Getting my hairs did

On a lighter note, I got my hairs did the other day...it had been a few months and I am not the regular primper. Here is me before... And immediately after... (ignore my no make up self)
I do adore Erin at Kuttin' Up...she is so sweet and I always feel more pretty after I visit her.

The next chapter

We have our meeting with our social worker on Monday evening for our 3rd home study update. Since we've been through this multiple times now, we know what to expect and our social worker is great so that's no biggie. She actually is an adoptive parent herself and has both a bio and internationally adopted child so her perspective on this process is pretty informed. She understands all about attachment, post-institutionalized behavior, delays, etc and will be a great help to us once we return from China.

Anyway...so we have this meeting and it has made me really think about all that has happened in our lives since the last meeting. So much has happened but really Jeff and I are the same parents in waiting that we were 2 years ago. I am almost finished with nursing school, Jeff is struggling with the stress of work and trying to take care of us while I am not working, we have had some bumpy times in the past 2 years and we have survived...hopefully stronger than before and more prepared to parent the child that we have loved and longed for for so long.

I have talked a little more about the adoption lately and it feels good. There are only a few people in my life who I open up to about this process because, at the core, it has been painful. I would be lying if I said that I enjoy having to have my life scrutinized with a magnifying glass, being afraid every time we go to the doctor that we will be diagnosed with something that will halt our adoption process, having a panic attack when we get a speeding ticket because it will go on our "record". This process doesn't make for happy and content parents-to-be. But it's not meant to go on for years like it has. Anyone can deal with a few months of this cautious anticipation...that is the reason that human pregnancies only last 9 months (although you don't have to prove health and virtue before you can conceive).

The point of this post is just really to touch base about the adoption, mark this next chapter as we meet with our social worker again and for me to talk myself down from the ledge a little bit. I want to believe that this is the final phase of our journey...the last update before we go to China. We have to have our biometric fingerprints updated in October/November for Homeland Security and then I am hoping with all that is in me that we can just sit back and wait for our referral. We have 92 LID days ahead of us and if there are 6 days referred per month then we have a little over 15 months left to wait.

I just really want to transition and make this about the sweet baby girl that will be our lives at the end of this process and not so much about the painful wait for her.

3 whole years

Today is our 3 year LID-versary. We are still waiting ever-so-patiently for the day that Jeff and I will become parents. I wanted to do something special to mark this day but instead we just decided to stay home, relax and I let Jeff watch Nascar with absolutely no complaining on my part. :)
So happy 3 year LID-versary to us. I have read that you are supposed to get leather gifts at 3 years...maybe a purse? a belt? Let's hope I don't have to google what you get at 4 years. Fingers crossed that this might just be our last LID-versary !!

Lunch Bunch Reunion

Today I had lunch with some of my favorite girlfriends...who I have not seen in FOREVER! Amy, Mel, Colleen, me and their slew of little ones gathered today at Moe's for Moo Moo Mr. Cows and catching up. There were 6 kids and I almost had a little panic attack since I have not been around this many people under the age of 7 since I was a summer camp counselor in 1995. It was fun and I just love to be around all the kiddie giggles, baby smiles and proud mommas.
Not to mention that we all used to work together at the Girl Scouts...years and years ago.

Me and Mel

Me and Mel's newest little one...sweet baby girl

Amy's little man drinking salsa

I am such a horrible communicator that I don't get to enjoy my friends too often so I really treasured today. I pledge to become a better friends...in just 8 weeks (when nursing school is OVER). :)

Dad's Visit

Mom had to take off to Germany and Italy on a work trip so Dad decided to jaunt to the 'Ham to visit while she was gone. It was great to have him here and I always hate when he leaves...boohoo. How great is it that I have such fantastic parents, huh? They are gonna be awesome grandparents to our little Lily.

