Wedding Week

Sorry I haven't written in, well, forever it seems!  As you can imagine, I have been quite busy.  After I got my braces off, it took two weeks to get my retainers.  They are like the invisalign type, kindof annoying, but hey, they keep my teeth straight and keep me from grinding them to a nub in my sleep. I did attempt to whiten them twice, but it was so painful the second time I had to leave work the next day.  My teeth are hypersensitive ever since my surgery.  I should have known better. :(
Anyway, right now I am up early because, well, I don't know why! lol  This morning, Scott and I are going to get our marriage license in downtown Raleigh before work.  That means I have to leave here probably around 7:40 in order to get there by 8:20. 
Last night we had our last dance lesson.  I can see in Scott's eyes that he is worried, he has to lead and he is already nervous to dance in front of people.  We definitely need to practice every chance we get.  Please pray for us on this!
Anyway, this week is going to be insanely busy!  Making last minute phone calls to all the venues, spa, caterer, limo, what else am I forgetting?  I have a special massage this afternoon.  My massage therapist is giving me an extra half hour massage and a facial as a wedding gift!  I certainly am looking forward to that!  I'm getting a pedicure on Thursday.  I'm taking a half day off Wednesday because I simply need more time off to prepare, ack!  Lets see, what else, oh, I have to pay bills, pack, finish writing down all the gifts and people that have given them to us so I can start the thank you notes on the honeymoon, lunch with dad tomorrow, Scott bringing over the remainder of his furniture Thursday, make the favors!  The list goes on and on. 
And then Saturday, I get to marry my best friend.  I still can't believe it.  When we are hanging out watching TV and he gives me a kiss, my mind flashes to "two years ago I would have never imagined being here."  (Sorry for the kiss part, Ashley! lol)  
Saturday, my girlfriends threw me a fun bachelorette party!  We tried to go dancing, like in the olden days, but I think it dawned on me finally (not sure if everyone else had already realized this) but I'm just too old to stay out all night anymore!  But I appreciate all Jenna did to plan it and it was a fun night.  I hope everyone else had fun, too!
Well, enough of the crazy stream-of-consciousness of this blog post.  I must get ready and head downtown!  Wish me luck!  If you're up already and reading this.  Otherwise, hope it went well!  Oh boy, it's too early for me to be up and writing, lol!

Oh happy day!

Have you ever been so so happy that you cried?  There are very rare moments in my life that that has happened. Today is one of them.
I just got home from having my braces off!!  It was a bit like Chinese water torture, but I didn't mind so much.  My teeth are hyper sensitive now and they went through every sensation as he took off the brackets and buffed off the cement.  At one point I was jumping  out  of my seat from sharp pains, then I was cringing from the sounds like fingernails down a chalkboard, then I was giggling because the vibrations tickled, lol.  In the end, they took molds (with the tiniest molds they had, and I still gagged!) told me to come back in two weeks for my retainers, and sent me on my merry way.  I had the girl take my pic before I left so I could show you!

I looked at the pictures in the camera but it wasn't until I got home and looked in the mirror and saw myself, the me that I last had seen 3 years ago (albeit with less crooked teeth!) that it hit me and that is when I started to cry.  I was overwhelmed with happiness.  It's nearing the end of a journey.  I know my teeth still aren't perfect, but they are better than they were and that's all that matters.
Well, I am going to go see my oral surgeon in a little bit.  I'll probably have to add to this post to let you know how that went!  And of course, my teeth are getting cleaned tomorrow afternoon, so I can't wait to share that with you.  Till next time!

Done!!!

Just finished report cards!!! And it only took 8 hours today.  Plus the 6 hours yesterday.  Phew.  I do have a few things I have to do to them tomorrow before I turn them in, though.  A couple of kids missed assessments last week that I have to do on Monday so I can finish their comments.  But oh the relief!  The funny thing is all my coworkers have been calling me this weekend to whine and get status updates, just like me.  Misery loves company, I say!

Procrastinating...well, not really

More like taking a break.  I've been working for the past 6 hours on grading assessments, filling in profile cards, and putting grades into the report card system.  Now I'm taking a break because I just simply can't think about it any more, lol!  Also, I dread writing the comments so much.  It stresses me out so much I think I just got another wrinkle in my forehead and another grey hair for my coworker to find next week!  Bleh.  I'm just going to work on comments tomorrow, I can't think another moment on it.

Last night Jenna went with me to see Little Shop of Horrors.  It was fun to do something just the girls, but we were both so tired!  Then this morning, Scott and I went to Jenna's house at 7 for her neighborhood yard sale to sell off some of our extra stuff.  That was somewhat fun, but I knew I needed to be working on getting ready for report cards.

Last weekend we went to Dawn and Brian's wedding in the mountains.  It was a lot of fun to hang out with all my friends and the weather was gorgeous.  But it was also a weekend of Murphy's law.  Friday night I accidentally deleted all the pics I had already taken on my camera.  Saturday morning, the power went off over the whole mountain just after I got out of the shower, so Heather and I couldn't fix our hair.  Two of the guys took showers in the dark! (no windows).  But over all, it was lots of fun and a pretty wedding in a little country church.

