retain your excitement

yesterday, I GOT MY BRACES OFF!! the two years of pain went by so slowly that i thought the day would never come!

to my horror, ella literally can't wait to get braces. apparently she did not hear me constantly complaining about the sore gums and sharp wires.

i went to the appointment anticipating a lot of pain. a while ago, they replaced a single bracket and it felt like they were attempting to pry my tooth out. so, to my surprise, it didn't hurt at all when they pulled all of my brackets off in series. perhaps it helped that i took a dose of tylenol beforehand.

once all the brackets were out, i ran my tongue over my teeth. bad choice. it was extremely slimy! after seeing the disgusted expression on my face, my orthodontist assured me that it was just glue. eek, i hope he was right.

then came the worse part: the drill. my teeth are sensitive! i had to clench my hands together the entire time to keep myself distracted. even worse, my gums got really sore and bloody because they practically drilled right into them. i hated having to inhale the drill fumes; even my orthodontist was wearing a mask to block it!

maybe it was worth it, though, because i was then rewarded with a water bottle full of candy. score! they probably thought i had refrained from eating candy (and countless other "banned" foods) for the past two years... *looks from side to side with shifty eyes*

after my appointment, we went to california tortilla for dinner. the restaurant is filled with big mirrors, so i took this picture of my braceless teeth.

now that my braces are finally off, i am just dreading the next stage of orthodontics: the retainer. dun dun dun.

winter wonderland

winter wonderland
thank you oh mighty snow gods! not only is there no school today, but there is also no school tomorrow! this thursday to the monday after next we have off because of christmas and winter break, so we will only have one day of school for 2 weeks! that is, if they don't cancel wednesday as well...

maryland is awesome
i have been thinking, and i believe that maryland has one of the best case scenerios regarding snow days. it's not like california, where there are no snow days... and it's not like minnesota, where they clear the roads so professionally fast that school never gets cancelled.
 
the longest driveway around
in the morning, i thought the best we were going to get was a 2-hour delay. i was hoping that being trapped at home would give us a good reason to miss school. so, when dad said he would dig us out by my orthodontist appointment (3:15 pm), i was practically begging him not to. he went outside and said that he wouldn't come back in until he was done.

he wasn't kidding around! when i think about how sore my arms are after shoveling only 1/10 of the driveway, i can't even begin to imagine how much pain dad must be in (p.s. sorry dad...). when dad finally came in, my mom asked him, "don't you feel a sense of accomplishment?" and dad says "i feel a sense of pain!" dad vows that the our next house will have a much shorter driveway.

my first painless torture session 
i had my orthodontist appointment today, and i was expecting a great load of pain. since my last appointment, my spring had fallen off twice. luckily, they didn't threaten me with painful orthodontic devices this time.

i also no longer have the dreaded "power band": the rubber bands on each tooth are connected to make the teeth move even faster, and make it even more painful for the victim (aka me). let me tell you, it isn't fun.

this is the first time that i haven't been screaming in pain after my orthodontist appointment. i'm happy.

cookies anyone? tomorrow, my mom is planning on bringing me and ella to her workplace. i'm just swelling with joy at the fact that i get to help ella sell her girl scout cookies. why do i say "swelling with joy" so sarcastically? well, the main reason that ella and mom drag me along with them to sell cookies is because i'm the "social one." therefore, i get to do all the talking. wish me good luck.

as if having braces wasn't torture enough

last week, i had an orthodontist appointment. or, in other words, the torture trigger. when i get to the office, the assistant says, "good! none of your brackets came off." but, of course, that's because they threatened me! last time, when my bracket came off from eating a nut, they said that the next time it came off they would "be forced to put a cap on my back tooth." as always, i asked if it hurt, and they said yes. well, that was a successful tactic.

as if having braces wasn't torture enough...
they added in a new torture tool. a rubber band. *shiver*. they are tiny bands that they put on your teeth to... move your jaw? i'm not really sure. well, at least i only have one on the right side. look at me, looking at the glass half full (even though it completely isn't).

snack on!at first i was really annoyed since i couldn't open my mouth more than half way. they told me that if i yawned, it might snap! eeks! but, when i got brave enough (which took a while), i tried opening my mouth really wide, and it was fine. what are these orthodontists teaching us nowadays? these bands are also a real pain in the butt. i have to take them out when i'm brushing my teeth and when i eat. being me, i eat at random times. i come home from school, eat some chips, study, get myself a bowl of ice cream, talk to my friends on the phone, eat some more chips. actually, i figured out that it's fine to leave it in when i'm just snacking.

the only problem with that is, since i don't take it off when i'm snacking, i forget to take it off for meals. so if a take too big of a bite, the rubber band comes off sometimes. in only a week, i have swallowed 2 rubber bands! i'm pretty sure it's ok, or why would we be putting them in our mouths? the first time it happened, i only realized my rubber band was just gone afterwards. the second time, today at lunch, i took a big bite of a soft pretzel, and felt my rubber band pop off. i spent a while searching through the mush in my mouth, but then decided it was hopeless.

bag-o-bandsat first, i carried the little ziploc bag of rubber bands around in my pocket, so it wasn't a problem if i swallowed it. but now, i guess i'm not as obsessed. actually, come to think of it, i don't have a rubber band on right now (since it came off at lunch)! i better go put one in though, because they also threatened me about keeping my rubber bands on. orthodontists are evilly clever.

what price for beauty?

braces. the. ultimate. torture. device. i got braces on july 2nd. when you get braces, they give you a monstrous list of what you can't eat:

the forbidden foods
-hard candy
-caramel
-taffy
-hard bread crusts
-pizza crust
-hard nuts
-tacos
-tortilla chips
-corn nuts
-popcorn
-jerky
-corn on the cob
-dried fruit
have to be cut into bite size pieces
-bagels
-apples
-carrots
-celery
can't chew
-gum
-ice
-bones
have to be careful of the sugar in
-jelly
-syrup
-honey
-sugary cereals
-desserts
-sodas

but, nobody actually follows this list. i can't imagine someone refering to this list every time they eat. i mean, this list is basically my entire diet! i wouldn't be able to survive. well, maybe i could live without chewing bones...

when you first get braces, enjoy the painless hour right after you get them, because your teeth get super sore on the second day. then, all you eat is mush. mush! after i first got my braces, i was glad that i wouldn't ever have to go through that again... but then on the third orthodontist appointment, they put in a bigger wire. apparently, the first time, they were "warming me up" with a small wire and so on the third time, it hurt like crazy!! here we go again with the mush! but, luckily, my mom came up with the genius idea of giving me food that melts in my mouth. :) for the past few days, my diet has consisted of:

breakfast
-oatmeal (which i have to swallow without chewing)
lunch
-yogurt
-apple sauce
-pudding
-mini meringues
-pillow mints
dinner
-oatmeal
-tofu
-mashed potatoes

i don't even like eating the same thing two days in a row, and i have had to eat the same thing since wednesday! i can't stand this. :(

p.s. my mom thinks it's hilarious when they put their stretching tool in my mouth. they first used it to take pictures of my teeth before i got braces and my mom couldn't stop cracking up. so this time, she wanted a picture of her own. she says, "now, whenever i'm feeling down, i can just look at that picture!"