So we went to the Alabaster City Fest to see Tonic...but it was so hot that we stayed for like 10 minutes and left. Oh well...we did make it to the Peach Park to stuff our faces with pie and ice cream.
And we went to Newk's for Dad's most favorite Fire Roasted Tomato Soup (we actually went twice so he could get his fill).

And we had countless hours of Wii Golf tournaments with Jeff and Dad...

It was a fun time and I can't wait till he comes back for another visit...maybe I can convince him to let Mom tag along ;).

Saying Goodbye

Saying goodbye is never easy. Whether it is in the morning when I say goodbye to Jeff, to Dad or Mom when they come visit or when you have to say the final goodbye to a loved one who has passed...never easy and never welcome. This week, Aunt Betty lost her battle with a long time illness. She was my Grandma B's sister and also one of her best friends. I remember Grandma waking up at 5am during our visits to have "girl talk" on the phone with Aunt Betty before we woke up. She didn't know that I was actually awake listening to them gossip.

I have seen a lot of our family post photos and memorials to Aunt Betty on Facebook this week and it touches my heart to share some memories with them. Of course, the loss of Aunt Betty reminds me a lot of Grandma and all the great times she gave to me and the rest of our family. I have been so blessed in this life to be able to be loved and love my family so greatly. It makes every goodbye so hard but so precious.

The father of my child-to-be...

...is not so photogenic.

Of course, what kind of wife would take a picture of her husband trying out a mattress at Sam's? *Nice jorts, honey*

Or enjoying their very first s'more....before it could be chewed?

And what kind of wife would click the "take picture" button right as her husband, in a fit of anti-camera rage, shows his beanie weenees?

Why, me, of course.

P.S. You know I love you, right? ;)

My parents...

...as depicted in stick person on the back of Dad's car. Eerily accurate, don't you think?

When you're from the country, it doesn't matter what your folks name you...

Because people will call you whatever they want to anyway. This is what I have learned over the 10 years (yes it will be 10 years on June 22nd) that Jeff and I have been a couple. I remember the very first time I met Jeff's parents and siblings and heard them call him Jackie. I was like, "Where do they get Jackie from when your name is Jeff?". The answer is cause they can call you whatever they want in the country. If their faces are pointed toward you and a name comes from their lips, then it's you that their talking to and you best answer. That's the same reason why Jeff's brother, Edsel, is Ekkey and his brother, Melvin, is Chet. Just cause I said so - that's why. Even these nicknames don't compare with the fact that he has an Uncle Babydoll and a Cousin Sweetie. Trust me, folks, these are NOT their real names but they identify with them and will wonder what's wrong if you call them by anything else.

Now on to what brought this realization home... Tonight we were visiting Jeff's uncle (named Silas, called Uncle Si - fairly reasonable) in the hospital and we met a family member that is not blood related to Jeff...he is on the other side of the family. The crew was hooting and hollering about fishing and growing tomatoes (things they do in the country) when the distant cousin started talking about his family members... Are you ready? He has a Cousin Fat Gal!! The bad part is that he said, "Yeah...Fat Gal has two kids...I forget what her real name is." So forever in time this poor woman from the country is Fat Gal, sister of Skeet and Buster...with no remembrance of what her parents put on her birth certificate.

While I find lots of humor in all of this, it is part of the culture of our lives that I can't wait to bring to our baby girl. But, trust me on this one, she will be Lily Faith through and through. No Big Booty Girl or Raven Hair nicknames for our sweetheart please :).

P.S. Please, God, do not let Jeff's family ever read this blog post and, if they do, make sure they know how much I love them ;).

10 Random Things That Made Me Smile This Weekend

I am stealing this theme from one of my favorite blogs...but it's been a while since I've posted and I needed some inspiration. Here goes...

