Goodbye 2006

Another year has slipped by me. While the time has been swiftly spent I have taken the time to learn a few lessons. I guess you could say that I am older, heavier and wiser. Well I am not sure about that last one but I had to include it in my list, ha ha ha! Anyway I have thought long and hard about my top ten list. I hope you enjoy it!

10. The Titan scaler is appropriately named
9. Giardellis in Ogden is the best place to get a greasy burger with your friends
8. Soy milk is pretty good, plus the plant manager is HOT
7. Italian Canolies are pretty tasty on a winter day
6. Captain Jack Sparrow still thrills the big screen
5. After 16 years Homer Simpson is finally getting his big break
4. Divorce sucks!
3. Dental hygiene boards truly are the most stressful event EVER!
2. Waiting for the results of the dental hygiene boards is the most stressful event EVER!
1. Being a real life RDH is a dream come true!

It has been a great year. I would like to thank my family, friends and all my fans for making it such a great one! Not to mention all the great tunes this year-Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, 30 seconds to Mars, Three Days Grace, Digital Black, Breaking Benjamin, Blue October and so so much more (these have been my favs this year). I also want to say; Way to get a record deal Hemlock!

Best Buy=Worst Buy

I have been wanting a digital camera FOREVER! I have owed myself for getting a 4.o gpa 3 years ago. Since then I have graduated and still no camera.....well I finally did it. I ordered one! It has been such a process. I have been so poor and indecisive that this purchase has been just ridiculous.

I decided to get a camera like my mothers. My father has done hours of research online--with SLOW dial-up; and decided that the HP R627 was the one for my mom. I tested it out over Thanksgiving and liked it. I decided to purchase one of those. So a few weeks later I was ready to make the purchase. My father called and told me not to get the R627 but to get the R967. It was a wonderful 10.0 megapixel camera with all sorts of features and Best Buy had them on sale online! I was excited. I went to the city library because I did not have internet service at my home. It took forever to order the camera and memory card and download appropriate mail-in rebates. Finally I was done and ready to leave the library.

I get home and look up the phone number to my credit card company to call them and let them know I made a purchase and since I have a PO Box and Best Buy only accepted physical addresses I had to call and tell them I did make the purchase and to let the charge go through. They did. Then 2 days later I get an email saying my personal info could not be verified and my order was canceled. I was so upset. I called Best Buy and talked to a lady who I could barely understand because her accent was so thick. She told me that my credit card co. had declined the purchase. So I called the credit card co. again. They told me they did let it go through. So I call back to Best Buy and sit on hold for 35 min. This time I can understand the person so much better--he still had an accent. He told me that they had canceled the order before the credit card co had approved it. I asked why and he did not know. Now it had been 43 minutes. I am irritated and frustrated that I cannot get the camera. I was told the only way I could order it again was to go online. I could not order it over the phone like the little messages told me to while I was on hold. ARRGGGHH!

So I decide to order my camera again. I go online and the camera is now $50 more. I am even more ticked off and decide to email Best Buy. I was denied the opportunity to match the sale price and told I was out of luck! The bubble that held my digital camera burst, spilling the camera onto the floor where it broke in 1,000 pieces. I was so sad.

I decided to go to the website my father had purchased his camera from. Beachcamera.com. It is a wonderful place. I ended up ordering another camera that I am going to like better that the one at Worst Buy! I should have the camera on Dec 20th. My bubble has fixed itself and it is even more wonderful than the original! So I guess I should thank Worst Buy for denying my money and forcing me to spend it elsewhere!

Drink Silk

Ok so yesterday I had a patient. He was all gangsta and cute. I learned that he was the plant manager at the soy processing plant in Cedar. I did not know Cedar had a soy processing plant. Home boy was from Kansas City Missouri -largest US producer of soybeans-and was here to work in the plant. One a side note he had some really hard and heavy calc and was seen 6 months and 1 week ago-so naturally I told him to NEVER miss a recall! He said he had been told that before. Oh yeah he was single....but I am a little shy with all the drama my friends are having lately with men...So I cleaned his teeth and picked his brain about soy. I have recently converted to soy milk and love the soy fields I have seen in Indiana (they are a great shade of green-just beautiful!). The soy comes to Utah hulled and ready to process. Cedar then does some form of pasteurization-high temps followed by cooling to make a protein slurry. Then the slurry goes to another plant for the flavorings, vitamin fortifications etc. I learned so much!

Then today my last patient was a young man who was single and attractive as well. I learned that he was the quality control supervisor at the soy processing plant. I just looked at him and laughed. My patient told me that home boy1 and recommended that he come in ASAP to get his teeth cleaned from me and I had an opening the next day. I was so flattered! That was so nice! So me and home boy2 had a great cleaning experience as well. I learned that not only does Cedar process US soy but some from China and Germany and they are mixed in; and that the soy eventually becomes Silk brand milk. So keep the single men employed in Cedar and drink Silk ha ha ha! I truly do love treating male patients! They all are so fun to flirt with and have a great time with!

Jess has brought to my attention that I am still in WSU journal entry mode. I guess I am but I do not have any RDH friends in Cedar and need to tell someone about the great and crazy patients I see. I need to have some nerd talk as Breanna so approptiately stated; so bloggers...it is up to you to fill that void for me!

What will I see next?

Well it is Tuesday and already I have had a very eventful week at the dental office. First off I saw a 19 year old female of the polygamist religion. She pops into my chair like a typical teenager. I start to take xrays and as I ask her to open up to place the first film I am hit with a stench of Yak. Dang! I really think a yak climbed into her mouth and died 2 weeks ago. I hurry and take the xrays. I then lay the chair back and get started---after putting on a very thick mask! I had already noticed that she had some plaque accumulation but I was not prepared for what I saw. I just looked her in the eye and asked if she had ever brushed her teeth. I was dead serious! She looked at me and said she used to but had not for a long time because she is allergic to a lot of stuff and brushing her teeth makes little sores breakout around the outside of her mouth. I told her she could brush with water and that she did not need to use toothpaste. She just shrugged her shoulders and said whatever. I was pissed. You know, I do not care if you do not brush your teeth, but DO NOT come to me and have ME clean your teeth! It was one of the grossest mouths I have ever cleaned and I have cleaned some nasty decomposing stuff out of peoples mouths before. I think what bothered me the most was her I don't care attitude! I just cannot imagine having 3 fur coats on my teeth! It was so gross!

Later that day I saw a patient who had chewed tobacco for a while and had a nice pre-cancerous lesion on his cheek. It was just like the textbooks. What makes this unusual was that the patient said he was not a tobacco user on his health history form. So I asked him if he was. He said No. I told him what was in his mouth. He looked at me and said that he did chew but not to tell anyone. Lesson learned....do not lie to your hygienist...ha ha ha!

My next patient was a cute little Mormon lady who was sweet and funny. She had crowns on every single tooth except for 23-27 (lower front ones). Her probe depths were great, her home care was amazing! I could not find any plaque around her crowns. It was amazing. What was gross was the 12 mm leukoplakic patch on her cheek. I asked her how long it had been there and she said for 4 months. She was a little concerned and admitted that was the reason for her visit to our office. My dr gave her an antifungal medication and said if it did not go away then she would need to go get it biopsied. It was really neat to see that lesion.

Well the week is still young who knows what I will see next! I hope y'all are getting your shopping done....I should start one day...soon.....

I am VERY Thankful!

I have been in Delta for 3 days! I used to think Pharmacy hours were great but I think I LOVE dental hours! It has been so nice to be here with my family and know that I get to be one of the first to arrive and last to leave. It used to kill me to be the first one to leave. All I would think about was what my family was doing without me....I just knew it would be fun!

I am ashamed to admit that I have eaten enough food to feed a small Peruvian village for 1 week! It sure has been fun! I have played Old-School Electronic Battleship, made it into the top 10 on MahJongg, shot my dad's new Czech .221 fireball rifle--which I love! My bros have been trying for years to teach me how to thorw clay targets/skeet. I FINALLY learned how to flick my wrist just right to send the skeet soaring into the air...now if I could just aim ha ha ha. I shot skeet and 2 liter bottles filled with water-no air so they exploded when shot! We just finished watching Cars and Superman Returns (thanks AJH-who hooked us up with an early release copy) We have cheered for the Jazz--Go Jazz! And last of all we ate again!
I hope your Thanksgiving was as great and wonderful as mine!

Hey Perio experts....

On Friday I saw a patient who had been scheduled by the dentist for SRP. He did not have xrays, probe depths etc. The Pt requested that we only do BWX. I did and while they were developing I began to probe. So here I am on #2 I get a 4 3 7. I immediately think to myself ok here we go.... Then I get to #3 and I get 7 12 5. I was a little surprised to find a 12 on the straight buccal. So I reprobed the tooth and got 7 12 5. I continued probing #4 was 6 9 6 #5 was 6 6 6 #6 was 5 9 6 etc. All the buccals were so deep. # 8 buccal was a 9. I sat him up and strongly recommended that I take a FMX. He then told me he had received perio tx 4 yrs ago from another dentist in town. He asked me what his probe depths were so far and I told him. He admitted that they were deeper that before and agreed to the FMX. I finished probing and throughout his whole mouth all buccal/palatal/lingual readings were significantly deeper that the interproximal. I have not seen that before. The xrays showed bony defects in all those areas-consistent with my probe depths. I told the pt I recommended he go to a periodontist---in St George. He was not excited about going out of town for treatment. Then my dr came in and told him we would keep him in office. I was a little mad. This pt had depths on all first molars of no less than 10 and my dr wanted me to get down there into those furcations and guarantee that he would not loose his tooth. I am trying to become a ninja scaler but I have a hard time with furcas especially that deep. Later my dentist said that whenever he sends someone to the periodonist in St George the come back and ask to have their teeth removed and dentures put in. So he thinks it is a waste of time to send them down there. So I cleaned this patients mouth. I worked on him for 3 hours. I did not have any patients coming in later and he had time so we scaled on. He did not want to be numb. I told him that I was not going to be nice because he was trying to tough it out. He said ok. So I went for it. I admit I brought tears to this man's eyes. I hurt him but he claimed that it was better that being numb. So that was my day.

