I did end up getting a crazy head cold right before/after the dentist, and that made me pretty miserable for the remainder of the week. Then I was working from home every other day last week to accommodate dentist/doctor appointments, and work kept me plenty busy no matter where I was working.

I’m starting to feel better though (and poor Thomas is just starting to get the brunt of the cold now, poor guy!) so after a meeting with one of my freelancing clients (if you read this, hey J!) I decided to stop by the legislature grounds to take some pictures. Sometimes, I forget how gorgeous this city really is.

Don't tell me I don't look cute as a button in this photo!

I have such small hands! Love my leopard ring though

So pretty

In addition to the general craziness that my life has been with the dentist and work lately, my favourite uncle is in town this week! He drove down Saturday, and will be staying with my parents until Wednesday. This is the guy whose family I’ve grown up with, Dave’s dad, and the guy who put me up when I came down to Vancouver in 2010 for the Olympics. He’s been part of our family for 24 years! (Well, probably more, but that’s as long as I’ve been alive!)

Everyone’s coming over tomorrow for drinks/dinner, so I’ll need to go on a mad cleaning spree to get everything up to snuff. After that, it’ll just be doing some freelancing and getting ready for the regular work week to begin again!

Why do weekends never feel long enough?

And I have to say it: I’ve felt so fantastic this week. I’ve been doing a lot more self-care lately (and maybe I’ll be blogging about it in the future) but it’s been just the ticket to set my head right again. It. Feels. Great.

The other huge achievement for the week was getting my rhythm and timing on the diving board a lot better, so I’m better ABLE to do the dives I know I’ve been capable of doing for a long time. And I finally hit a front somersault with a full twist, not just once, but three or maybe four times. This has been, literally, four YEARS in the making, and is a huge step in the right direction to getting me to Torino next summer.

Hopefully I’ll get some video next week! But everything seems to be moving forward right now and I don’t know if it’s circumstances or just my change in attitude, but I’ll take it!

Picking up my camera again felt great. I hope to refresh my sorely neglected Flickr in the coming weeks.

Last night I was freaking out 110%; my pre-dentist anxiety was through the roof, and knowing that there was nothing to do about it but go to the appointment made it even worse.

I worked from home this morning, and ended up calling the office to confirm my appointment. While I had the dental assistant on the phone, I said “look, I’m freaking out. My anxiety is through the roof! I assume you don’t want me to get drunk before going to the appointment (thanks for the suggestion though, Sarah!), but is there anything I can do to help take the edge off??”

She asked me to hold on, then went to speak to the dentist. She rang back and let me know that they were going to give me a low-dose prescription of Valium to help me relax before going in. PERFECT.

This is my new best friend. The one little pill I took calmed me down a lot. I still was nervous for the appointment, but I think I just knew it would be okay.

I did freak out when they got into the part where they were cutting the crown out and trying to remove it, and started shaking uncontrollably. The assistant and doctor both stopped and said “Kylie, are you okay?” and I managed to choke out “I’m scared!” without being able to articulate exactly what was scaring me. The rest of the appointment continued as normal, and I didn’t experience anything too bad. The freezing was great (but it did wear off not long after my appointment, thank goodness!) and did its job, but the taste in your mouth after you’re done with some of this stuff is just AWFUL.

Thomas picked me up at the office, and we walked to Superstore for some sushi and ginger — he tossed me a piece of ginger as we were walking home, and it was a total palate cleanser! It was fantastic; that dental crap didn’t stand a chance. And the sushi dinner was a good choice for my sensitive mouth as well.

I have to be careful with this temporary crown, because my teeth are so short so the plastic crown is not as strong as it would’ve been if they’re taller.

Was able to take the afternoon off work with some of my OT hours and just relax and settle in for the night.

I’m sore, I’m tired, and I’ve taken more medication today than I have this year total! Between the sedative, stuff for my sinuses/stuffed up nose, and my vitamins/antihistamines, I felt like a pill junkie. Ridiculous.

Looking forward to a good night’s sleep. Thomas and I had a spat last night, but (obviously) everything is okay today. Didn’t sleep well last night between that and the anxiety, so I may be retiring quite early.

I feel disgusting. My body either has the worst timing in the world and is making me sick before my Very Important Appointment tomorrow, or I have the worst case of pre-dentist anxiety I’ve ever had. My throat is raspy and sore, my nose is stuffed up (albeit a little less since the sriracha soup) and I’m pale as all get out (but that’s the every day case so I’m not sure if that’s relevant). My stomach is doing backflips better than me on the board.

Tomorrow I’ll have a crown cut out and removed, some decay worked on and filled in, then a new temporary crown popped on top of my tooth. This is the most extensive dental procedure I’ve had done in a few years and I am not calm about it.

Luckily Thomas has Tuesday off 99% of the time so he agreed to come with me tomorrow. But, knowing my luck, the phone will ring with some emergency and he’ll be off to save the restaurant again.

