly impressed. I said I’d had x-rays done before and they said they’d get a copy of them, which they told me they had when I went there.

The orthodontist was nice enough, but he wasn’t as thorough as the first one I’d seen, and he didn’t even make any mention of my x-rays, and he said that I wouldn’t need any teeth extracted, which on the surface would be good, but the first guy had explained (and showed me) very clearly why an extraction would be necessary, so that made me worry that this second orthodontist didn’t really look into anything much. I went away feeling not that much better about the whole thing.

I procrastinated for another couple of weeks and then thought I’d go back to the first orthodontist again, armed with a list of questions. I made an appointment and went there the other day. I felt a bit silly, saying that I’d written all my questions down, but he said that it was good to do that, so that made me feel better. He patiently answered all my questions and waited until I’d finished all of them, without making me feel as though he wanted me to hurry up.

He said that if I want to go ahead, I could have the braces on within a month or so. We’re going away for a couple of weeks at the end of October so I don’t know whether it would be better to wait until we got back to do it, or whether it would be ok to get them done beforehand. I might call again and ask what he thinks. Now that I’ve decided I want to do it, I just want to get started.

Cat has tagged me to do this meme, so here it is!

5 things in my refrigerator:

1. White wine
2. Capers
3. Long-life milk (I don’t like it, but it has come in handy when we’ve run out of “proper” milk)
4. Chocolates filled with Kahlua
5. Apricot jam

5 things in my wardrobe:

1. Suitcases
2. My Christmas stocking
3. The dress I bought yesterday to wear to a black tie dinner I have to go to next week (bleh)
4. Chargers for various electronic devices
5. A ‘Beefeater’ bear toy I bought in London

5 things in my bag or backpack:

1. My PDA
2. Mobile phone
3. Keys
4. Various lip balms
5. Lots of papers - receipts, bills and goodness knows what else!

5 things in my vehicle:

1. My mobile phone’s handsfree thingie
2. Green cloth shopping bags
3. Pens
4. Street directory
5. A couple of CDs

5 things in the world I want to see before I die:

1. Aurora Borealis
2. Uluru (Ayer’s Rock)
3. A football match in the UK
4. Vienna
5. Norway

… other than update my blog, that is.

Today I had an appointment with an orthodontist. In the last month or so my teeth have been bothering me - it feels as though they’ve moved and it’s becoming uncomfortable to chew. I’ve always had issues with my teeth, in that they’ve always been a bit out of alignment, but I didn’t have anything done when I was younger, I think because my mum didn’t want to put me through having braces.

So instead of going through it as a teenager, I’m going to go through it as an adult. There have been so many times where I’ve thought, “if I’d just done it when I started Honours, it would be over now” or “if I’d just done it when I started studying at tafe, it would be over now.” So, enough of the speculation and if onlies. I’m going to do it.

A guy at work had braces put on a few weeks ago and he only has to wear them for 5 months, which gave me hope that maybe I could get away with something similar, as my teeth aren’t too bad, they just need to be adjusted a little. Even so, I was feeling nervous when I went in for my appointment.

The orthodontist was really nice, and did a rather thorough examination, saying I have wonderful teeth with no decay or signs of decay, and then proceeded to rattle off a whole lot of dental terms describing my issues to his assistant, who dutifully wrote it all down. He then showed me a model of some teeth and how they were meant to align, and gave me a mirror and showed me how mine compared. For an initial consultation, I was actually pretty impressed, as some of the other dentists I’ve seen have given me the bum’s rush almost and then charged me some ridiculous amount of money for the privilege.

As expected, he said I’d need braces if I wanted to correct the problem, and at the end asked if I had any questions. I said my main question was how long I’d have to wear them. Alas, 6 months was not to be. He said it would be 18 months to 2 years, which is what I was expecting, but it didn’t make it any more pleasant to hear.

I then went into another room where they made moulds of my upper and lower teeth and took several photos. I’m having X-rays done on Friday, then I’m going back to him in a couple of weeks to talk about my options and the cost and whatever else. While I was waiting to get the moulds done, I actually felt a bit teary - I don’t know why. I was feeling a bit upset afterwards as well, but the more I’ve thought about it, the better I feel. I’m finally going to get something done to correct my teeth and prevent things getting any worse, and time goes by so quickly that hopefully it won’t feel like too long. That’s what I’ll tell myself, anyway.