1. Rumor Queen (http://www.chinaadopttalk.com/) posts projections each month after China adoption referrals come out. This month our LID (6-14-06) actually made the projections. Woot woot!! The top lists referral batch sizes based on the # that have been referred during those time periods ranging in small, horrid, bad, mid and good case scenarios. The side is the month of the referral batches starting with next month, June 2009. The last year and a half or so have been batches in the small to horrid range so I am not too excited since we don't appear until you get to the bad case scenario. But still...we're there and maybe this means that we will actually get our referral in the next 12-18 months.
2. We went to Brooke's wedding this weekend and, of course, it was gorgeous. It was raining on Saturday and her dad actually used a blower to dry off the seats for the guests. It started raining again during the ceremony and several of us got out umbrellas but it was actually pretty beautiful with nature's elements.

3. I got to enjoy 2 whole days with my husband away from home. I love that man.

4. While we were away, Jeff and I saw a mommy with her adopted Chinese baby girl in the parking lot at a shopping center. We turned for a minute and they must have gone in to a store cause Jeff turned to me and said, "Where did they go?". I'm happy that he has joined me in my Asian baby stalking. Sweet.

5. We went to Ikea to just browse for baby goodies and found this chandelier that I think will be a perfect replacement for the ceiling fan in Lily's room. And Jeff agreed. Wowsers.

6. We also picked up some white curtain panels that were on a huge sale at Ikea (9.99 on sale from 29.99) and Jeff actually said, "If we don't like them then we can just dye them and see what happens." I see shades of pink fabric dye in our future. Smart man.

7. We got take-out from Shane's Rib Shack on Sunday and Jeff shared his french fries with me while we ate on the ottoman in the hotel room. They had this awesome spicy mustard sauce that I dipped my fries in. Bad for me but yummy!!

8. Dad is coming to visit this week and I am looking forward to it. If he feels better (from his icky sore throat) Jason will be here too, Brandee will come over and we will celebrate with a s'mores and weinee roast this weekend. Yippee!!

9. I am D-O-N-E with my 90 hour preceptorship and will start my LAST semester of nursing school on Friday!

10. Shankopotamus

Oh my aching dogs

My feet are killing me!! I am doing a super marathon of 12 hour shifts this week trying to get my preceptorship finished before the next semester starts. I will be doing (fingers crossed) 51 hours in the CCU in the first 4 days of this week...that's a lot of time on my feet. Trust me, there is no sitting for nursing students on the unit. When I'm not taking vitals every hours, I'm getting ice water and coffee and cleaning up various icky bodily excretions. It's fun. Every now and then I get to do something neat like put in a foley catheter or monitor an intra-aortic balloon pump. But I digress...my point is that my feet HURT!

I am trying to make my clinical shoes work through the end of school and until I can make enough money to invest in those good nurse shoes - the Danskos. All the hip nursey chicas that I am meeting swear by those so they must be good for feet like mine, right?

For now...I have to be really nice to Jeff so that I might be pampered with a foot rub every now and then. That's the only thing that might calm the dogs. :)

Pretty Words

I remember being in high school and experiencing real poetry for the first time. I had an incredible writing teacher, Mrs. McGraw, who inspired me to think about words in ways that I never had before. She was awesome. During the first week of every school year, she painted the walls in her classroom white and brought paints in all the colors of the rainbow with her for our lesson. Her task - to have all of the students put their handprints on the walls of the room thus leaving their mark.

That year I read what would be my life-long favorite book - A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving. For close to a month, we lived that book in class and when we finished we held a memorial service for Owen in the courtyard of our school. We had all written obituaries for him and read them aloud.

That year I fell in love with words...poetry, short stories, novels, quotes. To this day, I credit Mrs. McGraw with inspiring this in me and for giving me the guidance and constructive criticism that I needed to help me feel confident in my ability to express myself with pretty words.

There are certain pieces of poems that have stayed with me since that time and this one crossed my mind today...very fitting for my sis and some things she is going through. It's great how we can take poems, quotes, etc and make them fit our lives, isn't it? Anyway...this is one of my all time favorites...

