It's Official

The airfare is booked - we're going to Australia!

A Tiny Fear

For most of my life, I've hated the fact that I've never been out of the country (Canada doesn't count). My parents lived in Germany for years, my sister was even born there and that was just the first of many trips abroad for them. A couple years ago when we went to the Caribbean for the first time, I was so happy to finally get a passport. Although our two trips to the Caribbean were international, I barely count those trips as out of the country.

Over the weekend I had a minor fear of going on a trip abroad. They don't judge distance in miles, weight in pounds or money in USD. AAA won't even be valid there. Our cell phones won't work. I doubt they accept Aetna health insurance. Will our drivers license be valid to rent a car? Will all our miscellaneous electronics chargers work? This is all part of the adventure though, right?

Since I've always wanted to go abroad, I didn't understand why I had this minor and fleeting fear. Then it came to me - on our first Caribbean trip, my throat almost swelled completely shut in my sleep. Not being able to talk or swallow and being loaded on the next boat to the mainland, a taxi ride through crazy, rooster littered streets and being dumped at a random strip mall was a little scary. I don't know how Ryan figured it all out, but we got to the clinic and the story has a happy ending. But seeing as how that was my first real trip out of the US, I guess I can see why I have minor nerves.

A Little Fun

On Saturday night we went to a party with some of my work friends. One of the guys, David, was pretty wasted from the minute we got there. He had been joking with me on Friday that if I needed my wisdom tooth pulled I might choke and drown on my own blood during the surgery. So when I saw him Saturday, I played like I had to have all four out on Monday and was gonna be off work for a week to recover. Hard to tell if he bought it since he was drunk.

Yesterday I didn’t go over to his side of the building so he might think I was actually out of the office.

This afternoon I went over there. I was talking to another guy when David walked up to us. I made my tongue push out the side of my mouth and talked all funny and said I was in a lot of pain. He started making fun of me. We all kept up the charade. Finally, in dramatic fashion, I left and went back to my desk. He followed me over and eventually apologized. It really wasn't a good act - I'm so surprised he bought it. Wonder how long I should keep it up? We're trying to find some fake blood for tomorrow.

It's been a bright spot in my otherwise pretty crappy day.

Google - not always practical

Over the weekend, I did a quick search for driving directions from Sydney to Brisbane Australia. I put AU after Sydney, but not after Brisbane. Unfortunately, I can't copy the link of the directions, but you can do it yourself.

Directions 53, 114 and 130 say to kayak to Japan, Hawaii and Washington state respectively! Does Google really think kayaking is a viable travel option? I love that you begin the last leg of kayaking from Turtle Bay in Hawaii!

And the winner is...

Steve. 

Wisdom tooth is fine, gums are fine, teeth are fine. My dentist says it was most likely a piece of food that was stuck back there or it was stress/lack of sleep (which he said makes your gums more susceptible to pain). What do I need to do - floss better.

So happy I don't need to have my wisdom tooth out!

Food Related Incident

I've been trying to blog about two different stories, but work keeps getting in the way. I've decided to tell the shorter of the two cause maybe I can get that done today.

On Wednesdays (cleverly called Donut Wednesdays) at work they provide breakfast: an array of pastries, muffins & donuts. It's a lovely treat. Fridays (Bagel Fridays) they provide bagels and various cream cheeses. Is it sad that I look forward to Wednesdays and Fridays because of this? I'm now vaguely remembering blogging about this before, sorry if it's redundant.

Anyway, yesterday, Donut Wednesday, I rushed into work to get the best pick of muffins. I ran to the big kitchen as soon as I got into the office - there's two guys in the kitchen. I noticed one went for a donut box and he mumbles something about a donut. Then he picks it up with his bare hands, squeezes it, looks at it from all angels and then puts it back down in the box. Eww. I almost said something snide about manhandling the donut and leaving it for someone else, but instead I just slightly half-chuckled. He was like, "yeah, it was really soft." WTF?

In Denial

Ever try to convince yourself that something isn't happening when you know it is? "No, my car doesn't need a new transmission" or "No my favorite pair of jeans doesn't need to be retired." Well, my current denial is, "No, my wisdom tooth isn't hurting." Ugh.

I noticed a minor ache last week at one point, but then it went away. Great. Then over the weekend it was acting up a little more, but I still just ignored it. Then Sunday night I was sleeping on my left side and woke up in the middle of the night to horrible throbbing pain on my lower left side. I thought it might be a cavity. Now I wish it was only that. In the morning, I inspected and found out it wasn't a cavity, it was my wisdom tooth that hurt. It even seems to feel and look different then my other wisdom teeth.

I'm sure I'll have to have it out. And I hear you either deal with the procedure really well or really bad. I'll bet money I'm in the really bad camp. A guy at work said it took around 3 weeks before he was eating normal food. Guess I'll be able to lose a couple pounds.

But I'd rather be in pain for a couple more days before I move from denial to call my dentist. We have appointments for cleanings the first weekend in April - maybe I can wait until then?

Give Me The Mic

I already have plans for September 9th!