My question now is....what causes bony defects to be on the buccal and palatal/lingual but not interproximal? There was no radiographic calc and it was light/moderate. I was confused. It must be from a systemic problem rather than a local (calc) one. The pt claims to have no health problems and stopped smoking 4 months ago. I figure his perio state is due to his 35 years of smoking-but it was a little unusual. Let me know if you guys have seen anything like that before.

The Dianodent

Ok so one of my Dr's just got a diagnodent. You know it has been a while since I had to pass of a PE about that and do you think I remember how to use it???? NOPE. I wonder if I still have that PE or if it went up in smoke with my lab jacket....hmmmm interesting. Anyway, my Dr was saying how I would be using the diagnodent on non-filled teeth. Then he would come in and look. So in my little inexperienced mind I am thinking that during my patient treatment I need to save time to play with the diagnodent (which will take me 5-10 min once I get the hang of it) and then he will come in and look with an explorer. It seems to me that we are doing the same thing. I know I cannot diagnose caries but I can read the numbers on a diagnodent. I guess I am looking for some advice from someone who actually uses it in their office right now. What do you do? Do you have it sitting out for every patient like the ultrasonic scaler? Does it really help the dentist? Do the assistants use it more since they are the ones who see the people with 'aches'. I could really use some help......

Another couple of first....

I remember my friend Maria telling me one day that working as a dental hygienist is awesome. She then went on to tell me how hard it is also. One night she got off work and could not use her right arm to steer her car. She had such a dead arm. I have been waiting these few months for that to happen to me. Today it did. Wed I worked for 3 hours on one scaling and root planing (S&R) patient. My arm was pretty dead after that. Then on Thursday I had the day off and I did everyday stuff-laundry, cleaning, blah blah blah- Today when I had 3 hours scheduled again with other S&R patients I cringed. Today my arm is pretty sore!

Also, one of the dental chairs fiberoptic light went out and since I am the one who does not use the fiberoptic light on the high speed I got sent to that room for hygiene today. Now I am used to jumping from room to room and going with the flow but this particular room is not able to have the ultrasonic hooked up to the water supply. I knew I had 3 hours of S&R and I needed the ultrasonic. I begged to be allowed in another room but today of all days all three dentist were there and fully booked and so I had to dig out the old school Titan scaler!!! I have never used one of these before. I had heard about them in school but never even looked at one. So here I am with dead arm and scary Titan scaler! I really am impressed that my office has a cavitron magnostrictive ultrasonic, a piezo ultrasonic, and a titan scaler! So I figured out how the Titan works. I brought my patient back and after getting him numb I started using the mighty mighty Titan! Holy Cow that thing in an animal! It is huge and quite aggressive! The calc flew off! I was kind of afraid to go deep into his pockets because it is such a large bulky thing so I did not at first, but after failing to get a deposit off after hand scaling I reached for the Titan and sunk it into his pocket. I am not sure how well it worked all I know is that the deposit came off during my next hand instrumentaion. I guess it loosened it or something. Anyway, I cannot wait until the new office is complete and I can have my own operatory stocked with the stuff I like to use.

I am really quite impressed with the amount of different things I am learning from ONE office. I am excited for the learning to continue!

I am freaking out!!!!

Today I saw my fav hispanic patient with the cool calc rings I mentioned in a previous post. Well anyway, I am 1.5 hours into the 2 hour appointment to scale 2 quads when I reach for my trusty Montana Jack (yeah, I have one in each set up--how lucky am I?) when I notice that the tip is broken!!! I freak out! I look in the patient's mouth and I try to explain to him in part English and part Spanish that I broke the tip of my instrument and I do not know where the tip is. I felt pretty confident that he did not swallow it because I was having to suction everything out of his mouth. He was not swallowing even his own saliva-he just let it pool and then I sucked it out. Well my slow speed had nothing. My patient was so cute he was crawling on the floor with me looking for it. I told my Dr and he was fine with it. He did not think we needed to go and get a chest xray the patient did not either. So here I am freaking out but holding it together. My patient did ask if I was ok. He knew I was pretty upset about the situation. He told me in his broken English that it was ok and that he did not swallow it or aspirate it. It made me feel better knowing that he did not think I was negligent. I was having so much fun cleaning those rings of calc off his teeth and now the afternoon was spoiled. Man....It was really hard for me to pick up that Montana Jack for my next appointment. But I figured if the horse bucks you....

So RDH's let me know of your tales of glory! I would love to hear them.

My friend Von got a deer on Sat. He brought me the hind quarters and back straps. I cut them up and filled my freezer with meat! I am pretty lucky! I love this time of year! I love to see the whole town in their orange and 4 wheelers. It is so delicious to eat that first piece of venison fresh from the kill! Throw in some fresh apples from New Harmony and life is all apple pie again!!!!

Are bad days contagious??

Ok so I have been reading some blogs from WSU. The dental hygiene students there are having a tough minute. I remember those minutes and sympathize greatly. What I did not know is that they are contagious! I was looking forward to Wed so much! I could not wait to get in there and clean the rings of calc off of my patient! Well the day started off with my first pt being 20 minutes late and he was a friend of the Dr so the exam took forever. So now I am 30 min behind. By the time I get to calc boy I am almost 45 minutes late. Then to top it off the digital xrays in my room were being retarded---it ended up being a wire thing but who knew...So I am late and then calc boy had some serious calc! I could not believe it. I worked my fingers off. He was bleeding so much I could barely see. I really wished I had an assistant or CA or instructor there to help me with the high volume suction but alas I was alone with the blood spraying everywhere from the ultrasonic. I have a piezo and the water spray is a little different from the magnistrictive ones I used in school. When I was cleaning up my opertory there were blood splatters everywhere...So by now I am feeling like a looser hygienist who is late and cannot get the calc off even though I cleaned calc boy the best I could I am just not positive I got it all off. I am so glad I see him again next week for another quad...I can redeem myself. THEN to top it off my Dr found a probe depth I missed. I had recorded a 4mm pocket on the distal of a tooth that had a crown with recurrent decay under it. Well it really had a 9mm. He did not yell at me and even blamed it on hitting a piece of calc but he just wanted me to be sure I got around the deposits and probed deep enough. I felt/feel horrible! Now the tooth will not be able to be saved because of the extent of perio. Man I feel like a looser RDH!!! I know I should not feel this way. Everyone is entitled to bad days and I need to remember the good days and patients and not focus on the bad ones. Well to sum up my day; I did not take a lunch and when my last patient of the day arrived I was still taking xrays on my patient (running me about 55 min late). Yesterday was the first day that I was the last one t leave the office. I had to close up shop and set the alarm. I must have done it right because no one told me differently today.


On a much lighter note this is my cute niece again. Her mom is weaning her from the binky...well one night she was sad and put two in her mouth. She is so freaking adorable to me that I have to share her with you all....

Wonderful Day!

Last night Cedar experienced a great and wonderful thunderstorm around 2:30 am. At first I was scared because I was awaken by a glass rattling thunderclap but then I calmed down and listened to the storm. I was great. I snuggled in my blankets and went back to sleep. This morning I woke up and stumbled to the bathroom when I looked out the kitchen window I saw (yup I saw...I wear the night and day contacts that you wear continuously for 30 days--kind of a cheap lasik ha ha ha) snow covering everywhere! It was beautiful. The trees still have leaves on them and so the branches were hanging so low due to the weight. A lot of trees on my street were touching the ground. The mountains are covered enough to give the red rock a white dusted appearance. It is truly beautiful! I have a feeling that it is going to be a wonderful day!

Tomorrow will be a wonderful day also. I have a patient coming tomorrow that has the most amazing black rings of calculus I have ever seen! He is an early 20 year old hispanic man. His teeth are just covered in deposit but since he is so young it comes off fairly easily. He would be a great board pt except he has some gingival hyperplasia and therefore some really deep pockets! I am looking forward to cleaning another quad tomorrow!!!! How great is my life?!?!?!?

A new experience

Today I saw a patient. He was scheduled for SCRP. His pocket depths were 5-7mm. He was high strung and wanted nitrous. He did not have very much deposit and what deposit he had was really deep at the base of his pockets. He told me he previously had SCRP completed and knew he needed it again. So I didn't even have to go into my speil. He had scheduled 2 hours with me. I thought to myself...ok this guy wants scrp I will give him scrp. I hooked up the nitrous and proceeded to start and intra oral exam when I discovered he had some huge exotosis. They were form 4-9mm deep. The patient also had large mandibular tori. I know you are thinking so what, the man has bone gowths-who cares. What made this patient unique was this was the first patient I had to give maxillary injections too. It was such a challenge to get the PSA right. I tried to give a MSA but the patient said not to try again. It was really hard to get around that deep bone. Luckily the nitrous and PSA was enough for him to tolerate the procedure. I really wished my office had Oraqix-it would have been so much easier. Fellow RDHs let me know how you handle this. I am too afraid to bend the needle and I thought about giving an infiltration at 90 degrees but I just could not do it. I need some advice....

