Friday night out

I went to Portland's Chocolate Fest. What a blessed event! Chocolate stores bring their wares and tempt us with their decadent cupcakes, truffles, fudge, drinks, syrups, frostings, cakes, teas, chips, melt-aways, patties, toffees.... I had an evening to myself so I hopped

on the train and went to this great party!!!

I tried 3 different chocolate drinks from straight cacao steeped which was really bitter and tea like to a thick decadent heavenly cup. I tried so many truffles that I cannot keep them straight. The night I went happened to be the judging night. And the patrons (ME) were the judges so we got samples of so much I was a little sugared out.

I love caramel so I was really looking forward to sampling the Ladybug Chocolates version of smoked salted caramel covered in chocolate. I was intrigued. The salt had a smokey flavor like bacon and the sweetness of the caramel and chocolate was lovely but I did not like the strong salt flavor. I did not mind the smokey flavor just did not like the salt flavor.

I did enjoy the bacon maple fudge. I was hesitant to try but it was delicious. Bacon was a theme for several of the vendors. One of the categories was most innovative ingredient. Many chose bacon. Some of the bacon chocolate combos I liked some I did not. I liked the 'vermont shortstack'. It was a truffle. The center was like mapley pancake batter then rolled in bacon with chocolate outside. It was a flavor party for my tongue.

My favorite booth was the Seely Mint Farm. They are 4th generation mint and spearmint farmers. They had a lovely mint tea, peppermint oil, peppermint soap, and the best peppermint patties ever! I just melted....oh I mean they melted! They gave me the recipe I am excited to try it out. If you did not know I love mint. I was so happy. I purchased a bar of soap and my shower this morning was a mint heaven. It made me so mintalicious that my heart soared and my face broke out into a smile.

Another love I met last night was The Two Brothers Chocolate Syrup. They had a dark chocolate peppermint that was amazing. I could have bought their whole inventory. I still taste it on my tongue. I was strong and did not buy a jar but I wish I had now that I am remembering the luciousness.

There was also classes. There were chocolate experts giving lectures about chocolate and the different kinds and where the bean came from and how to use all the parts of the plant and how to temper and stuff and stuff. Great food and great learning opportunities make for a great evening out.

An easy busy day

Please forgive my ametur picture. Yesterday the morning sun rays were making the west sky so beautiful I could not resist trying to capture it. I should have turned off the lights. Well next time.

Thursday was a lovely day. Not did the sun shine but all of my patients showed up! To top that, they were all super easy prophys. You know the kind that barely have any lower lingual calc? Every single one needed xrays and exams (3 of them were 3-4 month perio maint). But due to their lack of tarter I had the easiest yet busy day. I loved it! I love seeing my perio patients and seeing how their tarter is less and less each time. I am not sure how that happens. I tell them it is because they have stepped up their home care. That makes them happy. I am unsure if tootpaste or diet or their brushing technique is the true reason to the decrease in build up. The mystery remains.

As my day ended I went home and took a nap. I had a sneak attack from the cramp queen. It was just wonderful to have an afternoon nap! It was a great day.

Light in the dark mist

While I have been experiencing some of the saddest, meanest, most tear filled days I had 2 wonderful days at work. Tuesday I saw some of my favorite patients. My clientele are wonderful. They are consistent. They stay on their recalls. I make their appointment before they leave. They enter it in their phone, we remind them via email and they show up. I have some cancellations per day but rarely do I have a no show. My patients are professional. They are top high-end lawyers, judges, accountants, clothing buyers, architects, doctors, naturopaths, plastic surgeons, and the inventor of the Jasper Jumper ( I love him!). Tuesday I was lucky to have some of my regular 3 month recalls who I have now seen about 4 times. They are shocked to see me still in the office. The dr who owned the practice before Dr Mueller was a hygienist before she was a dentist and went through RDH every 6-8 months. My patients are not used to having someone stay for so long. I think they like that I am constant and now that I have proved I am not leaving they are starting to open up a little. It is fun to hear about the law cases and the new shoes Nike is making and the newest specialty water to drink. I am rambling....One patient in particular is a legal assistant for a high profile divorce lawyer. She gave me some hints and where to get info for my impending occasion. I was so grateful she was my patient that day. I have been reading a Divorce handbook about how to file and the difference between mediation and court divorce, family court and divorce court etc. It was feeling overwhelmed. The paperwork is intimidating.

