Wired

I got my braces on last Thursday, and I'm not going to pretend that I like them. In fact, I hate them, just like I knew I would. They are making huge sores on the insides of my lips, I have not been able to enjoy solid food for three days and I look like I'm 12 (or at least 14, as one co-worker put it) whenever I open my mouth. I just ate a bowl of chocolate pudding and enviously watched Andrew devour a buttered bagel, one of my all-time favorites. Also, I am currently lisping a bit when I talk because my lips don't want to move to accommodate the wires and brackets.

Before

After

Fortunately, they won't last forever, and when they're off, I will have a DAZZLING smile and no tooth or jaw problems. And I will look like I am in my mid-twenties again. :)

Due to my headaches and inability to talk like a normal person (or eat anything not pureed), we had a pretty low-key weekend spent at Andrew's parents' house doing laundry and watching holiday movies on TV. I introduced Andrew to "It's A Wonderful Life," which was just as great as I remembered it. I actually just read an article about how copyright laws have prohibited stations from showing that movie except on Christmas Eve and one other day of the year (yesterday). That movie reminds me of my late grandpa, who really liked it, and I wished I could have been watching it with him.

I also had the opportunity to sing one of my favorite Christmas songs, "O Holy Night," at the nursing home in our stake today. It was nice and depressing at the same time, especially since one lady couldn't talk but basically made these awful moaning sounds throughout the sacrament meeting and another lady was sitting in her wheelchair by the door as we left waving to her family as they drove away, looking incredibly lonely. Andrew told me we are going sky diving and not pulling the parachute when we get old so we don't end up in a nursing home. It is sad to see so many people who can barely take care of themselves there. At the same time, though, I definitely feel the spirit very strongly there and know that Heavenly Father is mindful of his elderly children, especially when they're hurting and feeling alone. It made me happy to know that I brought a little joy to their Sunday.

May you all have the happiest Sabbath day!

Brace yourself

I am not what you'd call high-maintenance. I am the type of person who thinks it's annoying to spend more than 15 minutes getting ready in the morning -- and that includes showering, getting dressed and doing my hair.

Which is probably why I put off going to the orthodontist for so long. I kept pretending that my teeth weren't going to keep moving and that the dentist would only have good news at every checkup as long as I kept brushing and flossing.

Unfortunately, reality has a habit of biting you in the bottom when you least expect it. After sitting in a reclining chair and listening to the orthodontist telling his assistant phrases like "bone loss," "severe overjet" and "moderate crowding," I learned three things that I already knew:

1) My teeth will continue to move (and eventually suffer bone loss) if I don't get braces to fix them.

2) I really, really need to have jaw surgery if I want to protect my jaw from further damage (hence the phrase "bone loss" again).

3) I have to have the hard-core metal brackets and colored rubber bands, because Invisalign (the plastic braces that people with only slight dental problems can use) isn't strong enough for my teeth. Nice.

And, of course, I learned three things that I didn't already know:

1) Braces cost an obscene amount of money -- nearly $6,000 total.

2) No one (do you know anyone?) has orthodontic insurance, including me, and my dental insurance only covers $1,000 -- up to age 19. I am 24.

3) I will have to channel my inner teen again and wear braces for at least 20 months.

As I sat in the orthodontist's office looking at horrible mug shots of me straight on and from the side and x-rays of my jaw, all I could think of was I look like a criminal and How am I ever going to pay for this? and I'm almost 25 years old. I don't want to look (and feel) like a 14-year-old again.

Then I cried. In the orthodontist's office. Who cries in the orthodontist's office? And I'm crying again now. Stupid cry-at-everything genes!

So I guess what I'm trying to say is that the next time you see a picture of me, I will look ten years younger (in a bad way) and will probably not be smiling very broadly since the braces I had at 14 had the annoying habit of cutting into my lips.

Wish me luck as I try to figure out how to deal with two years of braces (and pay for thousands worth of metal wires and brackets)! I'd love to hear your dental stories, too -- I could use some cheering up. :(