Crown Me...

Remember the post where I mentioned finishing my dental work before month end? Well...I did it! Yesterday was my final appointment until it comes time to do the cleaning again in December. I spent an hour in the dentist's chair yesterday while they installed the two crowns that completed my dental work. Thank goodness it's over. While I don't mind the dentist like some people, it isn't a pleasure to go there and the aftermath of dental work is always a "pain" to deal with. I'm lucky to have a great dentist and good insurance so I will not complain.

Having been "crowned" the guys at work are calling me the Queen. At last, the respect I deserve....:)

The Unknown Soldier - Memorial Day

In Arlington Cemetery there is a tomb dedicated to the Unknown Soldier, the soldier whose remains could not be identified, but whom we honor just the same. I memorized the poem you see at the left when I was a child and every time I recite it over the years I am touched afresh at the sacrifice of our military and their families. I feel a small part of the wrench the families must feel to receive news of a lost loved one and I am grateful that I have not known that experience in my life. Yet, I enjoy the freedoms that they have died to preserve. I have lost loved ones, not to war, but to disease and sickness, so I can imagine the pain.

This Monday we have set aside as a nation to honor our soldiers that have given their lives and are still giving their lives. While the backyard barbecues and picnics take place all over the nation there will still be soldiers on the battlefield. I will be saying a special prayer for our soldiers and leaders. I hope you will too.

Double Payments...

Today I bit the bullet and sent a (almost)double payment to my auto loan provider. It was a little bit scary, I tell you for sure. I've made double payments to creditors before, but never in this amount. It was also a little exhilarating as I began to see that in a little over a year the car would be paid off if I can keep up the momentum.

It's inspired me to get more gazelle intense than I have been lately. And to help me out, Shegazelle posted a notice of Dave Ramsey products on sale on her blog. The motivators have been ordered and are on their way to boost my intensity level. They are well worth the price (especially at half off). I find that if I start to lose energy in my journey to get out of debt all I have to do is pop in a Dave Ramsey FPU CD and it gets me right back on track. I'm up and running....Watch my speed!

Saturday Morning....

Saturday morning is my favorite time of the week. When someone says to me "Let's get together on Saturday," my first thought is, Not in the morning! All week long I get up at the crack of dawn (literally before the crack in the winter) and go to work. On Sunday I get up at a more leisurely time, but I still spend most of my day in getting ready for or attending church services. While it is a committment I willingly make, it is still a committment. Saturday is my only day to do exactly as I please. Therefore I am very stingy with my Saturday mornings.

I usually rise early, since I have a habit of it throughout the week, and putter around the house, doing a load of laundry, putting away some clothes or just messing around on the computer. I might read awhile or do a crossword puzzle, but nothing very much. Then sometimes I go back to bed and take a nap....Heavenly. The point is I can do whatever my heart desires with no committments to the outside world.

Lately there has been an added pleasure to my Saturday mornings. My son got married eight months ago and every Saturday morning that he is able he comes home for breakfast while his lovely wife gets to sleep in. Whether I cook for us at home or we take a drive and get breakfast somewhere while we are out, it is a time I look forward to all week long. It is the only thing I have found so far that I am graciously willing to give up my Saturday morning for.

We cherish our Saturday mornings as a time for us to keep in touch with each other, to hear about the joys and sorrows of the previous week. To talk as we can't talk to other people, completely, honestly from our hearts. It was just the two of us for so long that we jokingly sang "You and me against the world" and I miss him around the house. I am very happy that he has found a good wife and is happy in his marriage. But I am grateful that he is willing to give up his Saturday morning to spend it with me.

All Points Bulletin...

My dentist office called me today. Not for an appointment or to dun me for money. Not to explain any procedures or try to get me to try a new treatment. And not just to say Hi. They called me to see how I was. Now, I've been to the dentist off and on my whole life and not one has ever called back to see if I was treated properly or to ask me how I felt after a procedure. But today it happened to me. As I woman I know very slightly would say...there's a real good reason for that.

I spent four hours in the dentist chair Tuesday morning. I was gone from work so long that they were getting ready to send out the national guard to look for me. My family was leaving voice messages and emails all over the place trying to track me down. I was MIA for four whole hours and I only went to the dentist.

The crux of the matter is this...a few weeks ago my company announced that they were changing insurance companies as of June 1st. We had just finished open enrollment in April so this was quite a surprise. Well, I got to thinking about all those things I had been meaning to have done at the dentist office and how much time I had left to use up the existing policy. Dentist work is not cheap. So I decided to use up the benefit on my old policy while it was still good and then come June 1st I would have another company and a brand new police to use.

With that thought in mind I called my dentist and explained the situation. They scheduled me immediately and I had four fillings and two temporary crowns taken care of all at once. They had to let me have a poddy break for heaven's sake! Of course a few other patients were tended to while I was numbing up, or having x-rays or waiting for the clay in my mouth to make a good impression. But all in all I was there 4 hours.

So, today...they called to see if I had survived. I laughed and told them, of course, I'm tough. They breathed a sigh of relief and that was that. But I got a good laugh out of it. :)