On a lighter note. I went to Hogle Zoo last weekend. My niece and nephew as well as all my siblings (except Army Dave) and mother went with me. We had such a great time in the rain. All the animals were great. I loved the black bears and the baby orangutan. I love being out of school! I love having time and money to go on little trips like this! Now if I could just get a little sumpin-sumpin life would be perfect ha ha ha!

Annoying

I went to a movie the other night. I was nice to go out with some friends and enjoy a good movie. I was all calm and relaxed having been to a perfomrance by the Utah Symphony Orchestra earlier that evening. My relaxed state of mind did not last very long. During the movie there were not any of those annoying phone rings. It was worse...they were texting each other. This was highly annoying to me because in this great day of stadium seating in movie theaters the glare from the phone screens and key pads were blinding me! Imagine if you will, a dark theater, comfy seats and a large screen to which my eyes are glued and then some random Joe opens his cell phone and blinds the lower left corner of my eye. Now I am seeing spots as I try to ignore the rudeness the Joe when my direct right is blinded by another random Joe! It is now near impossible to see the screen and watch the movie that I paid a dear price for! I have flash spots in both eyes and both Joes keep texting!! This behavior continued througout the entire 2+ hour movie. I am please to announce there were SEVEN random Joes in the audience that night and I had to deal with multiple bouts of blindness! I was so irritated that if I had not been in the company of calm cool and collected friends I would have stood up and shouted, 'For the love of all that is holy. STOP texting for 2 hours. I promise you will live, if it is an actual emergency then leave the theater!' I had it all planned out. I was so hot under the collar that I could barely enjoy the show. I tried so hard to lower my BP and to calm my nerves but it did not work. I was still irritated after the movie. I just cannot imagine having to text someone so bad that I could not wait until the movie was over. I guess since I am of an older persuasion that I do not understand the need to be accessable through a phone 24/7. I like to be lost for a few hours each day-in other words I like to detatch from the world turn off the phone, radio, tv etc and have a little peace and quiet giving my brain a chance to relax. I like the quiet time. Not many people like the quiet time anymore. Everyone fills every moment they have with noise and activity. I say STOP and enjoy the moment you are in now. Enjoy the movie, enjoy the drive, enjoy the rain, enjoy the sun, enjoy the stars, enjoy the silence. And for the love of all that is holy....stop texting during movies!

White and Nerdy

Today I finally heard and saw Weird Al new song 'white and nerdy'. It is spoofing the song Ridin' Dirty. It was the funniest thing I have heard from Al in a long time. It made me realize just how white and nerdy I am! I have no doubts in my mind as to why I am single. First I am white. Yup that means I am white. I do not fake bake or sun worship. I am truly a white girl! Second I am a Sci Fi nerd. I love the television series Stargate SG-1. I love Jack O'Neil aka Richard Dean Anderson. I enjoy reading books with dragons, wizards, knights, and space travel. So there you have it world. I am not sure if that is a good thing or not. All I know is that I am proud of who I am. I am proud of where I come from and where I am going. I am proud to be a hard working white American! There is nothing wrong with not being white and nerdy just as there is nothing wrong with me being white and nerdy!! Now thanks to Weird Al there is a song all about me! You should really check it out.

My first Meth Mouth

Last week I had a patient who came in for an initial exam and cleaning. She had been in the week before for an emergency tooth extraction. This patient was about 35 years old. She was a little nervous to be in my chair. I did not realize why until I had her open her mouth while I placed the first xray film. I knew immediately that she had used meth before-quite a lot of meth. I chatted away trying to put her at ease. I asked her when her last hygiene appointment was. She told me that about 5 years ago she left in the middle of her appointment because it hurt so bad. In my mind I was thinking, no duh it hurt, you have a cavity in every single tooth in your mouth! I explained to her that I could numb up areas of her mouth to make the cleaning more comfortable. She agreed. As I was cleaning her mouth-which was a challenge with all the active carries- I told her I had just graduated and that I had seen pictures of meth mouth. I then asked her "So is that what I am looking at here?" She said yes. She then told me about how she had used meth and now her children were not in her custody etc. I felt bad for her, but proud that I had enough guts to ask her if she was a meth user. Honestly, I was afraid that I would offend her and that she would just leave my chair. Then the dentist came in and flat out asked her how much money she wanted to spend on her mouth since every thing needed a filling/crown. I think it would have been cheaper to get full dentures. I am not sure what she decided. I hope to see her again.

I attended UDHA this past weekend. I do not want to make this post too long but the last speaker of the convention said that Fluoride is good only topically and that systemic fluoride was not useful except for the fact it ended up in saliva and therefore was working topically. I have not looked into the studies she quoted but I was wondering what y'all thought about it. If this is true we can end the fluoride campaign and take that money and apply it to the legislative fund:)

It was so good to see everyone at the convention! I enjoyed myself and learned a few things.

Cutest Niece Ever

This is Shay Lynn Bishop. She is my niece. She is 2 years old. In this pic she is sad because she asked her Aunt Mair for another piece of cheese. Mean old Aunt Mair said no because she has been having some constipation issues and she had already eaten 2 pieces of cheese. But after that lower lip (which was lower before I took the picture) my will power was shot. So I convinced her to eat a little more zucchini and then I would let her have a piece of cheese. She ate the zucchini and then devoured the cheese. Boy does that girl love her cheese! Anyway, I just wanted to show the world how cute she is!!! So I was in Delta over the holiday weekend. My nephew Ty and I decorated his room with fabric cars and spider-man figures. We dipped them in liquid starch and stuck them on the wall. Shay wanted to help but once she realized she had to get her hands dirty she decided to watch. Then Ty and I had a small water fight in the bathroom while we were cleaning up....I am pretty sure his mom-my sis-might be mad at me....

It was such a fun weekend. We ate all sorts of veggies from the garden. I ate about 1,000 BLT and 10 lbs of fresh cabbage and 984 ears of corn. It was DELICIOUS! I love this time of year!

Now I am back in Cedar and tomorrow I get to move into my house. I am going to be living upstairs but the upstairs people are still there so I will be camping out in the basement apartment of the house. At least I will be closer to becoming settled in....

9 out of 10

Today I went to work at the pharmacy. I left at the ususal time but arrived at Albertsons 7 minutes late. I was very annoyed because I do not like to be late. On my way to work I have to pass 10 street lights. At 9 of those lights I had to stop! Can you believe my luck? I refused to let this put a damper on my day. I was not working with a 70 year old pharmacist who is not worth the $50 an hour Albies pays him to sit around and tell patients that Mary Ann will be right there to help them--in other words I end up doing all the work. I was working with Von aka Von Jovi! He is one of my favorites. He is so funny! We laughed today when we were so behind because with this being a holiday weekend people are stocking up on their drugs so they can have an extra fun weekend-dang all the drug abuse in So Utah. So I worked my butt off today and since it is a pretty big butt I had to work a lot! But you know--I am glad I have a job. I am pretty lucky to have two jobs that pay me more that $15 an hour. I really am. So even though I hit almost every light on the way to work this morning I think I still owe Fate a little bit when I look at the whole picture. Even though I am homeless I have a great place to stay and great people to stay with! I could not have asked for a better situation.

Here is a top 10 list of things/experience I have had these past few weeks.

10. When asked my current address I immediately thought to write Mary Ann the girl who lives in the basement of the house across from the house that a man broke into with intent to murder and was in turn murdered.

9. Even in Cedar City dental offices are broken into...mine was on Friday...

8. Soy milk is not that bad and the shelf life is A LOT longer that cow milk.

7. I did not miss starting school.

6. I do know how to scale teeth!!!

5. 4 wheeler+9 month old=sleep

4. DVR is the best-I did not miss Prison Break.

3. I still do not miss starting school.

2. I work with a hygienist who graduated about 2 years ago from Dixie and she wears her lab coat with her name on from school....I DO NOT wish I had not burned mine;-)

1. The Utah Shakespearean Festival is amazing!!! And the Humbug drops are the best!!

Summer is almost over...

I cannot believe how fast the summer has flown by. Local elementary and high schools started back last week. The temperature outside tells me that it is still summer but everything else tells me summer is over. Not only have schools started back but retailers have finished with their back-to-school drive and are now focusing on Halloween!!!! Don't get me wrong I am looking forward to the copious amounts of candy; I am just a little surprised that it is that time of year already. I feel like it is still winter and I am commuting back and forth from the VA hospital in SLC to Ogden. I swear it is still May and I just graduated. I feel like it has only been a few weeks since I took my WREB exam, and only a week ago I got my license.

As we all know time does fly and I really need to remember to embrace each moment, each trial, each joy, each mistake, each triumph.

On a lighter note, I went to see Merry Wives of Winsor at the Shakespearean Festival. It was so great! I went with Liz and Alethea Lewis. Yup that's right, sisters to the famous Sara Lewis-Melling. It was a lot of fun. I enjoyed the play, the company, and the atmosphere. I really do enjoy a good Shakespeare play. I am such a fan!! I am so lucky to live here so I can partake of the great culture. Thankfully there is a little summer left afterall!

♫Homeless. Homeless♫

It's true. As of Sunday I am homeless. I have rented a storage unit for all of my crap and a po box for my mail. I am going to be spending the night with my friends Joe and Sara. They are so amazing! They are opening their home to me for probably 2-5 weeks. What generosity (all it cost me was 3 Valium and a bit of Nitrous)!! Seriously, in a few weeks I hope to be moving in to a house with my friend Angie. I hope it is soon. I really hate relying on the kindness of others. It is very hard for me. I am just too independent. I would live out of my truck if I had a shower....I guess I could always go to SUU and shower in the locker room. I am not too upset about being homeless, I am really ticked that I am going to miss the season premier of Prison Break-how messed up is that? Well, September promises to be an exciting month so stay tuned.