What though the radiance which was once so bright
Be now for ever taken from my sight,
Though nothing can bring back the hour
Of splendour in the grass, of glory in the flower;
We will grieve not, rather find
Strength in what remains behind... -William Wordsworth

Funky Crime Chicas

You know I love me some dead shows, right? And part of the reason they are so cool is that they incorporate some really funky women. So I put this out there... who do you think is most crime-a-licious?

Garcia from Criminal Minds

OR
Abby from NCIS?

I think they both rock.

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

The Good

• I have completed 39 of my 90 hours of precepting. I am trying hard to get these done before the next semester starts on 5/29.
• It was warm today and I sat outside in my lawn chair for about 2 hours soaking up vitamin D - I love the summer!
• My hair has turned curly...go figure.
• Henry comes back to Ugly Betty next week.
• Jeff has had a few times this week where he hasn't had to work 15 hour days.

The Bad

• I have 51 more hours of precepting. I want to get them all done next week. 4 twelve hour shifts plus 3 extra hours...I'm scared.
• It was warm today...but it's supposed to rain this weekend. Blah.
• My hair has turned curly and I'm not sure what to do with it.
• This week and next are the season finales of some of my favorite shows...including Ugly Betty. I guess they are ending just in time for the hard core summer semester in which I need to spend all my time studying instead of watching TV.
• Jeff got off early 3 days this week...all of which I was at the hospital till 7. At least he got to come home and chill. One day he made me dinner and had it waiting when I walked in...what a sweetie.

The Ugly

• Brandee has a wrecked car, has been sick and is going through a pretty crappy time right now. But she is strong and she'll make it...even though she may not know it.
• The nursing job market has slowed and I am afraid that I might have to start on the night shift or I might have a tougher time getting a job than I had hoped...ARGHHH. If you have followed me for any time then you know that I think the night shift SUCKS and I NEED to get a job ASAP.
• There is a rumor that China will be holding off on all referrals and matches until possibly September, 2009 due to the swine flu. My heart is broken with this one.
• We are STILL waiting on some paperwork to come in for our third home study update. These updates are killers and I will jump off a cliff if we have to do another one. Well...maybe not a cliff but I will do something ugly.

Happy Mother's Day!

I have an AMAZING mother. One of my most soothing and treasured memories is when she used to rub my hair when I was hurt or sad...it always made everything bad turn better. I love you, mom!!

Taking care of hearts

At the end of nursing school, you have to complete a preceptorship which is where a nursing student is partnered with a nurse and is required to work alongside him/her and basically take on a normal nurse's patient load under the supervision of a licensed RN. I will start this experience on Monday.

I actually received my first choice of an assignment...the CCU (Coronary Care Unit) at Jeff's hospital. I am looking forward to seeing how I fare in a critical care setting, especially one where Jeff knows the nurses. As usual, when I go in to his hospital I don't tell anyone that my hubby works there unless he comes to the unit or unless I am directly asked...so maybe we can go undercover and he can get some more objective feedback on me. Not that I want my husband asking about young nursing students in his hospital but still...

I will be completing 90 hours in the CCU as quickly as possible because this summer semester is going to be a BEAR. At the end of it, though, I will be D-O-N-E.

Is it a competition?

Last week Jeff worked till 10:30 pm one night, got called in at 1 am, home at 4 am, up and back to work at 6:30 am. It would be a little challenge if that were the exception for him but it's the rule these days. He is working his booty off and I worry about him.

Note to Jeff: It's not a competition...you don't have to work more hours than the Pope. You are allowed to come home at night, eat dinner with your wife, watch Judge Judy on DVR and fall asleep on the couch. You have my permission. So there.

A little sunshine in this storm

Remember the lions?

After some really hard work by Jeff, lots of hot water, weird goop spraying and peeling with fingernails...

They're gone!

And we have lemon sherbet on the walls.

