Operation

I went under today for the first time in my life to get my wisdom teeth out. It was only two of them, I had the other two out at two separate times with only local anesthesia. They were not bad at all. This time one of them was way up in my jaw still, so they put me to sleep. I was expecting that I'd go in, get the IV and then I'd start to feel relaxed. Then they'd put the oxygen mask on my nose and I'd slowly drift off. I was worried that I'd start talking while I was going under, as you sometimes see on that awful show "Dr. 90210." I was telling my friend this morning about an episode I saw where a woman was having vaginaplasty (or whatever you call reconstructive surgery on your vagina) and she was sedated but not asleep yet and she kept trying to have banter with her doctor while he was down there and he just kept saying, "Julie, go to sleep now." I was so embarrassed for her.
But back to my experience today. First, my dentist couldn't find a vein. He said that I had tiny veins that were not cooperating. You can't eat or drink before the procedure, so I guess I was dehydrated and apparently that doesn't help with the small vein problem. The dentist stuck me four times in four different areas - the insides of both elbows, the back of a hand, the side of a hand - before finding a vein that would work. I didn't feel much of that because they have a "cooling spray" that they use to numb the spot. I think that it actually freezes the area because it almost felt as if I was getting frost bite, it kind of hurt it was so cold.
Once he had found the vein and gotten the needle in, he pushed the medicine in and I felt pressure and a bit of discomfort. Then the nurse said that she was going to have me breathe oxygen through my nose and put the mask on me. I decided to imagine laying on a beach in Vietnam to relax and, hopefully, not start talking. The dentist asked if I was feeling relaxed and I responded, "Not yet." To which he replied, "Well, you will soon."
Next thing I know, I am awake and the nurse is asking if I am ready to walk to the recovery area. It was a little difficult to walk, but I remember taking the walk to the comfy chair, where they wrapped me in a blanket. The nurse had told me prior to the procedure that most people don't remember the walk to the chair, but I don't know what that says about me.
My sister warned me that I might feel really emotional when I woke up, because that is what happened to her, but I felt ok. I really wanted her to come back and sit with me, since they'd told me they were going to get her and it felt that it was taking an awfully long time for her to come back to the chair area.
I was given my pain killers, antibiotics, gauze and instructions and sent on my way. My sister stopped and bought me a chocolate milkshake from McDonalds on the way home and when I got home I took two Vicodines and my antibiotics and ate my milkshake. I expected to fall asleep, but instead I'm wide awake. I watched a bunch of The Real Housewives of Orange County (I know, I know, it's so bad - but I can't stop watching) and then jumped on my computer. When I had my gum graft, I took the meds and they made me melt into the couch and forget who and where I was. Not so much this time. Maybe I'll just take one next time and see what happens.
My goodness, so much detail in one post. Maybe I am all drugged up!

Golden Compass

Today I received an email warning me about the upcoming film, "The Golden Compass." Apparently it is based on a series of books written by an atheist (Gasp!) and will make children who watch the film become atheists too. Seriously? Weren't there concerns that Harry Potter would turn children into black magic worshipping heathens? Wasn't the Wizard of Oz going to turn us all into Communists? Shouldn't the Chronicles of Narnia have turned us all into Christians? When do people realize that getting all up in arms in these situations is ridiculous? Being exposed to opposing ideas does not make us all jump off a bridge, so to speak. How can people still be scared by ideas that they do not share? What is so wrong about discussion and debate? Talk to children about things, don't rush to shield them. Let's raise children who know how to express their ideas and concerns and can consider opposing arguments and think through how they personally feel. Not children who rush to ban or destroy anything that they do not agree with. So frustrating!

Wisdom

I'm having two wisdom teeth out on Wednesday. I have to be sedated. The dentist said that I will, "go to sleep," and wake up when it is over. I have had a lot of dental work, including an implant and a gum transplant, and I've never been put under. I'm a little freaked out.
In other news, Thanksgiving went well. I do a lot of the cooking, so I never really enjoy the meal. I am tempted to recreate it on a small scale for me and B, but we are going to Mexico after Christmas with his family, so I'm trying to shape up for that and a mini Thanksgiving would not help.
I have been driving by a new store going up on Melrose and I have a suspicion that it might be Anthropologie. A huge one. If it's not, it's a mean trick because it has the same wooden awning that many other Anthropologie stores have.
Anthropologie has the cutest Christmas things right now. I saw these "Let's go to the North Pole/South Pole" dishes that were so adorable. Christmas will be so much fun when we have kids.

