Teeth and Queens
Teeth update: I went back to the oral surgeon yesterday and was able to have the medicated gauze removed forever, yay! Now at least I don't have that horrible taste and the other minor irritations of the gauze to contend with. It's just a matter of another week, week and a half until things will grow back to normal. So, 3-4 weeks after the surgery I might be totally normal again and, to celebrate, I believe we'll go to the new authentic taquería (taco joint) in town.
Last night I went to my book club and we discussed
The Red Queen, a book that was originally recommended by Austin. It argues that sex and reproduction are the main reasons for evolution. I found the idea that evolution is change but not progress (a treadmill rather than a ladder) quite interesting. The title comes from the Red Queen in Alice in Wonderland who keeps running but gets nowhere because the landscape moves with her. It also had some interesting observations of both humans and animals that were more fun to read than the sciencey parts. For example, a woman is more likely to conceive with her lover rather than her husband. Admittedly, though, only one person finished the entire book. It was fairly dense and it simply takes awhile to mull over the ideas and arguments so I think next month's choice,
Bee Season, will definitely be easier to get through.
As for this weekend, we will be celebrating Austin's birthday with dinner at a yet-to-be-determined location and we will crack one of our nice bottles of wine that we got for Christmas. Other than that, it's the first weekend we've been home in a long time and I'm looking forward to it!
Back in the Land of the Living, Mostly (whining ahead)
So I've been on a bit of a hiatus for one cool reason and one sucky reason. The cool reason is that I had a bit of time off so I did a lot of wedding planning. I got a lot accomplished and things are coming together really well. The only thing left to figure out is the DJ and we are working on that this week. Of course there are details to finalize and decisions to make but at least we have the main things booked and secured so the hard part is done (hopefully).
The sucky reason I've been MIA is that I finally decided to get my wisdom teeth out. My dentists have been recommending this for ten years but I was too chicken. I was warned that I could get an infection but it was being monitored by x-rays so it wasn't a huge issue. Well, I finally went in and the oral surgeon got all huffy because the roots had continued to grow and wrapped around the nerve. Ugh. Anyway, the surgery was rough but I was still thinking I'd be fine a few days later like all the dentists and hygenists had lightly promised. I followed all instructions so as to avoid infection, dry socket, and all manner of horrible complications. The procedure was on a Friday and low and behold, by Wednesday I was still in a lot of pain and finally called in. I found out I have two dry sockets, they can just happen even if you do everything to prevent them, and now I've been in daily (except on the weekends) for a disgusting treatment. The treatment helps with the pain but fills my mouth with a hideous clove/camphor taste that is really strong and taints all food. Last night, the night before a new semester started, I couldn't fall asleep until 3:00 because the dull aching had returned in spite of taking tons of ibuprofen. I brought this up today and the oral surgeon snidely remarked that I had teeth surgically removed from my head so of course there would be pain. Yeah, that's true, but it was a week and a half ago and the dental industry had me convinced that I'd be fine a few days later. Anyway, the wisdom teeth thing has been totally sucky but by this Wednesday, I just might be done with treatments and be able to avoid that god-awful office that smells so hospital-y that my fiance nearly passed out while waiting for me. If this goes beyond two weeks past the procedure date, though, I'm really going to flip out.
Anyway, being laid up from an unpleasant yet minor issue made me desperate to do normal things like getting dressed, wearing make-up, combing my hair, etc. Each time I got well enough to do one or some of these activities (and wasn't hurling from the pain meds), it was like a small victory. I was also like a tiny child learning how to eat, moving from liquids to mush and even to a piece of bread, table foods! Finally today I've felt pretty normal (although, obviously tired and consequently crabby) and being back for the first day of the semester has been fantastic. I can't wait to go back tomorrow and be well rested too. Being around colleagues, being on an official schedule, I know that it often oppresses people but for the moment I'm going to enjoy it and have a wonderful start to the semester.
Crème de la crème brulée
Austin and I decided to ring in the new year with some art projects. We finally set up our art corner in the basement and I worked on stained glass while he painted. It turned out that our art corner lacked good light, though, so we abandoned those projects in favor of the culinary arts.
Using the kitchen torch we got for Christmas (and some ramekins from last Christmas), we tried crème brulée and were quite pleased with the tasty results. The custard could have set a bit longer and you have to be careful not to put too much sugar on top but all in all, we were very happy with the rich desserts.