Down with pigs

There are rumors that there will be no referrals for China adoption this month due to the swine flu. This is horrible news for those waiting to see their child's face...people who have been waiting over 3 years plus whatever time they had to spend on their paperwork plus the time they may have spent exhausting fertility options. It may just be a short delay but any delay SUCKS and the potential is there that this may get really out of control. Something similar happened years ago during the SARS outbreak and lots of people who had actually received their referrals were delayed in being able to meet their children by months.

I hope, for many reasons, that this swine thing dissipates quickly. The word pandemic is a scary one for everyone and it has meaning for all of us. I just heard that the US has had its first death...a 23 month old toddler in Texas. So let's all do our part and pray for a resolution to this - some mutation that will make the swine flu less potent, a vaccine to be developed super fast, early recognition and testing for people so they can be treated with Tamiflu or Relenza and for people to act on this by washing their hands, covering mouths when sneezing or coughing and just being smart.

Brainiacs

I joined a network of smart folks today - Phi Theta Kappa. It is an honor society, not a sorority...so contrary to Dad's beliefs...there is no hazing involved. Unless you consider that I am one of the oldest people in the group and may not be able to participate in their bowling nights and weekend jaunts due to my increasing arthritis ;)...that's hazing enough. Jeff played photographer and even blessed me with a picture (and video) of my behind. You can see the pictures in this slide show (make sure to click on the little sign to turn the captions on)...




or you can go to the web album which will show you the video by clicking here...

Phi Theta Kappa Induction 1

Jeff, TV Narrator

Men are quirky. Jeff is no exception to that rule. Some times I just have to break out in laughter at some things that he does. Maybe I'm the real goof but, for some reason, I doubt that. If you know him then you know, Jeff is a ADDICTED to television. He completely zones out when the tube is on...no matter what show, commercial, inf0-mercial or multi-colored line pattern are visible on the screen at the time. He often immerses himself in the news or in a 1990's episode of Cops while I am in the kitchen pulling dinner together. He chooses this time to act as "Jeff, TV Narrator", heretofore referred to as Jeff, TVN.

You have to know that I can't see the television from our kitchen so I do a lot of poking my head around the corner to bring out the drinks, napkins, etc. and am always greeted by some update on what's going on on the TV. For example, "Honey, that man killed 12 people for nothing...I tell you I don't know why those people don't just kill themselves, why do they have to kill other people first?" or during Cops, "That man was high on crack AND he had pantyhose on. I wonder what HE was doing wearing those pantyhose...um hum I guess we kinda know." I have to respond by chuckling under my breath just so he doesn't know that I think he's an ever-loving HOOT.

The real funny-ness happens when I am sitting right here on the couch next to him and he STILL acts as Jeff, TVN. We are watching the SAME TV show and he stops every 5 minutes or so to give me a summary of what has happened heretofore. "There is that horrible swine flu business in Mexico, Obama has been president for 100 days and the stock market went up a few points...I wonder what's next?!?". Maybe I am just NOT RIGHT for noticing things like this but it really cracks me up.

Quirky I tell you.

Yuck...

...is how Jeff is feeling today. He has been a little under the weather for a while but today it has gotten the best of him. We spent the morning in the emergency room and now he is trying his best to recover on the couch. This picture was taken with my phone while he was waiting for a CT...in a moment of forced smiling. He is hurting pretty badly so please send some positive wellness vibes his way. I hate to see him like this :(.

Lions and Tiger and Bears Oh My....well ok, just lions

I was ambitious today and decided to tackle the wall of wallpaper in the baby's room. Oddly, every bedroom in this house had one wall covered in wallpaper with the remaining 3 painted. I am fortunate that this THIS room also has a border on the 3 other walls.



After I tore apart Jeff's garage to try to find our handy wallpaper scorer and DIF gel, I braved the task ahead. I used my fingernails to pry away one of the wallpaper seams and just let 'er rip. What I saw next was alarming at best...


