Jason and I have been playing Texas Hold'Em lately. A group of his co-workers plays sometimes on Saturday nights and he's gone a couple of times and had a pretty fun time. (And won $125 the first time! YAY!) I went with him last time and watched so I could see if it was something I'd like to learn. At first, I thought the way they played was WAY too complicated for me to learn. But since then, we've been playing at home and I caught on pretty quickly. Weekend before last, we played and the "loser" had to plan a date night for the winner. I lost and we went to try out a new Mexican restaurant on our date night. All that following week, Jason watched poker stuff on ESPN and SpikeTV to learn some new tricks and I watched with him. So we played this past weekend and what do you know...the first two games I won every single hand we played! Then, I got a little too confident and ended up losing the last game. Now I feel like I'm ready to play with Jason's friends from work and not totally feel lost. Not sure when they're playing again, but when they do I'll be there!

Our conference was great. We saw Rosemary Bray, a speaker who specializes in orthodontics/dental conferences about building teamwork. She was amazing! Now let's see if her tips and techniques get put to use in our office. Alexandria was beautiful. After checking into the hotel, I went shopping. I found two "fabulous" pairs of earrings (to quote my friend Amy G). One rose quartz and one turquoise chandelier style. Then we ate dinner at the Charter House and it was amazing! Later,
some of us went to Murphy's Irish Pub for drinks and there was a band there singing Irish drinking songs and any other song anyone requested. I was amazed when they sang "The Unicorn". I never knew there were any other verses to that song. My dad taught us that when we were little and my great-aunt Bobbie still gets a kick out of it when we sing it to her. And it was written by Shel Silverstein, one of my favorites!
So, here ya go. "The Unicorn" by Shel Silverstein.

A long time ago, when the Earth was green,
And there was more kinds of animals than you've ever seen.
And they'd run around free while the world was being born,
And the loveliest of all was the Unicorn.

There was green alligators and long-necked geese,
Humpy back camels and some chimpanzees,
Cats and rats and elephants, but sure as you're born
The loveliest of all was the Unicorn.
But the Lord seen some sinnin' and it caused Him pain
He says, "Stand back, I'm gonna make it rain.
So hey, Brother Noah, I'll tell you what to do...
Go and build me a floating zoo,

And you take two alligators and a couple of geese,
Two humpy backed camels and two chimpanzees,
Two cats, two rats, two elephants, but sure as you're born,
Noah, don't you forget my unicorns."
Now Noah was there and he answered the callin',
And he finished up the ark just as the rain started fallin'.
Then he marched in the animals two by two,
And he sung out as they came through...

"Hey Lord, I got you two alligators and a couple of geese,
Two humpy backed camels and two chimpanzees,
Two cats, two rats, two elephants, but sure as you're born,
Lord, I just don't see your unicorns."
Well, Noah looked out through the drivin' rain,
But the unicorns were hidin', playin' silly games.
They were kickin' and a-splashin' while the rain was pourin' --
Oh, them foolish unicorns.

Then the ducks started duckin' and the snakes started snakin',
And the elephants started elephantin' and the boat started shakin',
The mice started squeakin' and the lions started roarin',
And everyone's aboard but them unicorns.
I mean the two alligators and a couple of geese,
The humpy back camels and the chimpanzees,
Noah cried, "Close the door 'cause the rain is pourin',
And we just can't wait for them unicorns."

And then the ark started movin', it drifted with the tide.
And the unicorns looked up from the rocks and cried.
And the water came down and sort of floated them away.
That's why you've never seen a unicorn to this day.
You'll see a lot of alligators and a whole mess of geese,
You'll see humpy back camels and chimpanzees,
you'll see cats and rats and elephants, but sure as you're born
You're never gonna see no unicorn.

Love you, dad! Can't wait to teach that song to my kids one day.

"Could ya try to keep it down? I was up kinda late last night." Cross Canadian Ragweed played in Harrisonburg, VA about an hour from here. We went with Amy and Heath and we had so much fun! My ears are still ringing this morning but it was worth it. Who knew we'd get to see them around here?! Very cool.

Today I'm only working 1/2 a day and then our entire office staff is leaving to go to a conference in Alexandria. It's about learning to work together as a team. Should be interesting, as this is a topic many in that office sorely need to learn.

Hey, does anyone read this anymore? If you stop by, take a minute and leave me a comment. I'd love to hear from you. :)

Man, that was a cranky post I wrote last time! Why didn't someone comment and say "Amy, you old sourpuss, just because your mouth hurts doesn't mean you have to be so cranky!!" :) My mouth is better now and so is my attitude. I'm eating regular food now, but still being very careful HOW I eat it. Ever seen someone eat a cheeseburger with a knife and fork? That's how I have to eat until my Dr. tells me otherwise. And no ice in drinks whatsoever. Not because the dr said so, but anything cold still hurts the roof of my mouth. But at least it's feeling better!

