The Doctor is in! (Eventually)

This morning Phil asked me what day it was. I answered, "Wednesday, the day we find out your score, tentatively 5pm Eastern." We were both anxious. I headed off to work, off to save the world from the ravages of periodontal disease and Phil geared up for a day of cramming the latest programming advances for his new job. He has another interview for a better job this afternoon, better as in more money.

8:44am. Thinking to myself as I have a break between plaque scraping, "What the heck, I am going to check and see if the scores are in." I log in. And...they are here! I am beside myself with excitement and quickly exit the screen because I feel like I am cheating seeing it before Phil does. I ran down the hall to the nearest phone to call him. I tell the other hygienist the good news. Because it's good. Really good. I am pretty much hyperventilating, the dental assistant asked why I was crying. Tears of joy my friends, tears of joy. (But not real big tears, just a bit moist).

I call Phil and tell him the news. "Your scores are up!" He doesn't believe me, I tell him the score and he sits in disbelief. It is better than we hoped, better than our goal. He tries to log in and can't find the scores. I had exited the site so quickly to share the news I didn't look very carefully at the finer details, like what he scored in each section to equal the total score. I just saw the final number. Now Phil can't see them and little fingers of doubt are slowly creeping forward to quell my exuberance. I know I saw them. We hang up after talking excitedly about the implications of such a score. This means we are in! We have a very, very good chance of getting accepted to a DO medical school. (Doctor of Osteopathic vs Medical Doctor, same thing).

Now I have to get back to work, there are patients waiting. I can't focus on anything else and am so happy that I actually have no ill feelings towards my next patient, who just had a baby. (I can't help myself to be bitter, I'll get over it when I get my own baby, don't you worry). My doctor came in for the exam and I told him the news, he said they were going to need to sedate me because I was so excited, he offered the nitrous (laughing gas), joking that I would be walking around with the tank trailing behind me. I finish her and hurriedly clean my operatory and set up for the next patient. Then I turn to my computer and peruse the web, combing for the scores. I know I saw them. I finally find the right link to access the scores. I was right! I print the page this time, pausing to look the score over in it's entirety. Then I run down the hall again to call Phil. I give him the link and he logs in.

He laughs excitedly and still can't believe it. This test was a monster. He felt like he did poorly in biology because it was the hardest he has ever had. He did awesome! He scored an 11 in Physical Sciences (O. Chemistry & Physics) a 10 in Biology and a 7 in Verbal Reasoning = a 28! Good enough for DO School. Not too good on the verbal but we knew that was his weakest area. (You know the crappy questions like..."According to the passage the author is most likely to think that...")

I am coming home for lunch and am bounding down the stairs of the office building with a big goofy grin. I smile to myself and giggle the whole way home. Phil meets me at the door and I throw my arms around him and both of us laugh. This is good folks, this is good.

New Beginnings tomorrow for mutual, family in town, blogging will take a break for a few days. Peace out.

It's a JOB!

Yes, Phil has a job. Crazy, huh?

He accepted a position with US Airways, it will be contract for 4 months and then they will hire him. Once he is hired then we will get all the benefits-flights included! Phil & I were talking last night and when he starts the 1st week of March it will be almost exactly 2 years since he quit his last job. And then I told him I want to go back to school and finish my degree in hygiene-only 30 credits to go. He laughed and said we always seem to take turns. First he worked to get me through hygiene school, then I worked to get him through school and now he is working and I will continue to work but will hopefully start classes at NAU this fall. You have to get it in while you can right? Don't ask me when and where I am going to fit in school. I don't know. Work, YW's, life, school...

We find out about the MCAT "tentatively" on the 27th, this coming Wednesday! Phil did potentially have a job opportunity that would've upset our medical school dreams but thankfully and prayerfully they "found a better candidate". We fasted and prayed about this job and we were going to accept the position if they offered it to us and delay med school. Now we don't have to worry about that. Phil will work until he gets accepted to medical school, that is our goal and dream and we will keep testing and applying until they let us in.

Anyway, 3 cheers for employment!

Busy

My life is ruled by two things right now. Both of them electronic. My alarm clock rules my day, rudely interrupting my slumber signalling the start of another day. I slam it off and then immediately grab my BBT thermometer, wait for the 8 beeps telling me it is done calculating my temp. This happens every day.

Don't you hate the beep, beep, beeping of alarm clocks? I even cringe inwardly hearing it on TV or radio. Has to be the most annoying sound ever.

I feel as though I am working my life away. I recently told one of my dentists that I would like to cut back one day, making my full time only 4 day/week. Either that or hygiene will be the death of me. I have lost my enthusiasm for the job and my shoulders, back and neck are screaming by Tuesday. It is time to reprioritize. Live life, not work it. Working weekdays, cleaning and shopping Saturdays and then working my other job on Sundays leaves no room for relief and relaxation. Someone please send the baby dust my way so I can exit one of my many responsibilites!

What rules your day at the moment?

PS: Phil has had 2 job offers so far and is trying to choose the best one. He will soon be making some money, not just helping to spend it!

Happy Heart Day

How was your Valentine's Day?

Mine was full of work. I worked a full day as I usally do on Thursdays, Phil had 2 interviews (doing a little happy dance) and after work I met with some Young Women to put together invites for our New Beginnings. Not very exciting.

Phil did get me these lovely roses and 2 gift certificates for a pedi. I got Camden those lovely carnations, which we will hand deliver and tend to his grave site when the weather is friendlier. And the red book is our new love tradition. Instead of exchanging cards on love-y holidays we will each write our personal notes in our book and will have it to look back on and for our future posterity. I am excited to start this and look forward to reading back on days past. Bonus because now we don't have to remember to buy a card!