What the Hell.....

I am so bothered by the new Nickelodeon movie Barnyard. I love animation. I am impressed by most animated productions. I cannot make myself go and see Barnyard. I cannot get past the fact that the cow is male which makes him a bull and he has udders! What the hell??? Since when does a bull have udders? I guess they are a bovine representation of man-boobs. Still I cannot get past it. I find it irritating that the animators chose to make the film this way. I have also noticed with irritation that Burger King has a new commercial for their chicken fries. There is a rooster standing there and two hens come up with male voices and ask the chicken-aka rooster-what he is doing. The point of the commercial is that the chickens want to become chicken fries. It is annoying to me that the hens have male voices. I guess I am old fashioned. I guess gender does not matter anymore. I guess my little world has such a concept as gender--go figure!

The essence of pulchritude...

One of my favorite patients told me that I was the essence of pulchritude and since I am not Kami Hanson I did not know what it meant. He would not tell me what it meant and so I looked it up. I was very flattered that he would say such a nice thing about me. It really made my day to be sweet talked like that.

Well yesterday I had a patient who had some leukoplakic patches on his buccal mucosa (I haven't used those big words for so long I just had to ha ha). i tried to wipe them off and they would not. I showed the spots to the patient and asked how long they had been there. He had no idea he had white spots on his cheeks. He instantly freaked out on me. He was all sorts of afraid he had cancer. I could not calm him down. I told him it was most likely a fungal infection but he would not listen to me. I felt so bad that he freaked out like that. The dr reassured him that it was a fungal infection and to keep a watch on it to see if it got worse. Man....

One of my other patients had malignant hypothermia. It was great to talk to him. He was 28 years old and he really needed his wisdom teeth taken out. He said that he was going to go to an oral surgeon to get them out. I did not blame the dentist for sending him there. I was a little freaked out cleaning his teeth. He was so nice. He said his whole family-on his fathers side-has it. He said his little bro almost died from it. It was great to meet and treat someone with a condition I had learned so much about but thought I would not meet anyone who had it.

Cedar Mountain has had quite a bit of rain that last few days. I drove up to Cedar Breaks yesterday and UDOT was cleaning the roads from yet another mud slide. I love the mountain! It is so beautiful. It is breaking my heart to see the dead tree areas getting larger each year-dang bark beetle. One day lightening is going to strike and the whole mountain is going to explode in a puff of flames! That is all that is new in my life...kinda boring huh? Oh well, I am just so content that I do not know what to do:-)

'It All Comes Back to the Simpsons'

Yesterday I performed my first private practice SCRP. It was so fun to get the graceys out and do some real scaling!! I also got to give some injections-oh how I miss that! I must be sick because I love finding that sweet spot in the gingival tissues and sinking that needle in!!! My SCRP patient was so nice. Not only was she my first SCRP but my first experience treating a polyg. As I was cleaning her mouth I realized that So Utah has such diversity that I could never become bored with the people in the area.

Speaking of people....last night I met the nicest man from Vegas. He was in town to get away from the Vegas heat. We happened to be seated next to each other in the Utah Shakespearean Festivals production of HMS Pinafore. We had a nice little chat. On my right was a lady from Springville. She and the Vegas man were intrigued to meet a local--I wonder if they thought we had anteanea or something. Anyway, Pinafore was amazing!!! I loved the set, I loved the sailors, I loved the singing, I LOVED the costumes!! I was impressed with the orchestra also. As I was admiring the costumes I couldn't help but think that Kaylee White (my friend Andrea's neice-in Indiana) should be out here learning and working at the festival. She would be in heaven! My favorite part of the play was when the sailors laid on the floor around the 'sisters, cousins and aunts' and did a little syncronized swimming routine. There was a few sailors whose facial expressions were the best! I laughed so hard at their antics! It was great fun!!!

The play ended about 10 pm and since I live across the street I was home in time to get my nightly dose of The Simpsons. It was a great episode. Sideshow Bob was trying to kill Bart who went into the witness relocation program. The scene I want to mention was the very end when Bart and Sideshow Bob are on a boat headed to Sprinfield. Sideshow Bob askes for Bart's last request and Bart askes him to sing the entire score from the HMS Pinafore! I laughed and laughed. My life rocks!! To quote a blog I visit...It All Comes Back to the Simpsons!!

OUCH

I have never thought of dental hygiene as a sexy profession. When I first moved to Ogden I heard a radio broadcast listing the top 10 sexiest professions and dental hygiene made the list. Today I experienced just how sexy it could be. My last patient of the day was a fine looking man. His mouth was great. He had some staining on the lower anteriors which he thought was a cavity. He was so upset about it. I told him that his calculus absorbed colors from food and drink and that I would clean it off and he would look as good as new. His last cleaning was in January of 2006...this man likes the hygienist :) I cleaned his teeth and while I was working I noticed what great lips he had. They were a great shade of red, very difined, not to dry or cracked just perfect. Just then a Rob Thomas song came on the radio. That just started my pervy mind reeling! Here I am inside a man's great mouth and Rob Thomas in my head........................due to the graphic nature of this story............

One cold shower later, I am sitting here wondering how I am able to type. My right arm has a dull ache from my shoulder to my wrist and my hand could use some therapy. It was totally worth it just to clean Mr. Mouth's teeth!!!!

Hey RDHs out there. How do you rate your ultrasonic? I have a piezo 5. I am not a fan. I am getting better at using it, but it is a pain to tighten the tip when in order to get a proper water flow. It just is not my favorite. I really like the magnostrictive US...but alas I do not have one. Let me know what you think--or any tricks I can use to become better at the P5.

Airport Food

It has taken me days and days to get back to the library to tell y'all about Indiana. I am sorry for the delays. My second day of work was amazing! Patients kept telling the dentist that I was the best and most thorough hygienist they have ever had. I cannot be happier....other than my hand hurts...and my back...and my head....thankfully there is such a thing as Advil!

Sunday July 2 I left Cedar to go to Vegas and catch my flight. I was planning on parking in the economy parking which is only $6 a day. I had exactly $24 set aside for that purpose. Because I had not started hygiene and am still poor I was barely going to make my budget, but I paid my tithing and prayed for the best. I get to the parking lot and it is full. The officer tells me to follow the cones to the overflow and that parking was free! I knew right then this trip was going to be wonderful! I get on the plane which took me to Denver where I had a 2 hour layover. I thought my gate was A53 and since I deplaned at A54 I was set. I camped out and read a book for an hour and then decided to go find some food. I found the food court and decided to eat some Panda Express. As I got closer to the food I realized that I could not eat it so I left the line. The gentleman behind me said, no stay--don't eat McDonald's! I laughed and told him I could not eat Panda or McDonald's. I ended up with a sandwich from KFC. Anyway I ended up eating lunch with this gentleman named Rashad. He was from California. His ancestors were Middle Eastern. He was a handsome man! His dark hair and eyes were amazing. so I had the best airport flirt lunch ever! It was then time to board my plane. I go to A53 and it does not say Indianapolis! I freak out and go read a board AGAIN. I guess I cannot read because i was supposed to be in B53! I ran to the trains to take me to B and then ran to the terminal to B53. I was 4th to last one on the plane! I almost did not make it! Luckily I did and arrived in Indiana without problems--other than lightening delaying our flight for an hour!

It rained 3 of my 4 days in Kokomo! It was beautiful! I loved it--other than the humidity! The legal fireworks out there were amazing! We had the best show in the driveway! I love the 4th of July!

Whew...I made it!!!

Today was my first day as a dental hygienist! I had a great day. I saw 3 new patients and 4 recall patients. It was a busy day! Oddly my hand does not hurt...yet....My back is what hurts--right between my shoulder bades. I wonder if was stressing about today ha ha ha! I love my job! EVERYONE was so nice. One of my patients was terrified of the hygienist and had not had her teeth cleaned for 10 years. Luckily she flosses and brushes daily so her calculus was not too tenacious. It was so fun treating her. She had big chunks that flew off...you know the kind we RDHs live for!!! It was so fun. At the end she told me that I did such a great job that she would be coming back to me in 6 months. I am so honored! I hope I can remember this day when I have bad ones. So the funniest thing happened. My dr forgot about me. He left and I was still waiting for him to come examine my patient. I heard him using the high speed on the last patient of the day and knew he was still here. I had told him before he started drilling that I was ready; I guess he forgot. So here I am the new girl and I have to explain to my paitent where the dentist is. I was kind of nervous, luckily she took the info well and said she would check with the dr when she came in next week with her daughters. I was so glad. Not a bad ending to a busy day!

I do not want to make this post very long for all of my ADD readers so I will give you a great blog tomorrow about my adventure in Indiana, stay tuned part two will air tomorrow....it will be worth the wait;)

PS Tatiana, I read the article in a provo paper that said that UVSC was 5th. I am not sure where that info is found. Sorry.

WAY TO GO KARENA!!!!

UVSC Dental Hygiene

I recently discovered that UVSC dental hygiene program scored 5th in the nation on their national boards. Last year they were in the top 10. I am wondering where WSU is. I know where I placed in relation to the rest of the nation, but where did WSU as a whole place. I imagine it was not too great or we would have heard about it. I must give UVSC kudos for preparing their students to acheive such excellent honors in their acedemic careers as dental hygienists! I am sure those students will be valuable assest to the profession.

Which bring me to another point....I hope all the WSU class of '06 has taken the time to convert their ADHA membership from student to full time members. There is no financial charge-just a few minutes of your time. Please do this. Please stay active in the profession. Please care about your future.

Anyone got a light?