We're just doing boring stuff this weekend. Organizing, getting ready for taxes, etc. Not too much fun. But now we're done with that for the day and maybe we can play some cards or something so that we do get to have SOME fun this weekend.

I go back to my dr tomorrow to see how my gingival graft is healing. Hopefully he says everything looks good. Tuesday night should be fun. Cross Canadian Ragweed is playing in Harrisonburg, PA and we're going with our friends Amy and Heath. That should be really fun and we are all looking forward to it.

That's about it for us. Nothing too exciting. Have a great week!

Yes, I'm still alive. Yes, I am back at work. (Good grief! Who knew I had to talk so much at my job?!OUCH!!) And YES, YES, YES (!!) my mouth still hurts. Each morning, I sit on the side of the bed holding my mouth and saying "OWWWWW!" Not a good way to start the day. Know what I had for breakfast this morning? A big glass of chocolate milk. Yep. Couldn't very well eat mashed potatoes for breakfast, could I? I have actually managed to eat some "cooked till it's mushy" pasta and some eggs and butter and bread. It's nice to finally be able to eat more than one kind of thing. But it still hurts a lot. And I still can't have coffee. Or carbonated beverages of any kind. What does this mean? It means I am very cranky from lack of caffeine and taking a LOT ibuprofen for the mouth pain. It is slowly getting better though.

He finally understands!

Ladies and gentlemen, let this date go down in history as the day I heard my sweet husband say these words:
"Honey, shh...I've only got 40 pages left!"

Ha!ha! Now you know what it's like, don't you honey? :)

To paraphrase something my aunt said when she was little, "Mashed potatoes, mashed potatoes, mashed potatoes. That's all we ever eat around here is mashed potatoes!" Those of you who know that story know she was talking about boiled potatoes, but I can't help but think about that phrase when all I can eat is mashed potatoes. Well, that and pudding, yogurt, and oatmeal. I can't seem to get the place in the roof of my mouth to stop bleeding and (at my dr's suggestion) am sucking on a tea bag as I type this. All I have done for the past 4 days is watch tv, read a book, and sleep. My oral surgeon is NOT ranked very highly on my list of most favorite people right now. I go to see him on Monday the 20th and hopefully he tells me everything looks good. It sure doesn't feel good! Thanks for all of the emails and comments on my blog. It kind of hurts to talk too much right now, but it hasn't affected my typing one bit! :) Love and miss you all!
Amy

Well, I lived. That was by FAR the grossest thing I have ever been through in my entire life. If you're easily grossed out, you might want to quit reading here. Please excuse any errors or typos I may make. I'm probably a little loopy right now from the pain meds. :)

Don't say I didn't warn you.

Let me start by telling you about my night last night. I went to bed around 10:30 but I sure didn't get much sleep. Despite telling myself not to freak out, they do this kind of thing every day, I'm sure they're very good at it, etc, etc, etc, I still had nightmares all night. Think about the dentist in Little Shop of Horrors and that's pretty much every dream I had last night. I was worn out by the time my alarm went off this morning!

When I first sat down in the chair, Dr. Z had me take 600 mg of ibuprofen. Before they even started! Not a good sign, I'm thinking. Then, he had me rinse with a special mouth wash for 30 seconds. Then I put on an oh so sexy hat like they wear in the surgery rooms to cover my hair. And he also gave me some safety glasses to wear.

Then, he gave me 3 shots. 2 in front of my bottom 2 teeth and one in the roof of my mouth. And yes, they hurt. Not as bad as I expected though. Then, I sat for a few minutes and got nice and numb. He came back in, gave me 3 more shots, and I sat for a while until the shots had time to do their thing.

Then it was time for him to get to work. First, he shaved of a little of the gums in front of my 2 front teeth to make a bed for the graft to sit on. I couldn't feel anything except a little scraping sensation which was SO GROSS, but I was thankful I couldn't feel any pain. Then he stitched that up a little and I could NOT watch him do that! Stitches gross me out so much! I think the worst part about this was the fact that while I couldn't exactly feel any pain, I could feel him sewing my gums! Seriously, I could feel him making the stitches with the actual needle and thread! (Now you know why I say this is the grossest thing I have ever been through in my life!)

After that, it was time for him to harvest the graft from the roof of my mouth. Again, not so bad because I couldn't actually feel any pain. But just knowing what he was doing was freaking me the heck out. I tried not to focus on that, but it was pretty hard because his gloves were bloody and right in front of my face. EWWW!

Finally, he sewed the graft from the roof of my mouth into place. Still no pain, but lots more of the awful sewing feeling. I don't know how many stitches he gave me, but I know I could not wait for him to be done! I even have 2 stitches behind my 2 front teeth on the bottom and how they actually work to hold the graft on, I would rather not think about.

And that's it. He took some pictures for my file and sent me home with some special mouth rinse, an ice pack, and a 2 page sheet of instructions.

I made Jason stop off and buy me some groceries (pudding, eggs, cottage cheese, soup, ice cream etc.) that would be easy for me to eat without too much chewing. Then, we came home and I went straight to bed and slept for about 4 hours.