Not only was there another layer of wallpaper underneath the superficial 80's layer...but it was a print. Not only was it a print...but it was LIONS. Not only lions...but boy and girl lions with foliage. And some of them had mustaches drawn on them with sharpie and eyes colored in with silver markers. If I ever saw the previous owners of this house, I anticipate that they would be either extremely eccentric or flat out crackheads.

I mean, really....in what era, room style or planet is this ok? On top of it all, it's not coming off. I think they used super glue to adhere it to the drywall. Not even my fingernails are working. So I'm exploring options right now. These creatures WILL be gone by week's end. They spook me out.

David Sed@ris Night

Last night, my rockin' brother hosted an evening of hilarity with a performance of David Sed@ris. If you don't know who he is, google him...you won't be sorry. He has a sense of humor accompanied by intelligent with that can not be duplicated. Trust me...I stayed up late last night trying to re-tell Jeff some of the jokes incorporated in to his short stories and I failed miserably. Jeff just looked at me like I was dropped on my head. You have to hear it straight from the artist's mouth I guess.

So here are a couple pics:

Me, Jason and Lori in an attempted self pic

Our view at the Cobb Energy Centre (I found out my camera has a bunch of neato settings so this turned out pretty well)

The three of us before the guffaws

Thanks Jason for a great night!!

Baby Splurging

I went to Atlanta yesterday (see next post) and made a pit stop at Ike-a. I had a surge of baby excitement as I was checking out the decorations and goods for wee ones. I just had to buy a few things. I spent very little but got a lot...at least I think I did.

I spent this afternoon putting together this high chair....
From this mess of parts...

And I didn't buy this rug but I hope to soon...

To go with the mesh tunnel thing that hangs from the ceiling to hold stuffed animals...

And to complement what will be the colors of the baby's room. Yellow walls with pink, white and green accents.

Hopefully it will come together. I'm super excited to see what the end product will look like.

34 Months

It has now been 34 months since our paperwork was stamped in China (our LID). 2 months until the big 3 years mark. I want to do something special to celebrate that...we'll see.

On the adoption front, Rumor Queen made a great blog post about the cultural differences that we will have to account for when we first meet Lily Faith. You can read it here --> RQ Blog Post

We are also making progress on the baby's room. I have cleaned out about 80% of the junk and am just about ready to rip down the 1 wall of wallpaper and the hideous border. Then comes the paint. I am thinking about a yellow color called Fresh Citrus. It is so much harder than I thought to find a good, vibrant baby yellow. I don't want the pale, pale color but don't want it to look like the sunshine threw up either. We will have accents of pink, green and purple. We have this light from IK*A (click here) that we will use somewhere and I was actually thinking of getting a couple more and making a little potted plant on the wall... Anyway, I'm done babbling about the nursery. It will come together and there is PLENTY of time.

For now, happy 34 month-a-versary to us!

Easter Egg Antics

What is Easter without a little dye-ing of eggs?!?

Leslie thought her paper towel was the prettiest part
Notice the green, blue, yellow theme? The orange and pink were broken.

Even Jeff got into it.

And Brandee tried the tye-dye method.

See the pretty potential egg colors...

Now it's time for some funky colored egg salad.

Happy Easter everyone!

I interrupt this icky week to bring you square butt laughter

Starring my favorite nightmare inducing plastic man --- THE KING



Ha ha.

Psycho Wife

Dear Jeff,
Hi there my husband. The last time you read my blog you said that you worry about me. I thought that meant that you could see that I was a little sad last week, missing our little one in China. But then you proceeded to tell me that some of my posts lead you to think I am a bit "psycho". I know you are worried about the world thinking your wife is nuts but, really now, I doubt that #1) there are more than 5 people who read my blog on a regular basis and #2) the world questions my sanity when there are other issues going on like nuclear weapons, a failing world economy and American Idol.

So...my love...don't worry about your "psycho" wife. I will continue to use my blog to convey my (sometimes manic) personality and document the highs and lows of life as I wait for all of our dreams to come true.