Today Cedar is one big smoke ball. When you walk outside you are welcomed with a big puff of smoke from the wildfires in the area. Sadly, this is to be expected for this time of year. Sometimes I wonder what it would be like to live in Florida with Karena, or Georgia with Dave, or South Carolina like Hourglass, or Indiana with Peggy and Jim. I am sure the humidity has it's drawbacks but wildfires probably are not one of them.

I really hope that everyone will come visit me in Cedar. I mean this with all my heart. Y'all are welcome!

I also want to thank Hourglass for being so great to one of my greatest friends! Thank you so much!

I guess that is all I have to say at this time, so I guess I will leave the library and venture out into the smokey wonderland of Cedar.

Finally I am licensed!!!

At Albertson's pharmacy we are allowed on three websites, Albertsons.com, ClinicalPharmacology.com, and DOPL. Everyday my coworkers check to see if I have been honored a license. They are so good to me. Well it happened. The same day as my last post! I still do not have the hard copy--you know the one I get to frame and display to all. But I printed out the info from DOPL and immediately called the dental office I will be starting at. My first day is going to be July 6th. They are closed the 3-4 and my dear friend Andrea convinced-aka paid for-me to fly to Indiana so I would be out of town until the 6th. I am pretty excited to actually get back into cleaning teeth. I have had over a month off from that activity and I am sure that my fulcrum finger is not longer in shape! What's a girl to do;)

Dawn, it was so great to hear from you! I have not emailed like I should thus making me a slacker on so many levels. I hope to have internet at my house soon! I hope Vegas is hot enough for you:)

The Shakespeare festival had the first showing of this seasons plays last night. It was the preview performance--kind of like a dress rehearsal with an audience. I was working and missed it but I plan on attending the festival for a great season of entertainment. A co-worker has already been down to Tuacan in St. George. She loved it and wanted to go see Peter Pan next. I wish Brent was closer to Cedar so he could go to them with me:) Too bad he is in Orem playing Guitar Hero like a pro!!! Too bad Jo works all night and so she cannot come and sleep outside with me. Too bad Breana will be too tired after running the St George marathon (and I think too late in the season) to get a Frozen Custard and Nelson's. Too bad Tatiana still has one more year of DH school which is a crazy year to come play with me. Too bad Heidi, Melissa, Korbin, Natalie are miles and miles away from me. Luckily Aimee will be coming to Cedar soon and I can go get a Hawaiian Icee with her and go to the Greenshow and chat about life! Life with a license is pretty good!

Unlicensed

Well, I am still unlicensed. It is getting to be a little nerve racking. My pharmacy job is wondering when I can work, my hygiene job is wondering when I can work and I am wondering when I can work. I do not like dwelling in this limbo. The DOPL website claims to be working on applications submitted by June 9. This is my group. I hope that means that I will be getting my license fairly soon.

Southern Utahs 222 military unit are scheduled to arrive home tomorrow. I am so proud of these men and women. I am a little frustrated with the some individuals who do not support the war. They claim to support the troops because it is not their fault they are at war, but they do not support the reasons for war and the United States sole role in the war. According to the new I have been watching, the US is NOT the only country fighting against terrorists. Canada and England have stepped up considerably more that the US. I guess I am frustrated because I have a brother who leaves for Iraq in December and I have been paying closer attention to the news (way to report unbiasedly Fox News--thanks). I want my brother to be safe, I also want everyone worldwide to have that same security. I know that there in unrest in the world and peace has been removed from this earth. I just pray that we can all accept people and their decisions to better this world. I am proud of the United States and I am glad I am a citizen. I am extremely proud of my bother and his willingness to serve my country. He has made me honored to have him as a brother! I love you Dave!

Status RX

Oh how much will I NOT miss doing that....

Anyway, I am sitting at Cedar City's library writing to the world about my life as it currently stands. I do not have internet or cable so that pretty much sums up my evenings. It is a good thing I work late and have friends I can call every night-thanks Korbin. Well, I sent off my license application last week. I lost my success card for local anesthesia (what a flaky thing to do!) so I had to send off for another one. So I am thinking I will get my license in 3-6 weeks. I did not pay the $75 extra to process my application faster, the world is just going to have to wait:) I have a job starting out 3 days a week. This office is in Cedar City behind the Smith's grocery store. Once their new office is finished I will work more. Their new office is at the south end of town by the south elementary/discovery park/walmart. It is supposed to be really great. I am looking forward to a new office.

Today I observed one hygienist who works 4 hours a week for each of the 3 dentists (so she works 1 &1/2 days). We get 1 hour per patient period. That is great for recall and for new patients! I am pretty excited about it. I get to say how long I need for SCRP. If I need 1 &1/2 hrs for one quad or half mouth then I tell them. The million assistants are so great. They were so nice to me and knew I was the new hygienist and introduced themselves to me etc. The dentists are pretty laid back and very approachable. I think I could be happy in this office (the official name of the practice is Cedar Dental Center--CDC ha ha ha). I cannot believe how lucky I am to be working with two great hygienists who are both active in ADHA! I honestly did not think that they would be members, to my surprise they are! I do not think I could have fallen into a better job. I do mean fallen in. What are the chances that the first dentist I talked to needed a hygienist and that the office staff would be so great and have hygienists that are as concerned for the profession as I am! I better knock on wood and cross myself and any other superstitious/religious thing I can think of to ward of any jinxs of the day. I really hope that this office is not too good to be true!

I wish all of the world's hygienists good luck in finding the office that is best for them! May doors be opened and connections made that enable you to work in the atmosphere that will strengthen your already wonderful hygiene skills!!

People crack me up!

As you know there is a patient (now known as Wilt) out there in this big world who has E.D. Well he does not seem to be able to stop bragging about it. I have known some men with E.D. and they try to keep the condition a private matter. This patient is just begging for the opportunity to share. He came in for his Viagra. His insurance company allows 6 pills every 28 days. He wanted more but did not want to pay $10 a pill for them so he left. About an hour later his mother called asking the pharmacy why we could not give him more. I was floored. This 40 year old patient's mother was calling us....about his hard on pills....wow! The short story is that Mom's still care about their children's little problems. I am not sure if I should laugh or be disgusted by Wilt and his incessant need to talk about his libido(he talked to me about that in a recent phone call) and his girlfriend who he cannot keep up with.

I am loving life after school. I have seen 2 movies--in a movie theater! I have plans to go to Davinci Code with Kody J tomorrow night and I am already marking the calendar for when Nacho Libre comes to town! I have read 2 fiction books, visited with long time friends and worked my heart out. It has been great! I am looking forward to recieving my license one day soon. But, then again this break is kind of nice! I hope everyone's summer is going great.

Class of '07 let me know when you are coming to Cedar. I will try to get Shakespear tickets the same nights y'all are here. It will be fun!

Too Much Information!!

I am working at my favorite pharmacy! I love each one of the 6 Pharm Techs and the 4 pharmacists! It has been a great couple of weeks. I am not used to working so hard. The pharmacies that I worked in during my time in Ogden were not as busy and this one! It has been so fun talking to the life-long patients. It is so great to see a few patients who were on their 'way out' waiting for organ transplants and received them. They look so healthy and strong compared to the last time I saw them! It is such a great feeling to be working in the health professions!

One drawback to the health profession is that people feel they must share everything with you. I have heard some 'hum dingers' in my time at the pharmacy. The latest was a male patient who was getting some Viagra and I guess he was a nervous talker because he would NOT shut up about the methods his girlfriend used before resorting to the little blue pill....man I could have lived a thousand lifetimes without that kind of info! I will forever look at him as the man with a problem I know too much about! I am not sure what compels people to express such private matters to their health care providers but they do. Sometimes I wonder how much worse it is to be a nurse or doctor. I am sure they have heard it all! and I do mean ALL! I am honored to be working in the health care field. I chuckle at night at the great and not-so-great stories of other people!

For all of my fans (ha ha ha) I wanted to let you know I was offered a job yesterday. As soon as my license gets here I will be able to start working a few days a week. The office I am going to start in has 3 dentists and 2 part time hygienists all in an office with 8 operatories. So there is not a chair available for me to use full time yet. They have a new office under construction that will accommodate me full time in a few months. I am excited for this opportunity to start off slow, working my way up to full time. I have a few weeks until I am able to work hygiene and so I feel some road trips coming up--now that I am rich with my $0.60 raise I got in the pharmacy ha ha ha!

The final final exam

I went to St George early this morning to take my final exam before I can officially call myself an RDH-the law exam. It was surprisingly easy! I finally got a break! The drive between Cedar and St George is one of my favorites. The beautiful red cliffs mixed with sagebrush and pinion is so beautiful to my eyes. I love the feel of the sandstone and the smell of the sage. There is a lot of development in the area which saddens me a little. I will miss the beautiful vistas, but cannot blame a person for wanting to live there and experience them on a daily basis. I am thankful I live in Cedar because it is not nearly as hot here as in St George! Cedar is perfect for a small town girl who is looking for a little bit bigger town like me.

I may be fortunate enough to stay here. I have been toying with the temptaion of Boise. I told myself I would come to Cedar and see what it had to offer. Well, I am here and I think I like what is being offered. I really need to receive my license so that I can start working and then I will know for sure if the offices here are great or not. I also need to get up to Idaho and see what the Gem state has to offer me. Basically I am still deciding what to do although Cedar is offering me some tempting situations.

