Better

I am feeling better. I still hate my braces to distraction, am horrified by what I've done. But the pain has subsided (the cold went away and my sinuses are mostly recovered). It's still very uncomfortable to eat, especially chewing. You know how if you're holding a bunch of coins in your hand and you punch someone, the impact is much greater? Well, I think that's how it is with my teeth. All my teeth have metal on them now, so when I bite down, the impact of tooth on tooth is much worse than previously. 

Also, one of the things the orthodontist is trying to do (I think) is reorient how I bite. He showed me how my bite has gotten weirder and weirder over time, as my mouth has adjusted to accommodate the funny things my teeth were doing. Basically, I've been biting sideways. Now, with that front tooth gone and the metal on, my bite is adjusting, but now when I bite down, I bite down on teeth that aren't used to being bitten down on. 

It feels better just to drink tea all day long, skip the food. But then I get so hungry. We went out to Chili's for dinner last night and I ordered a bowl of potato soup, because that's easy to eat. They delivered it early, long before anyone else's entrees came. I ate it while it was warm and then there was nothing left and I was so hungry. When the others' food came, I ended up eating a bunch of the kids' french fries (which they don't like), dipping them into the honey-mustard sauce that Teen A rejected in favor of ranch. Soft french fries dipped in a sauce will dissolve in your mouth pretty well, not much chewing required.

So my meal was (1) potato soup, (2) french-fried potatoes, (3) honey-mustard sauce, oh and (4) a Sprite, because I thought I'd had too much caffeine already that day and should skip the iced tea. What a great meal for a diabetic!

I feel like I should talk to a dietician. What could a mostly vegetarian diabetic with braces eat? Because I'm running out of ideas here.

One other annoyance: the braces are definitely affecting my speech -- one of the things I was trying to improve by wearing them! I just can't speak clearly with a mouthful of metal. It's hard to read aloud to the kids. Also, I tend to spray saliva when I speak. It's lovely.

I've stopped trying to hide behind a mask, as masks are really vanishing from stores here, and instead am focusing on good dental hygiene, trying to keep the bits of food out of my braces so I don't look Even Worse when I open my mouth.

***

So, in other news, we are getting ready for our trip to Nebraska! We have hotel reservations, flight reservations back, and a cat-sitter. Today I did massive amounts of laundry and tried to think of other things that need doing. I am excited because I've managed to connect with a cousin I haven't seen in 30 years or so, and we'll be getting together with her in Lincoln. And we're having dinner one night with the widow of a cousin of my father and her son and daughter-in-law, in Wood River.

This is going to be a fun trip. For me, anyway. Twins, hmm. We'll have to think of fun things for them to do too.

It's nice to be taking a trip. I feel like I've been at home for a long time. And since we all just got sick, maybe we can avoid catching something new on the trip. I don't suppose it works that way.

This afternoon we took a quick trip to the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, primarily to see an IMAX film called "Wings Over Water" which was about three types of migratory birds, including sandhill cranes. I thought it would be a good introduction to the cranes for the kids. I don't think they were very thrilled by the movie, but I don't expect them to be thrilled by any aspect of the trip, certainly not the bird part.

I think I'll stop here. No pictures. I'll have pictures next week. For now, it's time for bed.