When I woke up, I was STARVING! I ate 2 pieces of toast before my surgery, but that was all I had eaten all day. I was so hungry that every thing sounded good, but even drinking water hurts my mouth, so it was tricky to find something I could eat. I settled on some instant mashed potatoes and normally, I wouldn't think about them being very salty, but WOW! Yeah, that wasn't too fun. But I did eat a bowlful of potatoes and drank some water.

Jason said that it was too bad we couldn't grill up some steaks tonight since it's the first time the weather's been good all winter. I just gave him a dirty look and continued eating my mashed potatoes. He is so bad! He knows I've been craving a good steak for months now and he also knows just how bad I've been wanting the weather to warm up so we can fire up the grill. That won't be happening any time soon! I'll be eating soft stuff for several weeks at least. Guess I should feel lucky that I can eat all the ice cream I can stand, right?

So to end this long post, I'll just say I'm doing OK. My mouth hurts like a son of a gun and I'm sure I'm not too fun to be around right now, but I'll be fine. Thanks for all the kind wishes.

OK, I am freaking out now. I have to have surgery this Thursday! I need a gingival graft for my bottom 2 teeth. That's where they take gum tissue from one place and suture it somewhere else. YIKES that's gonna hurt! And you know the gross thing? I can't brush my bottom 2 teeth for weeks! EEEEWWWWWW! I may not feel too great this weekend, but I'll try to post anyway. Wish me luck and a speedy recovery!

I went to see Sonja and Chris' new baby boy Jonathan Wyatt this past week and he is gorgeous! He has got to be the biggest newborn I have ever seen! Wow, I mean he looks like he's 3 months old! His feet are 4 inches long! They're the same lenghth as my thumb! OK, now I cannot imagine giving birth to a child that big. Well, he's not big as in large, he's just LONG! And adorable! I held him for about an hour and just looked at him the whole time. Well, and I did try to wake him up, too. (Nicely of course.) OK, now I want all my friends and family who have had children to tell me every single thing about it. Now it will probably be a while before I need to know that kind of thing, but I want details, ladies! Gotta have some idea what to expect, right? :)
But for now, I think I'll settle for taking care of my rotten cats. Right now they're both hanging out with me in the computer room. One's napping on the floor and the other is in the chair beside me. Can't believe Patches is finally sleeping and not getting into trouble! Must be just resting up for the next adventure. :)

On books and movies...

I just finished the Da Vinci Code. I know, I know, apparently I'm way behind the times if I've JUST finished, but I'm cheap and waited until it was under $15 to buy. :) I loved it! This is the one time I've actually cared enough about a book to buy the hardback version. And this is saying a lot, considering how much I love to read.

I read Angels and Demons first and was completely fascinated. I loved it so much I made my husband listen to parts of it out loud. I actually made him pause the basketball game he was watching and listen to me read aloud one very interesting part of the book. And the even better part? He thought it was interesting too! (Didn't even seem to mind that I had him pause the game. Now that is BIG!) Now he's reading it and he will read the Da Vinci Code next. That's even cooler. (That he's reading something other than a business book.)

And about movies. Well, one movie in particular. Have you seen Walk The Line? We actually had a date night a couple of months ago and went to see this movie. I loved every second of it and knew I had to own it before I was even finished watching it the first time! We are HUGE Johnny Cash fans at our house and both of us were trying so hard to keep ourselves from singing along to this movie! There was an older couple in the row behind us and I heard the man comment "I'm surprised at how many young people are here tonight". You betcha!

I bought Jason the Walk the Line soundtrack for Christmas and we just bought the DVD this weekend. As soon as OU loses this basketball game, we're going to watch the movie again. (Sorry, Sooner fans but right now OU is sucking it up big time!) You HAVE to see this movie! Go, now! Rent it, buy it, borrow it, whatever, but SEE THIS MOVIE! And tell me all about it when you're done. :)

I got some new plants this weekend! I got some Hens and Chicks, a beautiful tropical bromeliad called "guzmania"(had to look that up cause I had no idea what in the world it was or how to take care of it or anything). I also got a golden pothos, a purple "Wandering Jew" (where do they come up with these names?), and an herb garden kit that has chives, cilantro, basil, parsley and thyme.

Now if I can just manage to keep these plants alive! I think my biggest thing is at times I overwater and other times I completely forget to water them at all. For example, my beautiful pink Mandevilla that I bought at Lowe's last year. It was gorgeous! And I didn't kill it all last summer! YEAH! But then it got cold and I had to bring it inside. Well, the only place the cats couldn't get to it was on top of my kitchen cabinets. Guess what? I totally forgot to water it and now it's dead. Good thing I kept the receipt and it's only been a few months since I bought it! I LOVE LOWE'S for their return policy.

Hmmm...maybe I should have bought all these other plants there too! Now I'm off to research all these plants I bought to try to keep from killing them. Wish me luck!