Barking Mad

An Unintentional Hiatus

I didn't start this week out intending to not blog for the duration of it.   We left for Boston early last Friday morning, did what I had to do and was there to do on Saturday, then we headed straight for home...the Maine coastline on Saturday afternoon.  No sooner had I stepped onto the beach in York and stuck my toes in the water did my phone ring.  Funny thing is, I normally never have a signal anywhere on the Maine coast.  And technically, I didn't have a single bar there either.  Amazingly enough, the phone still rang and our plans for the weekend changed.

Originally once I'd continued on in my quest to conquer the world while in Boston, we had plans to head back to Maine and pack up the garage at the old house, before Bank of Stupid declares it there's again,  and once and for all get all that crap into a storage unit here in NY.  After that phone call, all of our plans sort of rearranged themselves.  I would need to be back in Boston on Tuesday for more world conquerage.  And yes, I'm intentionally being vague but most of you already know what's going on so you know that my tongue is pretty much tied.  Besides, a closed mouth gathers no feet...or was it food?  Anyhow, we decided to just hang out in Maine and enjoy the coast, catch the 2D version of Despicable Me (3D films make me, literally, sick to my stomach!), and just try and catch our breath. 

After not nearly enough time in Maine, we drove back to NY on Monday afternoon.  Got home around 7PM, in bed by 1:30AM and then up at 5AM to get ready to head back to Boston.  This time on my own as Gaby really didn't need an extra nearly 9 hours cooped up in the car again.  

Long story short, once I got home around 9:30PM Tuesday night, my body and brain hollered, "Approaching capacity.  No more. Slow Down!!!" And my entire system rebooted itself.  I'm still processing things from this weekend and taking one day at a time so that I don't encounter the human version of the "Fatal Blue Screen O' Death."

I'm hoping to have a brand new post up by tomorrow afternoon, as I have some pictures I want to share...but then, I was in Maine afterall, and since when have I ever gone to Maine and come back and not shared photographs I took whilst back home? 

Until then, here's a little teaser of the photographs that were taken while back in Lobstah Land...

From Maine, with Love

I swore to everyone who would listen that as soon as we crossed over the state line from New Hampshire, into Maine, that I was getting off of I-95 and running my fat butt into the ocean the first chance I got, fully clothed and all.

I did run into the water.  See, there's my toes.

 

However, before I could get any further into the water, someone beat me to the chase.  Any guesses as to whom this person might be?

 

She thought she was going to be real smart and sit on the rock...

 

...Until she realized that those waves, they just keep a'comin! 

Then she decided, the heck with it. 

 

I, on the other hand, did not submerge my big but into the wonderfully chilly depths of the Atlantic.  Nope, that's today. 

More from my beloved, bucolic coastline later tonight.  Until then, I'm getting out there and soaking it all up before we have to return to NY later tomorrow. 

 

The Re-Birth of My Smile: Part II

You can read Part I here.

When I first leaned back into Dr. Benjamin's chair this morning, I said a little prayer that Gaby would be the wonderful 4 year old that everyone thinks she is, and not talk talk talk talk all the time we were in there, and that she'd not end up being traumatized over what she was watching happen to my mouth.   She was a little concerned that I was getting the rest of the my teeth yanked out.   Much to my relief (and probably Dr. Benjamin and his staff as well), she was a perfect angel!   

When Dr. Benjamin came in with the two small dental appliances in his hand I hadn't realized I was holding my breath, and once again had a death grip on the examination chair. A few minutes, some deep breaths and a couple of minor tweaks here and there and it was time to place the appliances in my mouth.  Once they were in, he handed me a mirror.   I took a deep breath in and then...SMILED!  Really and truly smiled for the first time in over a decade.

All I could say was, "Wow!" over and over again.  I was getting used to the feel of the Essix appliance (I finally remembered what it was called) and amazed at the difference in my smile and mouth.  I couldn't think of anything else to say.  Eventually I shut up long enough to listen to Dr. Benjamin explain to me the next step in the process as the Essix is only temporary.  There will be another, longer term temporary fix that will be in place probably by October and last until May of next year depending on some things I may have going on, and then next summer I will have the permanent dental implants put in place.

So, wanna see the smile...the whole smile?   I kinda thought you would.  Here's the before shot from Part I...

 

Here is the "after" as of 11AM this morning...

 

 

 

I have been smiling for the entire afternoon...probably even when I joined Gaby in an afternoon nap.  Hell, I even smiled while cleaning up multiple piles of cat puke.  Griffy is a pro at retaliatory vomiting and when I didn't get him his food fast enough this afternoon he made several little messes for me to clean up.  Big deal Griffenstein!  You completely annoy me sometimes but not even today can you wipe off the smile on my face.  Don't let all that dry-heaving fool you...you might be a pro at pissing me off, but even your furry, infuriating self will not get me to stop smiling.  Not today anyhow.

Dr. Benjamin, thank you so much for helping me find my smile again.  You've made this such a pleasant process and I am so very pleased with the results!

Here's to lots more smiles!