His job is affecting our relationship and time together more and more this year; he practically lives there.

But, wish me luck for tomorrow, guys. At the very least, pray my immune system holds out and I don’t get full on sick. No one wants to anxiety-barf all over a dental assistant…their jobs are hard enough.

Yes, it’s a day late. But I try to have one full-on day off a week, and it usually ends up being Sunday! I didn’t blog, but spent time with my mother for Mother’s Day instead. A good reason to not blog, if you ask me. Here’s the second part (if you missed it, the first is here) to the Sunday Stealing meme.

While I’ve had my share of crushes on friends, I’m very comfortable with all my male friendships staying that way I love my friends dearly, but Thomas is my guy.

Steve was still the guy in charge, so the only real difference between this and boxing was that we didn’t get to throw on the gloves and hit him after the circuit was complete. Dang.

An hour long, the class is super intense, and the circuit changes every 3-4 run throughs or so.

I’m really enjoying all the classes at Blitz, because it pushes me beyond what I’d be doing on my own in a gym or (hahaha!) at home. I need someone to keep me in check and in line in order to get all the benefit from physical exercise. I don’t mind being active, walking around, playing sports with friends, but I can’t go hard at the gym by myself.

Having Steve giving me the side eye when I’d start slacking was a great way to keep going. It’s also a matter of competitive pride when everyone else in the class is still moving and you’re the only one sitting there trying to get going.

As I’ve said before, I can’t wait until I can make it through the class without stopping — I believe (and feel free to correct me if I’m wrong, Steve!) but I made it through the first circuit and a half without stopping this time. YES! Progress!

If anyone in Edmonton wants to join me, feel free! The first class at Blitz is on the house, and I can guarantee if you want to see results you’ll be coming back.

THE LOOK ON HIS FACE GETS ME EVERY TIME.

By far one of my favourite episodes in the series for sure. Thomas looked at me like I just crash landed on his couch from another planet, but I laughed for a solid 3-4 minutes so judgment-be-damned. How much fun (and how frustrating at times) would it be to have a boss like Michael Scott?

Anyways.

It’s finally Friday! Which also fits nicely into the dance video posted above. This week feels like it flew by — probably because I’m dreading my dentist appointment on the 15th. But, there’s a good to almost every bad. My tax return showed up on Tuesday, so I’ll be able to pay for the procedures no problem. The 15th is a payday and using my tax money I was able to pay all the other important bills (including my Visa statement with all those freaking concert tickets on it! RHCP (RIGHT. BESIDE. THE STAGE. OMG), The Used, Sonic Boom).

Thomas was able to get Tuesday off work, so he’ll be coming to the dentist with me (what a guy). I swear I’m not a total wimp, but for whatever reason, dentists just do me in. Maybe it’s because I’ve had more than one filling without anesthetic, because I had somewhat incompetent dentists in the past, or because I’ve had more major work done before 22 than most people need in their lifetime, who knows. All I know is that I’d rather experience almost any other kind of pain than I would dental pain.

My dentist is refusing to give me any kind of sedative for this appointment, which I understand; for most people it’s not a big deal. But I have a huge phobia about dentists. I don’t like to be aware that they’re working on my teeth anymore! He’s insisting that I should give him a shot, that I won’t feel anything, that he’s good at his job. I’m sure that’s all true, but I still liken it to putting an arachnophobic into a room with dozens of spiders and saying “Don’t worry, they’re not poisonous, and they won’t hurt you.”

DOESN’T MATTER. I’m scared of the thing, not the consequences! Same case here.

I’m going to talk to him about it again after this appointment (cutting out an old crown, dealing with some decay, placing a new temporary crown on) and ask him again, pretty please, to give me those magic pills that let me forget what’s going on around me. I know I’ll need someone to come with me, I know it’s a lot to put myself and my loved ones though, but goddammit, I prefer that to the alternative of being fully cognizant of what he’s doing in my mouth (leave it).

As I’ve been hinting at for the last few entries and on my Twitter, there’s been some movement on my dental work, and there’s a huge update post I need to get out while it’s still fresh. If dental work makes you as squeamish as it does me, I’d recommend avoiding it

Well, my friends, the day has arrived!

This is a scant 3:40 in comparison to the epic 10-minute video that I opened with, but it’s just a quickie update on how I’m finding the planner to be useful, etc.

Enjoy!

Met up with Sarah and Karen for lunch and while it was chilly outside, the company was pretty pleasant! Thanks again for joining me ladies

Got home, made some freelancing calls, stayed around the house. Cats are being their ridiculous selves.

See? Watched “Watchmen” with Thomas and that movie is way bizarre. Quite good though.

Stretched out a bit upstairs afterward (still having shoulder movement issues on the board, but daily stretching will do wonders for me in the pool!) and vacuumed. The cats are going through their spring shed, so it’s starting to look like we have dozens of cats around the house instead of the usual two.

And now it’s time to hit the hay. Another day tomorrow and I want to get so much more done!