Your wife (truly sane and devoted),
Nicole

Dead Shows

I love dead shows. NOT Grateful Dead shows. You know - the crime shows that show how murders/deaths are solved. Forensic Files, Cold Case Files, Dr. G: Medical Examiner, The First 48, CSI (the real one and NY - Not MIAMI), NCIS and on and on. There is nothing like a good dead show to decompress, right? Unfortunately, I think I have reached the end of the dead show bank...I have been catching lots that I have already seen once or twice. And really...once you know how a person died, it's no fun to watch it again. Don't get me wrong...I am not waiting for more people to die just so that I can have fresh dead shows. That would be soooo wrong. And I don't do wrong. :)

Heavy Heart

You know how when something really, really bothers you, hurts your feelings or a big something catches you off guard you literally feel it in your chest? It's like a someone has their super huge fist wrapped around your rib cage squeezing until they either burst your insides or you let it out in a racking sob. Or like your heart is made of a magnet that is attracted unerringly to the floor and makes you want to collapse. (Kinda melodramatic, huh?) I know I had a teacher once who told me that there really is a physiologic etiology to the term "heartache". I believe it.

Today my heart is heavy...it hurts. Not because someone disappointed me or caught me off guard. Just cause I miss the little girl I don't know yet. Every month I stalk the referral rumor blogs looking for good news only to see just how far we are away from the whole parent thing. If it doesn't turn around soon, I am afraid my heart will be no good anymore. I doubt that worry, anticipation and pessimism will qualify me for a heart transplant. Boo hoo.

Ok, today's pity part is over. The picture is cute tho, huh?

I'm a super-freakin-hero

I went to the dentist today to have a new crown seated. I had the prep a few weeks ago and have been living with the temporary one in anticipation of this glorious day. The first thing the nice hygienist woman asked me is if I wanted to be numbed up. Remember this day ? Of course, if it's not gonna hurt, I don't want the numby juice. SO...in my statistical, analytical nature, I asked her what people usually say when she asks that and she responded, "It's about 50/50." And I figure I have a higher than normal tolerance for discomfort so I'll be cool through it if really 50 whole percent of people don't die without it.

So she placed the metal forceps on my temporary crown to remove it and I broke out into a sweat. I felt a little moan of pain escape my throat...although it couldn't be a full fledged growl due to the huge metal tools in my mouth yanking my teeth out. Just as I was about to side-swipe her arm out of my mouth and DEMAND numby stuff, the temporary came out and, of course, I said, "Now that wasn't toooooo bad." Ha ha....I'm a super-hero.

Well then, the new crown had to be put in. They told me that I would have a little "cold sensitivity" once the cement hit the primed crown stump in my mouth (read-exposed nerves). After messing with it for a few minutes, they plopped that crowny-poo in my mouth and I swear I felt my forehead against the ceiling. Cold-sensitivity-my-butt! We are talking full fledged sticking an ice pick through my gums and into my brain. After I floated down from the ceiling, I was ok but... I'm a super hero.

My point: if a hygienist in cute urbane scrubs with Texas hair (in Alabama) asks you if you want to be numbed, tell her to make it a double.

Our Perfect Tulip

Spring time is my favorite time of the year for so many reasons...one of which is the gorgeous tulips blooming everywhere (see here and here for proof). Jeff planted some tulip bulbs in a little area in the front of our house (which has also been a failed butterfly garden, weed plot and more) but he thought he had pulled them all up when he cleaned out the area late last year. Nope. There are now a few tulips trying their best to reach the sun. When I pulled in to the driveway this afternoon....I saw this....
One perfect tulip. Granted it doesn't sit in the perfect place, it may not have bloomed at the perfect time since all the other tulips are yet to sprout and we know it will only stay this perfect flower for a brief moment. But that's enough 'cause it's perfect. And it's ours.