OK, I was sucked in. In the city today, we finally tried the iced coffees at a place that has a sign saying

I’d seen the sign there on several occasions, and today we caved.

We shouldn’t have.

It was definitely not the best iced coffee in town, and I left the café feeling rather ripped off. Although I was more annoyed that their stupid sign worked and they got my money.

On the way to work a couple of days ago, I saw an ad at a bus stop for Lemon Mint Tic Tacs. I thought they sounded interesting, and wanted to give them a try. I was happy to discover that the shop near my work had them.

The verdict? They started off well, with a nice lemony flavour. But at the very end, you know - when you chew the last little bit because it’s too small to suck - it tasted like the smell of Toilet Duck. So I won’t be getting them again. I wanted to like them but oh well. I’ll just have to stick to orange.

Let’s see, what’s been happening… I’ve moved offices, but I can’t remember whether I did that since I last posted or if it was before then. I think it was after. So I’ve slowly become used to the new building, and not being able to see M during the day. It’s a bit weird really - it’s as if we’re a “normal” couple working separate jobs! But we go to and from work together so there’s still that companionship.

I’ve started my final year of tafe. There’s also an interpreters’ course being held this year but that would add an extra two nights of study, plus a lot of out-of-class work, to the two nights I’m already doing, and I didn’t want that. I may do the course if they offer it later on, and I’m accepted, but I couldn’t take studying 4 weeknights out of 5. I don’t need the stress!

Finally, there’s a rather good chance that we’ll be going to the UK in November. There’s a conference on in London and, similar to the one M went to in New York last year, this will be partially paid for by work. So we’re working out where else we want to go. We’ll only be gone for two weeks, same as last time, so we’ll probably go to Wales and Scotland after being in London for a while. We haven’t worked out exactly where we’re going or how long we’re staying in each place, but it’s so nice to have something to look forward to. This time we’re both going to go business class - his ticket will be paid for by work, and we’re going to use frequent flyer points for mine.

The only hassle was actually finding flights that offered business class seats for award points. The direct flights were all taken, but I managed to find two separate flights going through Tokyo. The flights through Tokyo are 12 hours apart, so, knowing absolutely nothing about the city, I don’t know whether that’s enough time to go into the city and have a bit of a look around. We thought that maybe we could spend a night there and then go to London the next day, but that may not work out with points. But it’s so much fun planning holidays! Well, until you realise that all the hotels you want are booked and you’re stuck with whatever you can get.

My holidays are unfortunately nearing an end, so I’m trying to enjoy the couple of days I have left.

So, today was spent having lunch in Hahndorf, and then going to the zoo. It’s been ages since I went to the zoo, but I particularly wanted to go today to check out the Human Zoo. Just in case you can’t be bothered clicking the link, here’s an excerpt from the page explaining what it’s about:

Concept
Over the period of one month in January 2007, a group of humans will be locked in an unused Adelaide Zoo primate exhibit for observation by all. This brave group of volunteers will become ~

The HUMAN ZOO

This project aims to

• Create awareness of the closeness of humans to their primate cousins
• Provide a platform for research on animal behaviour and enrichment
• Raise awareness for the conservation needs of primates in the wild
• Raise funds to build Australia’s largest chimpanzee exhibit at Monarto Zoological Park in South Australia

How The Human Zoo works
Application close 4th December 2006. 100 chosen Humans will undertake auditions at Adelaide Zoo on 11th and 12th of December in the Primate exhibit in front of a judging panel: public invited to come and watch. We are looking for outgoing fun people who have a passion to help conservation.

Lock-in commences 2nd January 2007, with each group of 6 being locked in for the period of one week.

One of the reasons I wanted to go was curiosity, but also because we know one of the people in there.

So anyway, the Human Zoo was OK but it wasn’t anything exciting. The people were just sitting around squirting observers with water pistols, so we didn’t stay long.

