Daddy, Daughter, Doctor Day

Yesterday, Sydney and I had the day together. I worked as many hours as I could, but stopped for Sydney appointments.

First, we had her last baby tooth pulled. It was not budging, but the tooth under it was fully formed. I offered her half of what the dentist was going to charge if she'd let me take a pair of pliers to it, but she was not interested. Anyway, she went to the back all by herself. Didn't want me to come. Very independent. Made me a bit nostalgic for the days when she wanted me to go to scary places with her.

Next, we had the orthodontist. This is not a pleasant experience for us. The orthodontist... Our orthodontist has had a string of bad luck and she has become nearly impossible to get in to see and truthfully, we just want the experience to be over. I mean, no hard feelings, but I had no idea this would drag on this long. But, yesterday I asked some very pointed questions about the permanent retainer. I thought we needed to have the retainer removed before we went to see a new orthodontist, but I didn't really want to tell the old one that we were changing providers. I know. I'm a wimp. But, that string of bad luck has not been her fault. First, she had a baby and that baby was in the hospital several times, then she got pregnant again and her husband passed away. Whew! I feel so sorry for her. But, how many last minute reschedules did we have and they insisted on calling the house to reschedule, so we didn't know until I'd taken off work and showed up at their office? I don't want to add to her burden that we're looking for a new practice. I hate hard conversations. But, we found out that the retainer should stay in until we move to step 2 of the braces, so we'll just leave it there and let the new provider take it out.

Then, we had a nice lunch at Sydney's favorite cafe. Hey, lunch out is what makes it a good Daddy Daughter day, right?

Then, we took the dog to the vet. Poor Bella. She's kind of a freak. She had a hard time before she came to us that we don't understand, but it left her...I'd say scarred, but a better word is probably "changed". She's way overprotective and over excitable. And, she thinks she's the one in charge in all situations and is willing to bark and snap to show it. Wellllllll, she nipped at the vet tech and he made a note on her chart and went to get a muzzle. I understand. I'd do the same if I were him. We have no idea whether she would have gone further and actually bitten one of us or not. But, we were both embarassed at Bella's behavior.

Anyway, muzzled, her behavior was much improved and we proceeded to clip her nails...a nearly impossible task.

But, I gotta get a muzzle. With that, I should be able to start clipping her nails at home. Do they sell muzzles for 13 year old girls? If not, I've devised a great one. Anybody wanna invest some capital in a high risk venture?

Then, I was back at home, finishing the work day. Last night was their night to make dinner, so I put away the Singer 237 and pulled out my white featherweight and got all set up to sew.

I hate that featherweight. And, I think it knows. It was a bad purchase. I paid a fair price for it...if it had been in perfect shape. But, it wasn't. It had been dropped. So, I sank more money into it, to repair that. And, now, it just doesn't work very well. It needs a professional, but with all I've got sunk into it, I'm loath to spend more to get it fine tuned. I struggled with it some and oiled it good and it just wouldn't work out, so I put it back in its box, back in the closet and pulled out my black featherweight. And, I proceeded to do some piecing and work on my shirt.

And, I was very happy.

Unfortunately, I have a very expensive machine that I think of as a disaster in the closet. But, as many as I buy, one disaster is okay. And, sometimes it's the lesson you get for the money more than the item you get for the money.

Okay, so I'm off to present my findings on a new big project at work. I am da' man! (picture Tarzan and his jungle yell here)

Lane