Finally, I want to thank anonymous again. Not only did they wake me up, but they have started something that I will always remember. As you can surmise I have an army of great friends! I am so thankful to them for standing up!!! I did not know I was so lucky! All of you who have called, blogged, emailed, and written me snail mail (my favorite way of communication-thanks Tatiana) I want to thank you from the deepest crevice of my soul. Your words and friendship mean so much to me. I hated what anonymous said and my bubble took a hit, but it was worth it because of the wonderful things I have learned from YOU!. Now my bubble is shiny and stronger that ever thanks to all the kindness shown to me! I will never forget it!! I hope each one of you knows you have a true friend in me!

Home Sweet Home

I recently moved from the hometown of Weber State University to the hometown of Southern Utah University. Once I passed Payson traffic lightened up considerably. There were about 6 vehicles within 2 miles of each other. It was heaven. I was approaching one of the many overpasses and noticed that two real cowboys were herding cattle over I-15 for summer grazing. The cowboy's were moseying on their horses. I smiled to myself and said 'yup, this is what I call home!' I love farm folk. There is no need to stress and rush through the day. Everything will get done sooner or later. Somethimes the slow pace can be agrivting if I do not remember the busy alternative.

Another thing I love is the smell of a hard honest days work (a mixture of alfalfa, cow, and tractor grease) is one of my favorites! Freshly cut alfalfa feilds are the best! I love the cool air moisture rich air that carries freshness throughout the field. Then about 15 sneezes later I remember why I do not indulge in the scent often.

So while country livin has it's ups and downs I am glad to be home even though I will miss a lot of people--thanks everyone for being there for me!

Truth hurts

I read the anonymous comment left on my previous post the night before my WREB exam. I did not sleep all night. I was worrying about taking the exam and then my self esteem took a hit. I admit that I have had a negative attitude lately. I admit that my feelings have been hurt. I admit that I am ready to leave school and enter a new door. I admit that my current room is ready for me to leave. I admit that it is hard for negative people to obtain and maintain jobs. I admit I may have come across as harsh in my last post, but after keeping it as a draft for 48 hours and I still felt the same I decided to post it. I did not intend for the post to be negatively aimed at anyone. I was venting MY OWN hurt feelings and the events that caused me to allow them to be hurt. I want to apologize to all of you who allowed your own feelings to be hurt. It was not my intention to hurt you. I do appreciate the wake up call. I have been changing myself to become the greatest tooth scaler in the West. I now realize that I have changed too much. The changes are due to my own self defense mechanisms. I am surrounded day in and day out with beautiful, thin, intelligent, perfect young ladies. In order for me (who is the opposite of each one of those descripters) to cope, I have changed. It has been a hard two years. I have not changed for the better. I need to recheck myself and prioritize my life. I guess I owe anonymous a thank you....to bad you did'nt leave your name.

PS. I am not confident in my WREB experience. I guess I will be hanging out at WSU a little longer:(

PPS. The comments may be offensive but I will not delete them! So read and be offended:)

Closing the door...maybe slamming it ;-)

It has arrived! I am scheduled to walk at 1 pm. I am not as excited about walking as I should be. I am seriously tempted to stay home in my pjs. I guess I feel that walking does not even come close to celebrating all the hard work I did to get here. To most not walking is unthinkable, but I have thought about it. Just so you know I will be there with a smile on ready to walk across the stage and shake people's hands who really couldn't care less.

My dental hygiene graduation banquet was fun. My family and I dressed up all fancy and we looked amazing. I was so nervous about the evening. I was worried about saying the right things. The program listed me as the one to welcome everyone. I waited and waited to be able to start the evening. Each time I asked if it was time I was told to wait a few more minutes. Then PB started the night. For some reason I allowed my feelings to be hurt. Then I recieved a nomination for the Dean's Leadership Award from PB. I know she had the folders for 30 minutes before the banquet started and then throughout the hour long dinner yet she did not take the time to sign it. Again my feelings are hurt. I am really frustrated with the lack of professionalism that was shown to me when for the past two years all I have heard is Mary Ann you need to change to become more professional. I am really tired of trying to please the WSU professors. I know they tell us that they will miss us but I do not feel the sincerity in their words.

It is time to close the Weber State University Dental Hygiene door and open the one to my real life. I am excited to leave this room and all that is in it.

Thank You Spa Fairy!!

I am the luckiest girl in the world. I have a spa fairy. This fairy scheduled me for a Native American Healing Waters bath. It was amazing. The water was hot and filled with wonderful smelling skin silkening products. Holly-my masseuse-worked my neck and shoulders and then left me alone in the luscious waters with my own ice towel and frozen Zoro mask. It was wonderful! I have to admit that I was ready for it to be over when she came to get me. I was so hot!
Then my spa fairy signed me up for a Neck-Back-Shoulder Massage. Holly did a wonderful job. She worked my hands as well. I need to have that done more often. It was wonderful!
Next on my schedule was a Indulgence pedicure. Leslie worked my feet over. Bless her little heart. She scrubbed and massaged my legs and feet forever then dipped my feet in some hot paraffin wax. After the wax soaked into my feet she came and painted my toes. They look so good. I love it. I had the best experience!
I want to thank my spa fairy! Whoever you are...THANK YOU. I enjoyed every minute of the extravagant treatment. Once I start making some real money I will be doing that again. Ahhh....relaxation!!!!

Happy Birthday to me!

Today has been the best day! It is my reciprocal birthday (32 on the 23). Since I am such a nerd I had to celebrate with my friends. Friday Andrea took me to Joe's Crab Shack for the best crab and shrimp ever! Then she treated me to Antonio Banderas in Take the Lead. Then she got me a Dairy Queen ice cream cake--my fav! It was a great evening! I am truly blessed with such great friends.

Then today Korbin and Matt allowed me to come to their home and cook dinner for my DH girls. We had such a great time. We ate well, laughed well and played a great game of Pollyanna!! Matt tried to take pictures of Maria and Heidi touching boobs but he was laughing to hard and missed the opportunity--Jeremy will be so sad ha ha ha!

All of my family has called/texted me. They are the best! I love them so much! I can feel their support of me clear up here in Ogden. I am truly blessed with a great family and great friends! Do I need to say more?

I graduate in 12 days! Future here I come!

'Unwell'

'I'm not crazy, I just a little unwell. I know, right now you can't tell'

I have been stuffy, sniffy, drippy, pukey, and achey for about 9 days now. I am so tired of mouth breathing. My throat is so dry. I have to drink water to soothe it and then I have to use the facilities 200 times a day. My throat is raw and irritated. Much like my nerves. I am 15 days away from graduation! This time of year is a plethora of emotions.
I am:
1.stressed from all the assignments and requirements and a thesis due
2.happy because I will leave WSU dental hygiene dept behind
3.sad because I will leave some great WSU dental hygienists behind
4.anxious because I am nervous for my first day in a real dental office
5.intimidated by the great qualified dental assistants who know so much more that me
6.irritated because I am not perfect and still miss calc!
7.tired-what else do I need to say?
8.honored that the junior class would go to so much trouble to get me a priceless gift.
9.humbled because I know my podmates will not be in the next operatory to help me out when I have a problem or question.
10.afraid that I will have to come back for summer clinic

I will miss some things and then there are some others that I cannot wait to say, 'smell ya later'!

22 Days.......

Oh BP how lovely are your calc rings?

Tonight my bubble is bright and shiny! No, I have not purchased Blue October's cd yet...sigh...I have a wonderful Western Regional Examination Board patient!!!!! Korbin already did a dance so I will pass on that. I will sing a song.

I have a board patient hey hey hey hey
I have a board patient hey hey hey hey
Oh, I have a BP hey hey hey hey.
I think it is better that a pickle for a nickel!

That was an original my Mair. Autographs to be signed later.

I want to thank the academy, Korbin, a pregnant person, Alfanzo, and God for relieving this stress in my life.

My BP has wings on his molar radiographs. They films are just beautiful. I have not seen anything as beautiful since last year when I found a lucky TA a board pt. I guess Karma does come around. Well, I am still looking for patients for my homies, so if you have some nasty teeth let me know!

One note at a time

On a mixed note....I finished the third of four board exams. I am glad to get this next stage over. Right now I am just praying to pass this exam. The first half was great. I felt wonderful after turning the exam in. Then I realized that I got every question wrong. The next session was worse. I hated the case studies. I studied them and I thought that I was prepared but by the time I was finished I was sick of it. I do not think I could have handled the exam if there was one more case study! The exam tested my knowledge as well as my ability to sit for 4 hours straight and regurgitate information in the form of a bubble sheet. I am so glad that I am finished. I hated the experience and do not want to go through it ever again!

On a better note....Heidi, Melissa, Brittany and I presented our research at the Undergraduate Research Symposium yesterday. It was awesome! I loved it. I hogged the spotlight. I answered all the questions and did not give my team a chance to speak. I hope they will still be my friends! I forget how much I like public speaking until it is all over. Friends, please forgive me for talking all the time!

On a sad note...My roomie is moving out tomorrow. He has been the best roomie I have ever had and I will miss him. I wish him the best of life, love and happiness!

On a happy note...only 1 week until Blue October's cd, 'Foiled' is released!!! I love 'Hate Me' so much!

'(Mary's) Got a Gun'

I have two more days until the dreaded 8 hour written dental hygiene national board exam. I usually experience dreams prior to a stressful situation...read the 'I am an illusion' post. So last night I had a dream. I was in a shooting contest with other dental hygiene schools. I was representing Weber. One of the requirements was that our ammo had to be of a lesser calliber than a 204SD. My gun was a H6/7. The officials said that they had never heard of a gun that shot H6/7 rounds. I told them my dad had made the gun just for me. He even loaded the shells a little lighter so that it would not kick back on me. So I ended up kicking some trash during the competition. When I woke up and digested the dream I laughed and laughed! I had transposed the different calliber of gun with names of dental hygiene instruments! I love it!