I must say that the zoo has improved considerably since I used to go when I was little. The enclosures are far better, and it just seems greener and a more pleasant place to go. While we were wandering around, we came across the otters, and there was one otter doing the cutest thing! I got some of it on video:

I just got back from the 21st birthday party for a girl I go to tafe with. There were two other people from my class there, and a couple of people I know from DeafSA, so it allayed my fears of not knowing anyone. And the birthday girl made all the right noises about the bracelet I got her, so either she really did like it, or she’s a great actress. Either way, she asked me to put it on her and she wore it all night so I was pleased.

The only less-than-ideal part was when the speeches occurred. Because there were 2 Deaf people there, an interpreter was required. I nominated another classmate to do the honours, which she did for a while, but then I was summoned to do my turn. I guess the most diplomatic way I can put my performance is that it’s a good thing I decided not to do the interpreting course next year. I sucked. I think some bits were ok, but having everyone in the room staring at me made me freeze up. I just hope they understood some of what I said. When I sat down, one of the guys I interpreted for said that I was nervous. Well, duh! My first ever interpreting stint and I was crap.

But despite this, I did have a really good time. There was even some Scottish dancing! The first couple of dances were with party guests, and the teacher gave instructions for the steps and then it was done to music, and the last one was a dance that some of the people from the dance school do.

Oh, and there was also a Cookie Monster piñata filled with lollies! I didn’t have a go at hitting it but in the end, poor CM was reduced to a head hanging from the ceiling while everyone gorged on the smarties, Mars bars and Freddos that had been inside him. The photo I took with my mobile phone does not do him justice at all.

So it was a night of firsts, with interpreting, dancing and piñata-ing!

As I mentioned a couple of days ago, we went to the beach for New Year’s Eve this year. As with every year, they have fireworks there and I thought I’d video it. It’s only on my digital camera so the quality’s not great, but I still think it turned out ok. I didn’t have enough room on my card to video it all in one go, so I did it in segments and I’ve uploaded the last segment to YouTube in case you want to have a look. It’s only a few minutes long.

The only bad thing about it was a woman behind us repeatedly saying “there’s something missing”. Stupid whiny cow. So it’s not the Sydney fireworks, but it was still nice! Anyway, I don’t think you can hear her in the video, so that’s good.

It was a good night - some fantastic fish and chips on the beach (well, on the grass near the beach), some ice cream and a couple of arrests while waiting for the fireworks and then the fireworks themselves all made for a nice night. Alas, we didn’t completely escape the drunk teenagers, but the spot we chose to watch the fireworks didn’t have any, so it all worked out well.

It’s almost the end of another year! This New Year’s Eve, we’ve decided to go down to the beach. The weather’s warming up this week so hopefully it will be a nice evening. We’re going to get fish and chips and eat it on the sand, then watch the fireworks at midnight.

We thought about going to Glenelg (a popular beachside spot), but it’s probably going to be full of teenagers getting drunk at the Grand and falling around the streets, and we don’t really feel like trying to cope with that (I felt so old and prissy writing that!), so we’re going somewhere that will hopefully be a little quieter, but still have people around. I’m quite looking forward to it!

I hope you all enjoyed your Christmas holidays, whatever you were up to. For us, it was a quiet one spent having lunch at my parents’ place, and then having M’s sister over for afternoon tea. On the 27th we went to Wallaroo for the day, and although it was a bit windy it was still nice to go for a walk along the beach.

Now I just have to decide what I’m going to spend my Christmas money on - I’ve got a little over $300 but I can’t think of anything “big” that I want, so I’m not sure what to buy. I thought about a new media player with a higher capacity than the one I have, but I think I’ll stick with the one I’ve got. Maybe I could get a new camera… but mine is still fine so I don’t really need to upgrade. There aren’t any PDAs I want, as I still really like the one I have. So I’m in a bit of a pickle! I’ll have to hunt through the masses of junk mail we got after Christmas, advertising the sales, and maybe something will jump out at me.

Do you ever have times where you know what you want to blog about, and you’re looking forward to writing about it, but when it comes to sitting down and actually doing it, you just can’t be bothered?