This coming week is going to be a busy one for me.  Monday evening Scott and I are joining his parents for a food tasting for the rehearsal dinner.  Then Friday morning my coworkers will have a shower for me at school.  Saturday I go to get my hair done for a "dress rehearsal" and my shower that Ashley is throwing for me. 

The best news of all is my braces come off on October 4!!!!!!  I can't wait!  And I'm experiencing the anxiety of anticipation to get them off, my brackets are irritating my gums in new ways.  I will be sure to blog about the experience and take some pics!  I can't promise they'll look very clean, the dentist cleaning is the very next day.  Maybe I'll wait till after that, lol!

I survived

Well, I survived the day.  When Scott and I arrived at UNC they called us right back and hooked me up to an IV.  But an hour later, I had to go to the bathroom!  The doctor didn't come in till another half hour later.  But apparently it only took a half hour to take the screws out.  They had to cut inside my mouth and outside.  And I was asleep the whole time, thank goodness!  Apparently I said some things I forgot, some embarrassing things, in front of Scott.  But they gave me my screws and scheduled me to come back next week for stitches removal.  I also have pain meds and antibiotics to take.  I have spent most of the day laying on the couch resting and dozing off and on.  I started feeling pain about 4 hours after we got home.  I had to eat soup for lunch and dinner and the next few days I can only eat soft food.  My jaw is sore and the area where he cut is sore, muscles and all.  But inside, I don't feel a thing.  I guess that's one advantage of being numb still.  Scott has done a good job taking care of me.  He has definitely earned a few brownie points.  I am a bit scared about sleeping tonight, if I roll over on my face accidentally, it will probably wake me up from the pain.  Anyway, thank you for the prayers, and maybe tomorrow I'll post a picture of my screws.

Another milestone

Well, in two days I'm going to have my bottom right screws out.  I'm trying not to think about it much because I'm scared.  Yes, I'm scared of a little cut after all I went through.  But I was unconscious when it happened last time.  This time I'll be awake.  My hope and prayer is that it will work.  I'm so tired of not having feeling in my tongue, my face.  I'm tired of the pain.  I'm tired of having food on my face or in my teeth and not knowing it.  I just want to feel normal again.  The cold that I've had the last few weeks has been minor torture.  Every time I blow my nose (which runs nonstop), it forces tears out of my tearducts, which in turn makes my eyes red and irritated.  I'm just tired of it all.  And there seems to be no end in sight.  The other night, at my brother in law's birthday, a family friend mentioned that she never got her feeling back after jaw surgery.  Is that going to be me?  Will my face be this way?  I knew that there might be spots, but not half my face and mouth.  I just keep pushing off the thoughts, because if I let myself think about it, I get overwhelmed and depressed.  Well, enough of the depressing words.  Please say a prayer for me and the doctors.  That's all for now.

Sick

I've got a little cold or something.  Scratchy sore throat and super exhausted all the time.  Not sleeping too well for the last week, either. 
So, here is the update on my braces.  I went to my orthodontist last Thursday.  I was ready to have a little sit down talk with him and convince him of the importance of getting my braces off in time for my wedding.  But, he was on the ball this time and told me that he would have them off, he knew it was important, and set the date for the end of September.  So I go back in 4 weeks, I guess get molds made for my retainer, and get them off a few weeks later.  I want to be excited, but since everything has been "oh, we need more time" or "no, its going to take longer" I don't want to get my hopes up.  But next time I go, if he tells me for sure the next appointment is it, I'm calling my dentist to schedule a teeth cleaning for that very day!  (Possibly even a whitening)  I cannot wait!  It seems like its getting harder and harder to deal with my braces and mouth issues.  Before, I dealt with it because, well, I didn't have a choice and I knew it would take a while.  But now its just anticipation that there may be light at the end of the tunnel.  I keep imagining how nice it will be to run my tongue over my teeth and feel the smoothness, to not be afraid of (or annoyed by) food being stuck in my braces.  And even though I'm still numb and can't open my mouth wide at all, I will feel like one more hurdle has been climbed and is behind me now.  So, the timeline is:  Screws out August 26, Orthodontist Sept.2, Braces off around Sept. 30. 
As far as wedding stuff, I don't know how I'm keeping up with it all, but somehow I'm managing.  Scott and I went to visit my aunt Debbie this weekend to talk about the cake.  She happened to have made some cake for someone else's wedding so she let me and Scott sample.  Last week I dropped off my grandma's wedding band to be repaired and cleaned.  They called a little bit ago to say it was in.  I'm so excited to get to wear it again.  Aunt Debbie told me that she thought grandma would really like knowing I was going to wear it on my wedding day. 
Yesterday afternoon, Scott's car broke down while he was running to grab some dinner.  He had to get it towed.  Turns out, it is totalled!  Apparently the timing belt broke and everything in the engine is bent and broken now.  It didn't have enough miles to break already, but was about 6000 miles past the warranty.  So we may be car shopping this weekend, bleh.  Poor guy.  It's just one thing after another with him it seems (first his house having issues, now his car). 
Ok, I'm going to go get the ring now, can't wait any more!