Tomorrow is my undergraduate research symposium. I have to admit that my teams power point rocks! It is going to be great! I cannot wait to present because it means that the next day is the board exam. This means that my schedule will lighten up a smidge and then graduation is near! Only 39 days until graduation!!!!

'luck of the Irish'

I successfully completed my local anesthesia board exams. I am still in shock. I have to keep looking at the envelope to make sure it was my candidate number and that it really said I successfully completed the exams. I know it will sink in later, probably after some good sleep.

My home girls passed as well. Way to go Korbin, Natalie, Melissa and Heidi! You guys rock. These girls took their test one day prior, in support of my nerves they came up to campus and dealt with all of the crazy estrogen/adrenaline in the air. I was touched that they cared that much about me! I am the luckiest girl in all of dental hygiene cookie world!!!

So, I arrived this morning at 8:20 am. I walked down to the testing room just in time to grab my packet and sit down. I took the written exam. I feel like I did pretty well on the exam. Sadly there was not any math...oh well! I am so thankful for my study group. There were so many questions that I knew cold because they had drilled the answers into my head. Thanks!

Bonnie was my patient. She was so great! I really appreciated her willingness to come up to campus and sit and wait for my turn. Then she was a great patient. I started with a right PSA injection. It went great! I proceeded to the left IA and got a huge positive aspiration. I withdrew and was allowed to pick up my back up syringe and proceed. I did so and when I was at deposition site the examiner wanted Bonnie to pull down her lip and then I noticed that I was not over the premolars! I finished the injection and was told to wait with my patient. About 3 eternal minutes later the examiners came back and said that they would like to see the left IA injection again. I said left, do you mean right? They wanted me to do another injection on the right. So I did. I rocked on that one. Bonnie said that I did not shake quite so much! I dismissed her and proceeded to clean up and dispose of my sharps. Then I cleaned the unit and left. As I left the clinic I noticed a flat envelope in the results basket. I peeked and it was my candidate number! Talk about fast results! I knew I passed without looking because the envelope was flat (if you failed the envelope was fat with failure and reapplication forms)! I turned and looked at the group of girls waiting for me to come out. I smiled and showed them the envelope! They screamed so loud I was shy and embarrassed to have such attention shown to me!

We went out for lunch to celebrate! Melissa bought sopapillas for all! What a great woman she is! Heidi treated us to ice cream compliments of her mom! Maria drove all the way up just to be there for us! I am the luckiest girl alive to have great friends in my life.

'I am an illusion'

With local anesthetic boards so close I have been experiencing crazy dreams. Most of them are fuzzy but the feeling of anxiety, failure, and confusion are dominant.
Last night I had the BEST local anesthetic dream-here it goes

I was late. Heidi and I walked into the clinic and to our oportories-which were individual rooms like private practice. In my room Kelsie was setting up for me! I was so thankful to her for helping me that I did not notice the patient in my chair. Kels was trying to be cool but was watching me like a hawk. It was then that I noticed that my patient was my dream man, Mr. Rob Thomas! I was confused because I remembered seeing Bonnie, my LA board patient, in the waiting room. I thanked Rob for being so willing to be my patient. He replied that it was not a problem and he was willing to help. I told him that I was a little shocked that he was in my chair. Rob told me, 'of course I am here. I told you I would be when you asked me.' I have no memory of asking him. I then looked at my attire and realized that I was in jeans and sandals. Prof Gall and Mrs. Campbell were my judges and they were only 3 rooms down. I began to change into white shoes and scrubs. Rob was on the phone and politely excused himself to go smoke. He came back as I finished dressing. I was dreading having to talk to him about smoking cessation, but my fears left me when he walked into the room and climbed into the chair. He was so sexy and nice. I woke up before I got inside his mouth...DANG IT! I am pretty sure I could have had a great time probin, explorin and giving an extra/intra oral exam! Well here is to dreams!

Good luck 06ers on the LA board!!

'If you're happy and you know it...'

...Jump up and down! I did just that when I came home from the VA yesterday and sitting on the front step was a package with my name on it. I ran inside and proceeded to open a package so covered with tape that even my gramdma Faris would have been amazed. The person who packaged this box used at least 3 rolls of tape. It was amazing. I would cut off one layer and there would be another one sitting there taunting me with the unatainable prize inside! I could not stand it! Brent brought out the trusty pocket knife. Even armed with such a tool I had a hard time getting into the box. Once I broke through I was so excited to behold the game I had been searching for for several months; Pollyanna.

When I was a child my grandparents had a board game called Pollyanna. It is a basic take your men around the board game, but we would play parnters and the loosing team had to do the dishes. I have such fond memories of playing this game with my family. I have been looking for the right edition of the game on ebay. I have found several but every time I bid I am outbid. The game has been selling for 120 to 130 dollars. I do not have that kind of cash to spend on a game. So I made myself a deal. If I studied according to my schedule I could buy the game. So I have been bidding on this game forever. I finally won one on Sunday! I only paid 71 dollars! I am so lucky to get this game for so cheap....yup 71 is cheap to me! This game hold so much sentimental value that I would have gone higher but luckily I did not have to!

I am so happy I have this game! It is called the 'glad' game. I must remember the glad game and play it whenever I am feeling like I did the other day! I know I will make it and I know that I just need to be myself but the stress I am under is making my brain go haywire! I forget things, I do not care about a lot of things. I just need to stick it out a little bit longer and I will be a hygienist!

Well world...feel free to stop on by one night and we will get out the old Pollyanna game (it really is 55 years old!) and have some fun!

'One of these things is not like the other'

So my bubble has been popped. I am not happy about it. In fact I am quite upset. I do not know what to do. Is being a dental hygienist what I really want to do? I am not sure. After today, I have hit the big purple W. I do not think I can pick myself up and move on. I don't even know if I want to.

For 2 years I have changed a lot of the things about me that make me me. I have modified my speech. I have had to purchase clothing because I have been told that I would look a certain way. I grew my hair then cut my hair according to their specifications. I have studied and learned a lot of things. For the most part I think that I am a more educated person because I went to dental hygiene school. But, I am sick to death of being observed, critqued, evaluated, and juged. I am tired of trying to be something I am not.

I can be a good hygienist no matter what clothes I wear or how my eyebrows are arched. I can be professional in my speech by being honest with my patient not by using erythemous instead of red. I can promote good oral health even though I am not a size 6. I can bring happiness to my patients with a genuine smile that is not bleached.

In short I think I am a great person and I really miss me. I want Mair to come back. I can honestly say that I tried to be like those around me. What I discovered is that I do not like myself. I used to, but right now I am lacking in integrity, honesty and tolerance. I hope I can make it through the next 60 days. I know I am so close, but I really want to give up now. I am just so tired.

I hope I find me....

'Hate me today'

The time has come for a new post. I am not too sure how to put this...WSU DH class of 2006 is struggling. I have felt and heard things that make me wonder what happened to our once cohesive group. Are we stressed out? Are we so competitive that secretly we want our classmates to fail? Are our personalities so different that we just do not give a rats ass? I am not really sure. I know from my own point of view, that I have been very selfish.

I want to apoligize to everyone. Honestly, I care about each one of you. I want you all to be the best you can be. I have always had a drive to be the best and being in the program has made be realize that I am not. I fail. I am grateful for my shortcomings because they have been brought to my attention and I am working on them. I am grateful for everyone's influence on my career as a dental hygienist! Each one of you has helped me realize what I need to do to be the best. My wish is that we can enjoy the last 8 weeks of our time together before we spread our wings and soar in our individual lives. I am pretty sure I will miss the freindship and interaction I have had with every single one of you! My goal for the next 70 days until graduation is to help everyone I can. I want to find as many board patients as I can so I can help my fellow 2006ers succeed! I want to share patients, clean rooms, and study for boards with anyone who wants my help. I am serious about the studying thing. Ask me and we can work out a time to study! I don't want to gossip about those people on the watch list, just so I can pride myself for not being on the list....which you should all know I was on and did extra VA sessions. I don't want to see any of you fail the boards! I don't want to see feelings hurt! My dream is that we all will suck it up (me included), and treat others as we would like to be treated!

'Gotta let it burn'

Me and my big mouth have offended yet again! This time I will not apologize. In class today we had a panel of volunteer (I am assuming) dental hygienists. One was in my face with excitement about the profession. She kept telling us how to become more productive for dentists and how to use this info to negotiate a greater wage. She was enthusiastic and very optimistic about being a good dental hygienist. Another hygiensit works one day a week; the end. The last hygienist had a few things to say but not so much. At the end of the 2 hour lecture/Q&A, I asked them if they were members of ADHA (American Dental Hygienists Association). None of them were...and they were all WSU graduates! Honestly I was shocked. I assumed the 'one day a week worker the end' and the other mute would not be members, but the go-get-um girl really surprised me. She was lecturing me for about 2 hours trying to convince me that I am a valued health professional and that if I valued my services then my patients would also. She tried to hit it home that I should value my profession. What a hypocrite! She is not even a member of my professional organization. I am disappointed in her, to the point that all her value teaching is just 'shit under the gums'!

I know some of my fellow classmates were offended by me also...here is a warning to you....if in 7 years you are not a member of ADHA, even if you are not working, I will give you the same crap I gave them today (maybe more)!

Another warning...If you work for a proprietary school (ie. UCDH) I will no longer acknowledge your existence.
Since you all value my opinion (ha ha), I know each of you will take note and become the best professional dental hygienist in the world! Then I will be bragging to everyone that I knew you when....