Later that same day I saw a gentleman who only has mandible teeth. He has an upper denture. His is milking the lower until the day he succumbs to a denture. When I saw him for the first time a year ago he had serious tarter subgingivally on the anterior teeth. I was a little surprised because he had been in every 3 months for years. I took an xray and started working. I quickly realized why the tarter was there. He has a super strong lower lip. He would tense up that lip and I could not get into his 7mm pocket to clean it out. I got him numb, I used a cotton roll to help give me some room but I still failed. I thought I had gotten tons of stuff off and I had; but not everything. In April I took another xray and there were 2 big chunks left. I worked and worked on them. Then in August I tried again. I got one....Then Wednesday I got the other!!!! When he left I shouted I got the calculus!!! Dr M comes into my room to see the commotion and laughed at me showing the big black chunk I had salvaged on a 2x2. I have been working on that chunk for a year and I finally won. I love that my Dr did not freak out and wonder why I had not gotten it off before. I am so glad I got it off. I am sure I will get some tissue resolution like I have in the rest of his mouth. I was just so happy.

I had my yearly review about 2 weeks ago. Dr M said how he liked what I was doing and all our online reviews were fantastic about me....blah blah blah. he gave me a raise in October and at my review he said we would evaluate my pay in June. I was ok with that. But Thursday morning I get to work and Dr M pulls me aside and offers me another raise. He said I was a wonderful employee etc. I laughed because Wednesday I was a bear. I had fought with Dan all morning before work and was just in a mean mood. I cried between patients etc....but I got that dumb tarter off!!! So even though my days are dark and I am mean there is some good in my life. I am so grateful for the raise and great patients and dumb tarter!

Yesterday the sun was out shining all day. It was 57 degrees and so wonderful! I am looking forward to today where I am meeting Natalie--Weber classmate for lunch and then off to my first counseling session! I am pretty excited about this because I am a mess mentally. I need some tools and direction to get my brain in order. It is going to be a wonderful day.

Hey, life is really hard right now. I am confused and hurt. I dont have anything to blog about but wanted you all to know I check your blogs all the time and value our friendship. Please understand as I take a time-out.

Getting divorced....enough said.

The next installment of my Utah adventures includes my niece and nephew. Here we are putting together a gingerbread train. It is the first train I have ever done. It was a lot of fun. I enjoyed it. My nephew on the other hand loved it even though he would not smile for a picture.

They are growing so fast. I must see them more often.
Next my sister Lori (who is pregnant Yeah ) got the best gift ever in her opinion. My mom got her an automatic potato peeler. Her kids love potatoes, hashbrowns etc.

Lori has used this great tool to make the best hashbrowns and to have mashed potatoes without the skin-which her family used to have due to her detesting peeling potatoes. So it was a wonderful Christmas.

Here is my mom. She has had a hard year. She has been very sick. It has killed me to be in Portland. But things are better and she is starting to eat again. She lost tons of weight because she was so sick; vomiting all she ate. I am so glad that she was feeling better and even ate seconds on many things!!! She is the cutest mom ever!

Mad Yarn Skills

The next phase I want to share from my trip to Utah is the making of these cute hats. My mom and I went to visit Cedar City. While we were there we saw the cutest hats that Misty Prisbey had made on her drive from Boise to Cedar City. We got the info and started our own.
I made the white one for myself. My mom has a button bucket and my sister Jo Ann found this cute button. I wore it yesterday while out preparing for our New Year's Eve festivities. But my step daughter came over last night and she saw it and loved it. I gave it to her. She wore it all night. She looked really good in it....much better than me.

First I started crocheting this pink hat for my wonderful and lovely sister-in-law Jenni. The first one came out shaped like a kite. It had a tale. So I unraveled it and started over. Then I found out I had been crocheting wrong. Here I am 2 afghans down and I just learned that I am doing it wrong ha ha ha. My mom corrected me and away I went. The new stitches were tight and lovely and the hat came out tiny. So again I unravelled it. The third try truly is the best. I got it right finally. Jenni liked it and looks super cute in it. I am all excited to keep crocheting the correct way!!

My family makes me laugh. I love being with them. So all week we called crocheting 'kroch-eting' (said phonetically). It was a wonderful week of crocheting!!!