Dental speech

I had an 8:30 a.m. appointment with my dentist this morning, the handsome and personable Dr. Ted. He is helping with some areas where my gums have receded and left my teeth sensitive. It's three hours later, and I still feel as if my lips, tongue, and nose are dead. I don't think I've ever had my nose involved before, but today would be a good day to get a nose piercing (had I ever wanted such a thing) because I wouldn't feel a thing.

When I smile, I do a good Elvis impersonation, since the sneer is built right in. I also can't help feeling that I resemble Stacy Keach and Joaquin Phoenix somewhat.

Of course, eating, drinking, talking, and kissing are somewhat awkward endeavors at present. I'll be leaving here later this afternoon for an overnight in Big Rapids at the studio. Tomorrow I'll be laboring through a day-long seminar in how to be an academic advisor. Thus, I would really like to be able to do all those things (especially kissing) before I go. The Esteemed One and I had chatted about having him spend the night, but we decided that we'd do it another time.

Today is Amber's birthday. She's 17. I sent her a funny card with a frog on the front. He's asking the reader to kiss him so that he can turn into a charming prince. Once the card is opened, there is a frog in a tuxedo, with the message "Better luck next year." Accompanying the visuals is the sound of a frog croaking out "Happy Birthday to you" (the song). I hope she likes it.

Dr. Ted said his birthday was a couple of weeks ago, on the 10th. He didn't volunteer how old he is. I didn't ask. It would have been too disheartening to have him say he was 30 or something like that. He's likely closer to 40, but still....

We sent Stephen an encouragement card for next week, when he'll take the Arkansas Bar Exam. Fingers crossed. Anxiety held momentarily in check. Hopes high. I'm saying mantras of a sort for him. Maybe I'll write him a poem. At the CWP Summer Institute, I learned three new poetry forms: the triolet, the lune, and the pantoum. It was fun to play around with them.