Good Results

I went to the doctor earlier in the week and they took blood to run all sorts of tests on. Turns out that I have excellent cholesterol levels and my liver and kidneys are functioning just fine. However, my thyroid is doing something weird that "may portend" low thyroid function. I have to have another blood test in three months. I'm not concerned about it. In fact, I had a feeling that my thyroid isn't up to par, since it is always so difficult for me to stay thin. I had voiced this concern to B, but he always laughed and said I was paranoid. So ha!
The doctor also forced tons of prenatal vitamins on me and gave me a quick, but highly detailed, talked about trying to conceive a baby. I told her that my not being on birth control didn't really mean that we were going to be having a baby soon, but she didn't seem to believe me. I don't remember what she told me, really, just something about trying on day 10, 12, and 14. I'll have to keep that in mind when the time comes.

Purchases and Shopping

We got a new rug!!! It is life changing!!! My office/television room is no longer dark and masculine. All it took was a rug change. Who knew? Well, I did, but B was not feeling the expense of it. But I wore him down.
But now the room is a little too green and I am in search of dark brown accessories to balance it all out.
I purchased this rug from CB2:which I believe I saw on one of my favorite blogs, Oh Happy Day when she posted a picture from another lovely blog, Something Old, Something New. We got the small size, but it is just perfect!
Another fantastic purchase I made is this pair of Scanty Santa pyjama bottoms:
I only bought the bottoms and I will look much less alluring in mine than the model, but they are adorable. They were a little pricey, so I brought them home and handed them to B and told him, "You bought me these for Christmas!" He protested until he looked in the bag and decided he liked them very much.
In other news, a dear friend of mine who I have known and loved since high school was in town recently and I had the pleasure of accompanying her on a wedding dress shopping expedition. She is fabulous and is going to make her own dress, but she wanted to get an idea of what different shapes and styles looked like on her body. So off we went to Monique Lhuillier, Saks Fifth Avenue and Renee Strauss for the Bride.
I was prepared to LOVE Monique Lhuillier's dresses. I have seen pictures of her latest styles online and in magazine ads and I was very excited. Turns out, they photograph much nicer than they actually look. Except for the lace Scarlett, which was one of my favorite styles when I was dress shopping, they were all kind of meh. And our saleslady was not the best. She seemed a little too cool for us.
So we moved on to Saks. The saleslady there was fantastic. She was an older woman with long, dyed black hair pulled back into a pony tail, an accent that I picked to be eastern European, and she knew what was best for us. She put my friend F into some wonderful dresses. Her favorite was this Elizabeth Filmore gown, so glamorous!:

We then moved on to Renee Strauss for the Bride. The saleslady there tried to be very helpful, but when F would describe what she wanted, the saleslady would bring her the opposite. After a few failed attempts, I could see that F was getting frustrated, so I just headed into the racks and started pulling things I thought were closer to what she was looking for. But no dice.
It was fun dress shopping with F. I can't wait to see what she makes for herself.

November

We did absolutely nothing for Halloween. I didn't even eat candy, which is crazy since I LOVE candy.
So it is the first day of November and I am starting to feel holiday anxiety. But just a teensy bit because I am not totally crazy - yet. I am sitting here looking at my calendar and thinking of what I need to do and by when I need to get it done. People will be arriving and staying for a bit and my apartment needs to be fully decorated and clean. There needs to be a reasonable amount of photos of family members displayed in our apartment and that will require buying more frames. I have all of the dishes that I will need. Since the wedding I am prepared to entertain an army. Which is kind of sad, actually, since most of our hard earned friends moved out of town within the year after our wedding. Sigh, we miss you guys.
Back to the holidays - I have been making lists of presents that I might buy for people for Christmas and I don't think that it is ridiculous to start buying these things now that it is November. It will save me shopping head aches in the long run. I will have to have a discussion about this with B, since I will be shopping for his family as well.
On a totally non-holiday related note, I went to Crumbs today for the first time. I am sad to report that I did not like them. Not at all. I remain devoted to Sprinkles for cupcakes in the Beverly Hills area.