Dinner

This past weekend Phil & I went out with some friends who originate from Jordan. We ate Mediterranean food, delicious! He is 12 years her senior and they had an arranged marriage. They were inquiring about our next outing and what other places we can eat. Knowing we are Mormon, they asked if there are Mormon restaurants. We laughingly (but politely) told them that our religion is not a food culture, unless casseroles and j-ello salads are on the menu. We continued to explore our religion further and they asked if we were married in a temple and if our marriage was arranged. Thank Heavens NO! Although we are working out just fine, thank you. Short story long, my point, (yes I do have one) is getting to the Mormon food part. For dinner we had THIS. Classic Mormon fare, in my opinion. It was super easy, threw it in before church and came home to steam the broccoli and cook some brown rice.

Then in non-casserole fashion we had Grilled Flank Steak with Mixed Greens, Raspberries and a light Raspberry-Hazelnut Vinaigrette. Delish.

No recipe required. Grab a bag of mixed greens, toss and then sprinkle your berries around. Season your steak with S & P, grill until medium, let rest 5 minutes. Cut against the grain for maximum tenderness. Place on top of the greens and drizzle with the dressing. Which is store bought, thank you Wishbone.

Love Language

It's that time of year again. Time to express your love to that special someone. Valentine's Day is so cliched though; chocolates, flowers, sappy love notes, nifty undies, jewelry, etc. I am not jaded, though that last sentence would make one think otherwise. We should do special things throughout the year to keep the flame glowing, burning or roaring depending on your interpretation. The problem therein lies with remembering to do those special things. Life gets mundane, monotonous and busy.

Here are a few things that we like to do to keep the love alive!

Phil left for a snowboarding trip a few days ago and I slipped a little love/thank you note in his bag for him to find later. He said he was surprised to see it. Today Phil synched my new cell phone with all my contacts, emails, etc and then proceeded to show me how to use it.

We both love fabulous food and I like to cook a great meal for Phil and enjoy it together. It is also nice to splurge and eat out now and again. We love to spend time together whether it's running errands to Home Depot (him) or talking after a long day at work (me) and time is turning out to be a precious commodity with us. There are countless other things to do when one remembers to do them (note to self), I tend to get wrapped up in all my responsibilities and need to focus on US.

What do you do to keep the flame burning and what are you doing on V-Day?

Thanks for Humoring Me!

Well, I can honestly say I was surprised this morning as I checked my blog. I expected to see the same 4 comments which were primarily from me and my fellow colleagues poking fun at my original post. Thanks! You like me, you really, really do! Okay here goes:

Kim: Do you ever have dreams of cleaning someone's teeth that are totally nasty?

H: I have often dreamt hygiene, in school I could close my eyes and see myself doing that day's patients. And not in a 3rd party way of viewing but see my hands and their mouth and I would visualize the strokes and adaptation I was making with the instrument on the tooth anatomy. All I wanted was a peaceful night's sleep! Sheesh! I would tell, no command myself to knock it off. If that didn't work I would restort to prayers, desperate prayers.

And unfortunately as I have attested on this blog with THIS post, I think all hygienists get excited when a patient presents a challenge, it is just our nature. But there are also patients I dread seeing.

Mandi: When Phil did the ZOOM! did his teeth just hurt that night and then were fine afterwards or did the sensitivity stay longer?

H: His teeth hurt during the night and then by late morning he was fine. If the boy would've just popped 800mg Ibuprofen all of his "pain & suffering" could have been avoided. You'll be fine.

Miss Niss: Is it bad for your teeth to eat ice a lot??!!!!

H: In a word YES! "This habit is quite common and causes a tremendous amount of bite stress to be placed on the teeth. It can lead to tooth pain, cracking, fracture, and in some cases, total breakage of a tooth to the point where it cannot be repaired. Avoid chewing hard ice at all costs. If you must chew ice, make sure that it is crushed and slushy."

Taryn: When are you going to get that cool hygiene hair like the girl in your post picture?

H: Well, I do have an appointment this morning and I have been itching for a change...On second thought, I think I will keep it long.

Jennifer: What brand of toothpaste to you use and why?

H: I get this question alot from patients. Toothpaste, as far as dental benefits, in my opinion is equal. Everything you see on TV is just marketing crap. As long as it has fluoride in it I am happy with it. Toothpaste will not make you a better brusher, etc.

But, I love, love, LOVE Aquafresh Extreme Clean, the mint flavor. It is the only paste that can knock out morning breath, and this is an important quality! It has a crazy foaming action, so if you don't like lots of bubbles then this isn't the paste for you. And I don't buy it for the whitening properties, seems like you can't get away from that. It won't whiten your teeth to extremes, so don't bother with those products.

Thanks for your questions!

Ask the Hygienist

From my last post I received some good questions and wanted to extend an invitation for any questions you may have about anything dentally related. Hopefully I will have the answer. So, ask away!

And this is open to all you lurkers out there, if you haven't commented before but have a burning desire to ask a question that has been festering, by all means!

ZOOM!

Last night I did ZOOM! Whitening on Phil. He did great and the results are spectacular! 6 shades in an hour! We are both pleased with the outcome and I of course highly recommend this procedure to anyone looking for fast results and if you know you will not wear bleaching trays for 2 weeks. Phil, for example, has had trays for 4 years and won't whiten because he is lazy and a boy. Me, on the other hand...well, I whiten at least every 2-3 months to boost my pearls.