I think the Kitchen Fairy died.

At least I'm assuming that's why she didn't do my dishes while I was sleeping last night.

My jaw aches tonight from being propped open to take care of my dental work. It's a little sore from the shots of deadening, too, but nothing a little ibuprofen can't handle. I'm hoping a good night's sleep will help it feel fine tomorrow.

I am frustrated tonight. I feel like I'm having a hard time getting back on track with the girls home sick. Don't get me wrong. I wouldn't send them to school sick, and I feel bad they don't feel well. It just feels like I can't make much progress with them home from school.

So tonight before I go to bed, I'm writing a list of things I'll be working on tomorrow. Things I can do when the girls are home and awake. Lists really do help me to stay focused on the task at hand.

Besides, I have a feeling the Kitchen Fairly will be a no-show again tonight.

I'm about ready for some wooden teeth.

Today's been a long day. I'm tired tonight. Got several loads of laundry done, but nothing outstanding. We try to keep weekends reserved for family, since it seems we never see enough of one another. We hung out a lot with the girls and tried to relax a little. I'm not sure how successful I was. I've had tomorrow on my mind.

I have a dental appointment in the morning to get some work done. I'm not sure, if he'll get to either of the broken teeth, or if he'll only fill a cavity. I'm hoping both. But I detest going to the dentist. They always have a rough time getting the deadening agent in the right place due to my nerve placement, and I often feel the pain of a drill going into the center of my tooth. It's not fun.

Plus I haven't had the best experiences with dentists. The one we went to when I was little was an abusive man. We found out later he was an alcoholic, which I suppose explains his abusiveness, but it absolutely doesn't excuse it. He pulled one of my teeth without any deadening at all, and at one point even told me that, if I kept crying, he'd "give me something to cry about".

So yeah. Even though the dentist I have now is very gentle and does his best not to hurt me, I am tensed up from the moment my behind meets the cloth of the waiting room seat. Once I get home I typically have to sit on my heating pad for a couple of hours just to release the knots in my back. I wish I could bring a heating pad with me to my appointment. I'll have to ask about that for future visits.

The girls are sick again. Fevers. Sniffles. Coughs. Our middle daughter is coughing up a storm at night and is having headaches. It started Friday night, so I'm sure it's a viral thing. I'm hoping the cough will die down and she'll be feeling better in the next couple of days. I'm ready for Spring to come, so we can open the windows and get some fresh air in here. Mostly, I'm just ready for the kids to be feeling better for more than a week at a time.

Right now, I'm ready for bed.

I need to at least pretend to sleep before I get up for my dental appointment. ;o)

Insurance, The *R* word and the Dentist.

Worked on the insurance paperwork and pictures last night. I also heard back from the restoration company that we'd fired that they do have more pictures and will be sending them out in today's mail. That will make things much easier for me, since I'm sure I didn't get pictures of everything that was ruined. If all goes as planned, I'll have the paperwork and pictures ready for the insurance adjuster by Monday. It will be such a relief to have it done!

Went to the dentist today. I'm a bit disappointed. The teeth I broke were not teeth with temporary crowns. They were real teeth. So I've got to get two crowns. :::sigh::: My teeth have never been in great shape, no matter how much I brush them or floss. Adding steroids to the mix as an adult has just made them worse. I can't get in until the end of March for my teeth to be fixed. In the meantime, the dentist ground the sharp edges off the one tooth, so hopefully my sore tongue will heal soon. =P

The hygienist was very sweet today. She talked a lot, but I like that. I'd rather someone talk to me when they're working on my mouth. I don't really like going to the dentist. At all. So her talking kept my mind off what was going on. It helped me relax. In the course of talking, she said that she did something really r***ded. I hate the *R* word with a passion, but I also feel that many people use it when they're not thinking. I could tell this was the case with her.

When she was done cleaning my teeth, I asked, if I could talk to her for a minute and ask her a favor. She didn't hesitate. I gently asked her, if she could please try to remember not to use that word, because it's very painful for people who have children/loved ones who are mentally delayed. I think she appreciated the fact that I didn't yell at her or call her names like I've seen some do, but I was taught that you can catch more flies with honey than vinegar. She said that she didn't even realize she'd said it, and that at her house, 'stupid' is an off-limits word. That she hates it, and she doesn't allow her children to use it. She said she'll be mindful in the future and try not to use it. I believed her.

The girls were finally well enough to go back to school today. They were thrilled. They both had good days at school, and that always makes a mom feel better. The house seemed quiet, but that's better for paperwork anyway.

I need to go get some more done on the pictures and insurance paperwork. I'll probably throw some laundry in, too.

It feels good to be making headway again.

But of course!

My mouth is falling apart. Ok. Maybe not my mouth, but my teeth are. I broke two of them recently...one last week, and one tonight. Thankfully, I don't have any pain except for the sharpness that cuts into my tongue. I'm pretty sure both teeth had temporary crowns on them, so I guess I'll have to get the permanent crowns at this point. I have an appointment later in the week for my cleaning, and I'll make an appointment then to get them fixed.

I felt the best today that I have in almost 3 weeks. The antibiotics are kicking in, and I'm ever so grateful! I was able to get several loads of laundry done today, and I'll be doing more tomorrow when I get home from my doctor's appointment. I'm just going to count on everything being okay when I see the specialist, so I can get busy. I'm looking forward to finally being able to make some progress on dehoarding again. Finally.

My goal for the week is to get all the paperwork turned in for the insurance claim on the basement flood, so we can close the claim out. It's going to take a bit to get it all together, but I'm hoping that I'll finish by next weekend. Then I'll turn my attention to finally finishing up the crown moulding that I had to abandon when I got sick. If we get the basement finished, then we can start weeding through the stuff from the basement and get the pod off our driveway. It will be nice to not have to park on the street when we get it done.

My mind is racing with everything that I need to get finished.

I think I'll write a list.