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Today I finally screwed up the courage to go get my ears pierced.  I’ve had a terrifying fear of needles since 2nd grade, when I spent a day in a hospital having blood-work done to determine whether my short stature was the result of some medial problem, or just genetic.  I swear they took more blood out of me than I thought was inside of me to begin with, and ever since I’ve had a tendency to faint at sight of needles heading toward my flesh.  Not today, though!  The people at High Priestess were awesome and professional, and I hardly felt a thing.  Now I’m feeling like a bit of a tool for putting it off so long.  I went with simple little barbell jewelry with black stones for now; after they heal, we’ll see if I feel like something more adventurous.

Anyway, in the last month I’ve grown a scruffy beard, gotten a hair cut, gained glasses, and had barbells pushed through my ear lobes.  I think that deserves a photo.

New face!

Last week I went in for an eye exam, my first since I was probably 10 years old.  Shockingly, my eye sight has deteriorated a bit since then, so now I’m sporting a lovely pair of glasses.  I keep wanting to take them off every time I come in from outdoors, thinking they’re sunglasses and suddenly the room will be brighter, but no–the room just gets fuzzier, and then I feel stupid and put my glasses back on.  On the up-side, I can see textures again!  Like, the wall behind my computer?  It’s bumpy, and now I know.  And my couch?  It’s actually woven out of tiny threads, and not the singular red mass I’d previously thought it to be.  So that’s cool.  Also, driving at night is no longer an exercise of guessing where the lanes are or what road signs say.  All in all, definitely an improvement.  I’ve been getting headaches toward the end of the day, but a friend who also discovered the need for glasses later her life reassured me that such things are normal and will go away in time.

This morning I went in for my first consultation with a dentist in Corvallis.  Again, I haven’t been to one in a while (not so bad as with the eye doctor, I think it’s only been two years since I’ve had a teeth-cleaning), so this was very much needed.  The good news: only one cavity, and it’s not a bad one.  Less-good news: my wisdom teeth don’t *need* to come out, but eventually they will make it too hard to clean my molars, and that will be inviting all sorts of horrid pain on my future self.  I asked him, “How soon?” and he replied, “Don’t wait 10 years.”  Good advice.  My mom had previously mentioned that if they need to come out, do it while I’m back in Michigan for the holidays so that my family can bring me soft foods and fetch books and movies for me, but with the situation appearing less dire, I think I’ll wait a few months.  If Twinkle’s offer still stands to coddle me after the operation, I’ll take her up on it in spring.  I was also glad to hear that in his professional opinion, since I have a tiny, tiny mouth and an over-reactive gag reflex, I should really be put to sleep for the operation; trying to do it while I’m awake, no matter how heavily sedated, could lead to complications.  I know most insurance companies don’t cover a general for something like wisdom-tooth extraction, but if there’s a medical reason for it, I might be able to get them to pay for it.

Today I made an appointment for my first eye exam in close to 20 years. I’ve reached the point where reading the on-screen TV guide is impossible without squinting, so this is long overdue. So much for being the only member of my family with awesome natural eye sight.  It was fun while it lasted.

I tried to make a dental appointment too, but the office is closed on Friday-Sunday.  I’ll take care of that on Monday.  I’ve been avoiding the dentist ever since being told my wisdom teeth need to come out.  I had 11 teeth pulled  over three consecutive dental visits when I was young, leaving me with a vehement distaste for instruments of destruction inside of my mouth.  I’m still not convinced there’s a pressing need to get the wisdom teeth out [and I'm secretly hoping this new dentist agrees!], but I suspect a cavity or two has been forming since my last check-up… two years ago.