'She'll be Coming Around the Mountain'

What a day! After a few hours of insomnia I got up at 4:15 AM. I needed to leave Ogden at 5:30 am so I could be at the bus stop so I could go to the State Capital. This was my first time going to the Capital and I misjudged the timing. We ended up arriving 45 minutes early. It was alright though because we got a lot of inside help. Lobby Day was amazing! It is intimidating to be in the Senate and House. We received a quick tour and breif explaination. Candice Norris was amazing! I learned more about politics. WSU faculty represented! I am so proud of WSU! We really know how to make a prescence-poor UCDH, they were envious!

All day I felt like I was being watched like a hawk by that business! After Lobby Day I had table clinics. Brent Molan walked around and wrote the subjects/titles of all of our table clinics. I am not sure but I think that WSU dominated the dental hygiene table clinics! Again I am so proud of the purple! Students from UCDH came around-man there were a ton of them-and I felt like they were trying to copy us. I should be flattered but the evil twin in me wants to shout--'You will never measure up to WSU!'

Natalie and I got a ride home tonight with UTA. It was such an adventure. In one ride we almost ran over a Jeep, got the doors stuck on a pole, ran over a curb,and listened to the driver whistling 'She'll be Coming Around the Mountain'! It was such a blast! We tried to study but it did not work. I was just so tired that I could not think straight! I am so glad I am home and my feet are up!

'I just want to flirt'

I just got back from hanging out at a dental convention. I must say it was a pretty interesting day. It started with a 45 minute wait for my name badge...surely this could have been avoided!!! Then I volunteered at the Crest booth. Me and my homies gave out samples of toothpaste and mouth rinse until I thought my arms were going to fall off, and I did not have the hard job! I was glad to be finished with my shift! An early lunch was in order. Heidi got a Diet Pepsi and was disgusted so I traded my Diet Coke for the preferred Diet Pepsi! It was just what I needed! After a little food we walked back to the Salt Palace-which was hard because my feet hurt-dang the cute shoes!

It was time to go check out the vendors! It was alright but not very exciting! I did not get any samples-sad! I have been sold on Orascoptic loupes but alas my pocket book is not-sigh. After walking around for a while I went to the Weber State University table, which was next to the hated UCDH school in Provo. It was hard for me to be so near them and behave. I still have germs from a hug a person who went awol from WSU just to teach at this business-ugh-gave me.

I attended part of a class regarding ergonomics. It was really interesting. Physical therapists know their stuff. It was a good reminder how to stretch. I think I could use this course every year.

We finally left the Salt Palace after more running around getting SADHA stuff taken care of. Melissa, Heidi, Korbin, Natalie and I decided to get a bite to eat. I wanted breakfast but everyone else wanted Famous Daves (BBQ). Luckily I let them win! My girls called their husbands and only Landon (Nat's hubbie) was able to come--we missed you Matt, Jeremy and Terry! We had the BEST waiter at Famous Dave's! It was such a refresher after last week and the horrible monster at Z Tejas. Justin was so fun to flirt with. So to make this long blog longer...I ended up leaving my number on the receipt. Maybe he will call, maybe he won't but it sure was fun! I wish all guys were fun..not freaks like Dr. Johnson (I am totally upset for you Maria!).

'Hate Me'

Today after participating in a sealant clinic at WSU, I checked my voice mails. I had this message from a dear friend. He was asking me who sings this song and then he played it. I loved the song just from the couple seconds I heard it on my voice mail. I did not know who it was because I am not up on the new songs. Anyway I googled the lyrics and discovered that Blue October sings it. Their cd will be out in March...I predict a future purchase. I am listening to this song right now. I love it. Thank you so much Brady for sharing such great music. Thank you Power 91 for playing such great music!!

I had a hard day today. I was easily irritated. I know I offended some people and then there were a few people who were just so kind and patient with me! I am so not worthy! Anyway I need a girls night out. A little dinner, a lot of conversation, a diet coke, and some chocolate will set me right again! Until then I will try to retract my claws;-)

'...Grab that cash with both hands and make a stash."

I got a break today! Finally, I had time to get some busy stuff done. So now my eyebrows look like a normal person, my windshield wipers-while one is still broken I am closer to getting it fixed, and I purchased a few new pairs of scrubs! I also filed my taxes online. I went to the IRS webpage and there was a link for free efiling for people who earned less that 50,000. I qualified for this! When I got my W-2 form I almost died! I knew I was poor but until I saw the sad pittance I earned last year I did not realize how poor I was. I have not earned this amount for about 10 years! It was a shock to me. Anyway--I highly recommend doing your taxes this way. I am getting a fat refund which will help me recoup from paying for 4 board exams! It has been a great day for me to just get stuff done. Now if someone will come and do my dishes that would be great!

PS. 92 days until graduation!

'...Colors that you shine'

Your Power Color Is Gold

You're dependable and hard working. You never miss a deadline - and you're never late. You have a clear sense of right and wrong. You're very detail oriented. You get frustrated when your friends are sloppy - or when they don't follow through. You're on top of things, and you wish that everyone else was!

What's Your Power Color?

I had two answers to some of the questions of this quiz so I went back and did it again. So I guess I am a split personality...which makes sense-I had my palm read once and she said I was a twin, when I denied that she said my mother was lying! What a great life I have!

Your Power Color is Green

You feel most at home in a world of ideas. You're curious and logical - and enjoy a good intellectual challenge. You're super cool, calm, and collected. Very little tries your patience. Your only fear? People not realizing how smart and able you are!

What's Your Power Color?

'And all you do is lie to me'

I have 100 days until I graduate! I am looking forward to sleeping! Right now I do not have time to sleep, and when I make time, I cannot sleep. I start thinking that I only have 100 days to start and finish my senior project, report about that project to WSU and at the UDA convention, go to lobby day, fight for my profession, write 10+ drafts of my thesis, find 2 mockboard patients and 1 real board patient, having 15 local anesthesia experiences, taking my written and clinical anesthesia boards, taking my national written board, celebrating the passing of my afore mentioned boards, attend a oral cancer screening, attend a jurisprudence meeting, do my 'pod project', finish my special needs project, teach perio to the jr class, arrange and attend 4 1 hour mentor sessions with two separate mentors, prepare and teach primary each week, go visiting teaching, complete SADHA reports, get ready for the welcome party, going to work, paying for my clinical board, wondering where I will find the money (I hope a fish shows up at my door with $765 in it's belly), finding time to study for boards, wondering what a brownie-greenie-super greenie are and why a dentist would use them, completing 11 more hours of community service, helping in sealant days and Give Kid's a Smile day, passing off about 45 PEs, wondering if I have a future as a hyienist or an employee of Albertsons. I think you get the point.

So, I did not have an interview at the dental office in Cedar City. He hired someone else, how dare he! So now I need to add find a job onto my list. I wonder where I will live. Who knows. Albertson's pharmacy in Cedar City is calling my name and I really want to go back there and work but after the lies Albertsons has filled me with I am a little pissed off at them. About 2 weeks ago Larry Johnson sent out a warm fuzzy email telling all employees that they were sorry to put us through the period of uncertainty but they decided not to sell the company. Then what do those F$%^@*# corporate @##$%^!# do, the sell the company yesterday for 9.7 billion. I have been lied to before by the upity ups that represent the big blue A so I should have not been so surprised. I guess I am not really surprised, I am just irritated by the blatant lies that Larry Johnson told-what a looser!

The tv program Grey's Anatomy on Sunday focused on how patients lie all the time. I am pretty sure that is the truth. Druggies lie about how fast they have gone through their Lortab, dental patients lie about how often they floss, smokers lie about how often and how much they smoke. It is a sick cycle. I am tired of being lied to. I am looking forward to the patient who tells me that they have not brushed their teeth for a week and they never floss, that way I won't throw-up when I find a 10 day old decaying piece of unidentifiable food between their teeth, I will be expecting it and will be able to deal with the item. I really wish that Corporate America would stop lying and tell the truth, yup we are selling the company but we are not telling you because we do not want to give you a cent from the fat profit we just made off of your years of hard work! Just do not lie to me!

'...I am barely breathing'

Today I feel like I am treading water with only one nostril open for air ('...and I can't find the air')! As part of my 40 community service hours, today I attended a sealant clinic at an elementary school in Salt Lake City. It was as fun as could be expected. It was sad to see these cute kids with such rampant decay. I really felt good about placiing their sealants so that their permanent teeth will have a chance. Now I am not big on the pediatric scene, so today was hard for me. Luckily I teamed up with Heidi Wilson. Her and I are amazing partners. During one of the treatments, Heidi ran out of etch, I was the assistant at the time and did not have an extra tip prepared, so Heidi held the syringe and I tiwsted off the tip, then she held the new syringe and I twisted off the cap and twisted on the tip. It was amazing! We did not even talk about it. We just did it. After we had done this we were both amazed at how we knew just what the other wanted to do! Now I do not know if that means that Heidi and I are psychic or if we spend wwaayy too much time together! Either way it was the highlight of my day!.

I am now three days into my last semester and it feels like 1 million. I have already dropped my favorite fun class -asl. I was really looking forward to having a class that was fun, where I could just go relax and practice my sign with other students, but no. The instructor actually wanted me to do homework! I just do not have the time to do any extra homework. I know that sounds laim but it is true.

Kristie, I hope you create a post one day so that I can see what you are doing as a student in another school. I am totally interested in how you are studying for your board exams. I am studying the dental hygiene decks right now. I am going through 4 colors a week. Then I will be studying from one of the books ie prentice hall, mosbys etc. Then I will study local anesthesia. Then back to board studying. Let me know if you have any great sources and/or websites in addition to amyrdh and andyfuturerdh

Andrea June I also wish that you would create a post as well! I want to hear how your days are going! Please write soon!